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

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 annexationAnnexed areaSucceeded by
13 Mar 1938Federal State of Austria 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 Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia[2]
Bohemia, Czechoslovak Republic Gau Bavarian Eastern March
Reichsgau Lower Danube
Bohemia, Czechoslovak Republic
Reichsgau Sudetenland
Moravia-Silesia, Czechoslovak Republic
Bohemia, Czechoslovak Republic Reichsgau Upper Danube
22 Mar 1939 Klaipėda Region, Republic of Lithuania Gau East Prussia
1 Sep 1939Free City of Danzig Free City of Danzig Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of Danzig
25 Oct 1939 Military Administration in Poland Gau East Prussia
Gau Silesia
Reichsgau Posen
Reichsgau West Prussia
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
1 Aug 1941 Military Administration in the Soviet Union Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of Bialystok
1 Nov 1941 Grodno, Reichskommissariat Ostland Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of Bialystok
15 Dec 1944 Dunkirk, Nord, Provisional Government of the French Republic Reichsgau Flanders
Wallonia, Kingdom of Belgium Reichsgau Wallonia

Partially incorporated territories

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

General Government for the Occupied Polish Territories / General Government
Date of establishmentPreceded bySucceeded by
25 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 establishmentPreceded bySucceeded 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

Areas announced for annexation to Germany
Date of announcement of annexationArea planned to be annexedPlanned 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.

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

Notes

  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. 
  6. Kersten 1947, p. 186.
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