GermanyAt the beginning of the 1930s,Adolf HitlersNazi Partyexploited the discontent in Germany to attract popular and political support. There was resentment at the crippling territorial, military and economic terms of theVersailles Treaty, which Hitler blamed on treacherous politicians and promised to overturn. Hitler pledged civil peace, radical economic policies, and the restoration of national pride and unity. Nazi rhetoric was virulently nationalist andanti-Semitic. The subversive Jews were portrayed as responsible for all of Germanys ills. In March 1933, the Nazis used intimidation and manipulation to pass the Enabling Act, which allowed them to pass laws which did not need to be voted on in the Reichstag. Over the next year, the Nazis eliminated all remaining political opposition, banning the Social Democrats, and forcing the other parties to disband. In July 1933, Germany was declared a one-party state. In the Night of the Long Knives of June 1934, Hitler ordered the Gestapo and the SS to eliminate rivals within the Nazi Party. Hitlers first moves to overturn theVersaillessettlement began with the rearmament of Germany, and in 1936 he ordered the remilitarization of the Rhineland. Germanys territorial expansion eastwards was motivated by Hitlers desire to unite Germanspeaking peoples, and also by the concept ofthe idea of providing Aryan Germans with living space.By the end of 1938, Jewish lynching erupted across Germany and Austria. In March 1939, Germany seized the remainder of Czechoslovakia; in August Hitler signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact of non-aggression with the USSR. The next step would be theinvasion of Polandand the coming ofWorld War II.GeneralsArmy:Erwin Rommel The Desert Fox General field marshal, commander of the 7th Panzer Division also known as Ghost division, he and his Afrika Korps never were accused of war crimes and despite having orders of execute captured enemy commandos and Jewish civilians or soldiers were ignored.Heinrich Himmler: formed the Einsatzgruppen and built the extermination camps, he directed the killing of some six million Jews, he is responsible for killing 14 million peopleLuftwaffeAlbert Kesselringwas aGermanLuftwaffeGeneral field marshalduringWorld War II. Nicknamed "Smiling Albert" by theAllies and "Uncle Albert" by his troops, he was one of the most popular generals of World War II with therank and file.Kurt Student: was aGermanLuftwaffegeneralwho fought as a fighter pilot during theFirst World Warand as the commander of Germanparatroopers during theSecond World War.Kriegsmarine: Eric Reader anavalleader in Germany who played a major role in thenaval history of World War II. Raeder attained the highest possible naval rank that ofGrand Admiral Raeder led theKriegsmarinefor the first half of the war; he resigned in 1943 and was replaced byKarl DnitzKarl Donitz after the death ofAdolf Hitlerand in accordance withHitler's last will and testament, Dnitz was named Hitler's successor as Head of State, with the title ofPresident and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. On 7 May 1945, he orderedGeneralAlfred Jodlto sign theGerman instruments of surrenderinRheims, France.FranceThey surrenderedTheMaginot Linewas a line of concretefortifications, obstacles, and weapons installationsas response to France's experience inWorld War Iand was constructed during the run-up toWorld War IIArmyCharles Andr Joseph Marie de GaulleDefiedFrench stateby vowing to continue fighting after the French surrender. He headed with de Tassigny theFree French Forces, who assisted the Allies in the liberation of Francein 1944 Maurice Gustave Gamelin was a French general. Gamelin is remembered for his unsuccessful command of the French military during theBattle of FranceNavyJean Louis Xavier Franois Darlan was a FrenchAdmiraland political figure. He wasAdmiral of the Fleetand commander in chief of theFrench Navyin 1939 at the beginning of World War II