The Nazi Party was one of a number of right-wing extremist political groups that emerged in Germany following World War I and the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles. Economic and political turmoil in the 1930s led to the rise of militarism and totalitarianism, eventually culminating in Germany's membership in the Axis alliance with Japan and the conquest of a large part of Europe and parts of Africa during World War II.
LebensraumThe Nazis believed themselves to be the "Master Race" in Europe. As such, they developed the concept of Lebensraum, which means "Living Space. " Lebensraum was the justification used by the Nazis to create their empire in order to provide the master race with land. According to this theory, Germany needed a Lebensraum in Eastern Europe and Central Asia for its survival. The indigenous populations of Central and Eastern Europe would have to be removed permanently (either through mass deportation to Siberia, extermination, or enslavement) including Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Czech and other Slavic nations considered non-Aryan. The Nazi government aimed at repopulating these lands with Germanic colonists in the name of Lebensraum during World War II and thereafter.
|