Architects of Control
An in-depth examination of the complex and evolving territorial divisions that underpinned the Third Reich's power structure.
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Introduction
The Gau System: A New Order
From 1934 to 1945, the primary administrative divisions of Nazi Germany were known as the Gaue (singular: Gau). These units were not merely geographical; they were fundamental to the Nazi Party's consolidation of power and its vision for a centralized, totalitarian state. Initially conceived as regional party districts in Weimar Germany in 1926, the Gau system was formally established in 1934 as a critical component of the Gleichschaltung process.
Replacing Traditional Structures
The Gleichschaltung, or "coordination," aimed to bring all aspects of German society under Nazi control. This included effectively sidelining the traditional Länder (states) and Prussian provinces, which, despite their continued formal existence, lost all real administrative authority after the Enabling Act of 1933. The Gaue thus became the de facto administrative backbone of the regime, embodying the Party's direct control over the populace.
The Autocratic Gauleiter
At the helm of each Gau was the Gauleiter, a high-ranking Nazi Party official. These individuals wielded immense, almost autocratic, power within their respective territories. Appointed directly by Adolf Hitler and answerable only to him, Gauleiters operated with minimal interference from central authorities, effectively becoming local dictators. This structure allowed for highly centralized ideological control while decentralizing day-to-day administration under loyal party cadres.
Expansion and Dissolution
Starting with 32 Gaue in 1934, the system expanded significantly as Nazi Germany annexed or occupied new territories. By 1945, the number peaked at 42 Gaue, incorporating regions like Austria, Sudetenland, and parts of conquered Poland. Some of these newly incorporated areas were organized as Reichsgaue, a special designation where the Gauleiter also held the position of Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor), further solidifying direct Reich control. The entire Gau system was formally dissolved with the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945.
Etymology
Roots of the Term 'Gau'
The term "Gau" itself is an archaic Germanic word, historically referring to a region or a province within a country. In medieval times, it was roughly equivalent to an English shire, denoting a traditional territorial division. Its revival by the Nazi Party in the 1920s was a deliberate act, imbuing the administrative units with a sense of historical legitimacy and deep-rooted Germanic identity.
Revival for Party Organization
During the Weimar Republic, the Nazi Party adopted "Gau" to designate its regional party associations. These early party districts were largely aligned with existing state and district boundaries, providing a ready-made framework for the later formal administrative system. This strategic re-appropriation of an ancient term served to connect the Party's modern political ambitions with a romanticized vision of a Germanic past.
Gaue & Länder
Parallel Administrations
Throughout the Nazi era, the Gaue coexisted in parallel with Germany's traditional states, the Länder, and Prussian provinces. While the administrative divisions of Weimar Germany were technically left in place, their function became largely ceremonial. Adolf Hitler ultimately abandoned plans for a comprehensive structural reform, known as a Reichsreform, fearing it would destabilize local party leadership and provoke internal dissent. Consequently, the internal borders of the Gaue within Germany remained static, only expanding through the incorporation of territories acquired after 1938.
The Gauleiter's Absolute Authority
Despite the formal persistence of the Länder, the true locus of local power resided with the Gauleiters, not the traditional Minister Presidents of the German states. Each Gauleiter was a direct appointee of Hitler, accountable solely to him. This direct line of authority meant that interference from the central government was rare, granting these officials virtually absolute power within their respective Gaue. This system effectively bypassed traditional governmental structures, ensuring the Nazi Party's unchallenged dominance at every level of administration.
Gaue Established in 1934
The initial phase of the Gau system saw the establishment of numerous administrative units across Germany. These early Gaue formed the foundational structure for the Nazi Party's regional control, often consolidating or re-drawing boundaries based on existing political or historical regions.
Reichsgaue
Direct Imperial Control
The Reichsgau represented a more direct form of imperial control compared to the standard Gaue. These special administrative units were typically established in territories annexed by Nazi Germany, particularly after 1938. In a Reichsgau, the Gauleiter also held the title of Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor), consolidating both party and state authority in one individual. This dual role underscored the regime's intent to fully integrate these new territories into the Greater German Reich, often involving significant demographic and cultural restructuring.
Reichsgaue from the 1930s
Following the Anschluss of Austria in 1938 and the incorporation of the Sudetenland after the Munich Agreement, new Reichsgaue were swiftly established. These annexations marked a significant expansion of Nazi Germany's territorial claims and administrative reach. Even southern parts of Czechoslovakia, gained through the Munich Agreement, were integrated into existing Reichsgaue of the former Austria, now known as Ostmark.
Reichsgaue During WWII
The Second World War saw further territorial annexations and the creation of additional Reichsgaue, particularly from conquered Polish territories. These new administrative units were instrumental in the Nazi regime's efforts to Germanize and exploit occupied lands. Territories not designated as Reichsgaue were often directly incorporated into existing bordering Gaue of the Reich, extending their administrative reach.
The Auslandsgau
Beyond the geographical boundaries of the Reich, an extraterritorial Gau known as the Auslandsorganisation (Foreign Organization) was established. Headquartered in Berlin, this unique Gau served to organize Nazi Party members residing overseas. It was officially considered the 43rd Gau of Nazi Germany, demonstrating the Party's ambition to maintain ideological and organizational control over its members globally, regardless of their physical location.
Protectorate
Bohemia and Moravia
On March 15, 1939, German forces invaded and occupied the remaining parts of Czechoslovakia, which had been significantly reduced after the annexation of the Sudetenland. The following day, Hitler decreed that these German-occupied territories of Bohemia and Moravia would be incorporated into "Greater Germany." However, they were not formally annexed but were instead designated as the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
Dual Administration
Within the Protectorate, a complex dual administrative structure was implemented. A separate native government was nominally retained, but effective executive control rested with a German Reichsprotektor. Ethnic Germans residing in the area automatically became German citizens. For territorial administration, the Protectorate was divided into two Länder: Bohemia and Moravia, which were further subdivided. Concurrently, the Nazi Party organized the area into four party districts, which were not new Gaue but were organizationally assigned to surrounding existing Party districts: Gau Bayreuth, Reichsgau Sudetenland, Reichsgau Lower Danube, and Reichsgau Upper Danube. This intricate system of coexisting government and party divisions persisted throughout the Protectorate's existence.
General Government
Polish Territories
Following the German invasion and conquest of Poland in 1939, Hitler issued a decree on October 12, 1939, establishing the General Government of the Occupied Polish Territories. This new entity, which came into effect on October 26, was placed under the administration of a Governor-General. After the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 and the occupation of Eastern Galicia, this region was also brought under the Governor-General's administration from August 1 of that year.
A Colonial Status
Crucially, the General Government was not considered a protectorate nor was it formally annexed into the Reich proper. Instead, Nazi officials viewed it as an "autonomous" region within "Greater Germany," effectively functioning as a colony. It existed outside the Reich's legal framework, and its Polish inhabitants were rendered stateless and devoid of rights. This status underscored the regime's brutal intentions for the Polish population and territory, which was primarily seen as a source of resources and labor.
Internal Districts
The General Government was subdivided into several Distrikte (districts) for administrative purposes. Initially, these included:
- Distrikt Krakau (Kraków)
- Distrikt Warschau (Warsaw)
- Distrikt Lublin
- Distrikt Radom
- Distrikt Galizien (Galicia)
Operational Zones
Italian Retaliation
In the wake of Benito Mussolini's overthrow and Italy's secret negotiations with the Allies to switch sides, Germany launched Operation Achse, occupying large parts of Italy. Mussolini was subsequently freed and re-installed as the puppet ruler of a new fascist state in the German-occupied territories. However, significant portions of northeastern Italy, situated between Switzerland and the Adriatic, were reorganized as Operational Zones (Operationszonen). These zones were informally annexed by Germany and attached to adjacent Gaue of the Reich, signifying a direct German administrative presence.
Key Operational Zones
Two primary Operational Zones were established:
- Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral (OZAK): Headquartered in Triest, this zone comprised Italian-occupied areas of Yugoslav Slovenia, the Istrian peninsula, Rijeka (Fiume), and the Friuli and Gorizia provinces. It was attached, though not formally incorporated, to Reichsgau Carinthia.
- Operational Zone of the Alpine Foothills (OZAV): With its headquarters in Bozen, this zone included former South Tyrol, Italian Trentino, and smaller adjacent parts of northeastern Italy. It was attached to Reichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg.
Further Military Regions
A supplementary order from the OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) on September 10, 1943, decreed the establishment of additional Operational Zones in Northern Italy, extending towards the French border. Unlike OZAK and OZAV, these zones were primarily military regions, with commanders exercising authority on behalf of Army Group B, rather than receiving civilian advisors. These included:
- Operational Zone Nordwest-Alpen (Northwest Alps) or Schweizer Grenze (Swiss Frontier): Encompassing areas between the Stelvio Pass and Monte Rosa, including the Italian provinces of Sondrio and Como, and parts of Brescia, Varese, Novara, and Vercelli.
- Operational Zone Französische Grenze (French Frontier): Designed to incorporate areas west of Monte Rosa, including the province of Aosta and parts of Turin, and presumably Cuneo and Imperia.
Future Districts
Aggressive Expansionism
The Nazi regime harbored explicit and aggressive territorial expansionist ambitions, aiming to vastly enlarge the German state. In anticipation of these future conquests, Nazi ideologists, government officials, and territorial planning departments extensively theorized about potential new districts. These expansions were envisioned through two distinct, yet interconnected, pathways: the colonization of Eastern Europe and the annexation of "Germanic" countries.
Eastern Europe: Lebensraum and Germanization
The expansion into Eastern Europe was driven by the concept of Lebensraum (living space) for the German people. This involved a horrific plan to eliminate the Slavic, Baltic, and other indigenous populations through a combination of extermination, forced resettlement, starvation, and enslavement. The ultimate goal was the long-term Germanization of these territories. Nazi racial offices specifically targeted three "Settlement Marches" (Siedlungsmarken or Reichsmarken) for intensive German colonization: Ingermannland (Ingria), the Memel-Narew area, and Southern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula. The latter was even slated to be reorganized as a Gotengau (Gau of the Goths), a perverse homage to the historical Crimean Goths.
Annexation of Germanic Nations
Nazi racial ideology classified Northern European ethnic groups, particularly those perceived as closely related to Germans (such as the Dutch, Flemings, Danish, Norwegians, Swedish, and English), as part of a superior Aryan-Nordic "master race" (Herrenrasse). Following the integration of Austria, Hitler intended to apply the same policy to all other countries deemed racially "belonging" to the Reich. This meant that the Low Countries, German-speaking Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Scandinavian states were slated for annexation into a much larger Greater Germanic Reich (Großgermanisches Reich).
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References
References
- Decree of 16 March 1939 establishing the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
- Wedekind 2003, Nationalsozialistische Besatzungs- und Annexionspolitik in Norditalien 1943 bis 1945, pp. 100-101
- Wasser, Bruno (1993). Himmler's Raumplanung im Osten: Der Generalplan Ost im Polen. Birkhäuser. [5]
- Martin Bormannâs Minutes of a Meeting at Hitlerâs Headquarters (16 July 1941) [7]
- Rich, Norman (1974). Hitler's War Aims: The Establishment of the New Order. W.W. Norton & Company Inc., p. 26.
- Louis de Jong (1969). Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de tweede wereldoorlog: Voorspel. M. Nijhoff, p. 97. [13]
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