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"Drittes Reich" redirects here. For the 1923 book, see Das Dritte Reich.
Coordinates:  52°31′N 13°24′E

German Reich
(1933–1943)
Deutsches Reich

Greater German Reich

(1943–1945)
Großdeutsches Reich

1933–1945

Flag
(1935–1945)

Emblem
(1935–1945)

Anthems: 
Das Lied der Deutschen
("The Song of the Germans")

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Horst-Wessel-Lied [a]
("The Horst Wessel Song")

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 Germany's territorial control at its greatest extent during World War
II (late 1942):

   German Reich[b]
   Civilian-administered occupied territories
   Military-administered occupied territories

Capital Berlin
and largest city 52°31′N 13°23′E

Common language German
s

Religion  54% Protestant
 40% Catholic
 3.5% Gottgläubig
 1.5% Irreligious
 1% Other
[1]

Demonym(s) German

Government Unitary Nazi one-party fascist state under

a totalitarian dictatorship

Head of State  
• 1933–1934 Paul von Hindenburg[c]
• 1934–1945 Adolf Hitler[d]
• 1945 Karl Dönitz[c]
Chancellor  
• 1933–1945 Adolf Hitler
• 1945 Joseph Goebbels
• 1945 L. G. S. von Krosigk

Legislature Reichstag

• Upper house Reichsrat (dissolved 1934)

Historical era Interwar • World War II

• Seizure of Power 30 January 1933

• Enabling Act 23 March 1933
• Anschluss 12 March 1938
• World War II 1 September 1939
• Death of Hitler 30 April 1945
• Surrender 8 May 1945
• Final dissolution 23 May 1945

Area
1939[e] 633,786 km2 (244,706 sq mi)
1940[2][b] 823,505 km2 (317,957 sq mi)

Population
• 1939[3] 79,375,281
• 1940 [2][b]
109,518,183

Currency Reichsmark (ℛℳ)

Preceded by Succeeded by
Weimar Republic East
Federal State of Germany
Austria West
Germany
Austria

Part of a series on the

History of Germany

Topics

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  Territorial evolution
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Early history
 Germanic peoples
 Migration Period
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 Germany portal
  v
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 e

Nazi Germany,[f] officially known as the German Reich[g] until 1943 and Greater German

Reich[h] from 1943 to 1945, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and
the Nazi Party controlled the country which they transformed into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule,
Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the
government. The Third Reich,[i] meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", alluded to the Nazis'
conceit that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806)
and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as
the Thousand Year Reich,[4][j] ended in May 1945 after just 12 years, when the Allies defeated
Germany, ending World War II in Europe.
On 30 January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, the head of government, by
the President of the Weimar Republic, Paul von Hindenburg, the head of State. The Nazi Party then
began to eliminate all political opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August
1934 and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the offices and powers of the Chancellery
and Presidency. A national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as
sole Führer (Leader) of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitler's person and his word became
the highest law. The government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of
factions struggling for power and Hitler's favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis
restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending and
a mixed economy. Using deficit spending, the regime undertook a massive secret rearmament
program and the construction of extensive public works projects, including the construction
of Autobahnen (motorways). The return to economic stability boosted the regime's popularity.
Racism, Nazi eugenics, and especially antisemitism, were central ideological features of the regime.
The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the master race, the purest branch of
the Aryan race. Discrimination and the persecution of Jews and Romani people began in earnest
after the seizure of power. The first concentration camps were established in March 1933. Jews and
others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, and liberals, socialists, and communists were killed,
imprisoned, or exiled. Christian churches and citizens that opposed Hitler's rule were oppressed and
many leaders imprisoned. Education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for
military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed. Recreation and
tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer
Olympics showcased Germany on the international stage. Propaganda Minister Joseph
Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, and Hitler's hypnotic oratory to influence public
opinion. The government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or
discouraging others.
From the latter half of the 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands,
threatening war if these were not met. The Saarland voted by plebiscite to rejoin Germany in 1935,
and in 1936 Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland, which had been de-militarized after World War I.
Germany seized Austria in the Anschluss of 1938, and demanded and received
the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in that same year. In March 1939, the Slovak state was
proclaimed and became a client state of Germany, and the German Protectorate of Bohemia and
Moravia was established on the remainder of the occupied Czech Lands. Shortly after, Germany
pressured Lithuania into ceding the Memel Territory. Germany signed a non-aggression pact with
the Soviet Union and invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, launching World War II in Europe. By
early 1941, Germany and their European allies in the Axis powers controlled much of
Europe. Reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas and a German administration was
established in the remainder of Poland. Germany exploited the raw materials and labour of both its
occupied territories and its allies.
Genocide and mass murder became hallmarks of the regime. Starting in 1939, hundreds of
thousands of German citizens with mental or physical disabilities were murdered in hospitals and
asylums. Einsatzgruppen paramilitary death squads accompanied the German armed forces inside
the occupied territories and conducted the mass killings of millions of Jews and other Holocaust
victims. After 1941, millions of others were imprisoned, worked to death, or murdered in Nazi
concentration camps and extermination camps. This genocide is known as the Holocaust.
While the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 was initially successful, the Soviet
resurgence and entry of the United States into the war meant that the Wehrmacht (German armed
forces) lost the initiative on the Eastern Front in 1943 and by late 1944 had been pushed back to the
pre-1939 border. Large-scale aerial bombing of Germany escalated in 1944 and the Axis powers
were driven back in Eastern and Southern Europe. After the Allied invasion of France, Germany was
conquered by the Soviet Union from the east and the other Allies from the west, and capitulated in
May 1945. Hitler's refusal to admit defeat led to massive destruction of German infrastructure and
additional war-related deaths in the closing months of the war. The victorious Allies initiated a policy
of denazification and put many of the surviving Nazi leadership on trial for war crimes at
the Nuremberg trials.

Contents

 1Name
 2Background
 3History
o 3.1Nazi seizure of power
o 3.2Nazification of Germany
o 3.3Consolidation of power
o 3.4Military build-up
 3.4.1Austria and Czechoslovakia
 3.4.2Poland
o 3.5World War II
 3.5.1Foreign policy
 3.5.2Outbreak of war
 3.5.3Conquest of Europe
 3.5.4Invasion of the Soviet Union
 3.5.5Turning point and collapse
 3.5.6German casualties
 4Geography
o 4.1Territorial changes
o 4.2Occupied territories
 5Politics
o 5.1Ideology
o 5.2Government
o 5.3Law
 6Military and paramilitary
o 6.1Wehrmacht
o 6.2The SA and SS
 7Economy
 o 7.1Reich economics
o 7.2Wartime economy and forced labour
o 7.3Financial exploitation of conquered territories
 8Racial policy and eugenics
o 8.1Racism and antisemitism
o 8.2Persecution of Jews
o 8.3Persecution of Roma
o 8.4Other persecuted groups
o 8.5Generalplan Ost
o 8.6The Holocaust and Final Solution
o 8.7Oppression of ethnic Poles
o 8.8Mistreatment of Soviet POWs
 9Society
o 9.1Education
o 9.2Role of women and family
o 9.3Health
o 9.4Environmentalism
o 9.5Oppression of churches
o 9.6Resistance to the regime
 10Culture
o 10.1Censorship
o 10.2Architecture and art
o 10.3Film
 11Legacy
 12See also
 13References
o 13.1Explanatory notes
o 13.2Citations
o 13.3Bibliography
 14External links

Name
Common English terms for the German state in the Nazi era are "Nazi Germany" and "Third Reich".
The latter, a translation of the Nazi propaganda term Drittes Reich, was first used in Das Dritte
Reich, a 1923 book by Arthur Moeller van den Bruck. The book counted the Holy Roman
Empire (962–1806) as the first Reich and the German Empire (1871–1918) as the second.[5]

Background
Further information: Adolf Hitler's rise to power
Germany was known as the Weimar Republic during the years 1919 to 1933. It was a republic with
a semi-presidential system. The Weimar Republic faced numerous problems,
including hyperinflation, political extremism (including violence from left- and right-wing
paramilitaries), contentious relationships with the Allied victors of World War I, and a series of failed
attempts at coalition government by divided political parties. [6] Severe setbacks to the German
economy began after World War I ended, partly because of reparations payments required under the
1919 Treaty of Versailles. The government printed money to make the payments and to repay the
country's war debt, but the resulting hyperinflation led to inflated prices for consumer goods,
economic chaos, and food riots.[7] When the government defaulted on their reparations payments in
January 1923, French troops occupied German industrial areas along the Ruhr and widespread civil
unrest followed.[8]
The National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei),
commonly known as the Nazi Party, was founded in 1920. It was the renamed successor of
the German Workers' Party (DAP) formed one year earlier, and one of several far-right political
parties then active in Germany.[9] The Nazi Party platform included destruction of the Weimar
Republic, rejection of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, radical antisemitism, and anti-
Bolshevism.[10] They promised a strong central government, increased Lebensraum ("living space")
for Germanic peoples, formation of a national community based on race, and racial cleansing via the
active suppression of Jews, who would be stripped of their citizenship and civil rights. [11] The Nazis
proposed national and cultural renewal based upon the Völkisch movement.[12] The party, especially
its paramilitary organisation Sturmabteilung (SA; Storm Detachment), or Brownshirts, used physical
violence to advance their political position, disrupting the meetings of rival organisations and
attacking their members as well as Jewish people on the streets. [13] Such far-right armed groups were
common in Bavaria, and were tolerated by the sympathetic far-right state government of Gustav
Ritter von Kahr.[14]
When the stock market in the United States crashed on 24 October 1929, the effect in Germany was
dire.[15] Millions were thrown out of work and several major banks collapsed. Hitler and the Nazis
prepared to take advantage of the emergency to gain support for their party. They promised to
strengthen the economy and provide jobs.[16] Many voters decided the Nazi Party was capable of
restoring order, quelling civil unrest, and improving Germany's international reputation. After
the federal election of 1932, the party was the largest in the Reichstag, holding 230 seats with 37.4
percent of the popular vote.[17]

History
Further information: History of Germany

Adolf Hitler became Germany's head of state, with the title of Führer und Reichskanzler, in 1934.

Nazi seizure of power

Main article: Adolf Hitler's rise to power §  Seizure of control (1931–1933)
Although the Nazis won the greatest share of the popular vote in the two Reichstag general elections
of 1932, they did not have a majority. Hitler therefore led a short-lived coalition government formed
with the German National People's Party.[18] Under pressure from politicians, industrialists, and the
business community, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor of Germany on
30 January 1933. This event is known as the Machtergreifung ("seizure of power").[19]
On the night of 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was set afire. Marinus van der Lubbe, a
Dutch communist, was found guilty of starting the blaze. Hitler proclaimed that the arson marked the
start of a communist uprising. The Reichstag Fire Decree, imposed on 28 February 1933, rescinded
most civil liberties, including rights of assembly and freedom of the press. The decree also allowed
the police to detain people indefinitely without charges. The legislation was accompanied by a
propaganda campaign that led to public support for the measure. Violent suppression of communists
by the SA was undertaken nationwide and 4,000 members of the Communist Party of
Germany were arrested.[20]
In March 1933, the Enabling Act, an amendment to the Weimar Constitution, passed in the
Reichstag by a vote of 444 to 94.[21] This amendment allowed Hitler and his cabinet to pass laws—
even laws that violated the constitution—without the consent of the president or the Reichstag. [22] As
the bill required a two-thirds majority to pass, the Nazis used intimidation tactics as well as the
provisions of the Reichstag Fire Decree to keep several Social Democratic deputies from attending,
and the Communists had already been banned.[23][24] On 10 May, the government seized the assets of
the Social Democrats, and they were banned on 22 June. [25] On 21 June, the SA raided the offices of
the German National People's Party – their former coalition partners – which then disbanded on 29
June. The remaining major political parties followed suit. On 14 July 1933 Germany became a one-
party state with the passage of a law decreeing the Nazi Party to be the sole legal party in Germany.
The founding of new parties was also made illegal, and all remaining political parties which had not
already been dissolved were banned.[26] The Enabling Act would subsequently serve as the legal
foundation for the dictatorship the Nazis established. [27] Further elections in November 1933, 1936,
and 1938 were Nazi-controlled, with only members of the Party and a small number of independents
elected.[28]
Nazification of Germany
Main article: Gleichschaltung

While the traditional German states were not formally abolished (excluding Lübeck in 1937), their constitutional
rights and sovereignty were eroded and ultimately ended. Prussia was already under federal
administration when Hitler came to power, providing a model for the process.

The Hitler cabinet used the terms of the Reichstag Fire Decree and later the Enabling Act to initiate
the process of Gleichschaltung ("co-ordination"), which brought all aspects of life under party control.
[29]
 Individual states not controlled by elected Nazi governments or Nazi-led coalitions were forced to
agree to the appointment of Reich Commissars to bring the states in line with the policies of the
central government. These Commissars had the power to appoint and remove local governments,
state parliaments, officials, and judges. In this way Germany became a de facto unitary state, with all
state governments controlled by the central government under the Nazis. [30][31] The state parliaments
and the Reichsrat (federal upper house) were abolished in January 1934, [32] with all state powers
being transferred to the central government. [31]
All civilian organisations, including agricultural groups, volunteer organisations, and sports clubs,
had their leadership replaced with Nazi sympathisers or party members; these civic organisations
either merged with the Nazi Party or faced dissolution. [33] The Nazi government declared a "Day of
National Labor" for May Day 1933, and invited many trade union delegates to Berlin for celebrations.
The day after, SA stormtroopers demolished union offices around the country; all trade unions were
forced to dissolve and their leaders were arrested. [34] The Law for the Restoration of the Professional
Civil Service, passed in April, removed from their jobs all teachers, professors, judges, magistrates,
and government officials who were Jewish or whose commitment to the party was suspect. [35] This
meant the only non-political institutions not under control of the Nazis were the churches. [36]
The Nazi regime abolished the symbols of the Weimar Republic—including the black, red, and gold
tricolour flag—and adopted reworked symbolism. The previous imperial black, white, and red
tricolour was restored as one of Germany's two official flags; the second was the swastika flag of the
Nazi Party, which became the sole national flag in 1935. The Party anthem "Horst-Wessel-Lied"
("Horst Wessel Song") became a second national anthem. [37]
Germany was still in a dire economic situation, as six million people were unemployed and
the balance of trade deficit was daunting.[38] Using deficit spending, public works projects were
undertaken beginning in 1934, creating 1.7 million new jobs by the end of that year alone. [38] Average
wages began to rise.[39]
Consolidation of power
The SA leadership continued to apply pressure for greater political and military power. In response,
Hitler used the Schutzstaffel (SS) and Gestapo to purge the entire SA leadership.[40] Hitler targeted
SA Stabschef (Chief of Staff) Ernst Röhm and other SA leaders who—along with a number of Hitler's
political adversaries (such as Gregor Strasser and former chancellor Kurt von Schleicher)—were
arrested and shot.[41] Up to 200 people were killed from 30 June to 2 July 1934 in an event that
became known as the Night of the Long Knives.[42]
On 2 August 1934, Hindenburg died. The previous day, the cabinet had enacted the "Law
Concerning the Highest State Office of the Reich", which stated that upon Hindenburg's death the
office of president would be abolished and its powers merged with those of the chancellor. [43] Hitler
thus became head of state as well as head of government and was formally named as Führer und
Reichskanzler ("Leader and Chancellor"), although eventually Reichskanzler was dropped.
[44]
 Germany was now a totalitarian state with Hitler at its head. [45] As head of state, Hitler became
Supreme Commander of the armed forces. The new law provided an altered loyalty oath for
servicemen so that they affirmed loyalty to Hitler personally rather than the office of supreme
commander or the state.[46] On 19 August, the merger of the presidency with the chancellorship was
approved by 90 percent of the electorate in a plebiscite.[47]
Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda

Most Germans were relieved that the conflicts and street fighting of the Weimar era had ended. They
were deluged with propaganda orchestrated by Minister of Public Enlightenment and
Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, who promised peace and plenty for all in a united, Marxist-free
country without the constraints of the Versailles Treaty. [48] The Nazi Party obtained and legitimised
power through its initial revolutionary activities, then through manipulation of legal mechanisms, the
use of police powers, and by taking control of the state and federal institutions. [49][50] The first
major Nazi concentration camp, initially for political prisoners, was opened at Dachau in 1933.
[51]
 Hundreds of camps of varying size and function were created by the end of the war. [52]
Beginning in April 1933, scores of measures defining the status of Jews and their rights were
instituted.[53] These measures culminated in the establishment of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, which
stripped them of their basic rights.[54] The Nazis would take from the Jews their wealth, their right to
intermarry with non-Jews, and their right to occupy many fields of labour (such as law, medicine, or
education). Eventually the Nazis declared the Jews as undesirable to remain among German
citizens and society.[55]
Military build-up
See also: International relations (1919–1939), Remilitarization of the Rhineland, and German
involvement in the Spanish Civil War
In the early years of the regime, Germany was without allies, and its military was drastically
weakened by the Versailles Treaty. France, Poland, Italy, and the Soviet Union each had reasons to
object to Hitler's rise to power. Poland suggested to France that the two nations engage in
a preventive war against Germany in March 1933. Fascist Italy objected to German claims in
the Balkans and on Austria, which Benito Mussolini considered to be in Italy's sphere of influence.[56]
As early as February 1933, Hitler announced that rearmament must begin, albeit clandestinely at
first, as to do so was in violation of the Versailles Treaty. On 17 May 1933, Hitler gave a speech
before the Reichstag outlining his desire for world peace and accepted an offer from American
President Franklin D. Roosevelt for military disarmament, provided the other nations of Europe did
the same.[57] When the other European powers failed to accept this offer, Hitler pulled Germany out of
the World Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations in October, claiming its disarmament
clauses were unfair if they applied only to Germany. [58] In a referendum held in November, 95 percent
of voters supported Germany's withdrawal. [59]
In 1934, Hitler told his military leaders that a war in the east should begin in 1942. [60] The Saarland,
which had been placed under League of Nations supervision for 15 years at the end of World War I,
voted in January 1935 to become part of Germany. [61] In March 1935, Hitler announced the creation
of an air force, and that the Reichswehr would be increased to 550,000 men. [62] Britain agreed to
Germany building a naval fleet with the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement on 18 June
1935.[63]
When the Italian invasion of Ethiopia led to only mild protests by the British and French
governments, on 7 March 1936 Hitler used the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance as a
pretext to order the army to march 3,000 troops into the demilitarised zone in the Rhineland in
violation of the Versailles Treaty.[64] As the territory was part of Germany, the British and French
governments did not feel that attempting to enforce the treaty was worth the risk of war. [65] In the one-
party election held on 29 March, the Nazis received 98.9 percent support. [65] In 1936, Hitler signed
an Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan and a non-aggression agreement with Mussolini, who was soon
referring to a "Rome-Berlin Axis".[66]
Hitler sent military supplies and assistance to the Nationalist forces of General Francisco Franco in
the Spanish Civil War, which began in July 1936. The German Condor Legion included a range of
aircraft and their crews, as well as a tank contingent. The aircraft of the Legion destroyed the city of
Guernica in 1937.[67] The Nationalists were victorious in 1939 and became an informal ally of Nazi
Germany.[68]
Austria and Czechoslovakia
Main articles: Anschluss and German occupation of Czechoslovakia
Further information: Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

(Top) Hitler proclaims the Anschluss on the Heldenplatz, Vienna, 15 March 1938

(Bottom) Ethnic Germans use the Nazi salute to greet German soldiers as they enter Saaz, 1938

In February 1938, Hitler emphasised to Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg the need for Germany
to secure its frontiers. Schuschnigg scheduled a plebiscite regarding Austrian independence for 13
March, but Hitler sent an ultimatum to Schuschnigg on 11 March demanding that he hand over all
power to the Austrian Nazi Party or face an invasion. German troops entered Austria the next day, to
be greeted with enthusiasm by the populace. [69]
The Republic of Czechoslovakia was home to a substantial minority of Germans, who lived mostly in
the Sudetenland. Under pressure from separatist groups within the Sudeten German Party, the
Czechoslovak government offered economic concessions to the region. [70] Hitler decided not just to
incorporate the Sudetenland into the Reich, but to destroy the country of Czechoslovakia entirely.
  The Nazis undertook a propaganda campaign to try to generate support for an invasion. [72] Top
[71]

German military leaders opposed the plan, as Germany was not yet ready for war. [73]
The crisis led to war preparations by Britain, Czechoslovakia, and France (Czechoslovakia's ally).
Attempting to avoid war, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain arranged a series of meetings,
the result of which was the Munich Agreement, signed on 29 September 1938. The Czechoslovak
government was forced to accept the Sudetenland's annexation into Germany. Chamberlain was
greeted with cheers when he landed in London, saying the agreement brought "peace for our time".
[74]
 In addition to the German annexation, Poland seized a narrow strip of land near Cieszyn on 2
October, while as a consequence of the Munich Agreement, Hungary demanded and received
12,000 square kilometres (4,600 sq mi) along their northern border in the First Vienna Award on 2
November.[75] Following negotiations with President Emil Hácha, Hitler seized the rest of the Czech
half of the country on 15 March 1939 and created the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, one day
after the proclamation of the Slovak Republic in the Slovak half.[76] Also on 15 March, Hungary
occupied and annexed the recently proclaimed and unrecognized Carpatho-Ukraine and an
additional sliver of land disputed with Slovakia.[77][78]
Austrian and Czech foreign exchange reserves were seized by the Nazis, as were stockpiles of raw
materials such as metals and completed goods such as weaponry and aircraft, which were shipped
to Germany. The Reichswerke Hermann Göring industrial conglomerate took control of steel and
coal production facilities in both countries.[79]
Poland

A Nazi propaganda poster proclaiming that Danzig is German

In January 1934, Germany signed a non-aggression pact with Poland. [80] In March 1939, Hitler
demanded the return of the Free City of Danzig and the Polish Corridor, a strip of land that
separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. The British announced they would come to the aid
of Poland if it was attacked. Hitler, believing the British would not actually take action, ordered an
invasion plan should be readied for September 1939. [81] On 23 May, Hitler described to his generals
his overall plan of not only seizing the Polish Corridor but greatly expanding German territory
eastward at the expense of Poland. He expected this time they would be met by force. [82]
The Germans reaffirmed their alliance with Italy and signed non-aggression pacts with Denmark,
Estonia, and Latvia whilst trade links were formalised with Romania, Norway, and Sweden.
[83]
 Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop arranged in negotiations with the Soviet Union a non-
aggression pact, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, signed in August 1939.[84] The treaty also contained
secret protocols dividing Poland and the Baltic states into German and Soviet spheres of influence. [85]
World War II
(Top) Animated map showing the sequence of events in Europe throughout World War II
(Bottom) Germany and its allies at the height of Axis success, 1942

Foreign policy
Further information: Diplomatic history of World War II §  Germany
Germany's wartime foreign policy involved the creation of allied governments controlled directly or
indirectly from Berlin. They intended to obtain soldiers from allies such as Italy and Hungary and
workers and food supplies from allies such as Vichy France.[86] Hungary was the fourth nation to join
the Axis, signing the Tripartite Pact on 27 September 1940. Bulgaria signed the pact on 17
November. German efforts to secure oil included negotiating a supply from their new ally, Romania,
who signed the Pact on 23 November, alongside the Slovak Republic. [87][88][89] By late 1942, there were
24 divisions from Romania on the Eastern Front, 10 from Italy, and 10 from Hungary. [90] Germany
assumed full control in France in 1942, Italy in 1943, and Hungary in 1944. Although Japan was a
powerful ally, the relationship was distant, with little co-ordination or co-operation. For example,
Germany refused to share their formula for synthetic oil from coal until late in the war. [91]
Outbreak of war
Germany invaded Poland and captured the Free City of Danzig on 1 September 1939, beginning
World War II in Europe.[92] Honouring their treaty obligations, Britain and France declared war on
Germany two days later.[93] Poland fell quickly, as the Soviet Union attacked from the east on 17
September.[94] Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; Security Police)
and Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service), ordered on 21 September that Polish Jews should be
rounded up and concentrated into cities with good rail links. Initially the intention was to deport them
further east, or possibly to Madagascar.[95] Using lists prepared in advance, some 65,000 Polish
intelligentsia, noblemen, clergy, and teachers were killed by the end of 1939 in an attempt to destroy
Poland's identity as a nation. [96][97] Soviet forces advanced into Finland in the Winter War, and German
forces saw action at sea. But little other activity occurred until May, so the period became known as
the "Phoney War".[98]
From the start of the war, a British blockade on shipments to Germany affected its economy.
Germany was particularly dependent on foreign supplies of oil, coal, and grain. [99] Thanks to trade
embargoes and the blockade, imports into Germany declined by 80 per cent. [100] To safeguard
Swedish iron ore shipments to Germany, Hitler ordered the invasion of Denmark and Norway, which
began on 9 April. Denmark fell after less than a day, while most of Norway followed by the end of the
month.[101][102] By early June, Germany occupied all of Norway.[103]
Conquest of Europe
Against the advice of many of his senior military officers, in May 1940 Hitler ordered an attack on
France and the Low Countries.[104][105] They quickly conquered Luxembourg and the Netherlands and
outmanoeuvred the Allies in Belgium, forcing the evacuation of many British and French troops
at Dunkirk.[106] France fell as well, surrendering to Germany on 22 June.[107] The victory in France
resulted in an upswing in Hitler's popularity and an upsurge in war fever in Germany. [108]
In violation of the provisions of the Hague Convention, industrial firms in the Netherlands, France,
and Belgium were put to work producing war materiel for Germany.[109]

German soldiers march near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, 14 June 1940

The Nazis seized from the French thousands of locomotives and rolling stock, stockpiles of
weapons, and raw materials such as copper, tin, oil, and nickel.[110] Payments for occupation costs
were levied upon France, Belgium, and Norway.[111] Barriers to trade led to hoarding, black markets,
and uncertainty about the future. [112] Food supplies were precarious; production dropped in most of
Europe.[113] Famine was experienced in many occupied countries.[113]
Hitler's peace overtures to the new British Prime Minister Winston Churchill were rejected in July
1940. Grand Admiral Erich Raeder had advised Hitler in June that air superiority was a pre-condition
for a successful invasion of Britain, so Hitler ordered a series of aerial attacks on Royal Air
Force (RAF) airbases and radar stations, as well as nightly air raids on British cities,
including London, Plymouth, and Coventry. The German Luftwaffe failed to defeat the RAF in what
became known as the Battle of Britain, and by the end of October, Hitler realised that air superiority
would not be achieved. He permanently postponed the invasion, a plan which the commanders of
the German army had never taken entirely seriously.[114][115][k] Several historians, including Andrew
Gordon, believe the primary reason for the failure of the invasion plan was the superiority of the
Royal Navy, not the actions of the RAF.[116]
In February 1941, the German Afrika Korps arrived in Libya to aid the Italians in the North African
Campaign.[117] On 6 April, Germany launched an invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece.[118][119] All of
Yugoslavia and parts of Greece were subsequently divided between Germany, Hungary, Italy, and
Bulgaria.[120][121]
Invasion of the Soviet Union
Main article: Operation Barbarossa
On 22 June 1941, contravening the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, about 3.8 million Axis troops attacked
the Soviet Union.[122] In addition to Hitler's stated purpose of acquiring Lebensraum, this large-scale
offensive—codenamed Operation Barbarossa—was intended to destroy the Soviet Union and seize
its natural resources for subsequent aggression against the Western powers. [123] The reaction among
Germans was one of surprise and trepidation as many were concerned about how much longer the
war would continue or suspected that Germany could not win a war fought on two fronts. [124]

Death and destruction during the Battle of Stalingrad, October 1942

The invasion conquered a huge area, including the Baltic states, Belarus, and west Ukraine. After
the successful Battle of Smolensk in September 1941, Hitler ordered Army Group Centre to halt its
advance to Moscow and temporarily divert its Panzer groups to aid in the encirclement
of Leningrad and Kyiv.[125] This pause provided the Red Army with an opportunity to mobilise fresh
reserves. The Moscow offensive, which resumed in October 1941, ended disastrously in December.
[126]
 On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Four days later, Germany declared
war on the United States.[127]
Food was in short supply in the conquered areas of the Soviet Union and Poland, as the retreating
armies had burned the crops in some areas, and much of the remainder was sent back to the Reich.
[128]
 In Germany, rations were cut in 1942. In his role as Plenipotentiary of the Four Year
Plan, Hermann Göring demanded increased shipments of grain from France and fish from Norway.
The 1942 harvest was good, and food supplies remained adequate in Western Europe. [129]
Germany and Europe as a whole were almost totally dependent on foreign oil imports. [130] In an
attempt to resolve the shortage, in June 1942 Germany launched Fall Blau ("Case Blue"), an
offensive against the Caucasian oilfields. [131] The Red Army launched a counter-offensive on 19
November and encircled the Axis forces, who were trapped in Stalingrad on 23 November.[132] Göring
assured Hitler that the 6th Army could be supplied by air, but this turned out to be infeasible.
[133]
 Hitler's refusal to allow a retreat led to the deaths of 200,000 German and Romanian soldiers; of
the 91,000 men who surrendered in the city on 31 January 1943, only 6,000 survivors returned to
Germany after the war.[134]
Turning point and collapse
See also: Mass suicides in 1945 Nazi Germany
Losses continued to mount after Stalingrad, leading to a sharp reduction in the popularity of the Nazi
Party and deteriorating morale. [135] Soviet forces continued to push westward after the failed German
offensive at the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943. By the end of 1943, the Germans had lost
most of their eastern territorial gains.[136] In Egypt, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps were
defeated by British forces under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in October 1942.[137] The Allies
landed in Sicily in July 1943 and in Italy in September. [138] Meanwhile, American and British bomber
fleets based in Britain began operations against Germany. Many sorties were intentionally given
civilian targets in an effort to destroy German morale. [139] The bombing of aircraft factories as well
as Peenemünde Army Research Center, where V-1 and V-2 rockets were being developed and
produced, were also deemed particularly important.[140][141] German aircraft production could not keep
pace with losses, and without air cover the Allied bombing campaign became even more
devastating. By targeting oil refineries and factories, they crippled the German war effort by late
1944.[142]
On 6 June 1944, American, British, and Canadian forces established a front in France with the D-
Day landings in Normandy.[143] On 20 July 1944, Hitler survived an assassination attempt.[144] He
ordered brutal reprisals, resulting in 7,000 arrests and the execution of more than 4,900 people.
[145]
 The failed Ardennes Offensive (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was the last major
German offensive on the western front, and Soviet forces entered Germany on 27 January.
[146]
 Hitler's refusal to admit defeat and his insistence that the war be fought to the last man led to
unnecessary death and destruction in the war's closing months. [147] Through his Justice Minister Otto
Georg Thierack, Hitler ordered that anyone who was not prepared to fight should be court-martialed,
and thousands of people were put to death. [148] In many areas, people surrendered to the
approaching Allies in spite of exhortations of local leaders to continue to fight. Hitler ordered the
destruction of transport, bridges, industries, and other infrastructure—a scorched earth decree—but
Armaments Minister Albert Speer prevented this order from being fully carried out. [147]

U.S. Army Air Force film of the destruction in central Berlin in July 1945

During the Battle of Berlin (16 April 1945 – 2 May 1945), Hitler and his staff lived in the
underground Führerbunker while the Red Army approached.[149] On 30 April, when Soviet troops were
within two blocks of the Reich Chancellery, Hitler, along with his girlfriend and by then wife Eva
Braun committed suicide.[150] On 2 May, General Helmuth Weidling unconditionally surrendered Berlin
to Soviet General Vasily Chuikov.[151] Hitler was succeeded by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as Reich
President and Goebbels as Reich Chancellor.[152] Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide
the next day after murdering their six children.[153] Between 4 and 8 May 1945, most of the remaining
German armed forces unconditionally surrendered. The German Instrument of Surrender was
signed 8 May, marking the end of the Nazi regime and the end of World War II in Europe.[154]
Popular support for Hitler almost completely disappeared as the war drew to a close. [155] Suicide rates
in Germany increased, particularly in areas where the Red Army was advancing. Among soldiers
and party personnel, suicide was often deemed an honourable and heroic alternative to surrender.
First-hand accounts and propaganda about the uncivilised behaviour of the advancing Soviet troops
caused panic among civilians on the Eastern Front, especially women, who feared being raped.
[156]
 More than a thousand people (out of a population of around 16,000) committed suicide in
Demmin on and around 1 May 1945 as the 65th Army of 2nd Belorussian Front first broke into a
distillery and then rampaged through the town, committing mass rapes, arbitrarily executing civilians,
and setting fire to buildings. High numbers of suicides took place in many other locations,
including Neubrandenburg (600 dead), Stolp in Pommern (1,000 dead),[157] and Berlin, where at least
7,057 people committed suicide in 1945.[158]
German casualties
Main article: German casualties in World War II
Further information: World War II casualties

German refugees in Bedburg, near Kleve, 19 February 1945

Estimates of the total German war dead range from 5.5 to 6.9 million persons.[159] A study by German
historian Rüdiger Overmans puts the number of German military dead and missing at 5.3 million,
including 900,000 men conscripted from outside of Germany's 1937 borders. [160] Richard
Overy estimated in 2014 that about 353,000 civilians were killed in Allied air raids. [161] Other civilian
deaths include 300,000 Germans (including Jews) who were victims of Nazi political, racial, and
religious persecution[162] and 200,000 who were murdered in the Nazi euthanasia program.[163] Political
courts called Sondergerichte sentenced some 12,000 members of the German resistance to death,
and civil courts sentenced an additional 40,000 Germans. [164] Mass rapes of German women also
took place.[165]

Geography
Territorial changes
Main article: Territorial evolution of Germany
Map of the Greater German Reich with administrative divisions set by the Nazi Party, 1944

As a result of their defeat in World War I and the resulting Treaty of Versailles, Germany lost Alsace-
Lorraine, Northern Schleswig, and Memel. The Saarland became a protectorate of France under the
condition that its residents would later decide by referendum which country to join, and Poland
became a separate nation and was given access to the sea by the creation of the Polish Corridor,
which separated Prussia from the rest of Germany, while Danzig was made a free city. [166]
Germany regained control of the Saarland through a referendum held in 1935 and annexed Austria
in the Anschluss of 1938.[167] The Munich Agreement of 1938 gave Germany control of the
Sudetenland, and they seized the remainder of Czechoslovakia six months later. [74] Under threat of
invasion by sea, Lithuania surrendered the Memel district in March 1939. [168]
Between 1939 and 1941, German forces invaded
Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Greece,
and the Soviet Union.[107] Germany annexed parts of northern Yugoslavia in April 1941,[120][121] while
Mussolini ceded Trieste, South Tyrol, and Istria to Germany in 1943.[169]
Occupied territories

Public execution of 54 Poles in Rożki, Masovian Voivodeship (near Radom), German-occupied Poland, 1942

Some of the conquered territories were incorporated into Germany as part of Hitler's long-term goal
of creating a Greater Germanic Reich. Several areas, such as Alsace-Lorraine, were placed under
the authority of an adjacent Gau (regional district). The Reichskommissariate (Reich
Commissariats), quasi-colonial regimes, were established in some occupied countries. Areas placed
under German administration included the Protectorate of Bohemia and
Moravia, Reichskommissariat Ostland (encompassing the Baltic states and Belarus),
and Reichskommissariat Ukraine. Conquered areas of Belgium and France were placed under
control of the Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France.[170] Belgian Eupen-Malmedy,
which had been part of Germany until 1919, was annexed. Part of Poland was incorporated into the
Reich, and the General Government was established in occupied central Poland.[171] The
governments of Denmark, Norway (Reichskommissariat Norwegen), and the Netherlands
(Reichskommissariat Niederlande) were placed under civilian administrations staffed largely by
natives.[170][l] Hitler intended to eventually incorporate many of these areas into the Reich. [172] Germany
occupied the Italian protectorate of Albania and the Italian governorate of Montenegro in 1943[173] and
installed a puppet government in occupied Serbia in 1941.[174]

Politics

Heinrich Himmler, Hitler and Viktor Lutze perform the Nazi salute at the Nuremberg Rally, September 1934

Ideology
Main article: Nazism
The Nazis were a far-right fascist political party which arose during the social and financial
upheavals that occurred following the end of World War I.[175] The Party remained small and
marginalised, receiving 2.6% of the federal vote in 1928, prior to the onset of the Great Depression
in 1929.[176] By 1930 the Party won 18.3% of the federal vote, making it the Reichstag's second
largest political party.[177] While in prison after the failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, Hitler wrote Mein
Kampf, which laid out his plan for transforming German society into one based on race. [178] Nazi
ideology brought together elements of antisemitism, racial hygiene, and eugenics, and combined
them with pan-Germanism and territorial expansionism with the goal of obtaining
more Lebensraum for the Germanic people.[179] The regime attempted to obtain this new territory by
attacking Poland and the Soviet Union, intending to deport or kill the Jews and Slavs living there,
who were viewed as being inferior to the Aryan master race and part of a Jewish-
Bolshevik conspiracy.[180][181] The Nazi regime believed that only Germany could defeat the forces of
Bolshevism and save humanity from world domination by International Jewry.[182] Other people
deemed life unworthy of life by the Nazis included the mentally and physically disabled, Romani
people, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and social misfits.[183][184]
Influenced by the Völkisch movement, the regime was against cultural modernism and supported the
development of an extensive military at the expense of intellectualism. [12][185] Creativity and art were
stifled, except where they could serve as propaganda media. [186] The party used symbols such as
the Blood Flag and rituals such as the Nazi Party rallies to foster unity and bolster the regime's
popularity.[187]
Government
See also: Government of Nazi Germany

Hitler, Göring, Goebbels and Rudolf Hess during a military parade in 1933

Hitler ruled Germany autocratically by asserting the Führerprinzip ("leader principle"), which called

for absolute obedience by all subordinates. He viewed the government structure as a pyramid, with
himself—the infallible leader—at the apex. Party rank was not determined by elections, and
positions were filled through appointment by those of higher rank.[188] The party used propaganda to
develop a cult of personality around Hitler.[189] Historians such as Kershaw emphasise the
psychological impact of Hitler's skill as an orator. [190] Roger Gill states: "His moving speeches
captured the minds and hearts of a vast number of the German people: he virtually hypnotized his
audiences".[191]
While top officials reported to Hitler and followed his policies, they had considerable autonomy. [192] He
expected officials to "work towards the Führer" – to take the initiative in promoting policies and
actions in line with party goals and Hitler's wishes, without his involvement in day-to-day decision-
making.[193] The government was a disorganised collection of factions led by the party elite, who
struggled to amass power and gain the Führer's favour. [194] Hitler's leadership style was to give
contradictory orders to his subordinates and to place them in positions where their duties and
responsibilities overlapped.[195] In this way he fostered distrust, competition, and infighting among his
subordinates to consolidate and maximise his own power. [196]
Successive Reichsstatthalter decrees between 1933 and 1935 abolished the
existing Länder (constituent states) of Germany and replaced them with new administrative
divisions, the Gaue, governed by Nazi leaders (Gauleiters).[197] The change was never fully
implemented, as the Länder were still used as administrative divisions for some government
departments such as education. This led to a bureaucratic tangle of overlapping jurisdictions and
responsibilities typical of the administrative style of the Nazi regime. [198]
Jewish civil servants lost their jobs in 1933, except for those who had seen military service in World
War I. Members of the Party or party supporters were appointed in their place. [199] As part of the
process of Gleichschaltung, the Reich Local Government Law of 1935 abolished local elections, and
mayors were appointed by the Ministry of the Interior. [200]
Law
Main article: Law in Nazi Germany

Chart showing the pseudo-scientific racial divisions used in the racial policies of Nazi Germany

In August 1934, civil servants and members of the military were required to swear an oath of
unconditional obedience to Hitler. These laws became the basis of the Führerprinzip, the concept
that Hitler's word overrode all existing laws.[201] Any acts that were sanctioned by Hitler—even murder
—thus became legal.[202] All legislation proposed by cabinet ministers had to be approved by the
office of Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess, who could also veto top civil service appointments. [203]
Most of the judicial system and legal codes of the Weimar Republic remained in place to deal with
non-political crimes.[204] The courts issued and carried out far more death sentences than before the
Nazis took power.[204] People who were convicted of three or more offences—even petty ones—could
be deemed habitual offenders and jailed indefinitely. [205] People such as prostitutes and pickpockets
were judged to be inherently criminal and a threat to the community. Thousands were arrested and
confined indefinitely without trial.[206]

A meeting of the four jurists who imposed Nazi ideology on the legal system of Germany (left to right: Roland
Freisler, Franz Schlegelberger, Otto Georg Thierack, and Curt Rothenberger)

A new type of court, the Volksgerichtshof ("People's Court"), was established in 1934 to deal with
political cases.[207] This court handed out over 5,000 death sentences until its dissolution in 1945.
[208]
 The death penalty could be issued for offences such as being a communist, printing seditious
leaflets, or even making jokes about Hitler or other officials. [209] The Gestapo was in charge of
investigative policing to enforce Nazi ideology as they located and confined political offenders, Jews,
and others deemed undesirable. [210] Political offenders who were released from prison were often
immediately re-arrested by the Gestapo and confined in a concentration camp. [211]
The Nazis used propaganda to promulgate the concept of Rassenschande ("race defilement") to
justify the need for racial laws.[212] In September 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were enacted. These
laws initially prohibited sexual relations and marriages between Aryans and Jews and were later
extended to include "Gypsies, Negroes or their bastard offspring". [213] The law also forbade the
employment of German women under the age of 45 as domestic servants in Jewish households.
[214]
 The Reich Citizenship Law stated that only those of "German or related blood" could be citizens.
[215]
 Thus Jews and other non-Aryans were stripped of their German citizenship. The law also
permitted the Nazis to deny citizenship to anyone who was not supportive enough of the regime. [215] A
supplementary decree issued in November defined as Jewish anyone with three Jewish
grandparents, or two grandparents if the Jewish faith was followed. [216]

Military and paramilitary

Wehrmacht
See also: Myth of the clean Wehrmacht
A column of tanks and other armoured vehicles of the Panzerwaffe near Stalingrad, 1942

The unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945 were called the Wehrmacht (defence
force). This included the Heer (army), Kriegsmarine (navy), and the Luftwaffe (air force). From 2
August 1934, members of the armed forces were required to pledge an oath of unconditional
obedience to Hitler personally. In contrast to the previous oath, which required allegiance to the
constitution of the country and its lawful establishments, this new oath required members of the
military to obey Hitler even if they were being ordered to do something illegal. [217] Hitler decreed that
the army would have to tolerate and even offer logistical support to the Einsatzgruppen—the mobile
death squads responsible for millions of deaths in Eastern Europe—when it was tactically possible to
do so.[218] Wehrmacht troops also participated directly in the Holocaust by shooting civilians or
committing genocide under the guise of anti-partisan operations. [219] The party line was that the Jews
were the instigators of the partisan struggle and therefore needed to be eliminated. [220] On 8 July
1941, Heydrich announced that all Jews in the eastern conquered territories were to be regarded as
partisans and gave the order for all male Jews between the ages of 15 and 45 to be shot. [221] By
August, this was extended to include the entire Jewish population. [222]
In spite of efforts to prepare the country militarily, the economy could not sustain a lengthy war of
attrition. A strategy was developed based on the tactic of Blitzkrieg ("lightning war"), which involved
using quick coordinated assaults that avoided enemy strong points. Attacks began with artillery
bombardment, followed by bombing and strafing runs. Next the tanks would attack and finally the
infantry would move in to secure the captured area. [223] Victories continued through mid-1940, but the
failure to defeat Britain was the first major turning point in the war. The decision to attack the Soviet
Union and the decisive defeat at Stalingrad led to the retreat of the German armies and the eventual
loss of the war.[224] The tot