Nazi Rule in Germany 
1933 - 1945

Historical background 
of collectible items
issued during the German Nazi Rule

1918 - 1933 The time before Nazi Rule

The peace treaty of Versailles 1919 condemned Germany to pay high reparations. These were payments for war damages caused by Germany and its allies. The Treaty said that Germany was the main responsible country for the begining of World War I. Germany lost also large parts of its country like West Prussia, North Slesvig, the corridore to East Prussia, Danzig, Eupen and Malmedy, parts of Oberschlesien, Memel and so on.
Most Germans were angry about this Treaty. So this was not a good startup for the young german demoracy known as the Weimarer Republic. This not stable Republic went from one crisis to crisis.

In the 1920s in Europe the wave of the future appeared to be a form of nationalistic, militaristic totalitarianism known by its Italian name, fascism. Benito Mussolini established the first Fascist dictatorship in Italy in 1922.
A lot of European states followed with a nationalistic, militaristic totalitarianism governments:
1922 Turkey, 1926 Poland, 1926 Portugal, 1929 Yugoslavia, 1933 Germany, 1933 Austria, 1934 Bulgaria, 1934 Estonia and Lettland, 1936 Lietuva, 1936 Spain, 1936 Greece,  1938 Romania.

In the early 1930s, the depression and a high unemployment hit Germany. The moderate parties could not agree on what to do about it, and large numbers of voters turned to the Nazis and Communists. 
Since 1930 the german president operated the government by emergency decree. The first German chancellor of this period was Brüning who ruled Germany 1930 - 1932. He was followed by von Papen's "cabinett of barons" and at last by Kurt von Schleicher.

1933 - 1939

In 1933 Hitler became the German chancellor with the help of the former nationalist chancellor von Papen and the agreement of the very old German nationlist president General Feldmarschall von Hindenburg who had been the most famous general of World War I. 
Only a few months later Hitler was the dictator of Germany who ruled Germany alone and had banned all political parties except his own NSDAP. By the summer of 1933, the Nazi Party was in complete control of the country.

This was the startup of one of the worst times of German and World history. Under the rule of the tyrant Hitler and his followers millions of people lost their live in war. The Nazis also slaughtered millions of Jews, Sinti and Roma (Gypsies), Slavic peoples, and many others, all of whom they considered inferior or didn't agree to national socialist ideology. This period changed the World completely, brought the communists into the middle of Europe and formed the post World War II main powers USA and USSR.

A few weeks before Hindenburg's death the leader of Nazi organization SA (Sturmabteilung) and some other people who would have become dangerous for Hitler's lonely rule were killed. This episode was called "Röhm Putsch". Hitler could now rule Germany without any competitor. 
In the 1930s Hitler and his Nazis were very successful solving some problems and conquer the whole life of Germany with their ideology. 
They overturned the Versailles Treaty. They solved the problem of unemployment. Existing social, economic, and professional organizations were quickly taken over by individuals either already in the party or who would quickly join it. For the most part, leaders of Germany's Protestant and Catholic churches rallied to the new government. Schools taught their Nazi ideology and filled German youth with enthusiasm.

Domestic Policy

One of the great successes of the Nazis was that they solved the problem of unemployment. They solved this problem with smaller wages, building of highways, unification of all labor unions under the German Labor Front under Nazi controll and with the process of German rearmament.
The economy, the media, and all cultural activities were brought under the authority of National Socialists. 1933 all books of anti-Nazis and jewish authors were burnt. Thousands of very important persons of cultural life and science left Germany. Some of these very important scientists helped some years later the USA to bulid the atom bomb. Thousands of anti-Nazis were taken to concentration camps and all signs of dissent were suppressed.
It was also a great triumph for the Nazis to celebrate 1936 the Olympic Games in Berlin.

The first discriminatory laws against Jews came in 1933. These laws barred Jews from government employment and restricted their admission to universities. In subsequent years, the anti-Semitic laws became increasingly harsh. At the end the Jews were rightless and nearly all was forbidden for them. So they didn't have the right to own pets, drive a car or to use the train.
These events culminated in Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"), the night of November 9, 1938, when Nazi mobs killed dozens of Jews, smashed thousands of windows in Jewish neighborhoods, and set fire to almost all Jewish houses of worship throughout Germany. Following Kristallnacht, the Nazis sent more and more Jews to concentration camps. Hundreds of thousands of others fled the country.
Also 1938 Hitler got the German army totally under his control. The military minister Blomberg and the chief of the German army von Fritsch had to resign after Nazi intrigues.

Foreign Affairs

Starting in 1933, Hitler began the process of German rearmament and militarization.
The Nazis introduced 1935 universal compulsary military service. One year later the German Army (Wehrmacht) marched into the german not militarized zone left of the river Rhine. 
The reaction of France and Great Britain was very low. If the response of the France would have been a military response then the small German army would have retreated within a few hours. This would perhaps have caused the end of the German Nazi rule. This low reaction was the greatest mistake of the Eurpoean democracies. Hitler told later these hours his most exciting hours of his whole life.
1936 Hitler formed a Military Alliance with Mussolini's facism Italy called the Axis. In 1940 the Rome-Berlin Axis was extended to include Japan and became the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis.

Annex of Austria 1938

By 1937 Hitler was openly threatening the Austrian government and massing troops along the Austrian border. In March 1938 the Austrian Schuschnigg chancellor and dictator resigned and was replaced by the member of the Austrian Nazi Party Seyss Inquart. On March 12, Hitler ordered his army to march into Austria. They met no resistance, and the following day in Vienna, Hitler proclaimed the official union of Austria and Germany.

Annex of Sudetenland, Böhmen & Mähren, Memel 1938 / 1939

Threats against Poland

Also in March 1939 Hitler demanded an exterritorial connection between the German East Prussia and the German Empire. Both parts of Germany were seperated by a corridore which was part of Poland.
The Poles didn't accept this and were unwilling to surrender without a fight.
The Nazis now portrayed ethnic Germans in Poland like a year before in Czechoslovakia as victims of repression and discrimination at the hands of the Polands. 
Britains and French said they would declare Germany war if it would attack Poland. 
So German diplomacy made a deal with Stalin's USSR. The USSR had only to remain neutral in case of a German conflict with another nation. Both planed also to split eastern Europe between Germany and the USSR. This treaty was signed on August 23, 1939.
Now the Nazis had free hands to attack Poland.

1939 - 1941 Begin of World War II - The Blitzkrieg

Occupation of Poland 1939

France made during this time only some small symbolic attacks at the German west front.
The war between France and Germany felt nearly asleep for months after the occupation of Poland.

Occupation of  Denmark and Norway 1940

In spring 1940 the German army occupied Denmark and Norway. Britain planed also an action against Norway because it was of so large strategic importance. But Germany was faster than Britain.
British troops also invaded Norway a few days after German invasion but were defeated by german troops.

Occupation of  Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and France 1940 - The greatest victory of the German army

On May 10, 1940 the German troops started the invasion of France and the neutral countries Netherlands, Luxembourg  and Belgium. Netherlands had to surrender after only five days. 

The best German tanks made an attack through the difficult passable Ardennes. The Allies didn't think that there could be made a tank attack. After the Germans tanks had passed the Ardennes they advanced very fast to the Channel Coast. Now all allied troops with hundred of thousands soldiers north of this attack were encircled. They withdrawed to Dunkerque. The British Navy rescued with much effort large parts of this troops. They evacuated them to Britain with each ship they could get. But Germany had won this campaign. The Germans conquered in the following weeks French capital Paris and the most part of France until France surrendered on June 22.

On June 10 Italy declared war to France and Britain. Now Italy was partner of Germany in this cruel war.

War in Africa 1940 / 1941

Until February 1941 British troops could conquer large parts of Lybia. But then the German "Afrikakorps" a small modern army with a lot of tanks helped Italy. The general of the Afrikakorps was the famous German general Erwin Rommel also known as "Wüstenfuchs". The Aftrikakorps attacked the British army and advanced very fast to the border of Egypt where the British army stopped them.

German Air Attack against Britain 1940 /1941

First German air planes bombed these air places. This became very dangerous for the Royal Air Force (RAF) . It was the idea of Churchill to bomb civil targets of the german capital Berlin. This was not very effective and Britain lost a lot of bombers but Hitler was silly enough to become so angry about this that he ordered to attack civil targets in London. So got the RAF the breather that it needed so much and won this battle in the end.

At the end of 1940 Hitler stopped his plans of invasion of the British islands. His next target was Russia.
But Italy attacked Greece..

Occupation of  Yugoslavia and Greece 1941

At the end of 1940 Mussolini wanted to imitate the so successful attacks of Germany. Since 1939 Albania was part of Italy. Mussolini wanted to annex parts of Greece. So he declared war to Greece and attacked Greece with his army. But the Greece army repulsed and conquered large parts of Albania.
The Britains began now to support Greece. This became dangerous for the Romanian oil resources which were needed so much by Germany. So Hitler decided to attack Greece in spring 1941.

Stamp issued by German occupied Serbia which was a state of Yugoslavia

The South Eastern European states Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania agreed to support Germany in this war against Greece. But a pro British coup in Yugoslavia in March 1941 changed the situation.  Now Germany had to attack Yugoslavia and Greece. Germany started with the help of Italy and the other allies again a Blitzkrieg and occupied Yugoslavia within a few days and Greece only after a few weeks.

War against the USSR 1941

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1942 German Nazis on the Height of their Might and the Change

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1943 - 1944 The big Defeats of Germany and the Cruelties of Holocaust

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1945 The end of World War II and a new Begin

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