German 3rd Reich

Nazi Germany, officially known as the German 3rd Reich until 1943 and the Great German Reich in 1943-45, was a German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party (NSDAP) controlled the country, which they turned into a dictatorship . Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state in which almost all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The third Reich-meaning "Third Empire" - hinted at the conceit of the Nazis that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800-1806) and the German Empire (1871-1918). The third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis called the Millennial Reich, ended in may 1945 after just 12 years, when the allies defeated Germany, ending world war II in Europe .