Hermann Goering

The year 1938–39 was when Hitler set out on the road of pre-war bloodless conquests, which led to the actual shooting combat over Poland in September 1939. Both willing and unwilling, Hermann Goering was his main acolyte in achieving the peaceful military occupations of Austria and the Czech–German Sudetenland in 1938, followed by that of Bohemia and Moravia, plus Memel in 1939.¶ Prior to this, Goering played perhaps the key role in the Nazi overthrow of the Third Reich’s conservative military and foreign services, being named field marshal as his reward. Having helped Franco win the Spanish Civil War, Goering’s Air Force Legion Kondor also returned home victorious, having acquired valuable air war experience in aces, aircraft, and tactics, which served Goering well in the first phase of World War II. A major factor in making the Allies back down to Germany at the infamous Munich Pact Conference, Goering’s Luftwaffe was the key bargaining chip that gained these unprecedented territorial acquisitions for Hitler—all without a shot being fired. He also helped achieve alliances with Fascist Slovakia and Italy.