NEW ORDER IN EUROPE 133
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MONTENEGRO
SALONIKA
DEMOTIKA
CROATIA
AUSTRIA
(OSTMARK)
POLAND
A L B A N I
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BELGIUM RE AT E R
LUXEMBOURG
NETHERLANDS
Lublin
FRENCH
NORTH AFRICA
OCCUPIED
FRANCE
ALSACE
NORD
VICHY FRANCE
SÜD
MITTE
SERBIA
NORD
SWITZERLAND
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SLOVAKIA
BELORUSSIA
UNITED
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Watenstedt-
Salzgitter
LATVIA
LITHUANIA
GALICIA
BOHEMIA AND
MORAVIA
GENERAL GOVERNMENT
ESTONIA
13,300
2,940
2,020
KA
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95
Kiev Stalingrad
Moscow
Athens
Sofia
Istanbul
Bucharest
Belgrade
Milan
Vichy
Paris Brüx
Berlin
Kattowitz
Kirov
Ostrava
Hamburg
Danzig
Riga
Königsberg
Oslo
Minsk
Smolensk
VOLHYNIA-
PODOLIA
CRIMEA
TAURIA
Warsaw
Zhytomyr
Krakow
Radom
Rivne
Judenburg Krieglach
Graz
Hayingen
Pegnitz
Pilsen
Heessen
Kladno
Rome
London
Copenhagen
Dublin
Vienna
Krompachy
Zaporozhe
Nikopol
Kerch
Krasny
Sulin
Grigorievka
Pavlograd
Voroshilovgrad
Gorlovka
Kramatorsk
Linz
2.17 million
287,000
34,200 646,000
5,840 199,000
10,078 254,000
38,000
2,175 1.7 million
325,000
24,000
YUGOSLAVIA
HUNGARY
(^472) ITALY AND LO SPAZIO VITALE
Just as Lebensraum was a key goal for
Germany’s Nazis, Italy’s Fascists also sought
their own living space (Lo Spazio Vitale), by
expanding their national boundaries across
the Mediterranean and into North Africa
(see pp.74–75). Fueled by the racist
ideologies of figures such as Giuseppe
Bottai—who served as Italy’s Minister of
Education—they argued that Italy was the
heir to ancient Rome. Their goal was to
create “a new Empire in which Italians
would illuminate the world with their art,
educate it with their knowledge, and ...
their administrative technique and ability.”
NEW ORDER
IN EUROPE
At its peak, Greater Germany—Germany and the territories it
had annexed—covered much of central Europe, and most other
countries on the continent were either occupied by Germany or
under its influence. Hitler had begun to fullfil his dream of creating
Lebensraum (“living space”) for the German “master race.”
Countries occupied by Germany were
treated with degrees of severity that
reflected how closely their populations
matched the Nazis’ Aryan ideal. Norway
and Denmark received relatively lenient
treatment; Denmark kept its king and its
government until mid-1943, when it was
placed under military occupation.
The situation in Eastern Europe,
however, was very different: the Nazis
regarded the people there as inferior,
or subject, races and treated them with
brutality. The worst regimes were
imposed on Poland, occupied USSR,
and the Baltic states, where communities
were evicted to create living space for
ethnic German settlement.
“The year 1941 will be, I am convinced, the historical
year of a great European New Order.”
ADOLF HITLER, SPEECH AT THE BERLIN SPORTPALAST, 1941
Occupied territories were placed under
the control of civilian administrations,
headed by Nazi Party officials, or under
military administrations. In either case,
the countries were exploited financially,
economically, and militarily in order
to advance the German war effort.
Occupied nations were forced to transfer
large capital sums to Germany and to
provide workers for German factories;
when the number of volunteers was
considered insufficient, forced labor
was introduced on a huge scale. Such
measures provoked active resistance
movements (see pp.176–177), which
the occupation authorities sought to
suppress with extreme brutality.
GERMANY IN EUROPE, 1942
Germany exerted its control in Europe through direct occupation,
alliances with its Axis allies and cobelligerents (such as Finland),
and satellite states that sought German patronage.
KEY
Greater Germany
Occupied by Germany
Axis satellites
Temporary Axis
satellites
German civil
administration
German military
administration
Borders, Nov
1942
Italy and areas
occupied by Italy
Finland and areas
occupied by Finland
Allied territory
2
3
4
5
1
TIMELINE
1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946
Giuseppe Bottai, Fascist politician during
the early years of the war.
TAKING CONTROL IN THE EAST
JULY 1941–1942
Within a month of invading the Soviet Union,
Hitler set up the Reich Ministry for the Occupied
Eastern Territories. Its boss, the racial theorist
Alfred Rosenberg, established two civilian
administrative areas (Reichskommissariat)—in
Ostland and Ukraine. These, he hoped, would
serve as Slavic buffers against “Asiatic” Bolshevism
to the east. In practice, these regions were treated
by their occupiers with a brutality that rapidly
eradicated any prospect of cooperation.
2
Reichskommissariat
Ostland
Reichskommissariat
Ukraine
1
Civilians conscripted to forced labor
in Germany by 1944
A CAPTIVE WORKFORCE JUNE 1941–1945
Starting with the conscription of “undesirable
elements” in the 1930s, the use of forced labor by
the Nazis increased as the war progressed; Jewish
forced labor began in 1938–1939 and spread
across Eastern Europe. Of the millions from
occupied countries brought to Germany,
two-thirds came from Central or Eastern Europe.
Even children were exploited: the Heuaktion
program saw around 50,000 10- to 14-year-olds
transported from Poland to work in factories.
3
Industrial plants seized by the Reichswerke
INDUSTRY EXTENDS ITS GRASP 1942–1945
German businesses that benefited from
conscripted labor included many still-familiar
industrial firms, as well as aircraft manufacturers
such as Messerschmitt and Junkers. In addition,
the state-owned Reichswerke organization
took control of leading industrial plants in many
of the occupied countries. By 1942, Reichswerke
was Europe’s largest employer, with more than
500,000 workers.
US_132-133_New_order_in_europe.indd 133 22/03/19 11:48 AM