A British map, I presume, made between 1937 and 1940, showing the German plans for the conquest of Europe “revealed by Secret Nazi Map” – I don’t know if that isn’t a bit of British propaganda, or if there actually was such a map.
In fact, this map, whether or not derivative of that supposed secret map, is quite accurate in the scope of the German conquest, especially in the Latin countries (with ambitions towards Portugal and Northern Spain perhaps a bit too, well, ambitious, but with the occupation of France predicted rather well: the territory occupied by the Vichy régime is about right).
In some cases, it’s off by just a year, as in the occupation of the Low Countries: actually happened in 1940, was predicted here by 1941. And of course neither Sweden, Switzerland nor the British Isles were ever occupied by the Nazis (except for the Channel Islands, the only part of Britain ever occupied by foreign forces for a significant length of time since the Norman invasions).
And to my limited knowledge, Hungaria, Romania and possibly also Bulgaria weren’t really occupied by the Germans, but rather ruled over by nazi-friendly, but at least nominally independent regimes.
Map found at the British Library.
Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria were all German allies. Slovakia and Croatia (among others) were German sponsored puppet states. In any case, Germany had no specific “master plan” for Europe. That would have required actual administrative competence (the administrative history of Nazi Germany would be hysterically funny if not for the tragic consequences). It should also be noted that this map isn’t talking about occupation. It’s talking about annexation (hence “to be German”). In actual fact, Germany annexed the following:
Austria (1938)
Much of Czechoslovakia (1938)
A significant chunk of Poland (1939)
Alsace-Lorraine from France (1940)
Small parts of Belgium that had been ceded by Germany after WWI (1940).
I may have missed something, but I don’t believe so.
Comment by Dan Michelson — December 11, 2006 @ 2:02 am
Again, an incredibly interesting map. In the interests of pedantic accuracy, the Channel Islands are not part of Britain, nor have they ever been. They are leftover from the old Duchy of Normandy, and together with the British Isles constitute the British Islands.
Comment by Dan — December 11, 2006 @ 2:08 am
This map is probably not so far from the truth as the National Socialists would have planned it ( The long name for the Nazis ). After all, one of their declared aims was to make France into a a breadbasket agricultural state for reasons of economy and to exact a “revenge” for the French invasion of the industrial Ruhr during the civil war of the 1920s.
I would not deride the administrative ability of the Nazis entirely, as a previous comment did :
The Nazis were after all the first government to see the value of the use of computers in filing and processing census data, or rather Hollerith punchcard analysers.
Comment by D F Stuckey — December 11, 2006 @ 3:21 am
Thanks for your additions and clarifications!
Comment by strangemaps — December 11, 2006 @ 4:57 am
“I would not deride the administrative ability of the Nazis entirely, as a previous comment did :
The Nazis were after all the first government to see the value of the use of computers in filing and processing census data, or rather Hollerith punchcard analysers.”
Well, that sort of sums it up, doesn’t it? The Nazis were always
good on the details, horrible on the big picture: good at fighting
battles, rather bad on figuring out how to fight a war without
getting 2/3 of the planet allied against them. Hollerith punchcard
analyzers to help organize the mass extermination of thousands of
the Reich most talented and productive citizens; extensive plans
for the ethnic cleansing of Russia to create an agrarian paradise
hardly any Germans would actually want to move to.
Comment by B Munro — December 11, 2006 @ 4:59 am
The Nazis were after all the first government to see the value of the use of computers in filing and processing census data, or rather Hollerith punchcard analysers.
Not strictly true, since Hollerith’s system was used in the 1890 US Census.
Comment by Eric — December 11, 2006 @ 7:28 pm
Judging by the style of Swastika on the original “plans”, I submit that the original document was that of a Sudeten German organization, known to be rather overzealous. I would doubt such a document came out of the Wilhelmstraße even though the Hossbach-Protokol of 5.11.37 supports it rather well.
Comment by Chip Lamb — January 4, 2007 @ 7:19 pm
[...] There are three Second World War era maps produced for propaganda purposes: one supposedly showing German war aims, another supposedly showing Allied war aims, and one especially interesting to me, supposedly [...]
Pingback by Airminded · Ein kleinstaat bedroht Deutschland — January 5, 2007 @ 8:49 am
Hasn’t it been proved that IBM was deeply involved in the computerisation of Nazi administration ?
Who is responsible for this propaganda ? Surely not pre-Churchill ? Were there belligerent elements in Chamberlain’s government ?
Comment by Robert — March 11, 2007 @ 4:18 am
Every European nation had National-Socialist movements. A key goal of the German NS was to bring all Germans into a common, contiguous border. Other nationalities had similar aspirations. These thoughts were a continuation of and fine-tuning of the earlier generation’s Pan-movements: Pan-Germanism, Pan-Slavism, Pan-Hellenism, even Pan-Americanism!
The opposition to such movements may have been motivated by altruistic desires to integrate the entire world, or the opponents may simply have been jealous. They may have despised the very existence of unique ethnic groups, they may have wished to force conformity on non-conforming peoples rather than allow them “self-determination”, and they may just have felt slighted at being excluded from those powerful, action-oriented groups for whose goals they had no interest or sympathy.
Comment by Dale Milne — September 3, 2007 @ 3:51 pm
This is British propaganda, but it’s actually very accurate in what the Germans ended up doing. I wonder if it’s not a product of the newsletters distributed in Britain by Stephen King-Hall prior to the outbreak of the war.
The Germans never wanted Hungary, Rumania or Bulgaria, just to bring them into the Nazi orbit. Hungary and Rumania had huge oil reserves that the Germans desperately needed.
Comment by John — January 24, 2008 @ 3:47 am
[...] &8220revealed by Secret nazi Map&8221 &8211 I don&8217t know if that isn&8217t a bit of British …http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2006/12/10/48-%E2%80%93-nazi-war-aims/Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State . Maps &amp Plans PBSMaps &amp Plans. An exploration of the [...]
Pingback by nazi maps — July 4, 2008 @ 12:41 am
thanks.
Comment by hero — October 15, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
thanks for u. I’m really grateful.
Comment by santos — January 16, 2009 @ 12:28 pm
thanks alot
Comment by Tony — May 4, 2009 @ 2:29 am
thanks for this map
good
luck
Comment by Solomon — May 11, 2009 @ 7:16 am
merci
Comment by aspicco . — May 17, 2009 @ 4:52 am
teşekkür ederim
Comment by yory — June 12, 2009 @ 8:14 pm
Vielen Dank
Comment by moon — July 3, 2009 @ 3:51 am
Muchas gracias
Comment by sun — July 4, 2009 @ 6:41 am