Nazi seizure of power

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 refused to participate in a coalition government unless he was its leader.^[20] 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").^[21]

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 The Reichstag Fire Decree, imposed on 28 February 1933, rescinded most civil liberties, including rights of assembly and freedom of the press.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.^[22]

On 23 March 1933, the Enabling Act, an amendment to the Weimar Constitution, passed in the Reichstag by a vote of 444 to 94.^[23] 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.^[24] 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.^[25]^[26] The Enabling Act would subsequently serve as the legal foundation for the dictatorship the Nazis established.^[27]

On 10 May, the government seized the assets of the Social Democrats, and they were banned on 22 June.^[28] 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 the Law Against the Formation of Parties, 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.^[29] Further elections in November 1933, 1936, and 1938 were Nazi-controlled, with only members of the Party and a small number of independents elected.^[30]

All civilian organisations had their leadership replaced with Nazi sympathisers or party members, and either merged with the Nazi Party or faced dissolution.^[31] 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.^[32] 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.^[33] This meant the only non-political institutions not under control of the Nazis were the churches.^[34]

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 September 1935. The Party anthem "Horst-Wessel-Lied" ("Horst Wessel Song") became a second national anthem.^[35]

Germany was still in a dire economic situation, as six million people were unemployed and the balance of trade deficit was daunting.^[36] Using deficit spending, public works projects were undertaken beginning in 1934, creating 1.7 million new jobs by the end of that year alone.^[36] Average wages began to rise.^[37]

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.^[38] 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.^[39] 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.^[40]

On 2 August 1934, Hindenburg died. The previous day, the cabinet had enacted the "Law Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich", which stated that upon Hindenburg's death the office of Reich President would be abolished and its powers merged with those of Reich Chancellor.^[41] 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.^[42] Germany was now a totalitarian state with Hitler at its head.^[43] 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.^[44] On 19 August, the merger of the presidency with the chancellorship was approved by 90 per cent of the electorate in a plebiscite.^[45]

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.^[46] 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.^[47]^[48] The first major Nazi concentration camp, initially for political prisoners, was opened at Dachau in 1933.^[49] Hundreds of camps of varying size and function were created by the end of the war.^[50]

Beginning in April 1933, scores of measures defining the status of Jews and their rights were instituted.^[51] These measures culminated in the establishment of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, which stripped them of their basic rights.^[52] 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.^[53]

Military build-up

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.^[54] 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.^[55] In a referendum held in November, 95 per cent of voters supported Germany's withdrawal.^[56]

In 1934, Hitler told his military leaders that rearmament needed to be complete by 1942, as by then the German people would require more living space and resources, so Germany would have to start a war of conquest to obtain more territory.^[57] 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.^[58] In March 1935, Hitler announced the creation of an air force, and that the Reichswehr would be increased to 550,000 men.^[59] Britain agreed to Germany building a naval fleet with the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement on 18 June 1935.^[60]

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.^[61] 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.^[62] In the one-party election held on 29 March, the Nazis received 98.9 per cent support.^[62] 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".^[63]

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.^[64] The Nationalists were victorious in 1939 and became an informal ally of Nazi Germany.^[65]

Austria and Czechoslovakia

(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.^[66]

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.^[67] Hitler decided not just to incorporate the Sudetenland into the Reich, but to destroy the country of Czechoslovakia entirely.^[68] The Nazis undertook a propaganda campaign to try to generate support for an invasion.^[69] Top German military leaders opposed the plan, as Germany was not yet ready for war.^[70]

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".^[71]

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.^[72]

Poland

In January 1934, Germany signed a non-aggression pact with Poland.^[73] 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 take action, ordered an invasion plan should be readied for September 1939.^[74] 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.^[75]

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.^[76] Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop arranged in negotiations with the Soviet Union a non-aggression pact, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, signed in August 1939.^[77] The treaty also contained secret protocols dividing Poland and the Baltic states into German and Soviet spheres of influence.^[78]

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

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.^[79] 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.^[80]^[81]^[82] By late 1942, there were 24 divisions from Romania on the Eastern Front, 10 from Italy, and 10 from Hungary.^[83] 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.^[84]

Outbreak of war

Germany invaded Poland and captured the Free City of Danzig on 1 September 1939, beginning World War II in Europe.^[85] Honouring their treaty obligations, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later.^[86] Poland fell quickly, as the Soviet Union attacked from the east on 17 September.^[87] 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.^[88] Using lists prepared in advance, some 65,000 Polish intelligentsia, noblemen, clergy, and teachers were murdered by the end of 1939 in an attempt to destroy Poland's identity as a nation.^[89]^[90] 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".^[91]

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.^[92] Thanks to trade embargoes and the blockade, imports into Germany declined by 80 per cent.^[93] 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.^[94]^[95] By early June, Germany occupied all of Norway.^[96]

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.^[97]^[98] They quickly conquered Luxembourg and the Netherlands and outmanoeuvred the Allies in Belgium, forcing the evacuation of many British and French troops at Dunkirk.^[99] France fell as well, surrendering to Germany on 22 June.^[100] The victory in France resulted in an upswing in Hitler's popularity and an upsurge in war fever in Germany.^[101]

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.^[102]

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.^[103] Payments for occupation costs were levied upon France, Belgium, and Norway.^[104] Barriers to trade led to hoarding, black markets, and uncertainty about the future.^[105] Food supplies were precarious; production dropped in most of Europe.^[106] Famine was experienced in many occupied countries.^[106]

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.^[107]^[108]^[n] 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.^[109]

In February 1941, the German Afrika Korps arrived in Libya to aid the Italians in the North African Campaign.^[110] On 6 April, Germany launched an invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece.^[111]^[112] All of Yugoslavia and parts of Greece were subsequently divided between Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Bulgaria.^[113]^[114]

Invasion of the Soviet Union

On 22 June 1941, contravening the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, about 3.8 million Axis troops attacked the Soviet Union.^[115] 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.^[116] 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.^[117]

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.^[118] 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.^[119] On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Four days later, Germany declared war on the United States.^[120]

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.^[121] 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.^[122]

Germany and Europe as a whole were almost totally dependent on foreign oil imports.^[123] In an attempt to resolve the shortage, in June 1942 Germany launched Fall Blau ("Case Blue"), an offensive against the Caucasian oilfields.^[124] The Red Army launched a counter-offensive on 19 November and encircled the Axis forces, who were trapped in Stalingrad on 23 November.^[125] Göring assured Hitler that the 6th Army could be supplied by air, but this turned out to be infeasible.^[126] 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.^[127]

Turning point and collapse

Losses continued to mount after Stalingrad, leading to a sharp reduction in the popularity of the Nazi Party and deteriorating morale.^[128] 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.^[129] In Egypt, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps were defeated by British forces under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in October 1942.^[130] The Allies landed in Sicily in July 1943 and were on the Italian peninsula by September.^[131] 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.^[132] 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.^[133]^[134] 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.^[135]

On 6 June 1944, American, British, and Canadian forces established a front in France with the D-Day landings in Normandy.^[136] On 20 July 1944, Hitler survived an assassination attempt.^[137] He ordered brutal reprisals, resulting in 7,000 arrests and the execution of more than 4,900 people.^[138] 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.^[139] 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.^[140] 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 executed.^[141] 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.^[140]

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

During the Battle of Berlin (16 April – 2 May 1945), Hitler and his staff lived in the underground Führerbunker while the Red Army approached.^[142] On 30 April, when Soviet troops were within two blocks of the Reich Chancellery, Hitler and his wife Eva Braun committed suicide.^[143] On 2 May, General Helmuth Weidling unconditionally surrendered Berlin to Soviet General Vasily Chuikov.^[144] Hitler was succeeded by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as Reich President and Goebbels as Reich Chancellor.^[145] Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide the next day after murdering their six children.^[146] 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.^[147]

Popular support for Hitler almost completely disappeared as the war drew to a close.^[148] 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.^[149] More than a thousand people (out of a population of around 16,000) committed suicide in Demmin 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),^[150] and Berlin, where at least 7,057 people committed suicide in 1945.^[151]

German casualties

Estimates of the total German war dead range from 5.5 to 6.9 million persons.^[152] 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.^[153] Richard Overy estimated in 2014 that about 353,000 civilians were killed in Allied air raids.^[154] Other civilian deaths include 300,000 Germans (including Jews) who were victims of Nazi political, racial, and religious persecution^[155] and 200,000 who were murdered in the Nazi euthanasia program.^[156] Political courts called Sondergerichte sentenced some 12,000 members of the German resistance to death, and civil courts sentenced an additional 40,000 Germans.^[157] Mass rapes of German women also took place.^[158]