The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich

William L. Shirer
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE
THIRD REICH
A History of Nazi Germany
THE RISE AND FALL
OF THE THIRD REICH?
William L. Shirer ranks as one of the greatest of all American correspon-
dents. He lived and worked in Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Rome. But it was
above all as correspondent in Germany for the Chicago Tribune and later the
Columbia Broadcasting System that his reputation was established. He subse-
quently wrote The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which is hailed as a classic,
and after the war he was awarded the Legion d’Honneur. In the post-war years
he wrote in a variety of fields, and in his seventies he learned Russian, publishing
a biography of Tolstoy at the age of 89. He died in 1994. His Berlin broadcasts
were published posthumously by Hutchinson in 1999.
?Formatted in LATEX by motor89hotmail.com. Any comments/corrections appreciated –
release V1.0
It was Hitler’s boast that the Third Reich would last a thousand years.
Instead it lasted only twelve. But into its short life was packed the most cata-
clysmic series of events that Western civilisation has ever known.
William Shirer is one of the very few historians to have gained full access
to the secret German archives which the Allies captured intact. He was also
present at the Nuremberg trials.
’I can think of no book which I would rather put in the hands of
anyone who wanted to find out what happened in Germany between
1930 and 1945, and why the history of those years should never be
forgotten.’ – Alan Bullock
Monumental – perfectly balanced, yet all the time marked with the
personality and understanding of the author. It’s is a great book; a
great record.’ – Bernard Levin
’The standard, indeed the classic, history of Nazism. We should be
thankful to the historian whose solid work will permanently preserve
the truth.’ – Hugh Trevor-Roper
iv
Contents
FOREWORD vii
THE RISE OF ADOLF HITLER 1
1 BIRTH OF THE THIRD REICH 3
2 BIRTH OF THE NAZI PARTY 27
3 VERSAILLES, WEIMAR AND THE BEER HALL PUTSCH 49
4 THE MIND OF HITLER AND THE ROOTS OF THE THIRD
REICH 73
TRIUMPH AND CONSOLIDATION 102
5 THE ROAD TO POWER: 1925-31 103
6 THE LAST DAYS OF THE REPUBLIC 1931-33 133
7 THE NAZIFICATION OF GERMANY: 1933-34 167
8 LIFE IN THE THIRD REICH: 1933-37 205
THE ROAD TO WAR 245
9 THE FIRST STEPS: 1934-37 247
10 STRANGE, FATEFUL INTERLUDE: THE FALL OF
BLOMBERG, FRITSCH, NEURATH AND SCHACHT 275
11 ANSCHLUSS: THE RAPE OF AUSTRIA 287
12 THE ROAD TO MUNICH 319
13 CZECHOSLOVAKIA CEASES TO EXIST 383
14 THE TURN OF POLAND 407
v
15 THE NAZI-SOVIET PACT 459
16 THE LAST DAYS OF PEACE 489
17 THE LAUNCHING OF WORLD WAR II 535
WAR: EARLY VICTORIES AND THE TURNING
POINT 559
18 THE FALL OF POLAND 561
19 SITZKRIEG IN THE WEST 569
20 THE CONQUEST OF DENMARK AND NORWAY 605
21 VICTORY IN THE WEST 641
22 OPERATION SEA LION: THE THWARTED INVASION OF
BRITAIN 681
23 BARBAROSSA: THE TURN OF RUSSIA 713
24 A TURN OF THE TIDE 767
25 THE TURN OF THE UNITED STATES 783
26 THE GREAT TURNING POINT: 1942 STALINGRAD AND
EL ALAMEIN 813
BEGINNING OF THE END 841
27 THE NEW ORDER 843
28 THE FALL OF MUSSOLINI 895
29 THE ALLIED INVASION OF WESTERN EUROPE AND
THE ATTEMPT TO KILL HITLER 911
THE FALL OF THE THIRD REICH 972
30 THE CONQUEST OF GERMANY 973
31 GOETTERDAEMMERUNG: THE LAST DAYS OF THE
THIRD REICH 993
32 A BRIEF EPILOGUE 1023
33 AFTERWORD 1027
vi
I have often felt a bitter sorrow at the thought
of the German people, which is so estimable
in the individual and so wretched in the generality. . .
GOETHE
Hitler was the fate of Ger...