Hitler's empire : how the Nazis ruled ruled Europe

Germans and Slavs: 1848-1918 -- Versailles to Vienna -- Expansion and escalation: 1938-40 -- The partition of Poland -- Summer 1940 -- War of annihilation: into the Soviet Union -- Make this land German for me again! -- Organizing disorder: 1941-2 -- The new order -- Making occupation pay -- Workers -- Ersatz diplomacy -- The final solution: the Jewish question -- Collaboration -- Eastern helpers -- Opposition -- Hitler kaputt! -- Perspectives -- We Europeans -- The new order in world history.;Drawing on an unprecedented variety of sources, Mark Mazower reveals how the Nazis designed, maintained, and ultimately lost their European empire and offers a chilling vision of the world Hitler would have made had he won the war. Hitler's Empire constituted the largest, most brutal and most ambitious reshaping of the continent ever attempted in Europe's history. Liberalism and democracy were swept aside, as Germany aimed to turn itself into the most powerful state on the continent, and to compel everyone else to recognize its mastery. Europe's future was to lie in a new racial order based on the uprooting, resettlement and extermination of millions of people. Hitler's Empire charts the landscape of the Nazi imperial imagination - from those economists who dreamed of turning Europe into a huge market for German business, to Hitler's own plans for new trans-continental motorways passing over the ethnically cleansed Russian steppe, and earnest in-house SS discussions of political theory, dictatorship and the rule of law.Above all, this chilling account shows too what happened as these ideas met reality. After their early battlefield triumphs, the sheer bankruptcy of the Nazis' political vision for Europe became all too clear: their allies bailed out, their New Order collapsed in military failure, and they left behind a continent corrupted by collaboration, impoverished by looting and exploitation, and grieving the victims of total war and genocide. Description from Syndetics.com The powerful, disturbing history of Nazi Europe by Mark Mazower, one of Britain's leading historians and bestselling author of Dark Continent and Governing the World Hitler's Empire charts the landscape of the Nazi imperial imagination - from those economists who dreamed of turning Europe into a huge market for German business, to Hitler's own plans for new transcontinental motorways passing over the ethnically cleansed Russian steppe, and earnest internal SS discussions of political theory, dictatorship and the rule of law. Above all, this chilling account shows what happened as these ideas met reality. After their early battlefield triumphs, the bankruptcy of the Nazis' political vision for Europe became all too clear: their allies bailed out, their New Order collapsed in military failure, and they left behind a continent corrupted by collaboration, impoverished by looting and exploitation, and grieving the victims of war and... Drawing On An Unprecedented Variety Of Sources, Mark Mazower Reveals How The Nazis Designed, Maintained, And Ultimately Lost Their European Empire And Offers A Chilling Vision Of The World Hitler Would Have Made Had He Won The War. Pt. 1. For Greater Germany. -- Germans And Slavs: 1848-1918 -- Versailles To Vienna -- Expansion And Escalation: 1938-40 -- The Partition Of Poland -- Summer 1940 -- War Of Annihilation: Into The Soviet Union -- Make This Land German For Me Again! -- Organizing Disorder: 1941-2 -- Pt. 2. The New Order. -- Making Occupation Pay -- Workers -- Ersatz Diplomacy -- The Final Solution: The Jewish Question -- Collaboration -- Eastern Helpers -- Opposition -- Hitler Kaputt! -- Pt. 3. Perspectives. -- We Europeans -- The New Order In World History. Mark Mazower. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 648-672) And Index. Draw ing on an unprecedented range and variety of original research, Hitler?s Empire sheds new light on how the Nazis designed, maintained, and lost their European dominion?and offers a chilling vision of what the world would have become had they won the war. Mark Mazower forces us to set aside timeworn opinions of the Third Reich, and instead shows how the party drew inspiration for its imperial expansion from America and Great Britain. Yet the Nazis? lack of political sophistication left them unequal to the task of ruling what their armies had conquered, despite a shocking level of cooperation from the overwhelmed countries. A work as authoritative as it is unique, Hitler?s Empire is a surprising?and controversial? new appraisal of the Third Reich?s rise and ultimate fall. ix xi xxvii xxix xxxiii 1 Part I: For Greater Germany 15 31 53 78 102 137 179 223 Part 2: The New Order 259 294 319 368 416 446 471 522 Part 3: Perspectives 553 576 605 648 673