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; commonly simply called **Germany**), was Germany between 1933 and 1945. Adolf Hitler (the Nazi leader, or _Führer_) and the Nazi Party controlled the country as a dictatorship that invaded and took over other countries. While the government did this, they also perpetrated The Holocaust, a systematic genocide of Jewish people and other unwanted groups in many parts of Europe. It is also sometimes called the **Third Reich** (), which means the 'Third Empire' or 'Third Realm'. The first German empire was the Holy Roman Empire which started in the year 800 or 962 until it ended in 1806 in the Napoleonic Wars. The second was the German Empire of 1871 to 1918 which ended in 1918 when Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated the throne when the Weimar Republic started in 1918. The Nazis said they were making the third, even though it was not a monarchy. 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 ().

Adolf Hitler led Nazi Germany until it was defeated in World War II in the Battle of Berlin, 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. 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

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.  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. 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
- Government of Nazi Germany

## Infobox (former country)

- **conventional long name**: German Reich <hr />Greater German Reich
- **common name**: Germany
- **era**: Interwar period, Interwar/World War II
- **event start**: Nazi Party, Seizure of Power
- **year start**: 1933
- **date start**: 30 January
- **event1**: Enabling Act
- **date event1**: 23 March 1933
- **event2**: Anschluss
- **date event2**: 12 March 1938
- **event3**: World War II
- **date event3**: 1 September 1939
- **event4**: Death of Adolf Hitler, Death of Hitler
- **date event4**: 30 April 1945
- **event5**: Wehrmacht, Surrender
- **date event5**: 8 May 1945
- **event end**: Nazi Party, Final dissolution
- **year end**: 1945
- **date end**: 23 May
- **legislature**: _Nazi Party, Großdeutscher Reichstag_
- **house1**: _Nazi Party, Reichsrat_ (abolished in 1934)
- **type house1**: State council
- **p1**: Weimar Republic
- **flag p1**: Flag of Germany (3-2 aspect ratio).svg
- **p2**: Territory of the Saar BasinSaar Basin
- **flag p2**: Flag of Saar 1920-1935.svg
- **p3**: Federal State of AustriaAustria
- **flag p3**: Flag of Austria.svg
- **p4**: First Czechoslovak RepublicCzechoslovakia
- **flag p4**: Flag of the Czech Republic.svg
- **p5**: Lithuania
- **flag p5**: Flag of Lithuania.svg
- **p6**: Second Polish RepublicPoland
- **flag p6**: Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg
- **p7**: Free City of DanzigDanzig
- **flag p7**: Flag of the Free City of Danzig.svg
- **p8**: Kingdom of YugoslaviaYugoslavia
- **flag p8**: Flag of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (state).svg
- **p9**: French Third RepublicFrance
- **flag p9**: Flag of France (1794-1815).svg
- **p10**: Luxembourg
- **flag p10**: Flag of Luxembourg.svg
- **s1**: Allied-occupied GermanyOccupied Germany
- **flag s1**: Flag of Germany (1946-1949).svg
- **border s1**: no
- **s2**: Allied-occupied AustriaOccupied Austria
- **flag s2**: Flag of Austria.svg
- **s3**: Polish People's Republic
- **flag s3**: Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg
- **s4**: Czechoslovakia
- **flag s4**: Flag of the Czech Republic.svg
- **s5**: Democratic Federal YugoslaviaYugoslavia
- **flag s5**: Flag of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia.svg
- **s6**: Provisional Government of the French RepublicFrance
- **flag s6**: Flag of France (1794-1815).svg
- **s7**: Luxembourg
- **flag s7**: Flag of Luxembourg.svg
- **s8**: Soviet Union
- **flag s8**: Flag of the Soviet Union (1936-1955).svg
- **image flag**:
- **flag caption**: Flag (1935–1945)
- **flag type**:

- **other symbol**:
- **other symbol type**: Coat of arms of Germany#Nazi Germany, Emblem of the German Reich:
- **image map**: File:Greater German Reich (1942).svg
- **image map caption**: Germany's territorial control at its greatest
- **image map2**: File:Grossdeutsches Reich Staatliche Administration 1944.png
- **image map2 caption**: Administrative divisions of Germany, July 1944
- **anthems**:
_Das Lied der Deutschen_

**and** _Horst-Wessel-Lied_

- **capital**: Berlin
- **common languages**: German language, German
- **government type**: _Reichswehr, Wehrstaat_
(Wehrmacht, Military State)<hr>Unitary Nazism, Nazi one-party state, single-party totalitarianism, totalitarian military state
- **title leader**: Adolf Hitler, Head of State
- **leader1**: Paul von Hindenburg
- **year leader1**: 1933–1934
- **leader2**: Adolf Hitler
- **year leader2**: 1934–1945
- **leader3**: Karl Dönitz
- **year leader3**: 1945
- **title deputy**: Adolf Hitler, Chancellor
- **deputy1**: Adolf Hitler
- **year deputy1**: 1933–1934
- **deputy2**: Joseph Goebbels
- **year deputy2**: 1945
- **deputy3**: Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
- **year deputy3**: 1945
- **stat area1**: 633,786
- **stat year1**: 1939
- **stat year2**: 1940
- **stat pop2**: 109,518,183
- **currency**: _Reichsmark_ (ℛℳ)
- **footnote a**: Officially "_Großdeutsches Reich_"
("Greater German Reich"), 1943–1945.
- **footnote b**: Officially "_Großdeutscher Reichstag_"
("Diet (assembly), Diet of the Greater German Reich"), 1938–1945.
- **demonym**: German
- **gdp ppp**: $412.000 billion
- **gdp ppp year**: 1941
- **stat area2**: 823,505
- **stat pop1**: 79,375,281
- **religion**: _1939 census_
**Majority:**
94.5% Christian
(Protestant, Roman Catholic)
**Minorities:**
3.5% _Nazi, Gottgläubig_
1.5% Irreligion, Irreligious
0.4% Jewish
0.1% Other religions
- **footnote c**: Formally titled "Leading Minister" or "Chief Minister" (_Leitender Minister_)
- **largest city**: capital