Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany (officially known as the German Third Reich from 1933 to 1943, later known as the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945), is the period when Adolf Hitler (the Nazi leader) and the Nazi Party controlled Germany. It is also sometimes called the Third Reich (German: Drittes Reich), which means the 'Third Empire' or 'Third Realm'. The first German empire was the Holy Roman Empire which lasted from the year 800 or 962 until it collapsed in 1806 in the Napoleonic Wars. The second was the German Empire of 1871 to 1918 which collapsed in 1918 when Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate the throne when the Weimar Republic was formed in 1918. The Nazis said they were making the third, even if itself never was the monarchy at all. However, the term 'Third Reich' was more popular in other countries. In Germany it was merely The Reich (pronounced 'rike') or the Greater German Reich (German: Großdeutsches Reich).

German Reich (1933–1943) Deutsches Reich Greater German Reich (1943–1945) Großdeutsches Reich
1933–1945
Flag (1935–1945)
Anthems:  Das Lied der Deutschen ("The Song of the Germans") and Horst-Wessel-Lied ("The Horst Wessel Song")
Emblem of the German Reich:
Germany's territorial control at its greatest extent during World War II (late 1942):   Germany proper   Civilian-administered occupied territories   Military-administered occupied territories
Administrative divisions of Germany, July 1944
Capital and largest city	Berlin 52°31′N 13°23′E
Common languages	German
Religion	1939 census[1] Majority: 94.5% Christian (Protestant, Roman Catholic) Minorities: 3.5% Gottgläubig 1.5% Irreligious 0.4% Jewish 0.1% Other religions
Demonym(s)	German
Government	Wehrstaat[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] (Military State) Unitary Nazi single-party totalitarian military state
Head of State
• 1933–1934	Paul von Hindenburg[a]
• 1934–1945	Adolf Hitler[b]
• 1945	Karl Dönitz[a]
Chancellor
• 1933–1934	Adolf Hitler
• 1945	Joseph Goebbels
• 1945	Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk[1]
Legislature	Großdeutscher Reichstag[b]
• State council	Reichsrat (abolished in 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[c]	633,786 km2 (244,706 sq mi)
1940	823,505 km2 (317,957 sq mi)
Population
• 1939	79,375,281
• 1940[d]	109,518,183
GDP (PPP)	1941 estimate
• Total	$412.000 billion
Currency	Reichsmark (ℛℳ)
ISO 3166 code	DE
Preceded by Succeeded by Weimar Republic Saar Basin Austria Czechoslovakia Lithuania Poland Danzig Yugoslavia France Luxembourg Occupied Germany Occupied Austria Polish People's Republic Czechoslovakia Yugoslavia France Luxembourg Soviet Union
^ Officially "Großdeutsches Reich" ("Greater German Reich"), 1943–1945. ^ Officially "Großdeutscher Reichstag" ("Diet of the Greater German Reich"), 1938–1945. ^ Formally titled "Leading Minister" or "Chief Minister" (Leitender Minister)

Adolf Hitler led Nazi Germany until it was defeated in World War II in the Battle of Berlin^{[broken anchor]}, when he killed himself in 1945. The Nazi Party was destroyed in the same year. Its leaders ran away, were arrested, or killed themselves. Some were executed for war crimes by the Allied powers. Other leaders survived, and some of them got important jobs. However, their racial policies never again held power in Germany.

The Nazi government was formed under the idea that the "Aryan race" (pure white Germans) deserved to rule over all other races. This idea gained respect after the Great Depression made many important Germans poor and powerless. Hitler blamed the problems on Jews, communists, liberals, and many others. He made many Germans feel like they were innocent victims who had to take charge over Europe. The Nazis also tried to make an empire with colonies, and used their ally Italy's colonies in Africa as a model.^[13] When the Nazi government was destroyed at the end of World War II, Germany was split into four "occupation zones" which later became East Germany and West Germany.

History

Further information: History of Germany § 1938 and after, and The Holocaust

The Nazis came to power in 1933 and made their power absolute with an "Enabling Act of 1933" and an unfair referendum. They centralized Germany, replacing local self-government. They strengthened the economy by doing business with the Soviet Union and foreign companies like General Motors and IBM.^[14] They put the Schutzstaffel in control of the local police, and started the Gestapo to find, jail, and kill political enemies. They immediately banned Jews from important jobs, and soon restricted them in other ways. After a few years they expanded the Wehrmacht and built the armed forces far beyond the limits of the Treaty of Versailles. They also cooperated and made agreements with Italy and Japan.

World War II: 1939-1945

On September 1st, 1939, German forces attacked Poland, which began World War II. With over a million troops, Hitler's army easily took over Poland, losing about 59,000 soldiers. Their country was also attacked by the Soviet Union from the east.^[15] Poland lost over 900,000 soldiers. On October 12, 1939, Hitler sent a letter to the United Kingdom promising peace. The British continued the war. Hitler conquered France in the Battle of France. Then he sent the Luftwaffe to attack England. Winston Churchill, now Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, did not surrender. The Battle of Britain lasted from July to October 1940. When it failed, Hitler ordered the mass bombardment of London. That also failed, and Hitler decided to face east for his racial war of destroying the Slavs and Jews. This gave Britain time to regain power.

In 1941, Hitler ordered "Operation Barbarossa." It lasted from June 22, 1941 until December 5, 1941. Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, had weakened his army with his Great Purges, which had killed many Russian officers before the war. During Operation Barbarossa, many more Soviet soldiers died than Germans. At Stalingrad, however, about a million soldiers died on each side. While the Soviet Union could replace its losses, Germany could not.

After Stalingrad, the Germans lost their momentum. The Soviets learned from the long campaigns, fought better, and gained many new weapons from very efficient factories. The United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union fought together, and pushed against the smaller German army. In May 1945, they took over Berlin to win the war. Many people from all sides of the war died fighting in Europe, including:

• Around one million German soldiers.
• About one million French, British, and American soldiers.

While fighting in the Eastern Front:

• About 5 million German soldiers, and soldiers from other fascist countries died.
• About 7 million Soviet soldiers died fighting against them.
• About 2 million Soviet soldiers died in Nazi concentration camps and prisoner of war camps from starvation, disease, freezing to death, and executions.

Related pages

• Independent State of Croatia
• Anti-Judaism and antisemitism
• List of Nazi concentration camps