Nazi Germany

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 / 52.517°N 13.383°E / 52.517; 13.383
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)

Nazi Germany (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 to 1943, later known as the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945), is the period when Adolf Hitler 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 - 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).

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 as its leaders ran away, were arrested, or killed themselves. Some were executed for war crimes by the Western and Soviet powers. Others survived, with some of them getting 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 create 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". The Soviet Union took East Germany while the United Kingdom, France, and the United States took portions of West Germany.

1. ↑ Gailus, Manfred; Nolzen, Armin (2011). Zerstrittene »Volksgemeinschaft«: Glaube, Konfession und Religion im Nationalsozialismus. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. pp. 195–196. ISBN 978-3-647-30029-0.
2. ↑ Kolb, Eberhard The Weimar Republic London: Routledge, 2005, p. 173.
3. ↑ Hillgruber, Andreas Germany and the Two World Wars, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1981 pages 41–45.
4. ↑ Nicholls, A.J. Weimar and the Rise of Hitler, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000, pages 163–164.
5. ↑ Geyer, pp. 122–123. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGeyer (help)
6. ↑ Förster 1998, pp. 267–268. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFörster1998 (help)
7. ↑ Wheeler-Bennett, John (1967). The Nemesis of Power: The German Army in Politics 1918–1945. London, UK: Macmillan. pp. 295–96.
8. ↑ Nicholls 2000, pp. 163–164. sfn error: no target: CITEREFNicholls2000 (help)
9. ↑ Turner 1996, pp. 20–21. sfn error: no target: CITEREFTurner1996 (help)
10. ↑ Feuchtwanger, Edgar From Weimar to Hitler, London: Macmillan, 1993, pp. 252–53.
11. ↑ Geyer, Michael "Etudes in Political History: Reichswehr, NSDAP and the Seizure of Power" pp. 101–23, from The Nazi Machtergreifung, edited by Peter Stachura, London: Allen & Unwin, 1983, pp. 122–23.
12. ↑ Müller 1987, p. 28. sfn error: no target: CITEREFMüller1987 (help)
13. ↑ Bernhard, Patrick (2016-01-01). "Hitler's Africa in the East: Italian Colonialism as a Model for German Planning in Eastern Europe". Journal of Contemporary History. 51 (1): 61–90. doi:10.1177/0022009414561825. ISSN 0022-0094. S2CID 159506682.