Nazi-occupied Europe

Nazi-occupied Europe
Name	Nazi-occupied Europe
Subdivision type	Administrative divisions
Subdivision name	Reichskommissariats, General Government, Military Administrations, Vichy France, Italian Social Republic, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Established title	Period
Established date	1938–1945

Nazi-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partially occupied and civilly administered by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1938 and 1945, during and before World War II. The occupation encompassed vast territories from the Atlantic Wall to the gates of Moscow, and from the Arctic Ocean to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. This period was characterized by brutal repression, systematic economic plunder, and the implementation of Nazi racial policy, culminating in the Holocaust.

Administration and governance

The administration of occupied territories was neither uniform nor centralized, reflecting Adolf Hitler's ad-hoc planning and ideological goals. Key territories in the east, such as parts of occupied Poland and the conquered regions of the Soviet Union, were organized into Reichskommissariats like the Reichskommissariat Ostland and the Reichskommissariat Ukraine, intended for permanent German colonization and Germanisation. Western and Northern European countries like France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway were typically placed under a Military Administration or, as with Vichy France, a collaborating puppet regime. Other areas, such as the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the General Government in Poland, were under direct civilian German rule, overseen by officials like Hans Frank and Reinhard Heydrich.

Economic exploitation and plunder

The Nazi war machine was fundamentally dependent on the systematic looting of occupied Europe's resources. This policy, known as the Hunger Plan, was particularly ruthless in the east, deliberately causing famine to feed Germany and its military. Industrial output, agricultural produce, and raw materials were forcibly extracted under the direction of economic plenipotentiaries like Hermann Göring. The Reichsbank processed vast quantities of stolen gold, currency, and art, while millions of citizens were subjected to forced labor, coordinated by organizations like the German Labour Front and Fritz Sauckel's recruitment drives, which supplied workers to corporations like IG Farben and Krupp.

Resistance movements and collaboration

Occupied Europe witnessed a complex spectrum of responses, from widespread armed and passive resistance to active collaboration. Notable resistance networks included the Polish Underground State, the French Resistance, the Yugoslav Partisans under Josip Broz Tito, and the Norwegian resistance movement. Their activities ranged from intelligence gathering for the Allies and sabotage to major uprisings like the Warsaw Uprising. Conversely, collaborationist governments, such as Vichy France under Philippe Pétain, the Quisling regime in Norway, and the Ustaše in the Independent State of Croatia, actively aided the Nazi regime in administration, security, and persecution.

Persecution and the Holocaust

Nazi-occupied Europe was the primary stage for the systematic persecution and mass murder of millions deemed enemies of the state. This culminated in the Holocaust, the genocide of European Jews, planned at the Wannsee Conference and executed through Einsatzgruppen death squads and extermination camps like Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Sobibor. Other groups targeted for extermination or brutal repression included the Romani people, Slavs, people with disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, and political opponents like communists. Key perpetrators included Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Eichmann, and Odilo Globocnik.

Military occupation and security

The security of the occupied territories was maintained through a regime of terror enforced by the SS, the Gestapo, the Sicherheitsdienst, and the Wehrmacht. Reprisals for resistance acts were often collective and brutal, as seen in the destruction of Lidice and Oradour-sur-Glane. The Atlantic Wall was constructed to deter an Allied invasion, which ultimately came on D-Day during the Normandy landings. The occupation forces constantly battled partisan groups, particularly on the Eastern Front, where security warfare was exceptionally vicious under directives like the Commissar Order and the Barbarossa decree.

Post-war legacy and aftermath

The collapse of Nazi-occupied Europe following the Battle of Berlin and Victory in Europe Day left a continent physically devastated and morally traumatized. The post-war settlement, decided at conferences like Yalta and Potsdam, redrew national borders, most notably for Poland and Germany itself. The Nuremberg trials and other judicial processes sought accountability for occupation-era crimes, establishing key principles of international law. The experience of occupation profoundly shaped national identities, post-war politics, the onset of the Cold War, and the movement toward European integration, embodied later in institutions like the European Coal and Steel Community.

Category:World War II Category:Military occupations Category:20th century in Europe