Areas annexed by Nazi Germany
European lands annexed by Germany before and during WWII
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Through Nazi Germany, World War II and Poland
Overview
The territorial expansions of Nazi Germany before and during World War II did not follow a uniform structure. Instead, the regime created a complex network of diverse forms of rule and administration, driven by racial ideology and power politics. Austria, the Sudetenland, the Memel Territory, parts of Poland, and Eupen-Malmedy were officially and permanently incorporated into the German Reich by law. The local population was granted Reich citizenship, provided they were classified as being of "German descent." The administration was fully adapted to the German legal system.
The occupied territories of Luxembourg, Alsace, Lorraine, Lower Styria, Upper Carniola, and the Bialystok District were placed under a "Chief of Civil Administration" (CdZ). These regions were annexed de facto and treated as an integral part of the Reich, without any formal declaration under international law. The objective was a gradual, seamless alignment with the Reich ahead of a later, official integration.
The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, as well as the General Government, were semi-autonomous territories that were nevertheless considered an inherent part of the German Reich. The Operational zones, on the other hand, were fully controlled by the Germans and administered like Reich territory, but were not officially considered part of the Reich.
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Fully annexed territories
According to the Treaty of Versailles, the Territory of the Saar Basin was split from Germany for at least 15 years. In 1935, the Saarland rejoined Germany in a lawful way after a plebiscite.
The territories listed below are those that were fully annexed into Germany proper.
Partially incorporated territories
The territories listed below are those that were partially incorporated into the Greater German Reich.
Planned annexations
In the coming Nazi New Order, other lands were considered for annexation sooner or later. Territorially speaking, this encompassed the already-enlarged German Reich itself (consisting of pre-1938 Germany proper, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Czech Silesia, Alsace-Lorraine, Eupen-Malmedy, Memel, Lower Styria, Upper Carniola, Southern Carinthia, Danzig, and Poland), the Netherlands, the Flemish part of Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and at least the German-speaking parts of Switzerland. The goal was to unite all or as many as possible ethnic Germans and Germanic peoples, including non-Germanic speaking ones considered "Aryans", in a Greater Germanic Reich.
In Norway, construction of the city of Nordstern began during the German occupation of Norway. It was intended to be administered directly from Germany.
The eastern Reichskommissariats in the vast stretches of Ukraine and Russia were also intended for future integration into that Reich, with plans for them stretching to the Volga or even beyond the Urals, where the potential westernmost reaches of Imperial Japanese influence would have existed, following an Axis victory in World War II. They were deemed of vital interest for the survival of the German nation, as it was a core tenet of Nazism that Germany needed "living space" (Lebensraum), creating a "pull towards the East" (Drang nach Osten) where that could be found and colonized.
North-East Italy was also eventually to be annexed, including both the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral and the Operational Zone of the Alpine Foothills, but also the Venice region. Goebbels went as far as to suggest taking control of Lombardy as well:
Whatever was once an Austrian possession we must get back into our own hands. The Italians by their infidelity and treachery have lost any claim to a national state of the modern type. — Joseph Goebbels, September 1943
The annexation of the entire North Italy was also suggested in the long run.