To point to that as a big driver of the war, I'd think you'd need the Axis powers and the Allies to be of two opposing religions. The targeting of the Jews was an excuse to give the people and it was driven by culture and ethnicity at least as much as it was by religion. Being non-religious or of some other faith but Jewish by heritage didn't get you a pass. That war was clearly about power and empire, not religion.
Yep, not to mention the ethnic cleansing of gays and lesbians and many other groups. Hitler was about racial superiority, not religious superiority, when it came to his ethnic cleansing of the "Jewish problem". Hitler had zero religious goals for invading other nations, those were purely nationalistic power and the fact Jews lived within the regions just meant he had to find more efficient methods of solving the "problem".
Furthermore, Jews who had converted to Christianity were treated no differently than Orthodox Jews, therefore evidence points to it being far more a racial issue than religious based.
Then there is the decision by Thumb to exclude the other Axis powers who fought in WWII in the attempt to maintain that WWII was religious based. This is often the part that is so easily overlooked by those who wish to perpetuate the "religion causes all wars" belief. Scholarly estimates indicate Japan actually killed more Chinese than Hitler killed Jews in their attempted purging of Chinese. Hitler also targeted Russian cities and attempted to kill as many Russians as possible to an even larger extent according to these studies.
It does not take long to see that Race has traditionally provided a much stronger motivation for war and killing than Religion. The murkiness between defining Muslims and Jews by Race vs Religion clouds that picture a great deal, so I feel it is best to remove that from the equation. I'm certain those who wish to view Religion as the cause for all wars will scream about how wrong that is; however, it can be argued that the hatred between Muslims and Jews has its origins in Race going back to the decision by Abraham to keep the maternal line for his ancestry. The Muslims claim Abraham's lineage is paternal based. This begins the blood feud, blood being a racial thing, not religious thing. To top off this argument is the fact the religion of Islam was begun with the Prophet Muhammed which was thousands of years after Abraham. Race, not religion, perpetuated the hatred for those millenium. Religion eventually became the excuse by which to perpetuate the hatred since, but the underlying reasons continue to be racially motivated. So while religion has undeniably played a role, the primary driver was and continues to be racial, but it currently is masked by the religious aspect. Again, it is very murky and I can understand the religious side of this debate, but I personally believe the historical racial reasons are the true reasons and motivating factor.
Outside of the Crusades, it is far more common that Race and Greed have been the primary drivers for war. Even the Europeans coming to the New World supposedly to convert the Indigenious People was more about attempts to claim land and thereby Natural Resources (primarily gold). The attempted conversion of the Indians and often slaughter of innocents in the name of religion was all secondary as the Europeans would not have cared one bit about the Native Americans if they hadn't been so focused on trying to acquire any and all riches contained in the New World. No government would have sent their people to the New World if they did not believe there would be financial benefits. Spain granted Columbus his voyages solely in the hopes he would find a shorter route to the Far East and thereby make for more profitable trade. Converting or killing Native Americans in the name of religion eventually was a convenient excuse to grab the land and the potential wealth.
Deaths from war:
Race and Greed >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Religion
I realize that isn't what is taught in college though.
