The Third Reich at War

This is volume 3 of Evans' history of the Third Reich. Vol. 1 covered the time before the Nazis took power in 33, then vol. 2 was about the `peace time years' from 33 to 39, which were of course more a war preparation time.Vol. 3 is about the Nazi rule during WW2. The cover of this Penguin edition is somewhat misleading, as it gives us war photos, which makes us expect mainly a war history, which this book isn't meant to be. It does relate the war events, but only insofar as needed to understand the changing situations and conditions for rule and government. Unfortunately that concept does not quite work, because the war story itself is big enough and the material gets out of hand, a little. I consider this the weakest volume of the trilogy. In a way, Evans is overstretched, though not as catastrophically as the Germany military.Several reviewers have complained that there is nothing new here. I did not see it that way in the first 2 volumes, but here it may be true. Anyway, it remains a good and solid presentation of its subject. Assembly of divergent sources into one canvass is a valid effort in itself.Sources include Hitler's table talks, diaries from murderers like Felix Landau (the employer of Bruno Schulz in Lemberg), from survivors (like Viktor Klemperer), from nameless victims, bystanders and fellow travelers, letters home from the front, and then of course also previous historiography, like Kershaw's Hitler bio.Part 1 deals mainly with German rule in Poland after the first war phase in 39/40. Dominant themes are racial and settlement policies, expropriations, ethnic cleansing, deportation, forced labor, ghettoization, mass murder. Brutality and atrocities committed by the invasion forces were, sadly, not confined to special units, such as SS, but apparently also normal for regular army units. Evans argues that troops behaved differently on the Eastern front, compared to later actions in the West, because of an acquired superiority complex.During these first war times, the euthanasia program was launched at home, during which up to 100,000 handicapped or mentally ill people were killed. This mass murder scheme came to a halt after courageous protests by leaders of the Catholic Church. That was maybe the only case of a successful protest during Nazi rule. The technology developed for the gasification of victims during the euthanasia period was later transferred to the genocide and further upgraded.Part 2 struggles with the mass of events that follow until end 41: occupation of much of Europe. The successful attack on France caused illusions of invincibility. These were dampened when the battle of Britain was lost and the invasion was called off. Germany did not have the naval strength to challenge Britain, and air superiority turned out to be a fata morgana. A separate peace deal remained elusive.The real target was always Russia. During the preparation of that adventure, distractions in North Africa, Yugoslavia and Greece intervened. All this is too briefly related to be satisfactory. Main take away for the reader is that all these victories were very expensive in lives and material. The attack on the Soviet Union went ahead with a flying start in June 41, but got bogged down in unexpectedly strong resistance and bad weather.Part 3 focuses on pogroms and the Holocaust. After the US entered war by the end of 41, the prospective material balance looked increasingly bleak, especially in view of huge losses in Russia and the stubborn refusal of Britain to cave in. Hitler started a new propaganda campaign against the `Jewish conspiracy' against Germany, painting Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin as puppets on a string. This was the starting signal for the main phase of the genocide.Part 4 describes the efforts to speed up the war economy in order to stay in pace with the allies' material production. Successes were impressive, but insufficient. By early 42 German leaders knew or could know that the war prospects were hopeless. Hitler preferred to withdraw into his castle in the clouds and to surround himself with yes-men.The year 42 is a mixed bag for Germany on the Eastern Front. 43 starts with the debacle at Stalingrad. Goebbels tries to whip up sagging morale with the `total war' campaign.Part 5 is called The Beginning of the End and starts with a chapter on `Bomber' Harris' air raids with their damage to war industry and civilian morale. Public mood went nose-diving. `Total war' was discovered to be all talk, no substance. The Stalingrad debacle is followed by a depressing defeat in North Africa. Retreat becomes the normal direction of movement. Italy's fascist government falls; the allies invade. The U-boat war is lost. Military discipline is ruthlessly enforced by military courts. Civil administration becomes a leaderless chaos .. the Leader has gone hiding, doesn't make public speeches anymore, becomes inaccessible.. Early Parkinson is one of the explanations.I have called my review `Overstretch' to refer to the German military prospects, but also to Evans' treatment of the subject. I must admit that I find myself overstretched as well. If I continue with this much detail, I will exceed the space limits for an amazon review. Should I make radical cuts or just say that the last two parts cover the end and the way there and the aftermath? That's what I will do. I was overstretched.

This is the last of three volumes that together stand as the definitive history of the Third Reich. The ultimate question Evans struggles with, and that we all struggle with, is the extent to which ordinary Germans were complicit in the Reich. Given the extent of the slaughter on the Eastern Front, the network of concentration camps, and the use of 8 to 12 million persons for slave labor, the Nazi's crimes necessarily required the active and enthusiastic participation by hundreds of thousands if not millions of Germans. There was no problem enlisting the necessary fanatics. Nor should we be surprised, knowing what we know about human nature, that a significant minority of persons are delighted to do evil once the ordinary constraints of civilization break down during wartime.But what about the majority of Germans? What about the 63% of Germans who did not vote for the Nazis in 1933? What about the vast majority of Germans whoe dreaded the coming of the war and who were unenthusiastic when Hitler renewed the fight with the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941?It is clear that no one opposed the brutal destruction of Poland in 1939. This is hardly to Germany's credit and does indicate the extent to which German's viewed expansion in middle Europe as their birthright -- an authoritarian and imperial consensus that Hitler used to gain support for his regime and to give it legitimacy.Evans argues that at some level of generality, all Germans were aware of the crimes of the regime. Clearly, people were being enslaved and stories about round ups of Jews and other civilians on the Eastern Front were making the rounds. At best, Germans could claim "deniability." They arguably did not know about the worst crimes. But the slave labor and disappearances of the Jews and the racism of the regime were there for all to see. The enthusiastic support of such radical policies by a fanatical base minority and the acquiescence of the majority made the whole nation complicit. Evans argues that by the time the Russians were at the gates in 1945 and Goebbels argued for a last ditch stand, the Germans were resigned to their fate. Ordinary Germans had a guilt complex by then -- they knew this was payback for what the fanatics had done on the Eastern Front. This guilt, and the ability of the Germans to succeed economically in the 1950s under a Democracy (in contrast to the Weimar experience), finally solved the "German Problem" that plagued the Twentieth Century and allowed Germany to become a peace-loving nation.Violence was at the core of the Third Reich, Evans argues. The majority of Germans refused to see this, but were complicit with the regime and were responsible for the consequences. It is foolish to talk about whether Hitler could have won the war by invading Britain or by invading the Middle East full scale instead of invading Russia. The latter course would have resolved the resource problem, but it was never an option. The Nazis took their primitive ideology quite seriously. There had to be a death struggle with the Russians so that the most superior race (presumably the Germans) would emerge supreme. To the surprise of the majority of Germans, the Nazis were always quite serious about this ideology.Despite the Nazi's brutal tactics in suppressing subject peoples, and despite wide scale collaboration, effective resitance did emerge. This was particularly the case in the East where it became very clear to the subject peoples that they had nothing to lose. This resistance encourages one to think that even had Hitler won militarily, the regime was inherently unstable in the long run and would have been doomed by a deadly and committed insurgency.By the end of the war, the Germans themselves are completely subjugated. They survived on starvation rations, both sexes worked long hours, and the young and old alike were drafted into the army. Clearly, Hitler's regime was able to mobilize complete support and sacrifice despite the reservations of a majority of Germans.The lesson I take from all this is that there is nothing particularly unique about the Germans when it comes to being complicit in the worst evil. The story of the Third Reich is the story of human nature, and not a pretty one.

I am yet to start reading it, as I am reading Richard J. Evan's first book on the rise of Nazism. He is a very good Historian, easy to follow, and a master of his subject, A must read writer!The book was in very good condition, and came with a dust jacket, which is thing that I particularly look for.Yes! well pleased.

I found this book hard to put down. I was both moved and incredulous at times. I can’t recommend it strongly enough.

I leave the writing of a full review to those better versed in the period. I enjoyed this comprehensive and very readable text on the Nazi Germany, and an admirable successor to the volume on the Third Reich in power. If you want a thorough going introduction to the period you can do a lot worse that turn to Evans. Highly recommended.

Incredible book and resource for anyone studing A level history or with an interest in the topic.

A tremendous book which is part of a tremendous series. I would recommend this for scholar and enthusiast alike.