Nazi Germany

Greater German Reich Großdeutsches Reich
← 1933–1945 →
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem Das Lied der Deutschen followed by: Horst-Wessel-Lied
Nazi Germany's expansion until 1943.
Capital	Berlin
Language(s)	German
Government	Dictatorship
Führer
- 1933-1945	Adolf Hitler
- 30 April-1 May 1945	Joseph Goebbels
Legislature	Reichstag
Historical era	Interwar period
- Established	30 January 1933
- Hitler takes office	30 January 1933
- Reichstag fire	27 February 1933
- End of World War II	8 May 1945
Currency	Reichsmark

Nazi Germany is the widely-used name given to Germany between 1933 and 1945.

This is the period when Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party controlled Germany. It is also sometimes called the Third Reich (German: Drittes Reich) which means The Third Empire or Third Realm. Nazis say they follow on from the first empire (the Holy Roman Empire) and the Second Empire of 1871-1918. However, the term was more popular in other countries. In Germany it was merely called the Reich, and was renamed the (German: Großdeutsches Reich), the Greater (that is, bigger) German State or German Realm. Hitler was the leader until its collapse in 1945, when he killed himself. The Nazi Party was destroyed in the same year as the leaders fled, were arrested or killed themselves. Some were sentenced to death and executed, others regretted themselves and condemned their past.

The name Nazi Germany was often used after its collapse to highlight the difference between the Nazi-run country, which started the war, and the new peaceful Germany.

History (Overview)

World War 2: 1939-1945

In the late 1930s, Hitler began attacking many countries and taking over them. Later, on September 1st, 1939, German forces attacked Poland, which began World War II. With over a million troops, he easily took over Poland while losing just around 59,000 soldiers. Poland lost over 900,000 due to inferior technology.

Hitler continued on and took over France in the Battle of France. On October 12, 1939, Hitler sent a letter to the United Kingdom demanding they surrender in order to avoid being invaded. However, Prime Minister at the time Winston Churchill, refused, beginning another World War. The Battle of Britain lasted throughout July to October 1940. The battle resulted in heavy losses for the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), and in early October they retreated back into Greater Germany. Hitler was unhappy and furious with the failure of the Battle and demanded that Britain be taken over one way or another. Historians today agree that the German bombing of London started when a British plane attacked a German town. Before he bombing of London, the Germans only attacked industrial and military targets, as they didn't want "aryan" civilian to die. If the Germans had kept bombing the military targets, though, Britain would have ran out of planes and surrended after a German invasion.

In 1941, Hitler gave orders to attack the Soviet Union. The first attack was codenamed "Operation Barbarossa" and went from June 22, 1941 into winter that year. The Russian winter is very harsh and many soldiers froze from the cold weather. Hitler's armies were attacking the Soviets and winning almost every battle until they fought the Soviets at Stalingrad. Before the battle, 5 Soviet soldiers were dying for each dead German soldier. This was a good ratio for the Germans. At Stalingrad, one Soviet soldier died for each German soldier. Because the Soviet Union had twice as many people as Germany, and Stalin forced every nearby man to fight the Germans to the death, that 1:1 ratio was not good for the Germans. After Stalingrad (1 million casualties on each side), the turning point of the war, the Germans lost their momentum. Too many of their soldiers were dead and wounded to fight The Soviets learned for the battle and fought better. They still people to fight, and with their massive army pushed against the better but smaller German army and conquered Berlin to win the war. In total, about 4 million German Soldiers died fighting the Soviet Union, while around 16 million Soviets died fighting the Germans.

After that, the United States, Britain, France, Soviet Union and many other countries teamed up and fought Hitler's army until it got overwhelmed. On April 30, 1945 Hitler killed himself and on 8, May 1945 the war was over. Nazi Germany was taken over by the four allied nations.

Politics and Government

Many Germans liked Nazism because it was strong, against communism, and helped the poor. Unfortunately, they didn't know about the "ethnic cleansing" going on in Eastern Europe until after the war.

Sciences and Technologies

The Nazis were very technologically advanced and had better weapons than any other European country. They also studied science. Many Nazi scientist were brought to help the US in Operation Paperclip after Germany surrended.

Religion

Only around 2% of the population in the third reich were Atheists because Hitler strongly opposed Atheism.

Culture and Society

The Nazis believed in an aryan, far-right wing culture

Armed Forces

Most soldiers were ordinary Germans fighting for Germany, not to kill "undesirables". Only a few Germans actually caused the holocaust. When the war ended, many German soldiers felt remorse after they learned about the holocaust.Only the SS "Death-head" soldiers killed people in the concentration camps. Most German soldiers fought for their country, not for Hitler. When they war ended, they were horrified at how Hitler had killed so many people.

The army was very large as the Germans were brave and nationalistic. The German army was the best in Europe and each German soldier was four times better than a Soviet soldier. The army was very technologically advanced and managed to conquer Europe that way. The Germans only got defeated because there were way more Allied soldiers and those Allied countries had more tanks, airplanes, and other weapons later in the war.