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Nazi Seizure of Power (German: Machtergreifung)
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Period: to
Nazi Germany
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Air Ministry established
secret until 1935
Goering in charge. Airfields were built, and under the cover of the German Air Sports League, pilots were trained in private flying and glider clubs
Two aviation companies, Junkers and Heinkel, started to produce military transport planes, training craft and the first bombers -
The "New Plan"
Government given extensive powers to regulate trade and currency transactions.
Designed to solve foreign exchange crisis where Germany was importing more goods than it was exporting. Involved trade to South America and Eastern European countires and intorduction of credit system (Mefo Bills). Aim is to reduce German dependence on the world market. -
Tank production increased
Signals the increased importance of the tank in battlefield strategies. -
U-boat construction begins
Number of submarines increases rapidly -
Expansion of army authorised
Hitler authorised an increase in the size of the German army and by the end of 1934 it had grown to 280 000 soldiers -
Naval Expansion
1935 the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was launched, followed by two light battleships, the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau -
Hitler announces policy of rearmament
World does nothing. -
Conscription announced
Plans to build up an army of 36 divisions or 500 000 soldiers which blatantly violated the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. By 1939 the German army would stand at 1.4 million soldiers. The expansion of the army also meant that it now included more members of the middle class in leadership positions. -
Wehrmacht Defence Law enacted
Hitler, as Head of State, was Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Wehrmarcht (armed forces) replaced the term Reichswehr. Divided into three branches:
Army (Heer)
Navy (Kriegsmarine)
Navy (Kriegsmarine) -
Naval Expansion
work began on the battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz, and plans were provided for 10 battleships by the year 1944 -
Hitler reoccupies Rhineland
The reoccupation was a great gamble as Hitler moved against the advice of his generals and in the knowledge that France had vastly superior forces if they chose to resist the German action. Although Germany was breaking the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaty of 1925, the French and British took no action. -
4 Year Plan introduced
Aimed to make Germany self-sufficient in essential commodities such as oil, iron ore, textiles and food, and also to make the country ready for war by 1940. -
Hossbach Memorandum
Evidence that hitler intended to expand into Eastern Europe by force including the incorporation of German-speaking Austria into the Reich and the overthrow of the state of Czechoslovakia. -
Hitler names himself Supreme Commander of the armed forces
Allows Hitler to move to establish absolute power.
He had been unhappy with what he considered to be the slow pace of rearmament.
War Minister, Blomberg, and Army Commander-in-Chief, Fritsch
were forced to resign due to dubious scandals. 16 Generals were to follow. -
Czechoslovakia
Hitler demands that the Sudentenland, a territory inhabited by German speaking peoples, be given to Germany.
Czechoslovakia refuses, despite its Western allies asking for it to find a solution. Hitler asked his Generals to prepare to launch "Operation Green" in October. -
Munich Conference
Abandoned, by its allies (France and, to a lesser extent, Britain) and faced with the threat of German power, Czechoslovakia reluctantly agreed to hand over the disputed regions. The agreement was signed by Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. The USSR, who were also involved, were angry at Czechoslovakia being abandoned. Neville Chamberlain, British PM, had been instrumental in implementing this policy of appeasement. -
Anschluss
Austria ceased to exist as a separate European country and became part of the greater German Reich. Through the use of diplomatic pressure and the threat of force, Hitler had achieved his aim of uniting the country of his birth with the country he now led. -
Occupation of Czechoslovakia
Ceases to exist as an independent nation. For the first time, non-Germans are entered into the Reich. -
Invasion of Poland (1/9/39)
German Troops cross the Polish border. -
Operation Barbarrossa launched
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Invasion of North Africa
Rommel invades North Africa in support of Germany's defeated Italian allies.
