German–occupied Europe or Nazi Empire refers to the countries of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 which were occupied

Military occupation

Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...

 by the military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 forces of Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 at various times between 1938 and 1945.

Some countries started the war as Allies

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 or the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, and were forced to surrender, or were subdued and then occupied. In some cases, the governments went into exile

Government in exile

A government in exile is a political group that claims to be a country's legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usually operate under the assumption that they will one day return to their...

, or governments-in-exile were formed by some of their citizens, in other Allied countries. Other countries occupied by the Nazis were officially neutral. Some occupied countries were former members of the Axis powers, and were occupied by German forces at a later stage of the war.

Occupied countries

The countries occupied included all or most of:

Country of occupation	See for further details
Albanian Kingdom Albanian Kingdom The Albanian Kingdom was the constitutional monarchal rule in Albania between 1928 and 1939. During this period Albania was a de facto protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy Albania was declared a monarchy by the Constituent Assembly, and Zog I was crowned king...	Albania under Germany
Federal State of Austria Federal State of Austria The Federal State of Austria refers to Austria from 1934 to 1938, according to its self-conception a non-party, in fact a single-party state led by the fascist Fatherland's Front...	Anschluss Anschluss The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
Belgium	Military Administration in Belgium and North France Military Administration in Belgium and North France The Belgium and Northern France was an Axis-occupied territory that included present-day Belgium and the French departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais...
Byelorussian SSR	Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany The occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany occurred as part of the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 and ended in August 1944 with the Soviet Operation Bagration.- Background :...
Czechoslovakia	German occupation of Czechoslovakia German occupation of Czechoslovakia German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...
Denmark	Occupation of Denmark Occupation of Denmark Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark began with Operation Weserübung on 9 April 1940, and lasted until German forces withdrew at the end of World War II following their surrender to the Allies on 5 May 1945. Contrary to the situation in other countries under German occupation, most Danish...
Estonia	Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Army Group North reached Estonia in July.Initially the Germans were perceived by most Estonians as liberators from the USSR and its repressions, having arrived only a week after the first mass deportations from the Baltics...
France French Third Republic The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...	German occupation of France during World War II
Kingdom of Greece	Axis occupation of Greece during World War II
Guernsey	Occupation of the Channel Islands Occupation of the Channel Islands The Channel Islands were occupied by Nazi Germany for much of World War II, from 30 June 1940 until the liberation on 9 May 1945. The Channel Islands are two British Crown dependencies and include the bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey as well as the smaller islands of Alderney and Sark...
	Hungarian State Hungarian State The Government of National Unity was the name used by the government of the Kingdom of Hungary between October 1944 and May 1945. This government, formed by the Arrow Cross Party, was established on 17 October 1944 after Regent Miklós Horthy was removed from power during Operation Panzerfaust...
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)	Italian Social Republic Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic was a puppet state of Nazi Germany led by the "Duce of the Nation" and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini and his Republican Fascist Party. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht to maintain control...
Jersey	Occupation of the Channel Islands Occupation of the Channel Islands The Channel Islands were occupied by Nazi Germany for much of World War II, from 30 June 1940 until the liberation on 9 May 1945. The Channel Islands are two British Crown dependencies and include the bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey as well as the smaller islands of Alderney and Sark...
Latvia	Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany The occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany was completed on July 10, 1941 by Germany's armed forces. Latvia became a part of Nazi Germany's Reichskommissariat Ostland — the Province General of Latvia...
Lithuania	Occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany Occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany The occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany refers to the occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany from the start of the German invasion of Soviet Union to the end of the Battle of Memel . At first the Germans were welcomed as "liberators" from the repressive Soviet regime which occupied Lithuania...
Luxembourg	German invasion of Luxembourg in World War II
Monaco	History of Monaco History of Monaco The early history of Monaco is primarily concerned with the protective and strategic value of the Rock of Monaco, the area's chief geological landmark, which served first as a shelter for ancient peoples and later as a fortress. Part of Liguria's history since the fall of the Roman Empire, from the...
Netherlands	German occupation of the Netherlands
Norway	Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...
Poland Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...	German military administration in occupied Poland German military administration in occupied Poland German military administration in occupied Poland refers to the brief period during and in the immediate aftermath of the German invasion of Poland , in which the occupied Polish territories were administered by the German military, instead of civilian, administration.-Military administration:On 8... Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany At the beginning of World War II, nearly a quarter of the pre-war Polish areas were annexed by Nazi Germany and placed directly under German civil administration, while the rest of Nazi occupied Poland was named as General Government... General Government General Government The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...
San Marino	San Marino in World War II
	Slovak National Uprising Slovak National Uprising The Slovak National Uprising or 1944 Uprising was an armed insurrection organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. It was launched on August 29 1944 from Banská Bystrica in an attempt to overthrow the collaborationist Slovak State of Jozef Tiso...
Ukrainian SSR	Reichskommissariat Ukraine Reichskommissariat Ukraine Reichskommissariat Ukraine , literally "Reich Commissariat of Ukraine", was the civilian occupation regime of much of German-occupied Ukraine during World War II. Between September 1941 and March 1944, the Reichskommissariat was administered by Reichskommissar Erich Koch as a colony...
Kingdom of Yugoslavia	Invasion of Yugoslavia Invasion of Yugoslavia The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...

See also

• Drang nach Osten
  Drang nach Osten
  Drang nach Osten was a term coined in the 19th century to designate German expansion into Slavic lands. The term became a motto of the German nationalist movement in the late nineteenth century...
  
  ("The Drive Eastward")
• Lebensraum
  Lebensraum
  was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. It served as the motivation for the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, aiming to provide extra space for the growth of the German population, for a Greater Germany...
  
  ("Living Space")
• European theatre of World War II
  European Theatre of World War II
  The European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
  
  
• Atlantic Wall
  Atlantic Wall
  The Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the western coast of Europe as a defense against an anticipated Allied invasion of the mainland continent from Great Britain.-History:On March 23, 1942 Führer Directive Number 40...
  
  
• New Order (political system)
  New Order (political system)
  The New Order or the New Order of Europe was the political order which the Nazis wanted to impose on Europe, and eventually the rest of the world, during their reign over Germany from 1933 to 1945...
  
  
• List of Nazi-German concentration camps
• Reorganization of occupied dioceses during World War II
  Reorganization of occupied dioceses during World War II
  The reorganization of occupied dioceses during World War II was an issue faced by Pope Pius XII of whether to extend the apostolic authority of Catholic bishops from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to German-occupied Europe during World War II....
  
  

External links

• Map of Europe in 1942: