A illustrative map showing the face of Europe during the height of Nazi domination under Hitler’s rule between 1939 and 1945. This page and the map are intended not to praise the Nazi rule but only to show the geographic extents of the deadly regime in Europe for educational purpose only.
One of the darkest and deadliest phases in the World History is the domination of Hitler’s regime from 1920s to 1945, when it went on capturing most of the European countries, and wiping out less than half of the world Jewish population alone. The Nazi Germany power rose to its peak during World War II, which finally ended after Soviet Union regained its power, a retaliating fight against Nazis of 3-years, suicide of Hitler, and final surrendering of Nazis in front of the Red Army in Berlin. The total number of non-combatants (civilians who are not taking a direct part in war) deliberately killed by the Germans were about 11 million, a figure that rises to more than 12 million if foreseeable deaths from deportation, hunger, and sentences in concentration camps are included.The Rise and Fall of the Nazi Germany
At the height of its domination, Hitler ruled Nazi Germany occupied most of the European countries at various times between 1939 and 1945. Hitler’s victory-journey started in March 1938 when the Nazis occupied Austria. Later the same year they marched into the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia, and in March 1939 the German army invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. This brought over half a million Jews under German controlThe German invasion of Western Poland in September 1939 led to the start of the World War-II. The German army continued invading and occupied many other European countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, Yugoslavia, Greece, Norway and Western Poland. By this time many millions of Jews were living in territories under German control.
Control of Nazi occupied territories was very critical. The Nazis often left local governments in place, provided they were either sympathetic or could be easily manipulated (called puppet regimes). Each occupied nation was appointed a Gauleiter – a senior Nazi official who ruled in the manner of a governor. The level of control and force wielded in each occupied country was often based on Hitler’s personal perception of it. Economies in occupied countries were forced to assist the Nazi war effort, with cheap supplies and labour. There were also social restrictions, such as control of the press, obligatory identity cards, checkpoints and curfews.
The most brutal Nazi occupation was in Poland. In September 1939 the Polish state was divided in two, with the invading Germans occupying the western half and the Soviet Union’s Red Army occupying the east. By early 1941 most Polish Jews population had been forced out of their homes and herded into ghettos and slave labour.
By the summer of 1940, the Nazis controlled much of Western Europe, including eastern France, the Baltic States. This occupation would not change significantly until the D-Day landings and the Soviet Union’s counter attack of 1944. Riding on the victory-journey, the Nazis continued moving towards east and invaded Soviet Union. By early December, 1941, the German stood less than 30 km from the Kremlin, (Moscow center) and they were able to see some of Moscow’s buildings with binoculars. But after being mired in a war of attrition deep into the Soviet Union for nearly 3 years, the Nazi offensive was no longer sustainable. Under the leadership of the Soviet leader Stalin, the Red Army planned winter offensive to teach lessons to the Nazi Germans. When the invasion began in the summer of 1941, Hitler took it for granted that victory would be swift, not preparing a contingency plan for a prolonged battle in harsh, Russian winter conditions. By early 1944, the Germans could not sustain their siege on the USSR any longer, and were forced into an all-out retreat. Suffering from a high loss of life and lack of supplies (due to continued attacks on supply lines), the Nazi army was also severely weakened, making it ripe for pursuing Soviet forces
By April 1945 the Soviet forces fought their way into the center of Berlin. Unable to bear the humiliating defeat from the Soviet Red Army, followed by the news of execution of Mussolini, Hitler presumably decided to finish himself to avoid his capture. On 29 April 1945, in a small civil ceremony in the Führerbunker, Hitler married Eva Braun and then on the very next day, he committed suicide by taking cyanide and shooting himself. The Nazi German forces then surrendered in front of the Soviet forces in Berlin on 2 May 1945.
