Variety of factors, it seems. Being a flightless bird on a specific island means a threat to the population of it was going to take a toll. It had no natural predators, which meant it wasn't afraid of humans when they arrived on the island.
Animals brought along with the people, like dogs, cats, pigs etc, destroyed nests and humans cleared the forests where they lived. There was also apparently a flash flood that would have had quite an affect on an already dwindling population. There doesn't seem to that much evidence of over hunting (didn't taste that nice, it seems); more a variety of the factors as aforementioned.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.