Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, also known as the Third Reich, was the name for the period of time between 1933 and 1945. Germany was ruled by Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist German Workers' Party. Or, simply put, the Nazi Party. During Hitler's rule, Germany changed from a republic into a dictatorship using the process of Gleichschaltung or coordination. The country was a totalitarian state after August of 1934. Nazi Germany ceased to exist at the end of World War II after the Allied Forces defeated the Wehrmacht in May of 1945.