Hermann Göring

Hermann Göring was a prominent German political and military leader, a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful figures in Nazi Germany. As a decorated fighter pilot from the First World War, he became an early follower of Adolf Hitler and played a pivotal role in the party's rise to power. During the Third Reich, he held numerous key positions, including commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, and was designated as Hitler's successor until his final fall from favor in the closing days of World War II. Captured by the Allies, he was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to death, committing suicide hours before his scheduled execution.

Early life and military career

Born in Rosenheim, Kingdom of Bavaria, he was the son of a senior colonial official in German South-West Africa. He was educated at Karlsruhe and the prestigious Berlin Lichterfelde cadet school before being commissioned into the Prussian Army. During the First World War, he transferred to the Luftstreitkräfte, becoming a celebrated fighter ace under the command of Manfred von Richthofen in the famed Jagdgeschwader 1. Awarded the prestigious Pour le Mérite, he finished the war with 22 aerial victories and was a staunch nationalist embittered by Germany's defeat in the war and the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Rise in the Nazi Party

After the war, he worked briefly as a commercial pilot in Sweden and Denmark before returning to Munich, where he encountered Adolf Hitler in 1922. Deeply impressed, he joined the Nazi Party and was appointed commander of the Sturmabteilung, playing a key role in the failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1923. Wounded during the putsch, he fled to Austria and later lived in exile in Italy and Sweden, suffering from morphine addiction. He returned to Germany in 1927, was elected to the Reichstag in 1928, and became President of the Reichstag in 1932, using this position to facilitate Hitler's appointment as Chancellor of Germany in January 1933.

Role in the Third Reich

Following the Nazi seizure of power, he accumulated a vast array of powerful offices. He became Minister President of Prussia and founded the Gestapo, initially placing it under his control. As Reich Minister of Aviation, he was instrumental in creating the new Luftwaffe, which he commanded throughout the war. He was also appointed Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan, giving him dictatorial control over the German economy. A central figure in the persecution of Jews, he issued orders following the Kristallnacht pogrom and, in 1941, signed the directive authorizing Reinhard Heydrich to prepare plans for the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question." His extravagant lifestyle and obsession with art led him to amass a vast personal collection, often through systematic looting across occupied Europe.

World War II and downfall

At the start of World War II, his Luftwaffe was crucial to the success of the Blitzkrieg tactics during the Invasion of Poland and the Battle of France. In 1940, Hitler promoted him to the unique rank of Reichsmarschall, making him senior to all other Wehrmacht field marshals. His reputation suffered severely with the Luftwaffe's failure to win the Battle of Britain and its inability to supply the encircled 6th Army at the Battle of Stalingrad. As the war turned against Germany, his influence waned, and his promises of air defense proved empty during the devastating Allied bombing of Germany. In April 1945, believing Hitler incapacitated in the Führerbunker, he attempted to assume leadership of the Reich, prompting Hitler to strip him of all offices, order his arrest, and name Karl Dönitz as his successor.

Trial and death

Captured by elements of the United States Army in Bavaria at the war's end, he was transferred to Nuremberg to stand trial before the International Military Tribunal. As the highest-ranking Nazi official in the dock, he was the principal defendant during the Nuremberg trials. He was found guilty on all four counts, including crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and was sentenced to death by hanging. On October 15, 1946, hours before his scheduled execution, he committed suicide in his cell at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice by ingesting a cyanide capsule, the source of which remains a subject of speculation.

Category:1893 births Category:1946 deaths Category:Nazi Party officials Category:Reichsmarschalls Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite Category:Defendants in the Nuremberg trials Category:Suicides by cyanide poisoning