Tag Archives: Adolf Hitler

History

Remembering History: Kristallnacht/Night of the Broken Glass (9-10 November 1938)

Kristallnacht, 1938, Magdeburg
German Federal Archives

On November 9-10 1938, a violent wave of anti-Jewish pograms broke out in Germany, Austria and Sudetanland. Called Kristallnacht (means literally Night of Crystal but commonly called Night of Broken Glass) violent mobs destroyed synagogues, looted Jewish owned businesses, homes and schools, and arrested 30,000 Jewish men who were sent to concentration camps. Police and fire were ordered to stand down and only act to prevent damage to German buildings. Nearly all the Jewish synagogues were torched, except those close to historical sites or buildings.

Thanks to the presence of foreign reporters in Germany at the time, this event became known to the world changing perceptions about the Nazi regime.

Nazi officials depicted the event as a genuine response of the people to the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath in Paris by Herschel Grynszpan on 7 Nov 1938. Grynszpan, a 17-year old boy, was distraught over his family’s deportation from Germany to Poland. Vom Rath’s death two days later coincided with the anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. The Nazi Party leadership assembled in Munich used the occasion to push for demonstrations against the Jews arguing that “World Jewry” had conspired to commit the assassination. However, Hitler ordered that the demonstrations should not look they were prepared or organized by the Nazis’. They had to look spontaneous. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels was the chief instigator following Hitler’s orders in his speech to the assembled party officials.

The regional Nazi party leaders issued instructions to their local offices about how to proceed. Reinhard Heydrich, as head of the Security Police, sent instructions to headquarters and stations of the State Police and SA leaders about the upcoming riots. The SA, Hitler Youth and others were ordered to wear civilian clothes so it would like genuine public reaction. Heydrich ordered the rioters to not endanger non-Jewish German life or property.  The rioters were also ordered to remove all synagogue archives prior to vandalizing and destroying them. Police were ordered to arrest as many young Jewish men their jails would hold.

Violence began to erupt in the late evening of 9 November and in the early morning hours of 10 November. The two largest Jewish communities, Berlin and Vienna, would see massive destruction. Mobs of SA and Hitler Youth shattered store windows. They attacked Jews in their homes and looted. They publicly humiliated Jews in the streets. Many Jews were killed as well though numbers vary but likely in the hundreds. Jewish cemeteries were desecrated. Those who were arrested by the SS and Gestapo ended up in Buchenwald, Dachau and Sachsenhausen and other camps as well.  Many would die in the camps and many who were released had promised to leave Germany. Kristallnacht would spur Jews to emigrate from Germany.

Aftermath

German leaders blamed Jews for the riots and fined the Jewish community one billion Reich Marks. To pay the fine, Germany seized property and insurance money. This left Jewish owners personally responsible for repair costs. Kristallnacht accelerated more laws and decrees to deprive Jews of the property and their ability to make a living. The Aryanization of businesses required many Jewish owned businesses and property to be transferred to non-Jews. Usually they got paid a fraction of the true value of the business or property. By this time, Jews could not be government workers or in any aspect of the public sector. Now many professions in the private sector were unavailable as well (doctors, lawyers, accountants etc.). Jews were no longer allowed to have a driver’s license, expelled from any German school they were still attending, be admitted to German theaters (movies and stage) or concert halls.

Kristallnacht was covered by newspapers in the United State and elsewhere. It was front page news in the United States in large banner headlines and perhaps the largest story of Jewish persecution to be reported during the Nazi years. Despite attempts by German censors to prevent images from getting to newspapers in the United States, pictures got out and got printed in the 28 November 1938 issue of Life magazine. A telling heading published on the front page of the Los Angeles Examiner says it all:

Nazis Warn World Jews Will Be Wiped Out Unless Evacuated By Democracies (23 Nov 1938)

President Roosevelt denounced the attack on Jews at a press conference on 15 November 1938 and recalled the US ambassador to Germany (the US was the only one to do this) and not replaced till 1945. A chargé d’affaires would handle diplomatic relations with Germany until war was declared in 1941. The US and other countries had restrictive immigration quotas in place at the time. However, 12,000 German Jews already in the United States were allowed to stay and not be sent back to Germany. Attempts to allow refuge for children under 14 were introduced in Congress but despite widespread support did not get voted into law.

Kristallnacht is rightly seen as the turning point in Nazi policy and world-wide opinion of the regime. The Nazi’s began concentrating their pogroms into the hands of the SS and more restrictive policies on the Jews. They radicalized and expanded the measures to remove Jews from the economic and social life of Germany. It would lead to policies of forced emigration and deportations to the East and the goal of Judenrein-a Germany free of Jews.

Sources

Berenbaum, Michael. “Kristallnacht | Definition, Date, Facts, & Significance.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified November 9, 2025. Accessed November 11, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/event/Kristallnacht.’

Dawsey, Jason. “Kristallnacht: The Night of Broken Glass.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. Last modified November 30, 2023. Accessed November 11, 2025. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/kristallnacht-night-broken-glass.

“On This Day: 87 Years Since Kristallnacht, the Catalyst of the Holocaust,” The Jerusalem Post | JPost.Com, last modified November 9, 2025, accessed November 11, 2025, https://www.jpost.com/history/article-873181.

“Nazis Launch Kristallnacht | November 9, 1938 | HISTORY,” HISTORY, last modified November 5, 2025, accessed November 11, 2025, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-9/nazis-launch-kristallnacht.

“The November Pogrom (Kristallnacht),” 9-10 November 1938, accessed November 11, 2025, https://wwv.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/kristallnacht/index.asp.

“Kristallnacht | Holocaust Encyclopedia,” Holocaust Encyclopedia, accessed November 11, 2025, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/kristallnacht.

Suggested Reading

Gilbert, Martin. Kristallnacht: Prelude to Destruction. Harper Collins, 2006.

Karlauf, Thomas, and Uta Gerhardt. The Night of Broken Glass: Eyewitness Accounts of Kristallnacht. Polity, 2021.

Titanic News Channel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

 

History

Remembering History: Hitler and the Beer Hall Putsch (8-9 November 1923)

Munich Marienplatz during the failed Beer Hall Putsch (9 Nov 1923)
Photographer unknown
German Federal Archives via Wikimedia Commons

The end of World War I had left Germany in dire economic straits. The allies demanded reparations through the Versailles Treaty resulting in staggering inflation as Germany tried to pay. By 1923 the German mark was valued at four billion marks per dollar causing many who disliked the new democratic government to join the nationalist Nazi Party. Others were drawn the Nazi’s as well for their strong anti-communist views and their vocal dislike of Jews.

Adolf Hitler planned a coup in Bavaria that he hoped would spread and bring down the central government. On 8 November 1923, Hermann Goering surrounded the Munich beer hall where Bavarian officials were meeting with local business leaders. Hitler, with the aid of Nazi stormtroopers, charged into the hall with Hitler firing off a gun proclaiming the revolution has begun. The Bavarian officials decided to reluctantly support Hitler. However, the following day they would rescind that support and ordered troops to surround the Nazi forces that had taken control of the War Ministry building. Hitler decided to lead a March to the center of Munich. He had 3,000 marchers with him to 100 or more policemen blocking them. Shots were fired and 16 Nazis and 3 policemen were killed. Goering was wounded the groin and Hitler had a dislocated shoulder and managed to escape.

Defendants in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, 1 April 1924
Photographer: Heinrich Hoffmann (1885–1957)
Source: German Federal Archives via Wikimedia Commons

The Beer Hall Putsch collapsed, and Hitler was arrested. He was charged with treason and sentenced to 5 years in jail. During his time in the Landsberg fortress, he wrote his autobiography Mein Kampf. Political pressure on the Bavarian government got his sentence commutated and he ended up serving only nine months in jail. The Nazi movement would continue to grow in strength in the 1920’s gaining more support against the Weimar government, Communism and Jews. The Beer Hall Putsch would be remembered by the Nazi Party.  Although they lost, they used it for propaganda purposes and celebrated the heroes of that day.

Sources

“Beer Hall Putsch | Facts, Summary, & Outcome,” Encyclopedia Britannica, last modified November 1, 2025, accessed November 3, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Beer-Hall-Putsch.

“Beer Hall Putsch Begins | November 8, 1923 | HISTORY,” HISTORY, last modified May 28, 2025, accessed November 3, 2025, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-8/beer-hall-putsch-begins..

History

News That Stunned The World: Hitler and Stalin Sign Non-Aggression Treaty (23 Aug 1939)

On 23 August 1939 it was announced that Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union had signed a non-aggression treaty. The announcement was a complete surprise since Hitler had both in his writings and public speaking had denounced Communism and the Soviet Union. So why did this happen and what were its effects? Let’s find out.

Map of Europe and Western Asia in 1923 after World War I.
Image via Wikimedia Commons

Both Germany and Russia had suffered in World War I. Germany was defeated by the Allies, lost its monarchy and colonial territories, and was ordered to pay huge reparations per the Versailles Treaty. Russia had gotten into the war to protect Serbia but was ill-equipped for a major war due to its limited resources and industrial capability. It suffered humiliating defeats during the war and its people suffered with reduced goods and services. This fed to unrest which led to Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate and allow a more democratic government to take over. Alas, that did not last as it continued in the war despite its unpopularity. This allowed the Communists, led by Lenin (who had been sent back to the country by Germany to foment chaos) to seize power and overturn the entire social and political structure of the country. In Germany, after a decade of vacillating leadership and discontent over inflation and Germany’s loss of status in the world, Adolf Hitler would lead the Nazi Party to victory after he was given the chancellorship in in 1933. Both Germany and Russia (now called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or just Soviet Union), were led by authoritarian governments that ruled with an iron fist.

The Soviet Union in its early days sought a promised world-wide revolution that never happened causing its leader Lenin and later Stalin to realize that building up the country first was needed before worldwide revolution. Hitler and the Nazi’s had a different view as they wanted to expand their country and restore pride in Germany. A new Germany was being formed with a clear ideology they were the people that would lead to change Europe and the world. By 1939, Germany was making its moves in Europe by invading Czechoslovakia. In 1938, they demanded and got a piece of Czechoslovakia when Britain and France, desperate to avoid war, forced Czechoslovakia to accept the deal breaking a treaty they had signed to defend it. Germany also annexed Austria that year as well uniting both countries. The invasion of Czechoslovakia told Britain and France that Hitler would not honor his agreements.

On the Russian side, Stalin had instituted programs to industrialize the country, but his brutal dictatorship had resulted in people being denounced, tried, and either imprisoned for years or executed. A climate of fear existed and not knowing whether someone had denounced you in secret made you wonder if you would come home that night. The Great Purge of 1936-1938  saw its officer corps depleted. The German Gestapo, feeding on Stalin’s paranoia, used the situation to use create documents that implicated many in the officer corps but also in government as well. The era became known for its show trials where the accused would be brought in, tried of a crime they didn’t commit, and faced imprisonment or death depending on the severity of the charge. Those who had become important members of government or close to Stalin that had been purged would be removed from the public record as well. Photos were retouched to show they were no longer walking, standing, or near Stalin or other people.

Stalin looked at expanding the Soviet Union by stealth or force into Europe. He hoped the war between the European nations would so weaken them so he could achieve his aims. Poland was, like Czechoslovakia a means to an end for both powers. Germany’s racial theory held the Polish people were, like the Jews, to be eliminated. For all the bad reasons, both Hitler and Stalin would come to terms and agree to a treaty that divided Poland into two spheres. Secret protocols to the pact indicated the demarcation lines and other things as well. The countries of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland were secretly divided up as well giving both Germany and the Soviet Union access to raw materials. This allowed Hitler to invade Poland in September. Russia would move to claim its share of Poland, which the German military was not quite happy about since in some areas they had to withdraw back to the lines agreed to in the secret protocols.

“Nothing more unbelievable could be imagined. Astonishment and skepticism turned quickly to consternation and alarm”. (Gunther, John (1940). Inside Europe. New York: Harper & Brothers.)

Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking hands over the newly signed pact between Germany and Soviet Union. August 23,1939
Source: German Federal Archive

The news of the agreement, popularly called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, stunned the world. No one expected that Hitler would make a deal with Stalin. There had been some leaks suggesting of it, but no one thought it credible this would occur. The British and French had been in negotiations with the Soviets for months and were blindsided. Soviet propaganda heralded the agreement while others questioned secret protocols that were signed. Italy and the U.S. were given some limited information about them, but the full details were not disclosed. Soviet propaganda downplayed the previous attacks on Germany and Molotov himself made it clear they harbored no ill will.  Nazi propaganda also had to do an about face as well. The Nazi’s had shut down the German Communist Party, imprisoned its leaders, and shut down its press. And they had nothing good to say about the Soviet Union either. Now they had to say everything was good with the hated Communist state.

Meanwhile the Baltic States began to worry how the rumored secret protocols would soon impact them. British and French attempts to meet with the Soviet negotiator over the agreement were rebuffed. Hitler said that with the treaty in place Britain should recognize Germany’s claims over Poland since it changed the situation from that of World War I. Instead, and to the German leader’s surprise, Britain announced a defense pact with Poland on 25 August 1939. Needless to say, Poland now realized it was being divided up by the two powers and war was coming.

How Central Europe would be divided up according the agreement. And what actually happened before Germany broke the treaty and attacked the Soviet Union.
Author: Peter Hanula via Wikimedia Commons

The British and French governments had reached their end with Hitler; they no longer trusted him. In both countries the appeasement supporters diminished as reality set in that war was most certainly coming now with Germany. Neville Chamberlain, the chief supporter of the Munich Agreement a year before to avoid war, now realized his failure. He made it clear to Germany it would stand by Britain’s agreement to defend Poland. Hitler considered Chamberlain a fool and ordered the military to invade Poland as planned. The only question the Germans really had was whether those powers would do anything while they were attacking Poland. Both the British and French declared war on Germany when it invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 but took no immediate military action. It was a mistake that would prove costly for both countries later.

Aftermath

Stalin gambled that Hitler would focus on Europe and not on Russia. His goal was to build up the Soviet Union for war or to move in when his forces had subverted the country they wanted to take. Like many (including the German military high command) a two-front war was to be avoided. All of that went out of the window when Hitler decided he would invade Russia in 1941 under Operation Barbarossa. The goal of the operation was to remove and execute the leadership of Russia, take control of Russia, and make it a place for German resettlement. Stalin was not prepared for war and had discounted warnings Germany was about to invade as an attempt to get Russia to scuttle the treaty. Germany got the initial success and took territory easily defeating the military forces it encountered. However, they never took Moscow despite being twenty miles from it. And as time went on, faced more stiffer resistance and a military helped by American military equipment sent to help Russia defeat Hitler.

A vicious war broke out between the German and Russian forces creating now an Eastern Front that began to demand more resources than initially thought needed. The Soviet Union was getting supplies from the Allies using the dangerous North Atlantic to Murmansk route. And when the Allies landed in Europe in June 1944, this caused even more strain already on the limited resources Germany had. The Soviet troops started pushing back and ultimately forced Germany into retreat and ultimately to Berlin in 1945 where Hitler would commit suicide rather than be captured.

Stalin though did achieve his war aims in the end. Now with their troops in Poland and throughout Central Europe in countries they had liberated from Nazi rule, they would undermine the return of its former governments and subverted their political structure to ensure Communists would take charge. Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia all came to be controlled by the Soviet Union through governments that were installed and supported by them. It gave them access to sources of raw materials they had not had before and created a buffer around Russia. For people that had survived living under the yoke of Nazi controlled governments, it was simply swapping out one ideology for another with the same type of tyranny running things. Yugoslavia under Tito did break away from Moscow (he was fiercely independent but Communist) but that was about it.

The Iron Curtain, in black. Countries to the East of it are noted in Red and Warsaw Pact countries. NATO countries are blue, neutral states gray. Green depicts Yugoslavia which broke away from Moscow in 1948. Albania also had its own split starting in 1961 and in 1968 withdrew from the Pact but remained Communist. While a small part of Austria was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1945-1955, it did not join the Warsaw Pact and declared its neutrality. The small black dot in East Germany indicates West Berlin which was circled with the infamous Berlin Wall starting in 1961.
Image: Sémhur via Wikimedia Commons

Until the fall of Communism began in 1991, these countries would remain either directly or indirectly controlled by Moscow through their governments. Some countries such as Czechoslovakia would break up (Czech Republic and Slovakia) after Communism ended. Yugoslavia would also break up as well into Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Romania had the most violent uprising (Poland had strikes that forced out the Communists) that ended with its leader being executed in the end. East Germany would be unified with West Germany ending the separation that had begun in 1945.

 

Sources

“German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact | History, Facts, & Significance,” Encyclopedia Britannica, last modified August 16, 2025, accessed August 19, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/German-Soviet-Nonaggression-Pact.

“German-Soviet Pact | Holocaust Encyclopedia,” Holocaust Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/german-soviet-pact.

Christopher Klein, “How a Secret Hitler-Stalin Pact Set the Stage for WWII,” History.Com, last modified August 13, 2025, accessed August 19, 2025, https://www.history.com/articles/the-secret-hitler-stalin-nonagression-pact.

“Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact,” History.Com, last modified August 13, 2025, accessed August 19, 2025, https://www.history.com/articles/molotov-ribbentrop-pact.

Suggested Reading

Gunther, J. (1940). Inside Europe (Revised Edition 1940). Harper Brothers. (Original work published 1936)

Moorhouse, R. (2014). The Devils’ Alliance: Hitler’s Pact with Stalin, 1939-1941. Basic Books (AZ).

Pipes, R. (1995). Russia under the Bolshevik Regime. Vintage.

Pipes, R. (2001). Communism: A History. Random House Digital, Inc.

Read, A., & Fisher, D. (1989). The Deadly Embrace: Hitler, Stalin and the Nazi-Soviet Pact, 1939-1941. W. W. Norton.

Shirer, W. L. (2011). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. Simon and Schuster.

Titanic News Channel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

History

Remembering History: Warsaw Uprising Begins (1 Aug 1944)

Rare Agfacolor photo (invention from 1936) dated August 1944 taken in Warsaw, Poland in the Old Town Market Place during Warsaw Uprising in August 1944
Ewa Faryaszewska (1920-1944)
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

On 1 Aug 1944 Poles in Warsaw launched a major uprising against the Nazi occupation. The Soviet Army had advanced to the Vistula River on the eastern suburb of Warsaw prompting the revolt. Polish General Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski, commander of the Home Army (an underground resistance group of around 40,000). The Home Army had ties to the government-in-exile in London, which was anti-communist. The hope was to gain at least partial control of Warsaw before the Soviets arrived.

By this time, the German Army had been pushed back considerably from its gains in Russia. And their taking Warsaw seemed likely. Despite this, Adolf Hitler ordered that the uprising be suppressed at all costs. The Nazi SS directed the defense force and engaged in brutal street fighting. The Polish Home Army fought back hard despite having limited supplies and no support from the Soviet Army (which cause friction between Poland and the Soviet Union for years).

The Red Army did capture several bridgeheads across the Vistula River in preparation to take Warsaw but held back doing anything more. Only under intense pressure from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin Roosevelt did Stalin relent and allow Allies to drop supplies to the rebels. But it was too late as by that time, both the rebels and the citizens ran out of food, supplies, and medical supplies. The uprising came to an end on 2 October when the remaining forces surrendered. The revolt had lasted 63 days but the cost for both sides was high. An estimated three-fourths of the Home Army died along with 200,000 civilians. The Germans suffered 10,000 dead, 9,000 wounded, and 7,000 missing. In keeping with their dislike of the Polish people (they were seen as just a notch above the Jews but were slated for either slavery or death by the Nazis) the survivors were deported.

Deploying demolition squads, most of the remaining intact buildings in Warsaw would be destroyed over the next several months. All of Warsaw’s treasures were looted, burned, or destroyed. Meanwhile the Red Army sitting outside Warsaw did nothing to stop the Germans. They would not move until January 1945 when their final offensive was launched. On 17 January 1945, the ruins of Warsaw were liberated by the Soviets who faced little or no opposition. Thus, making it easy for them to establish a Communist state in Poland. After suffering from Nazi occupation, the Polish people would suffer a longer one under the Communists.

 

Sources

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Warsaw Uprising | Summary, Dates, & Monument,” Encyclopedia Britannica, last modified July 25, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Warsaw-Uprising.

HISTORY.com Editors, “Warsaw Uprising Begins | August 1, 1944 | HISTORY,” HISTORY, last modified May 27, 2025, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/august-1/warsaw-revolt-begins.

History

Remembering History: German & Italy Sign Pact of Steel (22 May 1939)

The signing of the Pact of Steel on 22 May 1939 in Berlin
Photographer unknown
Public Domain/WIkimedia Commons

On 22 May 1939, Germany and Italy signed the Pact of Friendship and Alliance that became known later as the Pact of Steel. This began the formal military and political alliance between the two countries. Initially Japan was to be part of the agreement but there was disagreement on the focus of the pact. Germany and Italy wanted it aimed at the British Empire and France, while Japan wanted the Soviet Union to be the focus. The agreement was signed without Japan but would later join in September 1940.

The agreement brought together two countries that opposed each other in World War I. It also required each country to come to the aid of the other if it were in armed conflict with another nation. Neither party could make peace without the agreement of the other. One of the assumptions of the agreement was that war would start in three years at the latest. Italy needed the time to get its war production into high gear. The agreement was for ten years but there was some concern within the Italian government the agreement would suppress Italian autonomy. The agreement was still signed despite these objections, which also came from Mussolini’s son-in-law, Galeazzo Ciano, who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Hitler, however, would soon declare his intentions of invading Poland. Mussolini was not happy he was not consulted on this, nor about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Agreement. Italian forces did not commit fully to war until June 1940 when German forces had defeated British and French forces with lightning speed. Italy seized Nice as its prize. Other countries it tried to invade proved more difficult. Greek partisans brought the Italian force to a halt. Germany would intervene to help there and in Yugoslavia where Italian troops also pushed back by partisans. A disastrous attack on British Egypt from Italian Libya required German assistance as well. The economic consequences of the war were bad for most Italians generating widespread resentment that would lead one day to Mussolini’s fall from power in 1943.

Nations of the Pact of Friendship and Alliance (Pact of Steel)

  • Germany (1939)
  • Italy (1939
  • Japan (1940)

Nations That Joined the Axis Powers

  • Hungary (1940)
  • Romania (1940)
  • Slovakia (1940)
  • Bulgaria (1941)
  • Yugoslavia (1941)
  • Croatia (1941)
  • Finland (1941)

Sources:

HISTORY.com Editors. “The Pact of Steel Is Signed; the Axis Is Formed.” HISTORY. Last modified January 31, 2025. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-22/the-pact-of-steel-is-signed-the-axis-is-formed.

“The ‘Pact of Steel’: The Signing of The German-Italian Military Alliance in The New Reich Chancellery (May 22, 1939),” German History in Documents and Images, https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/nazi-germany-1933-1945/the-pact-of-steel-the-signing-of-the-german-italian-military-alliance-in-the-new-reich-chancellery-may-22-1939.

“Axis Alliance in World War II,” https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/axis-powers-in-world-war-ii.

“The Pact of Steel –  the Pact of Friendship and Alliance Between Germany and Italy, May 22, 1939,” Historical Resources About the Second World War, last modified September 10, 2008, https://historicalresources.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/the-pact-of-steel-the-pact-of-friendship-and-alliance-between-germany-and-italy-may-22-1939/.

Suggested Reading

Stephen Ambrose and C. L. Sulzberger, American Heritage History of World War II (Createspace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016).

Victor Davis Hanson, The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won (Basic Books, 2017).

William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (Simon and Schuster, 2011).

Titanic News Channel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

History

Remembering History: Hitler Commits Suicide-War in Europe Nearly Over (30 April 1945)

U.S. Army newspaper Stars and Stripes announcing Hitler’s death
2 May 1945
Original source: U.S. Army
Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons

On 30 April 1945, Adolf Hitler–the leader and founder of the 1,000 Reich–committed suicide with his wife Eva Braun in the underground bunker beneath the Reich Chancellery. It would lead to the end of the war in Europe on 8 May 1945 when Germany unconditionally surrendered to Allied powers.

Since the defeat of German forces in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943, it had become increasingly apparent that Allied forces had turned the tide. Germany had been pushed out of North Africa at this point, faced Allied armies in Italy, and of course on 6 June 1944 the Allied invasion of Europe had occurred. An attempt on his life was unsuccessful in July 1944 (he was saved when the briefcase with the explosive was pushed under a heavy table) but resulted in imprisonment and executions for many who were involved. Field Marshal Rommel was forced to commit suicide rather than a public court martial.

Hitler had become more erratic, and many were concerned with his mental state. After withdrawing to the underground bunker in January 1945, he met with Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels. By 22 April 1945 though he realized the war had been lost with Soviet troops now in Berlin. On 23 April, Goering seeing that Hitler was encircled in Berlin, tried to take over as his presumed successor. Hitler stripped him of his powers and orders his arrest (this was futile since Goering surrendered himself to American forces). Himmler also had hopes of succeeding Hitler. In April, he was negotiating through a Swedish diplomat and with the Americans. When Hitler learned of this, he was stripped of his powers and his arrest ordered. Himmler tried to escape posing as an ordinary soldier but was caught and arrested. He committed suicide by taking poison.

By the end of April most of his aides and lieutenants (with some exceptions such as General Krebs) had deserted him with only Goebbels and Martin Bormann staying along. Albert Speer had declined to carry out Hitler’s orders to carry out a scorched earth policy in Berlin. Believing Germany had been unworthy of his genius and allowed themselves to be defeated, he decided to commit suicide. He married his long-time mistress Eva Braun in the early hours of 29 April 1945. He then dictated his last will and political testament that justified what he had done.  The will itself is quite short while the separate political testament that laid out a defense of his life and work, as well as appointing those who would lead the German government after his death.

In the afternoon of 30 April 1945, Hitler pointed a gun to his head (though he may have taken poison as well) and committed suicide while Eva took poison. Their bodies were burned, in accordance with his instructions, in the Chancellery garden. Goebbels transmitted a message to Admiral Karl Doenitz that Hitler had died and appointed him Reich President. Six hours later Goebbels and his wife committed suicide after poisoning their six children with cyanide.

Hitler’s death was broadcast on 1 May 1945 by Hamburg Radio. On 2 May 1945, German troops in Italy surrendered (it was signed on 29 April 1945) and Berlin surrendered to Russian Marshal Georgi Zhukov. More surrenders of German forces would follow. German forces in Denmark, the Netherlands, and northwestern Germany surrendered to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery on 4 May 1945 (effective the next day). The German Ninth and Twelve armies surrendered to U.S. forces.

Sources:

Books

Snyder, Lewis: Encyclopedia of The Third Reich, Marlowe & Company, New York, 1976

Internet

Knapp et al., “Adolf Hitler | History, Biography, Actions, & Facts,” Encyclopedia Britannica, last modified April 29, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler/World-War-II.

HISTORY.com Editors, “Adolf Hitler Commits Suicide in His Underground Bunker | April 30, 1945 | HISTORY,” HISTORY, last modified April 4, 2025, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/april-30/adolf-hitler-commits-suicide.

KateL, “The Death of Adolf Hitler,” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, last modified March 29, 2020, https://www.nationalww2museum.org/death-of-adolf-hitler.

History

Remembering History: Kristallnacht (9-10 Nov 1938)

Kristallnacht, 1938, Magdeburg
German Federal Archives

On November 9-10 1938, a violent wave of anti-Jewish pograms broke out in Germany, Austria and Sudetanland. Called Kristallnacht (means literally Night of Crystal but commonly called Night of Broken Glass) violent mobs destroyed synagogues, looted Jewish owned businesses, homes and schools, and arrested 30,000 Jewish men who were sent to concentration camps. Police and fire were ordered to stand down and only act to prevent damage to German buildings. Nearly all the Jewish synagogues were torched, except those close to historical sites or buildings.

Thanks to the presence of foreign reporters in Germany at the time, this event became known to the world changing perceptions about the Nazi regime.

Nazi officials depicted the event as a genuine response of the people to the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath in Paris by Herschel Grynszpan on 7 Nov 1938. Grynszpan, a 17-year old boy, was distraught over his family’s deportation from Germany to Poland. Vom Rath’s death two days later coincided with the anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. The Nazi Party leadership assembled in Munich used the occasion to push for demonstrations against the Jews arguing that “World Jewry” had conspired to commit the assassination. However, Hitler ordered that the demonstrations should not look they were prepared or organized by the Nazis’. They had to look spontaneous. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels was the chief instigator following Hitler’s orders in his speech to the assembled party officials.

The regional Nazi party leaders issued instructions to their local offices about how to proceed. Reinhard Heydrich, as head of the Security Police, sent instructions to headquarters and stations of the State Police and SA leaders about the upcoming riots. The SA, Hitler Youth and others were ordered to wear civilian clothes so it would like genuine public reaction. Heydrich ordered the rioters to not endanger non-Jewish German life or property.  The rioters were also ordered to remove all synagogue archives prior to vandalizing and destroying them. Police were ordered to arrest as many young Jewish men their jails would hold.

Violence began to erupt in the late evening of 9 November and in the early morning hours of 10 November. The two largest Jewish communities, Berlin and Vienna, would see massive destruction. Mobs of SA and Hitler Youth shattered store windows. They attacked Jews in their homes and looted. They publicly humiliated Jews in the streets. Many Jews were killed as well though numbers vary but likely in the hundreds. Jewish cemeteries were desecrated. Those who were arrested by the SS and Gestapo ended up in Buchenwald, Dachau and Sachsenhausen and other camps as well.  Many would die in the camps and many who were released had promised to leave Germany. Kristallnacht would spur Jews to emigrate from Germany.

Aftermath

German leaders blamed Jews for the riots and fined the Jewish community one billion Reich Marks. To pay the fine, Germany seized property and insurance money. This left Jewish owners personally responsible for repair costs. Kristallnacht accelerated more laws and decrees to deprive Jews of the property and their ability to make a living. The Aryanization of businesses required many Jewish owned businesses and property to be transferred to non-Jews. Usually they got paid a fraction of the true value of the business or property. By this time, Jews could not be government workers or in any aspect of the public sector. Now many professions in the private sector were unavailable as well (doctors, lawyers, accountants etc.). Jews were no longer allowed to have a driver’s license, expelled from any German school they were still attending, be admitted to German theaters (movies and stage) or concert halls.

Kristallnacht was covered by newspapers in the United State and elsewhere. It was front page news in the United States in large banner headlines and perhaps the largest story of Jewish persecution to be reported during the Nazi years. Despite attempts by German censors to prevent images from getting to newspapers in the United States, pictures got out and got printed in the 28 November 1938 issue of Life magazine. A telling heading published on the front page of the Los Angeles Examiner says it all:

Nazis Warn World Jews Will Be Wiped Out Unless Evacuated By Democracies (23 Nov 1938)

President Roosevelt denounced the attack on Jews at a press conference on 15 November 1938 and recalled the US ambassador to Germany (the US was the only one to do this) and not replaced till 1945. A chargé d’affaires would handle diplomatic relations with Germany until war was declared in 1941. The US and other countries had restrictive immigration quotas in place at the time. However, 12,000 German Jews already in the United States were allowed to stay and not be sent back to Germany. Attempts to allow refuge for children under 14 were introduced in Congress but despite widespread support did not get voted into law.

Kristallnacht is rightly seen as the turning point in Nazi policy and world-wide opinion of the regime. The Nazi’s began concentrating their pogroms into the hands of the SS and more restrictive policies on the Jews. They radicalized and expanded the measures to remove Jews from the economic and social life of Germany. It would lead to policies of forced emigration and deportations to the East and the goal of Judenrein-a Germany free of Jews.

Sources

———. “Nazis Launch Kristallnacht.” HISTORY, November 7, 2022. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nazis-launch-kristallnacht.

Berenbaum, Michael. “Kristallnacht | Definition, Date, Facts, & Significance.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified November 2, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/event/Kristallnacht.

“Kristallnacht.” https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/kristallnacht..

Suggested Reading

Gilbert, Martin. Kristallnacht: Prelude to Destruction. Harper Collins, 2006.

Karlauf, Thomas, and Uta Gerhardt. The Night of Broken Glass: Eyewitness Accounts of Kristallnacht. Polity, 2021.

Titanic News Channel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

 

History

Hitler and the Beer Hall Putsch (8-9 November 1923)

Munich Marienplatz during the failed Beer Hall Putsch (9 Nov 1923)
Photographer unknown
German Federal Archives via Wikimedia Commons

The end of World War I had left Germany in dire economic straits. The allies demanded reparations through the Versailles Treaty resulting in staggering inflation as Germany tried to pay. By 1923 the German mark was valued at four billion marks per dollar causing many who disliked the new democratic government to join the nationalist Nazi Party. Others were drawn the Nazi’s as well for their strong anti-communist views and their vocal dislike of Jews.

Adolf Hitler planned a coup in Bavaria that he hoped would spread and bring down the central government. On 8 November 1923, Hermann Goering surrounded the Munich beer hall where Bavarian officials were meeting with local business leaders. Hitler, with the aid of Nazi stormtroopers, charged into the hall with Hitler firing off a gun proclaiming the revolution has begun. The Bavarian officials decided to reluctantly support Hitler. However, the following day they would rescind that support and ordered troops to surround the Nazi forces that had taken control of the War Ministry building. Hitler decided to lead a March to the center of Munich. He had 3,000 marchers with him to 100 or more policemen blocking them. Shots were fired and 16 Nazis and 3 policemen were killed. Goering was wounded the groin and Hitler had a dislocated shoulder and managed to escape.

Defendants in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, 1 April 1924
Photographer: Heinrich Hoffmann (1885–1957)
Source: German Federal Archives via Wikimedia Commons

The Beer Hall Putsch collapsed, and Hitler was arrested. He was charged with treason and sentenced to 5 years in jail. During his time in the Landsberg fortress, he wrote his autobiography Mein Kampf. Political pressure on the Bavarian government got his sentence commutated and he ended up serving only nine months in jail. The Nazi movement would continue to grow in strength in the 1920’s gaining more support against the Weimar government, Communism and Jews. The Beer Hall Putsch would be remembered by the Nazi Party.  Although they lost, they used it for propaganda purposes and celebrated the heroes of that day.

Sources

———. “Beer Hall Putsch | Facts, Summary, & Outcome.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified November 1, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/event/Beer-Hall-Putsch.

Mullen, Matt. “Beer Hall Putsch Begins.” HISTORY, November 6, 2020. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/beer-hall-putsch-begins.

History

Remembering History: Hitler Invades Poland (1939); Japan Surrenders Ending World War II (1945)

Hitler attends a Wehrmacht victory parade in Warsaw on 5 October 1939
Public Domain

On 1 September 1939, German forces using the pretext they were acting in self-defense against Poland, invaded. The German infantry was not fully mechanized but had Panzers and fast-moving artillery that included truck mounted artillery. The German strategy was to quickly concentrate forces and encircle an enemy quickly. Thanks to the relatively flat terrain of Poland, it made it easy to move mobile infantry about. The invasion came one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August. This non-aggression pact meant neither side could assist the enemy of the other. A secret protocol to the agreement defined German and Soviet spheres in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. This protocol would not be proved until the Nuremberg Trials. So, when Germany invaded, Poland was already split with defined borders between the two countries.

With this pact, Poland signed defense agreements with Britain and France. Talks between those powers and Germany did take place and the invasion was held up until they were concluded. Hitler did not believe they would declare war, and if they did would be willing to compromise after the invasion of Poland. Germany wanted the restoration of Danzig (in Polish Gdansk) as a free city (it had a large German population), the Polish Corridor, and the safeguarding of Germans in Poland. Germany demanded that a Polish representative with the power to sign such an agreement be present.

The British, remembering what happened before when Czechoslovakia was forced to capitulate to the Germans, did not like that demand. When the Polish representative met with Ribbentrop on 31 Aug, he was dismissed when he had no power to sign. The Germans then claimed that Poland had rejected their demands and Hitler ordered the invasion for 1 September. The Germans were better prepared for war than the Polish. They had higher numbers of troops and had air superiority. Poland had older fighters while the bombers were more modern. They waited too late to upgrade so newer fighters and bombers would not be there when the Germany invaded. Poland had two armor brigades and its 7TP light tank was better armed than the German Panzer. But they only had 140 of those and 88 tanks they imported from Britain and France. The Polish Navy was a small fleet with destroyers, submarines and support vessels. Most of the surface vessels escaped and joined the British Royal Navy. Submarines did engage German shipping in the Baltic Sea but it was not successful. Polish merchant ships that did escape or elsewhere would join the allies and take part in wartime convoys.

By 3 October both German and Soviet forces had secured their spheres ending the Second Polish Republic. Both German and Soviet governments quickly took control of their territories, organizing and annexing, and setting up regional controls. Government and military leaders who did escape would form a military force in support of the Polish government-in-exile. In response to the invasion of Poland, Britain and France formally declared war on Germany on 3 September but little else (France did invade the Saar but quickly withdrew).

Sources

Gilbert, Adrian. “Invasion of Poland (1939) | Description & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified August 25, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/event/Invasion-of-Poland.

“Invasion of Poland, Fall 1939.” https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/invasion-of-poland-fall-1939.

———. “Germany Invades Poland.” HISTORY, August 30, 2024. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-invades-poland.

Japan Surrenders

Surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945: Representatives of the Empire of Japan on board USS Missouri (BB-63) during the surrender ceremonies.
Army Signal Corps, Public Domain

On the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the Japanese formally surrendered ending World War II. By this time Japan was no longer the military power it once was. The Battle of Midway in June 1942 had been the turning point when four Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk. Since then Japanese control over its captured territories were pushed back under massive effort of U.S. and Allied forces. By the summer of 1945, and with the capture of Okinawa, Japan was being blockaded and being bombed often. Plans for the invasion of Japan had been drawn up. After the bloody experience of capturing territory such as on Iwa Jima, it was expected to be a difficult invasion that would cost a lot of allied lives. However, the dropping of two atomic weapons on Japan in August on Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed things dramatically. Members of the Japanese War Council and Emperor Hirohito favored accepting the peace terms; some objected and acted to stop a surrender. On 15 Aug a coup was attempted against Prime Minister Suzuki, but it was crushed. At noon that day, and for the first time in Japanese history, Emperor Hirohito addressed the nation by radio. “We have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unendurable and suffering what is insufferable.” The US and the allies accepted the surrender.

Sources

———. “Japan Surrenders, Bringing an End to WWII.” HISTORY, August 30, 2024. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/japan-surrenders.

———. “Pacific War | Summary, Battles, Maps, & Casualties.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified August 18, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pacific-War/The-Japanese-surrender.

Malloryk. “‘to Bear the Unbearable’: Japan’s Surrender, Part I.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. Last modified August 17, 2020. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/japans-surrender-part-i.

 

 

History

News That Stunned The World: Hitler and Stalin Sign Non-Aggression Treaty (23 Aug 1939)

On 23 August 1939 it was announced that Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union had signed a non-aggression treaty. The announcement was a complete surprise since Hitler had both in his writings and public speaking had denounced Communism and the Soviet Union. So why did this happen and what were its effects? Let’s find out.

Map of Europe and Western Asia in 1923 after World War I.
Image via Wikimedia Commons

Both Germany and Russia had suffered in World War I. Germany was defeated by the Allies, lost its monarchy and colonial territories, and was ordered to pay huge reparations per the Versailles Treaty. Russia had gotten into the war to protect Serbia but was ill-equipped for a major war due to its limited resources and industrial capability. It suffered humiliating defeats during the war and its people suffered with reduced goods and services. This fed to unrest which led to Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate and allow a more democratic government to take over. Alas, that did not last as it continued in the war despite its unpopularity. This allowed the Communists, led by Lenin (who had been sent back to the country by Germany to foment chaos) to seize power and overturn the entire social and political structure of the country. In Germany, after a decade of vacillating leadership and discontent over inflation and Germany’s loss of status in the world, Adolf Hitler would lead the Nazi Party to victory after he was given the chancellorship in in 1933. Both Germany and Russia (now called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or just Soviet Union), were led by authoritarian governments that ruled with an iron fist.

The Soviet Union in its early days sought a promised world-wide revolution that never happened causing its leader Lenin and later Stalin to realize that building up the country first was needed before worldwide revolution. Hitler and the Nazi’s had a different view as they wanted to expand their country and restore pride in Germany. A new Germany was being formed with a clear ideology they were the people that would lead to change Europe and the world. By 1939, Germany was making its moves in Europe by invading Czechoslovakia. In 1938, they demanded and got a piece of Czechoslovakia when Britain and France, desperate to avoid war, forced Czechoslovakia to accept the deal breaking a treaty they had signed to defend it. Germany also annexed Austria that year as well uniting both countries. The invasion of Czechoslovakia told Britain and France that Hitler would not honor his agreements.

On the Russian side, Stalin had instituted programs to industrialize the country, but his brutal dictatorship had resulted in people being denounced, tried, and either imprisoned for years or executed. A climate of fear existed and not knowing whether someone had denounced you in secret made you wonder if you would come home that night. The Great Purge of 1936-1938  saw its officer corps depleted. The German Gestapo, feeding on Stalin’s paranoia, used the situation to use create documents that implicated many in the officer corps but also in government as well. The era became known for its show trials where the accused would be brought in, tried of a crime they didn’t commit, and faced imprisonment or death depending on the severity of the charge. Those who had become important members of government or close to Stalin that had been purged would be removed from the public record as well. Photos were retouched to show they were no longer walking, standing, or near Stalin or other people.

Stalin looked at expanding the Soviet Union by stealth or force into Europe. He hoped the war between the European nations would so weaken them so he could achieve his aims. Poland was, like Czechoslovakia a means to an end for both powers. Germany’s racial theory held the Polish people were, like the Jews, to be eliminated. For all the bad reasons, both Hitler and Stalin would come to terms and agree to a treaty that divided Poland into two spheres. Secret protocols to the pact indicated the demarcation lines and other things as well. The countries of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland were secretly divided up as well giving both Germany and the Soviet Union access to raw materials. This allowed Hitler to invade Poland in September. Russia would move to claim its share of Poland, which the German military was not quite happy about since in some areas they had to withdraw back to the lines agreed to in the secret protocols.

“Nothing more unbelievable could be imagined. Astonishment and skepticism turned quickly to consternation and alarm”. (Gunther, John (1940). Inside Europe. New York: Harper & Brothers.)

Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking hands over the newly signed pact between Germany and Soviet Union. August 23,1939
Source: German Federal Archive

The news of the agreement, popularly called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, stunned the world. No one expected that Hitler would make a deal with Stalin. There had been some leaks suggesting of it, but no one thought it credible this would occur. The British and French had been in negotiations with the Soviets for months and were blindsided. Soviet propaganda heralded the agreement while others questioned secret protocols that were signed. Italy and the U.S. were given some limited information about them, but the full details were not disclosed. Soviet propaganda downplayed the previous attacks on Germany and Molotov himself made it clear they harbored no ill will.  Nazi propaganda also had to do an about face as well. The Nazi’s had shut down the German Communist Party, imprisoned its leaders, and shut down its press. And they had nothing good to say about the Soviet Union either. Now they had to say everything was good with the hated Communist state.

Meanwhile the Baltic States began to worry how the rumored secret protocols would soon impact them. British and French attempts to meet with the Soviet negotiator over the agreement were rebuffed. Hitler said that with the treaty in place Britain should recognize Germany’s claims over Poland since it changed the situation from that of World War I. Instead, and to the German leader’s surprise, Britain announced a defense pact with Poland on 25 August 1939. Needless to say, Poland now realized it was being divided up by the two powers and war was coming.

How Central Europe would be divided up according the agreement. And what actually happened before Germany broke the treaty and attacked the Soviet Union.
Author: Peter Hanula via Wikimedia Commons

The British and French governments had reached their end with Hitler; they no longer trusted him. In both countries the appeasement supporters diminished as reality set in that war was most certainly coming now with Germany. Neville Chamberlain, the chief supporter of the Munich Agreement a year before to avoid war, now realized his failure. He made it clear to Germany it would stand by Britain’s agreement to defend Poland. Hitler considered Chamberlain a fool and ordered the military to invade Poland as planned. The only question the Germans really had was whether those powers would do anything while they were attacking Poland. Both the British and French declared war on Germany when it invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 but took no immediate military action. It was a mistake that would prove costly for both countries later.

Aftermath

Stalin gambled that Hitler would focus on Europe and not on Russia. His goal was to build up the Soviet Union for war or to move in when his forces had subverted the country they wanted to take. Like many (including the German military high command) a two-front war was to be avoided. All of that went out of the window when Hitler decided he would invade Russia in 1941 under Operation Barbarossa. The goal of the operation was to remove and execute the leadership of Russia, take control of Russia, and make it a place for German resettlement. Stalin was not prepared for war and had discounted warnings Germany was about to invade as an attempt to get Russia to scuttle the treaty. Germany got the initial success and took territory easily defeating the military forces it encountered. However, they never took Moscow despite being twenty miles from it. And as time went on, faced more stiffer resistance and a military helped by American military equipment sent to help Russia defeat Hitler.

A vicious war broke out between the German and Russian forces creating now an Eastern Front that began to demand more resources than initially thought needed. The Soviet Union was getting supplies from the Allies using the dangerous North Atlantic to Murmansk route. And when the Allies landed in Europe in June 1944, this caused even more strain already on the limited resources Germany had. The Soviet troops started pushing back and ultimately forced Germany into retreat and ultimately to Berlin in 1945 where Hitler would commit suicide rather than be captured.

Stalin though did achieve his war aims in the end. Now with their troops in Poland and throughout Central Europe in countries they had liberated from Nazi rule, they would undermine the return of its former governments and subverted their political structure to ensure Communists would take charge. Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia all came to be controlled by the Soviet Union through governments that were installed and supported by them. It gave them access to sources of raw materials they had not had before and created a buffer around Russia. For people that had survived living under the yoke of Nazi controlled governments, it was simply swapping out one ideology for another with the same type of tyranny running things. Yugoslavia under Tito did break away from Moscow (he was fiercely independent but Communist) but that was about it.

The Iron Curtain, in black. Countries to the East of it are noted in Red and Warsaw Pact countries. NATO countries are blue, neutral states gray. Green depicts Yugoslavia which broke away from Moscow in 1948. Albania also had its own split starting in 1961 and in 1968 withdrew from the Pact but remained Communist. While a small part of Austria was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1945-1955, it did not join the Warsaw Pact and declared its neutrality. The small black dot in East Germany indicates West Berlin which was circled with the infamous Berlin Wall starting in 1961.
Image: Sémhur via Wikimedia Commons

Until the fall of Communism began in 1991, these countries would remain either directly or indirectly controlled by Moscow through their governments. Some countries such as Czechoslovakia would break up (Czech Republic and Slovakia) after Communism ended. Yugoslavia would also break up as well into Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Romania had the most violent uprising (Poland had strikes that forced out the Communists) that ended with its leader being executed in the end. East Germany would be unified with West Germany ending the separation that had begun in 1945.

Sources

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2024h, August 16). German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact | History, facts, & Significance. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/German-Soviet-Nonaggression-Pact

German-Soviet Pact. (n.d.). https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/german-soviet-pact

Klein, C., & Klein, C. (2023, October 5). How a secret Hitler-Stalin pact set the stage for WWII. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/the-secret-hitler-stalin-nonagression-pact

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: Hitler, Stalin & WWII – HISTORY. (2022, November 15). Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: Hitler, Stalin & WWII – HISTORY. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/molotov-ribbentrop-pact

Suggested Reading

Gunther, J. (1940). Inside Europe (Revised Edition 1940). Harper Brothers. (Original work published 1936)

Moorhouse, R. (2014). The Devils’ Alliance: Hitler’s Pact with Stalin, 1939-1941. Basic Books (AZ).

Pipes, R. (1995). Russia under the Bolshevik Regime. Vintage.

Pipes, R. (2001). Communism: A History. Random House Digital, Inc.

Read, A., & Fisher, D. (1989). The Deadly Embrace: Hitler, Stalin and the Nazi-Soviet Pact, 1939-1941. W. W. Norton.

Shirer, W. L. (2011). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. Simon and Schuster.

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