Nazi Germany
or the
Third Reich
(
German
:
Drittes Reich
) wis the period in the history o
Germany
frae 1933 tae 1945, whan it wis a
dictatorship
unner the control o
Adolf Hitler
an the
Nazi Pairty
(NSDAP). Unner Hitler's rule, Germany wis transformed intae a
fascist
totalitarian state
that
controlled
nearly aw aspects o life. Nazi Germany ceased tae exist efter the
Allied Forces
defeatit Germany in Mey 1945, endin
Warld War II in Europe
.
Hitler wis appyntit
Chancellor o Germany
bi the Preses o the
Weimar Republic
Paul von Hindenburg
on 30 Januar 1933. The Nazi Pairty then begoud tae eliminate aw poleetical opposition an consolidate its pouer. Hindenburg dee'd on 2 August 1934 an Hitler becam dictator o Germany bi mergin the offices an pouers o the Chancellery an Presidency. A naitional
referendum held 19 August 1934
confirmed Hitler as sole
Fuhrer
(leader) o Germany. Aw pouer wis centralised in Hitler's person an his wird becam abuin aw laws. The govrenment wis nae a coordinatit, co-operatin bouk, but a collection o factions strugglin for pouer an Hitler's favour. In the midst o the
Great Depression
, the Nazis restored economic stability an endit mass unemployment uisin hivy militar spendin an a
mixed economy
. Extensive public warks war undertaken, includin the construction o
Autobahnen
(motorweys). The return tae economic stability boostit the regime's popularity.
Racism, especially
antisemitism
, wis a central featur o the regime. The
Germanic fowks
(the
Nordic race
) war conseedert bi the Nazis tae be the purest brainch o the
Aryan race
an war tharefore viewed as the
maister race
. Millions o
Jews
an
ither fowks
deemed undesirable bi the state war murthert in
the Holocaust
.
Opposeetion
tae Hitler's rule wis ruthlessly suppressed. Members o the leeberal, socialist, an communist opposition war killt, impreesoned, or exiled. Christian kirks war oppressed, wi mony leaders impreesoned. Eddication focused on
racial biology
, population policy, an fitness for militar service. Career an eddicational opportunities for weemen
war curtailed
. Recreaution an tourism war organised via the
Strenth Throu Jey
programme, an the
1936 Simmer Olympics
shawcased the Third
Reich
on the internaitional stage.
Propaganda
meenister
Joseph Goebbels
made effective uise o film, mass rallies, an Hitler's hypnotic oratory tae influence public opeenion. The govrenment controlled airtistic expression, promotin speceefic airt forms an bannin or discouragin ithers.
Beginnin in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasinly aggressive territorial demands, threitenin war if thay war nae met. It seized
Austrick
an
Czechoslovakie
in 1938 an 1939. Hitler made
a non-aggression pact
wi
Joseph Stalin
an
invadit Poland
in September 1939, launchin Warld War II in Europe. In alliance wi Italy an smawer
Axis pouers
, Germany conquered maist o Europe bi 1940 an threitened the UK.
Reichskommissariats
teuk control o conquered auries an a
German admeenistration
wis established in whit wis left o Poland. Jews an ithers deemed undesirable war impreesoned, murthert in
Nazi concentration camps
an
extermination camps
, or shot.
Follaein the
German invasion
o the
Soviet Union
in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, that suffered major military defeats in 1943. Lairge-scale aerial bombin o Germany escalatit in 1944 an the Axis pouers war pushed back in Eastren an Soothren Europe. Follaein the
Allied invasion o France
, Germany wis conquered bi the Soviet Union frae the east an the
ither Allied pouers
frae the wast an capitulatit within a year. Hitler's refuisal te admit defeat led tae massive destruction o German infrastructur an addeetional war-relatit daiths in the closin months o the war. The veectorious Allies ineetiatit a policy o
denazification
an put mony o the survivin Nazi leadership on trial for
war crimes
at the
Nuremberg trials
.
- ↑
Includin de facto
annexed/incorporatit territories
.
- ↑
The office formally acame vacant on Hitler's daith. His titles war
Fuhrer und Reichskanzler
frae August 1934. See
Gesetz uber das Staatsoberhaupt 1934
.
- ↑
In 1939, afore Germany acquired control o the last twa regions which had been in its control afore the Versailles Treaty?Alsace-Lorraine, Danzig, an the Pols Corridor?its aurie wis 633,786 square kilometre (244,706 sq mi). See
Statistisches Jahrbuch 2006
.
Coordinates
:
52°31′N
13°24′E
/
52.517°N 13.400°E
/
52.517; 13.400