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When Hitler spoke of creating a 'Greater Germany' it referred to an idea (not uncommon among his generation) of uniting all German speaking peoples and their historical homelands under one 'Reich' (empire). The lands in question not only included ones which had never been a part of the German Empire (e.g. the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia), but also ones which had been lost by Germany after defeat in 1918 (many of these places, such as Upper Silesia and most of Pomerania, are now in Poland). It can be confusing to contemplate, because some 'traditional' German lands were the product of Teutonic conquests and German emigration in the 14th and 15th Centuries (such as East Prussia, which was incorporated into Poland & Russia after WWII). Hitler actually succeeded in creating his 'Greater Germany' (Grossdeutsches Reich) for a short while, after incorporating what is now the Czech Republic, Austria, and many territories in what is now Poland. These lands were treated differently from those simply conquered and occupied by the Germans during WWII.

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10y ago

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