German-occupied Europe

Between 1938 and 1945, Nazi Germany occupied or controlled vast territories of Europe. Peaking in 1941–1942, Germany and the other Axis powers (namely Italy) were governing more than half of the entire continent's population through direct administration, civil occupation, and military occupation, as well as by establishing puppet states. Germany's expansionist campaigns under the Nazi Party of Adolf Hitler ultimately led to the beginning of World War II in 1939. Also inside some of these occupied states, particularly Poland, was a large network of Nazi camps that facilitated what would later become known as the Holocaust.

The Wehrmacht occupied European territory:

as far north and east as Franz Josef Land in the Soviet Union

as far south as Gavdos in Greece

as far west as Ushant in France

German weather stations within Europe existed as far north as Schatzgräber in Franz Josef Land's Alexandra Land. Although the Kriegsmarine operated globally during World War II, it was chiefly focused on establishing and maintaining hegemony in the North Atlantic, especially the North Sea.

History

Several German-occupied countries initially entered World War II as Allies of the United Kingdom or the Soviet Union. Some were forced to surrender before the outbreak of the war such as Czechoslovakia; others like Poland (invaded on 1 September 1939) were conquered in battle and then occupied. In some cases, the legitimate governments went into exile, in other cases the governments-in-exile were formed by their citizens in other Allied countries. Some countries occupied by Nazi Germany were officially neutral.