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: 1939-1941

In the late 1930s, Hitler began attacking many countries and taking over them. Later, on September 1st, 1939, he 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.

Hitler continued on and took over France in the Battle of France. Afterwards, on October 12, 1939, Hitler sent a letter to the United Kingdom demanding they surrender and that if they do surrender, the Germans won't do anything bad to them. However, Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister at the time refused and the Battle of Britain began.

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.

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. Russian winter is very harsh and many soldiers got sick from the cold weather. Hitler lost 250,000 men, over 2,000 aircraft and over 2,500 tanks until December 5, 1941 when Hitler's soldiers couldn't last longer there and were pushed back by the Russian defenders. Hitler, although a good strategist, had not thought this plan through and ended up losing over 20% of his army of 3.9 million.

After that, the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union teamed up and fought Hitler's army. 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.

Religion

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

Armed Forces

The army was very large because Hitler as wanted to attack other nations.