I 1953–1954 deltok Weinberg i en akademisk diskusjon med Hans-Günther Seraphim og Andreas Hillgruber i tidsskriftet . Spørsmålet som ble debattert var hvorvidt operasjon Barbarossa, den tyske invasjonen av Sovjetunionen i 1941, var en preventiv krig, som Hitler ble tvunget inn i, grunnet frykten for et nært forestående sovjetisk angrep. I en anmeldelse av Hillgrubers bok i 1956 anklaget Weinberg forfatteren for å tidvis unnskylde Nazi-Tyskland ved å hevde at andre verdenskrig begynte med den britiske og franske krigserklæringen mot Tyskland 3. september 1939, i stedet for den tyske invasjonen av Polen 1. september 1939. I hans monografi fra 1980, , bemerket Weinberg i spørsmålet om krigsutbruddet at «min oppfatning er noe annerledes» enn Hillgrubers.<ref>Weinberg, Gerhard. 'The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany Starting World War II 1937–1939World in the BalanceA World At ArmsZweierlei Untergang – Die Zerschlagung des Deutschen Reiches und das Ende des europäischen JudentumsTo slag nederlag – ødeleggelsen av det tyske riket og slutten på jøder i EuropaDer Erzwungene KriegThe American Historical ReviewThe American Historical ReviewThe Foreign Policy of Hitler's GermanyThe Origins of the Second World WarThe Foreign Policy of Hitler's GermanyWorld in the Balance: Behind the Scenes of World War IIA World at Arms: A Global History of World War IIVisions of Victory: The Hopes of Eight World War II LeadersStalin's WarStalin's Drive to the WestMein KampfFateful ChoicesSternNewsweekNewsweekGermany and the Soviet Union, 1939–1941The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany: Diplomatic Revolution in Europe, 1933–36,Transformation of a Continent: Europe in the Twentieth CenturyThe Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany: Starting World War II, 1937–1939World in the Balance: Behind the Scenes of World War IIA World at Arms: A Global History of World War IIGermany, Hitler, and World War II: Essays in Modern German and World HistoryHitler's Second Book: The Unpublished Sequel toVisions of Victory: The Hopes of Eight World War II LeadersHitler's Table Talk 1941–1944: Secret ConversationsHitler's Foreign Policy, 1933–1939: The Road to World War IIWorld War II: A Very Short Introduction.Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1918–1945The Journal of Modern HistoryGuide to Captured German DocumentsVierteljahrshefte für ZeitgeschichteThe Partisan Movement in the Yelnya-Dorogobuzh Area of Smolensk OblastJournal of Central European AffairsThe Journal of Modern HistoryVierteljahrshefte für ZeitgeschichteWorld Affairs QuarterlyThe Journal of Modern HistorySupplement to the Guide to Captured German DocumentsJournal of Central European AffairsOperationsgebiet Ostliche Ostsee und der Finnisch-Baltische Raum, 1944The Journal of Modern HistoryVierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte Geschichte und Gegenwartsbewusstsein Festschrift für Hans RothfelsAmerican Historical ReviewThe Journal of Modern HistoryCentral European HistoryCzechoslovakia Past and PresentDeutschland-Russland-Amerika: Festschrift für Fritz EpsteinThe Journal of Modern HistoryGerman Studies ReviewForeign AffairsInternational History Review1939 An der Schwelle zum Weltkrieg. Die Entfesselung des Zweiten WeltkriegesThe Journal of Military HistoryThe Journal of American HistoryGerman Studies ReviewThe History TeacherHolocaust and Genocide StudiesThe Journal of Military HistoryGerman Studies ReviewThe Journal of Military HistoryGerman Studies ReviewThe Munich Crisis, 1938 Prelude to World War IIHitler's Second Book: The Unpublished Sequel to Mein KampfThe Second Generation. Émigrés from Nazi Germany as Historians.'' , ed. Andreas W. Daum, Hartmut Lehmann, and James J. Sheehan. New York: Berghahn Books 2016, 97-101.