Figure 1.--Italy was one of the three princioal Axis countries and began invading and occupying other countries before World War II. Once the ar befgan and Iraly forces faced moderrn armies, they had to turn to the Germnans for assistance. Eventually after a serious of calamtous defeats and an impenmding Allied invasion, Italy attempted to exit the War. The German response was to invade and seize control (September 1943). The Gerrmans were as brutal with the Italians as they were with many of the other comtries they invaded. The Italian people got a taste of the invasion and occupatioin to which they had subjected other people. The Germans for their part saw Itallians as not only an inferior emerny people, but a traitoros nation. Thus the Italian peropole is Axis nation actually felt liberated when the Allies arrived. The other two Axis countries felt very differently. Here we see a scene east of Naples in southern Italy. The press caption read, "Welcome – Italian Style: American, British and Italian flags were held aloft by this crowd of Italians in the village square, welcomed Canadians to Gravina. Men of a Western Canada reconnaissance unit, first into Gravina, received a tremendous welcome." The photograph was dated October 29, 1943.

Almost all of Europe, much of Oceania and Asia, and some of Africa was occupied by the Axis powers during World War II. The Soviet Union was for a time allied to the Axis and like the European Axis countries occupied several European countries at the onset of the War. Subsequently Italy joined the Germans and occupi Only the Americas escaped Axis occupation and even here, Vichy controlled French colonies for a while. The Axis abd Soviet occupation regimes wee som of the most brutal and deadly in Europen history. There was really nothing like them since the Viking invasions during the Middle Ages, brining a mix of robbery, destruction, slaughter and slavery. The occupation experience varied from country to country. Here various factors were involved such as etnicity and willingness to cooperate with the invaders. Ethnicity was especially important to the race-crazed NAZIs, thus the occuoation regime was much more brutal in the East and the West. The German Generalplan Ost is perhaps the most horific document in European history. Few in the Western countries occupied, especially Vichy France, however, understood that the NAZIs were restrained during the War so as not to disrupt the economy and contribution to the War effort. Not was it known that SS think tanks were studing what was to be done with these counries and populations after the War was won. German plans for Britain after it was dfeated follow the outlines laborated in the East and he same wouls have followed in other Westrn countries like France, presumably more sever because the population was less Germanic/Nordic.

Axis Ocupation Policies

Axis occupation policies varied widely, especially German policies. One consistent them with the Axis was economic exoloitation and efforts to annex some areas and suppres foreign elements in those areas. Here German racial policies had a major impact. In line with Holocaust actions, Generalplan Ost, and the Hunger Plan. The goal becme to murder all Jews that came into their hands (including those working in war industries) and to substantially reduce the Baltic and Slavic population and convert the survivors to slave labor. While Germany, Italy, and Japan were the principal Axis countries, smaller countries like Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania were given their own occupation zones by the Germans. Axis policies were in one sence nesitated by the fact that they launched the War withouth the industrial or resource base needed to conduct global war. The War was launched to obtain the resources needed to wage war and thus the industry and resources of the occupied countries were an important part of the Axis war plan. For a range of reasons, this did not work as the Axis countries planned. The Germans did make considerable use of Western Europe (especially France) to support their war effort, but failed to use the coveted resources of the East when the Red Army did not collapse as anticipated. The Wehermacht was sent into the East without supplies. Barbarossa was designed on the basis of living off the nds with disaterous results for the civilian populatiion from whom food and other supplies were taken. The Japanese in the Paific did seize their Southern Resource Zone with needed resources like oil and rubber. Getting the resources back to the Home Islands, however, proved a very difficult undertaking as the U.S. Navy perfected its submarine campaign on the Japanese Marus. Axis racial policies (especially German and Japanese) proved deadly and were persued irrespective of economic concerns or impact on the war effort.

Occupied Countries

Virtually all of Europe including parts of the Soviet Union was occupied during World War II. This include Axis, Soviet, and allied occupation. Some countries were occupied twice and by two of the majpr beligerants. Some counries experienced partition and others annexation. The occuation policies differented greatly. The Axis (especially German) and Soviet occupation could be horific. The German policies had a strong racial component both between and within countries. The German occupation of Poland resulted in the murder of some 25 percent of the population during the 5 years of occupation. Other countries also suffered greatly, especially the oviet Union. . The Axis countries ironically were eventally most occupied by their Geramn ally. The Soviet occuoation policies were similar, but had more of a social-class orientation, although there was also am ethnic compnent. NKVD actions in several countries were similar to German SS actions, butte death tolls never reached the levels of the NAZI indidtrilized killing. The end result was hrific police state actions and loss of life. The occuption policies of the Western Allies were radically different, focused on saving life and restoring civil society with the ultimate goal of stablishing democractic governments.

Created: December 29, 2002
Last updated: 10:39 PM 3/17/2014