Areas annexed by Nazi Germany

There were many areas annexed by Nazi Germany both immediately before and throughout the course of World War II. Territories that were part of Germany before the annexations were known as the "Altreich" (Old Reich).[1]

Adolf Hitler greeted by cheering crowds in Vienna, following the annexation of Austria into the III Reich, 15 March 1938
Execution of local Polish people in the town of Kórnik, after the German invasion of Poland, 20 October 1939
Clockwise from the north: Memel, Danzig, Polish territories, General Government, Sudetenland, Bohemia-Moravia, Ostmark (Anschluss), Northern Slovenia, Adriatic littoral, Alpine foothills, Alsace-Lorraine, Luxembourg, Eupen-Malmédy, Wallonia, Flanders, Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Brussels. The areas in light green were the fully annexed territories, while those in dark green were the partially incorporated territories. The territory of Germany before 1938 is shown in blue.

Fully annexed territories

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German-occupied Europe at the height of the Axis conquests in 1942
 
Gaue, Reichsgaue and other administrative divisions of Germany proper in January 1944

According to the Treaty of Versailles, the Territory of the Saar Basin was split from Germany for at least 15 years. In 1935, the Saarland rejoined Germany in a lawful way after a plebiscite.

The territories listed below are those that were fully annexed into Germany proper.

Areas annexed by Germany
Date of annexation Annexed area Succeeded by
13 Mar 1938   Federal State of Austria   Reichsgau Carinthia
  Reichsgau Lower Danube
  Reichsgau Salzburg
  Reichsgau Styria
  Reichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg
  Reichsgau Upper Danube
  Reichsgau Vienna
1 Oct 1938   Sudetenland, Bohemia, Czechoslovak Republic   Gau Bavarian Eastern March
  Reichsgau Upper Danube
  Reichsgau Lower Danube
  Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of the Sudetenland
  Sudetenland, Moravia-Silesia, Czechoslovak Republic   Reichsgau Lower Danube
  Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of the Sudetenland
16 Mar 1939   Czechoslovak Republic   Gau Bavarian Eastern March
  Reichsgau Lower Danube
  Reichsgau Sudetenland
  Reichsgau Upper Danube
22 Mar 1939   Klaipėda Region, Republic of Lithuania   Gau East Prussia
1 Sep 1939   Free City of Danzig   Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of Danzig
26 Oct 1939   Military Administration in Poland   Gau East Prussia
  Gau Silesia
  Reichsgau Posen
  Reichsgau West Prussia
9 Nov 1939   Łódź, General Government   Reichsgau Posen
19 May 1940   Eupen-Malmedy, Liège, Wallonia, Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France   Gau Cologne-Aachen
2 Aug 1940   Military Administration of Luxembourg   Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of Luxembourg
2 Aug 1940   Moselle, French State   Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of Lorraine
  Bas-Rhin, French State   Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of Alsace
  Haut-Rhin, French State
13 May 1941   Military Administration in Yugoslavia   Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of Carinthia and Carniola
  Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of Lower Styria
13 Jun 1941   Ocinje, Kramarovci, Fikšinci and Serdica from the Kingdom of Hungary   Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of Lower Styria
1 Aug 1941   Military Administration in the Soviet Union   Bialystok District
1 Nov 1941   Grodno, Reichskommissariat Ostland   Bialystok District
15 Dec 1944   Dunkirk, Nord, Provisional Government of the French Republic   Reichsgau Flanders
  Wallonia, Kingdom of Belgium   Reichsgau Wallonia

Partially incorporated territories

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The territories listed below are those that were partially incorporated into the Greater German Reich.

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Date of establishment Preceded by Succeeded by
16 Mar 1939   Czechoslovak Republic   Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia[2]
General Government for the Occupied Polish Territories / General Government
Date of establishment Preceded by Succeeded by
26 Oct 1939   Military Administration in Poland   General Government for the Occupied Polish Territories
1 Aug 1941   Military Administration in the Soviet Union   District of Galicia, General Government
  Kraków District, General Government
Operational zones
Date of establishment Preceded by Succeeded by
10 Sep 1943   Province of Gorizia, Kingdom of Italy   Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral
  Province of Ljubljana, Kingdom of Italy
  Province of Pola, Kingdom of Italy
  Province of Fiume, Kingdom of Italy
  Province of Trieste, Kingdom of Italy
  Province of Udine, Kingdom of Italy
  Province of Belluno, Kingdom of Italy   Operational Zone of the Alpine Foothills
  Province of Bolzano, Kingdom of Italy
  Province of Trento, Kingdom of Italy

Planned annexations

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Areas announced for annexation to Germany
Date of announcement of annexation Area planned to be annexed Planned succession
Never. The areas were to be established from the
Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France
(established 12 July 1944), but this never happened.
  Kingdom of Belgium (occupied by the
  Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France)
  District of Brussels
  Reichsgau Flanders
  Reichsgau Wallonia

In the coming Nazi New Order, other lands were considered for annexation sooner or later, for instance North Schleswig, German-speaking Switzerland, and the zone of intended German settlement in north-eastern France, where a Gau or a Reichskommissariat centred on Burgundy was intended for creation, and which Heinrich Himmler wanted to turn into the SS's very own fiefdom. The goal was to unite all or as many as possible ethnic Germans and Germanic peoples, including non-Germanic speaking ones considered "Aryans", in a Greater Germanic Reich.[citation needed]

The eastern Reichskommissariats in the vast stretches of Ukraine and Russia were also intended for future integration into that Reich, with plans for them stretching to the Volga or even beyond the Urals, where the potential westernmost reaches of Imperial Japanese influence would have existed, following an Axis victory in World War II. They were deemed of vital interest for the survival of the German nation, as it was a core tenet of Nazism that Germany needed "living space" (Lebensraum), creating a "pull towards the East" (Drang nach Osten) where that could be found and colonized.

North-East Italy was also eventually to be annexed, including both the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral and the Operational Zone of the Alpine Foothills, but also the Venice region.[3][4] Goebbels went as far as to suggest taking control of Lombardy as well:

Whatever was once an Austrian possession we must get back into our own hands. The Italians by their infidelity and treachery have lost any claim to a national state of the modern type. — Joseph Goebbels, September 1943 [5]

The annexation of the entire North Italy was also suggested in the long run.[6]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Kaplan, Marion A. (1999). Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in Nazi Germany. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-983905-6.
  2. ^ Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
  3. ^ Petacco 2005, p. 50.
  4. ^ Santi Corvaja, Hitler & Mussolini: The Secret Meetings, p. 269
  5. ^ Rich, Norman (1973). Hitler's war aims. Norton. pp. 320, 325. ISBN 0393054543. [verification needed]
  6. ^ Kersten 1947, p. 186.