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What is Lebensraum and why is this significant?

What is Lebensraum and why is this significant?

Following Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, Lebensraum became an ideological principle of Nazism and provided justification for the German territorial expansion into Central and Eastern Europe. Entire indigenous populations were decimated by starvation, allowing for their own agricultural surplus to feed Germany.

What does Lebensraum mean?

1 : territory believed especially by Nazis to be necessary for national existence or economic self-sufficiency. 2 : space required for life, growth, or activity.

What is the definition of Lebensraum and how was that important to the start of WWII?

Lebensraum, or living space, was a policy of the Nazis during WWII to conquer territory in Europe for German use. In 1901, Ratzel first used the term ‘Lebensraum’ and defined it as the exact geographical area need to support a living species at its current population size and mode of existence.

What does Lebensraum mean in ww2?

living space
By 1939, Nazi Germany was ready for the next phase of Hitler’s racial program, which called for Lebensraum, or “living space,” for the Aryan race. The German invasion of Poland in September 1939 both set this quest for “race and space” in motion and began World War II in Europe.

What moves did Germany make for Lebensraum?

What moves did Germany make in its quest for lebensraum? First nations they conquer are Austria and Czechoslovakia, they take them easily and unopposed.

What happened on September 1st 1939?

On September 1, 1939, German forces under the control of Adolf Hitler bombard Poland on land and from the air. World War II had begun.

What does the word volksdeutsche mean?

In Nazi German terminology, Volksdeutsche (German pronunciation: [ˈfɔlksˌdɔʏtʃə]) were “people whose language and culture had German origins but who did not hold German citizenship”. The term is the nominalised plural of volksdeutsch, with Volksdeutsche denoting a singular female, and Volksdeutsche(r), a singular male.

What do you know about enabling act?

The Enabling Act allowed the Reich government to issue laws without the consent of Germany’s parliament, laying the foundation for the complete Nazification of German society. The law was passed on March 23, 1933, and published the following day.

What did appeasement mean in ww2?

Instituted in the hope of avoiding war, appeasement was the name given to Britain’s policy in the 1930s of allowing Hitler to expand German territory unchecked. Most closely associated with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, it is now widely discredited as a policy of weakness.

Where did the term Lebensraum come from?

Origin of Lebensraum. Lebensraum, or living space, was a policy of the Nazis during WWII to conquer territory in Europe for German use. However, the first mention of Lebensraum actually dates back to 1901.

What was the purpose of Lebensraum in World War 2?

Lebensraum, or living space, was a policy of the Nazis during WWII to conquer territory in Europe for German use. However, the first mention of Lebensraum actually dates back to 1901.

When did the Germans start the quest for Lebensraum?

In 1938, Hitler and the Nazis made their move. First, Austria and the German-speaking Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia were annexed by the German Reich. In 1939, the Germans began the quest for Lebensraum by invading Poland, a non-German land, with the goal of expelling the native population and settling Germans in their place.

Who was involved in the policy of Lebensraum?

Nazi Germany also supported other “Arian” nations pursuing their own Lebensraum, including Fascist Italy’s Spazio vitale. Greater Germany and Lebensraum: The Greater Germanic Reich, to be realized with the policies of Lebensraum, had boundaries derived from the plans of the Generalplan Ost.