The cause of the war was the Nazi ideology.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

When the history of the George W. Bush administration is written, one of the most important questions to be addressed will surely be: Why did a President who repeatedly talked about the ideology animating our enemies in this "War on Terror" do so little to wage an effective "War of Ideas" against it?

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Purple heart in the War of Ideas?

In World War II, free nations came together to fight the ideology of fascism, and freedom prevailed and today Germany and Japan are democracies and they are allies in securing the peace.

NPR: Bush Reaffirms Iraq Strategy

Emptied of all aspirations and ideology, the Japanese spent the next seven years (the allied occupation lasted almost twice as long as the Pacific war itself) having their minds filled with a wholly new vision and set of dreams.

ECONOMIST: Japanese history