Cracking the Code: Midway through Nazi Germany’s Dark Saga! World War II Part 4

World War II

Foreign policy

During World War II, Germany pursued a foreign policy strategy that involved establishing allied governments directly or indirectly under Berlin’s control. The goal was to secure military support from allies like Italy and Hungary, as well as access to labor and food resources from partners like Vichy France. Hungary became the fourth nation to join the Axis, formalizing the alliance by signing the Tripartite Pact on September 27, 1940, followed by Bulgaria on November 17. To address their need for oil, Germany engaged in negotiations with Romania, a new ally that signed the Pact on November 23, along with the Slovak Republic.

By late 1942, Romania had deployed 24 divisions on the Eastern Front, supported by 10 divisions from Italy and another 10 from Hungary. Germany gradually assumed complete control over France in 1942, Italy in 1943, and Hungary in 1944. Despite Japan being a formidable ally, the collaboration was characterized by distance, lacking significant coordination or cooperation. Notably, Germany hesitated to share its synthetic oil production formula from coal until the later stages of the war.

Outbreak of war

The outbreak of World War II in Europe commenced when Germany invaded Poland and seized the Free City of Danzig on September 1, 1939. In response to their treaty commitments, Britain and France declared war on Germany just two days later. Poland succumbed rapidly, with the Soviet Union launching an attack from the east on September 17. On September 21, Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; Security Police) and Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service), ordered the gathering and concentration of Polish Jews in cities with efficient rail connections. Initially, the plan was to deport them further east or perhaps to Madagascar. Utilizing pre-prepared lists, approximately 65,000 Polish intelligentsia, nobility, clergy, and educators were brutally murdered by the end of 1939, aiming to eradicate Poland’s national identity.

While the Winter War saw Soviet forces advancing into Finland and German forces engaging in naval actions, the period until May was marked by limited activity, earning it the moniker of the “Phoney War.”

Early in the conflict, a British blockade on shipments to Germany took a toll on its economy. Germany’s reliance on foreign oil, coal, and grain was especially pronounced. Due to trade embargoes and the blockade, German imports plummeted by 80 percent. To secure the vital flow of Swedish iron ore to Germany, Hitler ordered the invasion of Denmark and Norway, commencing on April 9. Denmark capitulated in less than a day, with most of Norway following suit by the end of the month. By early June, Germany had occupied the entirety of Norway.

Conquest of Europe

Against the counsel of many senior military officers, Hitler, in May 1940, ordered an offensive against France and the Low Countries. Swiftly conquering Luxembourg and the Netherlands, the German forces outmaneuvered the Allies in Belgium, compelling the evacuation of numerous British and French troops at Dunkirk.France, too, succumbed to German forces, surrendering on June 22.This triumph in France bolstered Hitler’s popularity and ignited a surge of war enthusiasm in Germany.

In violation of the Hague Convention, industrial firms in the Netherlands, France, and Belgium were coerced into producing war materials for Germany.The Nazis confiscated thousands of locomotives, rolling stock, weapons, and essential raw materials such as copper, tin, oil, and nickel from France. Occupation costs were imposed on France, Belgium, and Norway. Trade barriers led to hoarding, black markets, and an atmosphere of uncertainty about the future. Food supplies became precarious, and production declined across most of Europe, leading to famine in many occupied countries.

Despite Hitler’s unsuccessful peace proposals to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in July 1940, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder’s advice in June emphasized the necessity of air superiority for a successful invasion of Britain. Consequently, Hitler ordered a series of aerial attacks on Royal Air Force (RAF) airbases and radar stations, along with nightly air raids on British cities, including London, Plymouth, and Coventry. The German Luftwaffe failed to overcome the RAF in the Battle of Britain, and by the end of October, Hitler recognized that air superiority was unattainable. The planned invasion was permanently postponed, a strategy that the German army commanders had never fully embraced. Some historians, like Andrew Gordon, argue that the Royal Navy’s superiority, not the actions of the RAF, was the primary reason for the failure of the invasion plan.

In February 1941, the German Afrika Korps arrived in Libya to assist the Italians in the North African Campaign. On April 6, Germany launched invasions of Yugoslavia and Greece. Yugoslavia and portions of Greece were subsequently divided among Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Bulgaria.

Invasion of the Soviet Union

On June 22, 1941, in violation of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, approximately 3.8 million Axis troops launched an attack on the Soviet Union, contradicting the earlier agreement.Beyond Hitler’s declared goal of acquiring Lebensraum, this extensive offensive, codenamed Operation Barbarossa, aimed to annihilate the Soviet Union and seize its natural resources for future aggression against the Western powers.The German populace reacted with surprise and apprehension, with many expressing concerns about the duration of the war or doubting Germany’s ability to win a conflict on two fronts.

The invasion resulted in the conquest of a vast territory, encompassing the Baltic states, Belarus, and western Ukraine. Following the successful Battle of Smolensk in September 1941, Hitler instructed Army Group Centre to temporarily halt its advance towards Moscow. Instead, Panzer groups were diverted to assist in the encirclement of Leningrad and Kyiv. This pause allowed the Red Army to mobilize fresh reserves. The Moscow offensive, which resumed in October 1941, concluded disastrously in December. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, prompting Germany to declare war on the United States four days later.

In the occupied regions of the Soviet Union and Poland, food shortages were rampant due to the deliberate destruction of crops by retreating armies. In some areas, the remaining food was sent back to the Reich. Rations in Germany were cut in 1942. Hermann Göring, in his role as Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan, demanded increased shipments of grain from France and fish from Norway. The 1942 harvest proved satisfactory, maintaining adequate food supplies in Western Europe.

Germany and Europe, in general, were heavily reliant on foreign oil imports.Seeking to address the shortage, Germany launched Fall Blau (“Case Blue”) in June 1942 — an offensive aimed at the Caucasian oilfields. However, the Red Army initiated a counter-offensive on November 19, encircling Axis forces, which became trapped in Stalingrad on November 23. Despite Göring’s assurance to Hitler that the 6th Army could be supplied by air, this proved impractical. Hitler’s refusal to permit a retreat resulted in the deaths of 200,000 German and Romanian soldiers. Of the 91,000 men who surrendered in the city on January 31, 1943, only 6,000 survivors returned to Germany after the war.

Turning point and collapse

Following the devastating loss at Stalingrad, the popularity of the Nazi Party sharply declined, and morale deteriorated. Soviet forces continued their westward advance after the failed German offensive at the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943. By the end of 1943, the Germans had relinquished most of their eastern territorial gains. In Egypt, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps faced defeat by British forces under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in October 1942.The Allies landed in Sicily in July 1943 and in Italy in September. Simultaneously, American and British bomber fleets, based in Britain, initiated operations against Germany, deliberately targeting civilian areas to undermine German morale.The bombing campaign also focused on aircraft factories and the Peenemünde Army Research Center, crucial for the development and production of V-1 and V-2 rockets. German aircraft production lagged behind losses, and without adequate air cover, the Allied bombing campaign inflicted severe damage by late 1944, targeting oil refineries and factories, crippling the German war effort.

On June 6, 1944, American, British, and Canadian forces established a front in France with the D-Day landings in Normandy. On July 20, 1944, Hitler survived an assassination attempt and responded with brutal reprisals, leading to thousands of arrests and over 4,900 executions. The failed Ardennes Offensive (December 16, 1944 — January 25, 1945) marked the last major German offensive on the western front, and Soviet forces entered Germany on January 27. Hitler’s refusal to admit defeat and insistence on fighting to the last man resulted in unnecessary death and destruction in the war’s closing months. Through Justice Minister Otto Georg Thierack, Hitler ordered court-martials for anyone unwilling to fight, leading to thousands of executions. In some areas, despite local leaders’ encouragement to continue the fight, people surrendered to the advancing Allies. Hitler’s scorched earth decree for the destruction of transport, bridges, industries, and infrastructure was partially prevented by Armaments Minister Albert Speer.

During the Battle of Berlin (April 16, 1945 — May 2, 1945), Hitler and his staff resided in the underground Führerbunker as the Red Army approached. On April 30, with Soviet troops closing in on the Reich Chancellery, Hitler and his wife Eva Braun committed suicide. General Helmuth Weidling surrendered Berlin to Soviet General Vasily Chuikov on May 2. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz succeeded Hitler as Reich President, with Joseph Goebbels as Reich Chancellor. Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide the next day after murdering their six children.Between May 4 and 8, 1945, most of the remaining German armed forces unconditionally surrendered. The German Instrument of Surrender was signed on May 8, marking the end of the Nazi regime and World War II in Europe.

As the war neared its end, popular support for Hitler nearly vanished, and suicide rates in Germany increased, particularly in areas where the Red Army advanced. Suicide was often viewed as an honorable alternative to surrender among soldiers and party personnel. Reports of the uncivilized behavior of advancing Soviet troops, especially concerning women, caused panic among civilians on the Eastern Front. In Demmin, more than a thousand people committed suicide around May 1, 1945, as the Red Army entered the town, engaging in mass rapes, executions, and arson. High suicide numbers were also reported in other locations, including Neubrandenburg (600 dead), Stolp in Pommern (1,000 dead), and Berlin, where at least 7,057 people committed suicide in 1945.

German casualties

Estimates of the total German war dead vary, ranging from 5.5 to 6.9 million individuals. According to a study by German historian Rüdiger Overmans, the number of German military dead and missing is estimated at 5.3 million, which includes 900,000 men conscripted from areas outside Germany’s 1937 borders. In 2014, historian Richard Overy approximated that around 353,000 civilians were killed in Allied air raids.Civilian casualties also encompass 300,000 Germans (including Jews) who fell victim to Nazi political, racial, and religious persecution,and an additional 200,000 who were murdered in the Nazi euthanasia program. Political courts known as Sondergerichte handed down death sentences to approximately 12,000 members of the German resistance, while civil courts sentenced an additional 40,000 Germans. The aftermath of the war also saw mass rapes of German women.