The Early Days of the War

An Empire Burns...

When Hitler seized power in 1933, his vision of the Third Reich was an empire that would last a thousand years. This empire would be built on the bones of millions of innocent people, categorized as diseased, evil and unworthy of living. Battles had to be waged to purge the earth of the unworthy; at what cost was immaterial. With such sinister and inhuman beliefs, the empire surged on. Inside Nazi Germany, there was prosperity blooming, after a long period of gathering the spoils of the First World War and a treaty that made the Fatherland fall onto its knees and accept defeat. The German people were deeply hurt and when the Chancellory revoked the Treaty of Versailles, it was not uncommon to feel pride and a sense of relief that the people who had been wronged had finally found justice. The Wehrmacht was thus found..

Within a span of six years, Germany prospered. People found jobs, the common man had money to buy a car and the economy boomed. To the outside world, Germany was never looking back and the progress would be fuelled by an effort to maintain peace and balance in the world. Deep down inside, the Gestapo was busy rounding up Jewish families and preparing for the big purge. The propaganda waged by Joseph Goebbels turned friend against friend and a wave of seething hatred swept across the nation. 'Anschluss!' shouted the Austrian & German Nazis and Austria was annexed without a single shot being fired. The English looked on and so did the rest of the world. By early 1939 the Danzig corridor was annexed and propaganda of inhuman torture of German descendants in Czechoslovakia enraged more fertile minds.

While Hitler and Stalin annexed the remainder of the Czech state, the British House of Commons roared with echoes of "He's a jolly good fellow!" sung in honor of Chamberlain's noble efforts at avoiding a military confrontation between the Nazis and the English over Czechoslovakia. Hitler grew more confident and the final preparations began. The Fuhrer decided to launch a full scale offensive although the top Nazi brass had warned him that Germany wasn't ready to go to war until 1941. The attack began with Hitler's massive campaigns to conquer Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium and finally France. Blitzkreig. Shock and awe. Murder, bloodshed. A turn of events over a period of 6 years that claimed 61 million lives..

Recommended Reading:

Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: William Shirer
Inside the Third Reich: Alber Speer
Barbarossa: Alan Clark
Torpedo Junction: Homer Hickam
Rommel Papers: Erwin Rommel / Liddell Hart

Recommended Viewing:

The World at War
World War II: The lost color Archives
Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary
Patton (feature film)
Stalingrad (feature film)
A Bridge Too Far (feature film)