Old page wikitext, before the edit (old_wikitext) | '{{Short description|German Nazi politician and military leader (1893–1946)}}
{{redirect2|Göring|Goering}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Hermann Göring
| image = Hermann Goering - Nuremberg2.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Göring on trial, {{circa}} 1946
| order = 16th
| office = List of presidents of the Reichstag{{!}}President of the Reichstag
| term_start = 30 August 1932
| term_end = 23 April 1945
| president = [[Paul von Hindenburg]]<br />(1932–1934)
| 1blankname = Führer
| 1namedata = [[Adolf Hitler]]<br />(1934–1945)
| 2blankname = Chancellor
| 2namedata = {{plainlist|
* [[Franz von Papen]]
* [[Kurt von Schleicher]]
* Adolf Hitler
}}
| predecessor = [[Paul Löbe]]
| successor = {{Collapsible list
| title = {{nobold|''Office abolished''}}
| [[Erich Köhler]]<br />([[President of the Bundestag|President of the West German Bundestag]] in 1949)
| [[Johannes Dieckmann]]<br />([[Leadership of East Germany#Heads of parliament|President of the East German People's Chamber]] in 1949)
}}
| office1 = {{lang|de|[[Oberkommando der Luftwaffe#Organization|Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe]]}}
| term_start1 = 1 March 1935
| term_end1 = 24 April 1945
| 1blankname1 = Führer
| 1namedata1 = Adolf Hitler
| predecessor1 = ''Office established''
| successor1 = [[Robert Ritter von Greim]]
| office2 = {{lang|de|[[Reichsstatthalter#Third Reich|Reichsstatthalter]]}} of Prussia
| term_label2 = Acting
| term_start2 = 25 April 1933{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=284}}
| term_end2 = 23 April 1945
| predecessor2 = Adolf Hitler
| successor2 = ''Office abolished''
| office3 = {{lang|de|[[Minister President of Prussia|Ministerpräsident]]}} of Prussia
| term_start3 = 11 April 1933
| term_end3 = 23 April 1945
| predecessor3 = [[Franz von Papen]]<br />({{lang|de|Reichskommissar}})
| successor3 = ''Office abolished''
| title4 = Additional positions
| suboffice4 = Chair of the Ministerial Council for [[Defence of the Reich|Reich Defense]]{{sfn|Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression|1946|pp=100–101}}
| subterm4 = 1939–1945
| suboffice5 = [[List of German economics ministers|''Reichsminister'' of Economics]]
| subterm5 = 1937–1938
| suboffice6 = [[Four Year Plan|Reich Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan]]{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=358}}
| subterm6 = 1936–1945
| suboffice7 = {{lang|de|Reichsminister}} of Forestry
| subterm7 = 1934–1945
| suboffice8 = [[Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany)|''Reichsminister'' of Aviation]]
| subterm8 = 1933–1945
| suboffice9 = President of the [[Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany)|Prussian State Council]]
| subterm9 = 1933–1945
| suboffice10 = {{lang|de|[[Oberste SA-Führer]]}}
| subterm10 = 1923
| birth_name = Hermann Wilhelm Göring
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1893|01|12}}
| birth_place = [[Rosenheim]], [[Kingdom of Bavaria]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1946|10|15|1893|01|12}}
| death_place = [[Nuremberg Prison]], [[Nuremberg]], [[Allied-occupied Germany]]
| death_cause = [[Suicide]] by [[cyanide poisoning]]
| party = [[Nazi Party]] (1922–1945)
| spouse = {{plainlist |
* {{marriage|[[Carin Göring|Carin von Kantzow]]|1923|1931|end=d.}}
* {{marriage|[[Emmy Göring|Emmy Sonnemann]]|1935}}
}}
| children = [[Edda Göring]]
| parents = {{plainlist|
* [[Heinrich Ernst Göring]] (father)
* Franziska Tiefenbrunn (mother)
}}
| relatives = [[Albert Göring]] (brother)
| residence = [[Carinhall]]
| occupation = {{plainlist|
* Aviator
* Politician
}}
| cabinet = [[Hitler cabinet]]
| signature = Hermann Göring Signature.svg
| signature_alt = <!--Military service-->
| nickname =
| allegiance = {{Unbulleted list|[[German Empire]]|[[Nazi Germany]]}}
| branch = {{Unbulleted list|[[Imperial German Army]]|{{lang|de|[[Luftstreitkräfte]]}}|{{lang|de|[[Sturmabteilung]]}}|{{lang|de|[[Luftwaffe]]}}}}
| serviceyears = {{plainlist|
* 1912–1918
* 1933–1945
}}
| rank = {{Unbulleted list | {{lang|de|[[Reichsmarschall]]}} | {{lang|de|[[Sturmabteilung|SA]]-[[Gruppenführer]]}} | {{lang|de|[[Ranks and insignia of the Forest protection (Nazi Germany)|Reichsforst-]] und [[Deutsche Jägerschaft|Reichsjägermeister]]}}}}
| unit =
| commands = [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I)|''Jagdgeschwader'' 1]]
| battles = {{unbulleted list |[[World War I]] |[[World War II]]}}
| mawards = {{Unbulleted list | <!--[[Iron Cross]], 1st Class | [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]] | [[Order of the Zähringer Lion|Zähring Lion]] with Swords |[[Friedrich Order]] | {{longitem|[[House Order of Hohenzollern]] with Swords, 3rd Class}} | --> {{lang|fr|[[Pour le Mérite]]}} | [[Grand Cross of the Iron Cross]] }}
| footnotes =
| module = '''Criminal conviction'''{{Infobox criminal
|child = yes
|conviction = [[Crimes of aggression|Conspiracy to commit crimes against peace]]<br>[[Crimes of aggression]]<br>[[War crimes]]<br>[[Crimes against humanity]]
| trial = Nuremberg trials
| conviction_penalty = [[Capital punishment|Death]]
| conviction_status = [[Deceased]]
}}
| alma_mater = [[University of Munich]]
}}
'''Hermann Wilhelm Göring''' (or '''Goering''';{{efn|name=spelling}} {{IPA-de|ˈhɛʁman ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈɡøːʁɪŋ|lang|De-HermannWGoering.ogg}}; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the [[Nazi Party]], which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945.
A veteran [[World War I]] fighter pilot [[Flying aces|ace]], Göring was a recipient of the {{lang|fr|[[Pour le Mérite]]}} ("The Blue Max"). He was the last commander of [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I)|''Jagdgeschwader'' 1]] (JG I), the fighter wing once led by [[Manfred von Richthofen]]. An early member of the Nazi Party, Göring was among those wounded in [[Adolf Hitler]]'s failed [[Beer Hall Putsch]] in 1923. While receiving treatment for his injuries, he developed an addiction to [[morphine]] which persisted until the last year of his life. After Hitler became [[Chancellor of Germany]] in 1933, Göring was named as [[minister without portfolio]] in the new government. One of his first acts as a cabinet minister was to oversee the creation of the [[Gestapo]], which he ceded to [[Heinrich Himmler]] in 1934.
Following the establishment of the Nazi state, Göring amassed power and political capital to become the second most powerful man in Germany. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the [[Luftwaffe]] (air force), a position he held until the final days of the regime. Upon being named [[Plenipotentiary]] of the [[Four Year Plan]] in 1936, Göring was entrusted with the task of mobilizing all sectors of the economy for war, an assignment which brought numerous government agencies under his control. In September 1939, Hitler designated him as his successor and deputy in all his offices. After the [[Battle of France|Fall of France]] in 1940, he was bestowed the specially created rank of {{lang|de|[[Reichsmarschall]]}}, which gave him seniority over all officers in [[Wehrmacht|Germany's armed forces]].
By 1941, Göring was at the peak of his power and influence. As the [[Second World War]] progressed, Göring's standing with Hitler and with the German public declined after the Luftwaffe proved incapable of [[Defence of the Reich|preventing the Allied bombing of Germany's cities]] and [[Battle of Stalingrad#Sixth Army surrounded|resupplying surrounded Axis forces in Stalingrad]]. Around that time, Göring increasingly withdrew from military and political affairs to devote his attention to collecting property and artwork, much of which was stolen from Jewish victims of [[the Holocaust]]. Informed on 22 April 1945 that Hitler intended to commit suicide, Göring sent [[Göring Telegram|a telegram to Hitler]] requesting his permission to assume leadership of the Reich. Considering his request an act of treason, Hitler removed Göring from all his positions, expelled him from the party, and ordered his arrest. After the war, Göring was convicted of [[conspiracy]], [[crimes against peace]], [[war crime]]s, and [[crimes against humanity]] at the [[Nuremberg trials]] in 1946. He was sentenced to death by hanging but committed suicide by ingesting [[Cyanide poisoning|cyanide]] hours before the sentence was to be carried out.
==Early life and education==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R25668, Hermann Göring.jpg|thumb|left|Göring in 1907, at age 14]]
Göring was born on 12 January 1893{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=21}} at the Marienbad Sanatorium in [[Rosenheim]], [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]]. His father, [[Heinrich Ernst Göring]] (31 October 1839 – 7 December 1913), a former cavalry officer, had been the first [[List of colonial governors of South West Africa|governor-general of German South West Africa]] (modern-day [[Namibia]]).{{sfn|Block|Trow|1971|pp=327–330}} Heinrich had three children from a previous marriage. Göring was the fourth of five children by Heinrich's second wife, Franziska Tiefenbrunn (1859–15 July 1943), a Bavarian peasant. Göring's elder siblings were Karl, Olga, and Paula; his younger brother was [[Albert Göring|Albert]]. At the time that Göring was born, his father was serving as consul general in [[Haiti]], and his mother had returned home briefly to give birth. She left the six-week-old baby with a friend in Bavaria and did not see the child again for three years, when she and Heinrich returned to Germany.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=21–22}}
Göring's godfather was {{ill|Hermann Epenstein|WD=Q14631226}}, a wealthy Jewish physician and businessman his father had met in Africa. Epenstein provided the Göring family, who were surviving on Heinrich's pension, first with a family home in Berlin-Friedenau,{{sfn|Freitag|2015|pp=25–45}} and then a small castle called Veldenstein, near [[Nuremberg]]. Göring's mother became Epenstein's mistress around this time, and remained so for some fifteen years. Epenstein acquired the minor title of [[Ritter]] (knight) von Epenstein through service and donations to the Crown.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=22–24}}
Interested in a career as a soldier from a very early age, Göring enjoyed playing with toy soldiers and dressing up in a [[Boer]] uniform his father had given him. He was sent to boarding school at age eleven, where the food was poor and discipline was harsh. He sold a violin to pay for his train ticket home, and then took to his bed, feigning illness, until he was told he would not have to return.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=24–25}} He continued to enjoy war games, pretending to lay siege to the castle Veldenstein and studying Teutonic legends and sagas. He became a mountain climber, scaling peaks in Germany, at the [[Mont Blanc massif]], and in the [[Austrian Alps]]. At age 16, he was sent to a military academy at [[Berlin Lichterfelde]], from which he graduated with distinction.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=24–28}}
Göring joined the Prince Wilhelm Regiment (112th Infantry, Garrison: [[Mulhouse|Mülhausen]]) of the [[Prussian Army]] in 1912. The next year his mother had a falling-out with Epenstein. The family was forced to leave Veldenstein and moved to [[Munich]]; Göring's father died shortly afterwards. It was in Bavaria where Göring developed his "romantic sense of Germanness" that further evolved under National Socialism.{{sfn|Overy|2012|p=5}} When World War I began in August 1914, Göring was stationed at [[Mülhausen]] with his regiment.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=24–28}}
== World War I ==
[[File:Göring.ogg|thumb|left|Film clip of Göring in a [[Fokker D.VII]] during World War I (1918)]]
During the first year of World War I, Göring served with his infantry regiment in the area of [[Mülhausen]], a garrison town less than 2 km from the French frontier. He was hospitalized with [[rheumatism]], a result of the damp of [[trench warfare]]. While he was recovering, his friend [[Bruno Loerzer]] convinced him to transfer to what would become, by October 1916, the {{lang|de|[[Luftstreitkräfte]]}} ({{translation|air combat forces}}) of the German army, but his request was turned down. Later that year, Göring flew as Loerzer's observer in {{lang|de|[[Feldflieger Abteilung]]}} 25 (FFA 25); Göring had informally transferred himself. He was discovered and sentenced to three weeks' confinement to barracks, but the sentence was never carried out. By the time it was supposed to be imposed, Göring's association with Loerzer had been made official. They were assigned as a team to FFA 25 in the [[William, German Crown Prince|Crown Prince]]'s Fifth Army. They flew reconnaissance and bombing missions, for which the Crown Prince invested both Göring and Loerzer with the [[Iron Cross]], first class.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=28–29}}
[[File:Nicola Perscheid - Hermann Göring um 1918.jpg|thumb|Göring as a fighter pilot in 1918]]
After completing the pilot's training course, Göring was assigned to [[Jagdstaffel 5|''Jagdstaffel'' 5]]. Seriously wounded in the hip in aerial combat, he took nearly a year to recover. He then was transferred to [[Jagdstaffel 26|''Jagdstaffel'' 26]], commanded by Loerzer, in February 1917. He steadily scored [[dogfight|air victories]] until May, when he was assigned to command [[Jagdstaffel 27|''Jagdstaffel'' 27]]. Serving with ''Jastas'' 5, 26 and 27, he continued to win victories. In addition to his Iron Crosses (1st and 2nd Class), he received the [[Order of the Zähringer Lion|Zähringer Lion]] with swords, the [[Friedrich Order]], the [[House Order of Hohenzollern]] with swords third class, and finally, in May 1918, the coveted {{lang|fr|[[Pour le Mérite]]}}.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=31–32}} According to [[Hermann Dahlmann]], who knew both men, Göring had Loerzer lobby for the award.{{sfn|Franks|1993|pp= 95, 117, 156 }} He finished the war with [[List of World War I aces credited with 20 or more victories|22 victories]].{{sfn|Franks|1993|p=117}} A thorough post-war examination of [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] loss records showed that only two of his awarded victories were doubtful. Three were possible and 17 were certain, or highly likely.{{sfn|Kilduff|2013|pp=165–166}}
On 7 July 1918, following the death of [[Wilhelm Reinhard (pilot)|Wilhelm Reinhard]], successor to [[Manfred von Richthofen]], Göring was made commander of the "Flying Circus", [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I)|''Jagdgeschwader'' 1]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=31–33}} His arrogance made him unpopular with the men of his squadron.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=403}}
In the last days of the war, Göring was repeatedly ordered to withdraw his squadron, first to [[Tellancourt]] airdrome, then to [[Darmstadt]]. At one point, he was ordered to surrender the aircraft to the Allies; he refused. Many of his pilots intentionally crash-landed their planes to keep them from falling into enemy hands.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=34–36}}
Like many other German veterans, Göring was a proponent of the [[stab-in-the-back myth]], the belief which held that the German Army had not really lost the war, but instead was betrayed by the civilian leadership: Marxists, Jews, and especially the [[Weimar Republic|republicans]], who had overthrown the German monarchy.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=39}} Atop the frustration of military defeat, Göring also experienced the personal disappointment of being snubbed by his fiancée's upper-class family, who broke off the engagement when he returned penniless from the front.{{sfn|Overy|2012|pp=5–6}}
== After World War I ==
Göring remained in aviation after the war. He tried [[barnstorming]] and briefly worked at [[Fokker]]. After spending most of 1919 living in [[Denmark]], he moved to Sweden and joined {{lang|sv|[[Svensk Lufttrafik]]}}, a Swedish airline. Göring was often hired for private flights. During the winter of 1920–1921, he was hired by [[Count Eric von Rosen]] to fly him to his castle from Stockholm. Invited to spend the night, Göring may at this time have first seen the [[swastika]] emblem, which Rosen had set in the chimney piece as a family badge.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=39–41}}{{efn|name=swastika}}
This was also the first time that Göring saw his future wife; the count introduced his sister-in-law, Baroness [[Carin Göring|Carin von Kantzow]] ({{nee}} Freiin von Fock). Estranged from her husband of 10 years, she had an eight-year-old son. Göring was immediately infatuated and asked her to meet him in Stockholm. They arranged a visit at the home of her parents and spent much time together through 1921, when Göring left to study political science at the [[University of Munich]]. Carin obtained a divorce, followed Göring to Munich, and married him on 3 February 1922.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=43}} Their first home together was a hunting lodge at Hochkreuth in the [[Bavarian Alps]], near [[Bayrischzell]], some {{convert|80|km|mi}} from Munich.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=41, 43}} After Göring met [[Adolf Hitler]] and joined the [[Nazi Party]] in 1922, they moved to {{Ill|Obermenzing (district)|lt=Obermenzing|de|Obermenzing}}, a suburb of Munich.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=45, 47}}
== Early Nazi career ==
[[File:Hitler 1928.jpg|right|thumb|Göring (left) stands in front of [[Hitler]] at a [[Nuremberg rallies|Nazi Party rally]] in [[Nuremberg]] (1929).]]
Göring joined the Nazi Party in 1922 after hearing a speech by Hitler.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=45, 47}}{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=426}} He was given command of the {{lang|de|[[Sturmabteilung]]}} (SA) as the {{lang|de|[[Oberster SA-Führer]]}} in 1923.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=112}} He was later appointed an {{lang|de|SA-[[Gruppenführer]]}} (Lieutenant general) and held this rank on the SA rolls until 1945. At this time, Carin—who liked Hitler—often played hostess to meetings of leading Nazis, including her husband, Hitler, [[Rudolf Hess]], [[Alfred Rosenberg]], and [[Ernst Röhm]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=47}} Hitler later recalled his early association with Göring:
{{bquote|I liked him. I made him the head of my SA. He is the only one of its heads that ran the SA properly. I gave him a dishevelled rabble. In a very short time he had organised a division of 11,000 men.{{sfn|Hitler|1988|p=168}}}}
Hitler and the Nazi Party held mass meetings and rallies in Munich and elsewhere during the early 1920s, attempting to gain supporters in a bid for political power.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=49–51}} Inspired by [[Benito Mussolini]]'s [[March on Rome]], the Nazis attempted to seize power on 8–9 November 1923 in a failed coup known as the [[Beer Hall Putsch]]. Göring, who was with Hitler leading the march to the War Ministry, was shot in the groin.{{sfn|Holland|2011|p=54}} Fourteen Nazis and four policemen were killed; many top Nazis, including Hitler, were arrested.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=131}} With Carin's help, Göring was smuggled to [[Innsbruck]], where he received surgery and was given morphine for the pain. He remained in hospital until 24 December.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=57–58}} This was the beginning of his morphine addiction, which lasted until his imprisonment at Nuremberg.{{sfn|Speer|1971|p=644}} Meanwhile, the authorities in Munich declared Göring a wanted man. The Görings—acutely short of funds and reliant on the good will of Nazi sympathizers abroad—moved from Austria to [[Venice]]. In May 1924 they visited Rome, via [[Florence]] and [[Siena]]. Sometime in 1924, Göring met Mussolini through his contacts with members of Italy's Fascist Party;{{sfn|Overy|2012|p=7}} Mussolini had also expressed an interest in meeting Hitler, who was by then in prison.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=59–60}} Hitler penned his infamous tome {{lang|de|[[Mein Kampf]]}} while incarcerated, before being released in December 1924.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=160}}
Meanwhile, personal problems continued to multiply for Göring. By 1925, Carin's mother was ill. The Görings—with difficulty—raised the money in the spring of 1925 for a journey to Sweden via Austria, [[Czechoslovakia]], Poland, and [[Free City of Danzig|Danzig]] (now Gdańsk). Göring had become a violent morphine addict; Carin's family were shocked by his deterioration. Carin, who was ill with [[epilepsy]] and a weak heart, had to allow the doctors to take charge of Göring; her son was taken by his father. Göring was certified a dangerous drug addict and was placed in [[Långbro Asylum]] on 1 September 1925.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=61}} He was violent to the point where he had to be confined in a [[straitjacket]], but his psychiatrist felt he was sane; the condition was caused solely by the morphine.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=404}} Weaned off the drug, he left the facility briefly, but had to return for further treatment. He returned to Germany when an amnesty was declared in 1927 and resumed working in the aircraft industry.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=62, 64}} Carin Göring, ill with epilepsy and [[tuberculosis]],{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=146}} died of heart failure on 17 October 1931.
Meanwhile, the Nazi Party was in a period of rebuilding and waiting. The economy had recovered, which meant fewer opportunities for the Nazis to agitate. The SA was reorganised, but with [[Franz Pfeffer von Salomon]] as its head rather than Göring, and the {{lang|de|[[Schutzstaffel]]}} (SS) was founded in 1925, initially as a bodyguard for Hitler. Membership in the party increased from 27,000 in 1925 to 108,000 in 1928 and 178,000 in 1929. In [[1928 German federal election|the May 1928 elections]] the Nazi Party only obtained 12 seats out of an available 491 in the {{lang|de|[[Reichstag (Weimar Republic)|Reichstag]]}}.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=118–121}} Göring was elected as a representative from Bavaria.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=66}} Having secured a seat in the {{lang|de|Reichstag}}, Göring gained a more prominent place in the Nazi movement, since Hitler saw him as a public relations officer for Nazism in this capacity.{{sfn|Overy|2012|p=8}} Göring continued to be elected to the Reichstag in all subsequent elections during the Weimar and Nazi regimes.{{sfn|Reichstag databank}} Electoral success also afforded Göring with access to powerful sympathizers to the Nazi cause, such as [[Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia]] and the conservative-minded businessmen, [[Fritz Thyssen]] and [[Hjalmar Schacht]].{{sfn|Overy|2012|p=9}} The [[Great Depression]] led to a disastrous downturn in the German economy, and [[1930 German federal election|in the 1930 election]], the Nazi Party won 6,409,600 votes and 107 seats.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=136, 138}}{{efn|By 1930, the Nazi party claimed upwards of 293,000 members.{{sfn|Childers|2017|p=131}} }} In May 1931, Hitler sent Göring on a mission to the [[Holy See|Vatican]], where he met the future [[Pope Pius XII]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=74}}
In the [[July 1932 German federal election|July 1932 election]], the Nazis won 230 seats to become far and away the largest party in the {{lang|de|Reichstag}}. By longstanding tradition, the Nazis were thus entitled to select the President of the {{lang|de|Reichstag}}, and elected Göring to the post.{{sfn|Evans|2003|p=297}} He would retain this position until 23 April 1945.
== Reichstag fire ==
The [[Reichstag fire]] occurred on the night of 27 February 1933. Göring was one of the first to arrive on the scene. [[Marinus van der Lubbe]], a Communist radical, was arrested and claimed sole responsibility for the fire. Göring immediately called for a crackdown on Communists.{{sfn|Evans|2003|pp=329–330}}
The Nazis took advantage of the fire to advance their own political aims. The [[Reichstag Fire Decree]], passed the next day on Hitler's urging, suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. Activities of the [[Communist Party of Germany|German Communist Party]] were suppressed, and some 4,000 Party members were arrested.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=194}} Göring demanded that the prisoners should be shot, but [[Rudolf Diels]], head of the Prussian political police, ignored the order.{{sfn|Evans|2003|p=331}} Some researchers, including [[William L. Shirer]] and [[Alan Bullock]], are of the opinion that the Nazi Party itself was responsible for starting the fire.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=192}}{{sfn|Bullock|1999|p=262}}
At the [[Nuremberg trials]], General [[Franz Halder]] testified that Göring admitted responsibility for starting the fire. He said that, at a luncheon held on Hitler's birthday in 1942, Göring said, "The only one who really knows about the Reichstag is I, because I set it on fire!"{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=193}} In his own Nuremberg testimony, Göring denied this story.{{sfn|Nuremberg Trial Proceedings, 18 March 1946}}
== Second marriage ==
During the early 1930s, Göring was often in the company of [[Emmy Göring|Emmy Sonnemann]], an actress from [[Hamburg]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=111}} They were married on 10 April 1935, in Berlin. The wedding was celebrated on a huge scale. A large reception was held the night before at the [[Berlin State Opera|Berlin Opera House]]. Fighter aircraft flew overhead on the night of the reception and the day of the ceremony,{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=139–140}} at which Hitler was best man.{{sfn|Gunther|1940|p=63}} Göring's daughter, [[Edda Göring|Edda]], was born on 2 June 1938.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=187}}
== Nazi potentate ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F051620-0043, Hitler, Göring und v. Schirach auf Obersalzberg.jpg|thumb|left|Hitler, Bormann, Göring and [[Baldur von Schirach]] in [[Obersalzberg]], 1936]]
{{Nazism sidebar}}
When Hitler was named [[chancellor of Germany]] on 30 January 1933, Göring was appointed as ''[[Reichsminister]]'' [[minister without portfolio|without portfolio]] and ''[[Reichskommissar]]'' of Aviation.{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=47}} This was followed on 11 April 1933 by his appointment as [[Minister-President]] of Prussia, Prussian [[interior minister]] and chief of the Prussian police.{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|pp=50–51}} On 25 April 1933, Hitler also delegated his powers as ''[[Reichsstatthalter]]'' (Reich Governor) of Prussia to Göring.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=284}} On 18 May 1933, Göring secured passage of an [[enabling act]] through the [[Landtag of Prussia]] that conferred all legislative powers on the cabinet.{{sfn|New York Times, 19 May 1933}} Utilizing this authority, on 8 July 1933 Göring enacted a law abolishing the [[Prussian State Council]], the second chamber of the Prussian legislature that represented the interests of the Prussian provinces. In its place, he created a revised non-legislative [[Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany)|Prussian State Council]] to serve merely as a body of advisors to him. Göring would serve as President of the Council. It would consist, ''[[ex officio]]'', of the Prussian cabinet ministers and state secretaries, as well as hand-picked Nazi Party officials and other industry and society leaders selected solely by Göring.{{sfn|Lilla|2005|pp=292–295}} In October 1933, Göring was made a member of [[Hans Frank]]'s [[Academy for German Law]] at its inaugural meeting.{{sfn|Frank|1933–1934|p=253}} In July 1934, he was appointed ''Reichforstmeister'', with the rank of a ''Reichsminister'', as the head of the newly created [[Reich Forestry Office]].{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=58}}
[[Wilhelm Frick]], the Reich interior minister, and the head of the SS, [[Heinrich Himmler]], hoped to create a unified police force for all of Germany, but Göring on 26 April 1933 established a special Prussian police force, with [[Rudolf Diels]] at its head. The force was called the {{lang|de|Geheime Staatspolizei}} ({{translation|Secret State Police}}), or [[Gestapo]]. Göring, thinking that Diels was not ruthless enough to use the Gestapo effectively to counteract the power of the SA, handed over control of the Gestapo to Himmler on 20 April 1934.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=54}} By this time, the SA numbered over two million men.{{sfn|Goldhagen|1996|p=95}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-C01410, Berlin, Göring auf der "Grünen Woche".jpg|thumb|left|Göring attending the [[Berlin International Green Week|Green Week]] in Berlin, 1937]]
Hitler was deeply concerned that [[Ernst Röhm]], the chief of the SA, was planning a coup. Himmler and [[Reinhard Heydrich]] plotted with Göring to use the Gestapo and SS to crush the SA.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=306}} Members of the SA got wind of the proposed action and thousands of them took to the streets in violent demonstrations on the night of 29 June 1934. Enraged, Hitler ordered the arrest of the SA leadership. Röhm was shot dead in his cell when he refused to commit suicide; Göring personally went over the lists of prisoners—numbering in the thousands—and determined who else should be shot. At least 85 people were killed in the period of 30 June to 2 July, which is now known as the [[Night of the Long Knives]].{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=31–35, 39}} Hitler admitted in the Reichstag on 13 July that the killings had been entirely illegal, but claimed a plot had been under way to overthrow the Reich. A retroactive law was passed making the action legal. Any criticism was met with arrests.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=38}}
One of the terms of the [[Treaty of Versailles]], which had been in place since the end of World War I, stated that Germany was not allowed to maintain an air force. After the 1928 signing of the [[Kellogg–Briand Pact]], police aircraft were permitted. Göring was appointed Air Traffic Minister in May 1933. Germany began to accumulate aircraft in violation of the Treaty, and in 1935 the existence of the [[Luftwaffe]] was formally acknowledged,{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=116–117}} with Göring as Reich Aviation Minister.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=364}}
During a cabinet meeting in September 1936, Göring and Hitler announced that the [[German rearmament]] programme must be sped up. On 18 October, Hitler named Göring as [[Plenipotentiary]] of the Four Year Plan to undertake this task. Göring created a new organisation to administer the Plan and drew the ministries of labour and agriculture under its umbrella. He bypassed the Economics Ministry in his policy-making decisions, to the chagrin of [[Hjalmar Schacht]], the minister in charge. Huge expenditures were made on rearmament, in spite of growing deficits.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=357–360}} Schacht resigned on 26 November 1937, and Göring took over the Economics Ministry on an interim basis until January 1938.{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=60}} He then managed to install [[Walther Funk]] in the position, who also took control of the [[Reichsbank]] when Schacht was forced out of that post as well in January 1939. In this way, both of these institutions effectively were brought under Göring's control under the auspices of the Four Year Plan.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=361}} In July 1937, the [[Reichswerke Hermann Göring]] was established under state ownership – though led by Göring – with the aim of boosting steel production beyond the level which private enterprise could economically provide.{{sfn|Overy|2002|p=145}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-17986, Schorfheide, Lord Edward Frederik Halifax, Hermann Göring crop.jpg|thumb|Göring with [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Halifax]] at Schorfheide, 20 November 1937]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2004-1202-504, Berlin, Adolf Hitler und Hermann Göring.jpg|thumb|Hitler with Göring on balcony of the Chancellery, Berlin, 16 March 1938]]
In 1938, Göring was involved in the [[Blomberg–Fritsch Affair]], which led to the resignations of the War Minister, {{lang|de|[[Generalfeldmarschall]]}} [[Werner von Blomberg]], and the army commander, General [[Werner von Fritsch]]. Göring had acted as witness at Blomberg's wedding to Margarethe Gruhn, a 26-year-old typist, on 12 January 1938. Information received from the police showed that the young bride was a prostitute.{{sfn|Gerwarth|2011|p=116}} Göring felt obligated to tell Hitler, but also saw this event as an opportunity to dispose of Blomberg. Blomberg was forced to resign. Göring did not want Fritsch to be appointed to that position and thus be his superior. Several days later, Heydrich revealed a file on Fritsch that contained allegations of homosexual activity and blackmail. The charges were later proven to be false, but Fritsch had lost Hitler's trust and was forced to resign.{{sfn|Gerwarth|2011|pp=116, 117}} Hitler used the dismissals as an opportunity to reshuffle the leadership of the military. Göring asked for the post of War Minister, but was turned down; he was appointed to the rank of {{lang|de|Generalfeldmarschall}}. Hitler took over as [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht|supreme commander of the armed forces]] and created subordinate posts to head the three main branches of service.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=642–644}}
{{main|Anschluss}}
As minister in charge of the Four Year Plan, Göring became concerned with the lack of natural resources in Germany, and began pushing for Austria to be incorporated into the Reich. The province of [[Styria]] had rich iron ore deposits, and the country as a whole was home to many skilled labourers that would also be useful. Hitler had always been in favour of a takeover of Austria, his native country. He met the Austrian Chancellor [[Kurt Schuschnigg]] on 12 February 1938, threatening invasion if peaceful unification was not forthcoming. The Nazi Party was made legal in Austria to gain a power base, and a referendum on reunification was scheduled for March. When Hitler did not approve of the wording of the plebiscite, Göring telephoned Schuschnigg and Austrian head of state [[Wilhelm Miklas]] to demand Schuschnigg's resignation, threatening invasion by German troops and civil unrest by the Austrian Nazi Party members. Schuschnigg resigned on 11 March and the plebiscite was cancelled. By 5:30 the next morning, German troops that had been massing on the border marched into Austria, meeting no resistance.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=646–652}}
{{main|German occupation of Czechoslovakia}}
Although [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]] had been named Foreign Minister in February 1938, Göring continued to involve himself in foreign affairs.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=187}} That July, he contacted the British government with the idea that he should make an official visit to discuss Germany's intentions for Czechoslovakia. [[Neville Chamberlain]] was in favour of a meeting, and there was talk of a pact being signed between Britain and Germany. In February 1938, Göring visited Warsaw to quell rumours about the upcoming [[invasion of Poland]]. He had conversations with the Hungarian government that summer as well, discussing their potential role in an invasion of Czechoslovakia. At the [[Nuremberg Rally]] that September, Göring and other speakers denounced the Czechs as an inferior race that must be conquered.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=194–197}} Chamberlain and Hitler had a series of meetings that led to the signing of the [[Munich Agreement]] (29 September 1938), which turned over control of the [[Sudetenland]] to Germany.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=674}} In March 1939, Göring threatened Czechoslovak president [[Emil Hácha]] with the bombing of [[Prague]]. Hácha then agreed to sign a communique accepting [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)|the German occupation]] of the remainder of [[Bohemia]] and [[Moravia]].{{sfn|Noakes|Pridham|2001|p=119}}
Although many in the party disliked him,{{sfn|Gunther|1940|p=19}} before the war Göring enjoyed widespread personal popularity among the German public because of his perceived sociability, colour and humour.{{sfn|Overy|2002|p=73}}{{sfn|Overy|2002|p=236}} As the Nazi leader most responsible for economic matters, he presented himself as a champion of national interests over allegedly corrupt big business and the old German elite. The Nazi press was on Göring's side. Other leaders, such as Hess and Ribbentrop, were envious of his popularity.{{sfn|Overy|2002|p=73}} In Britain and the United States, some viewed Göring as more acceptable than the other Nazis and as a possible mediator between the western democracies and Hitler.{{sfn|Overy|2002|p=236}}
== World War II ==
[[File:Hermann Göring - Röhr.jpg|thumb|Göring as {{Lang|de|[[Reichsmarschall]]}}]]
=== Success on all fronts ===
Göring and other senior officers were concerned that Germany was not yet ready for war, but Hitler insisted on pushing ahead as soon as possible.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=197, 211}} On 30 August 1939, immediately prior to the outbreak of the [[Second World War]], Hitler appointed Göring as the chairman of a new six-person [[Council of Ministers for Defense of the Reich]] which was set up to operate as a war cabinet.{{sfn| Broszat| 1981| pp=308–309}} The invasion of Poland, the opening action of World War II, began at dawn on 1 September 1939.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=597}} Later in the day, speaking to the {{lang|de|Reichstag}}, Hitler designated Göring as his successor as Führer of all Germany, "If anything should befall me",{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=599}} with Hess as the second alternate.{{sfn|Gunther|1940|p=19}} Big German victories followed one after the other in quick succession. With the help of the Luftwaffe, the [[Polish Air Force]] was defeated within a week.{{sfn|Hooton|1999|pp=177–189}}{{efn|Confident that the Luftwaffe was without peer and practically invincible in the wake of these victories, Göring commented to the German press that should the enemy ever penetrate German airspace, they could call him "Meyer".{{sfn|Moorhouse|2012|p=350}}{{sfn|Perry|2013|p=45fn}} }} The {{lang|de|[[Fallschirmjäger (World War II)|Fallschirmjäger]]}} seized vital airfields in [[Norway]] ([[Operation Weserübung]]) and captured [[Fort Eben-Emael]] in Belgium on 10 May 1940, the first day of the [[Battle of France]]. Göring's Luftwaffe played critical roles in the [[Battle of the Netherlands|Battles of the Netherlands]], [[Battle of Belgium|of Belgium]] and of France in May 1940.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=721, 723, 725}}
After the [[Fall of France]], Hitler awarded Göring the [[Grand Cross of the Iron Cross]] for his successful leadership.{{sfn|Fellgiebel|2000|p=198}} During the [[1940 Field Marshal Ceremony]], Hitler promoted Göring to the rank of {{lang|de|[[Reichsmarschall]] des Grossdeutschen Reiches}} ({{translation|Reich Marshal of the Greater German Reich}}), a specially-created rank which made him senior to all field marshals in the military, including the Luftwaffe. As a result of this promotion, he was the highest-ranking soldier in Germany until the end of the war. Göring had already received the [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]] on 30 September 1939 as Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe.{{sfn|Fellgiebel|2000|p=198}}
The UK had declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, the third day of the invasion of Poland.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=615}} In July 1940, Hitler began preparations for an invasion of Britain. As part of the plan, the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) had to be neutralized. Bombing raids commenced on British air installations and on cities and centres of industry.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=113, 136, 143}} Göring had by then already announced in a radio speech, "If as much as a single enemy aircraft flies over German soil, my name is Meier!",{{sfn|Oestermann|2001|p=157}} something that would return to haunt him, when the RAF began bombing German cities on 11 May 1940.{{sfn|Selwood|2015}} Though he was confident the Luftwaffe could defeat the RAF within days, Göring, like Admiral [[Erich Raeder]], [[Oberkommando der Marine|commander-in-chief of the ''Kriegsmarine'']] (navy),{{sfn|Raeder|2001|pp=324–325}} was pessimistic about the chance of success of the planned invasion (codenamed [[Operation Sea Lion]]).{{sfn|Bungay|2000|p=337}} Göring hoped that a victory in the air would be enough to force peace without an invasion. The campaign failed, and Sea Lion was postponed indefinitely on 17 September 1940.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=144}} After their defeat in the [[Battle of Britain]], the Luftwaffe attempted to defeat Britain via [[strategic bombing]]. On 12 October 1940 Hitler cancelled Sea Lion due to the onset of winter.{{sfn|Taylor|1965|p=500}} By the end of the year, it was clear that British morale was not being shaken by [[the Blitz]], though the bombings continued through May 1941.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=145}}
=== Decline on all fronts ===
[[File:Orders issued by Hermann Goring for German troops.jpg|thumb|Göring issuing an order for German troops on the Eastern Front, 1941]]
In spite of the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]], signed in 1939, Nazi Germany began [[Operation Barbarossa]]—the invasion of the Soviet Union—on 22 June 1941. Initially, the Luftwaffe was at an advantage, destroying thousands of Soviet aircraft in the first month of fighting.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=178–179}} Hitler and his top staff were sure that the campaign would be over by Christmas, and no provisions were made for reserves of men or equipment.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=187}} But, by July, the Germans had only 1,000 planes remaining in operation, and their troop losses were over 213,000 men. The choice was made to concentrate the attack on only one part of the vast front; efforts would be directed at capturing Moscow.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=201}} After the long, but successful, [[Battle of Smolensk (1941)|Battle of Smolensk]], Hitler ordered [[Army Group Centre]] to halt its advance to Moscow and temporarily diverted its Panzer groups north and south to aid in the encirclement of [[Leningrad]] and [[Kiev]].{{sfn|Stolfi|1982}} The pause provided the [[Red Army]] with an opportunity to mobilize fresh reserves; historian [[Russel H. S. Stolfi|Russel Stolfi]] considers it to be one of the major factors that caused the failure of the Moscow offensive, which was resumed in October 1941 with the [[Battle of Moscow]].{{sfn|Stolfi|1982}} Poor weather conditions, fuel shortages, a delay in building aircraft bases in Eastern Europe, and overstretched supply lines were also factors. Hitler did not give permission for even a partial retreat until mid-January 1942; by this time the losses were comparable to those of the [[French invasion of Russia]] in 1812.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=207–213}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Reprich-012-08, Wolfschanze, Hitler, Ley, Porsche und Göring.jpg|thumb|left|Hitler meeting Göring and automotive engineer [[Ferdinand Porsche]] at the ''[[Wolf's Lair]]'' in 1942]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1977-149-13, Hermann Göring, Adolf Hitler, Albert Speer.jpg|thumb|Göring with Hitler and [[Albert Speer]], 10 August 1943]]
After the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], Göring, along with Field Marshal [[Wilhelm Keitel]] and Admiral [[Erich Raeder]], urged Hitler to immediately declare war on the United States.{{sfn|Fleming|1987}}
Hitler decided that the summer 1942 campaign would be concentrated in the south; efforts would be made to capture the oilfields in the [[Caucasus]].{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=404–405}} The [[Battle of Stalingrad]], a major turning point of the war,{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=421}} began on 23 August 1942 with a bombing campaign by the Luftwaffe.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=409}} The German [[6th Army (Wehrmacht)|Sixth Army]] entered the city, but because of its location on the front line, it was still possible for the Soviets to encircle and trap it there without reinforcements or supplies. When the Sixth Army was surrounded by the end of November in [[Operation Uranus]], Göring promised that the Luftwaffe would be able to deliver a minimum of 300 tons of supplies to the trapped men every day. On the basis of these assurances, Hitler demanded that there be no retreat; they were to fight to the last man. Though some airlifts were able to get through, the amount of supplies delivered never exceeded 120 tons per day.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=412–413}}{{sfn|Speer|1971|p=329}} The remnants of the Sixth Army—some 91,000 men out of an army of 285,000—surrendered in early February 1943; only 5,000 of these captives survived the [[German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union|Soviet prisoner of war camps]] to see Germany again.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=932}}
=== War over Germany ===
Meanwhile, the strength of the US and British bomber fleets had increased. Based in Britain, they began [[Defence of the Reich|operations against German targets]]. The first thousand-bomber raid was staged [[Bombing of Cologne in World War II|on Cologne]] on 30 May 1942.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=438, 441}} Air raids continued on targets farther from England after auxiliary fuel tanks were installed on US [[fighter aircraft]]. Göring refused to believe reports that American fighters had been shot down as far east as [[Aachen]] in winter 1942–1943. His reputation began to decline.{{sfn|Speer|1971|p=378}}
The American [[P-51 Mustang]], with a [[combat radius]] of over {{convert|1800|mi}} when using underwing [[drop tank]]s, began to escort the bombers in large formations to and from the target area in early 1944. From that point onwards, the Luftwaffe began to suffer casualties in aircrews it could not sufficiently replace. By targeting oil refineries and rail communications, [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] bombers crippled the German war effort by late 1944.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=461}} German civilians blamed Göring for his failure to protect the homeland.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=447}} Hitler began excluding him from conferences, but retained him in his positions at the head of the Luftwaffe and as plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=296, 297, 299}} As he lost Hitler's trust, Göring began to spend more time at his various residences.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=510}} On [[D-Day]] (6 June 1944), the Luftwaffe only had some 300 fighters and a small number of bombers in the area of the landings; the Allies had a total strength of 11,000 aircraft.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=295, 302}}
=== End of the war ===
{{see also|Göring Telegram}}
[[File:Goeringcaptivity.jpg|thumb|Göring in captivity 9 May 1945]]
As the [[Battle of Berlin|Soviets approached Berlin]], Hitler's efforts to organise the defence of the city became ever more meaningless and futile.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=725}} His last birthday, celebrated at the {{lang|de|[[Führerbunker]]}} in Berlin on 20 April 1945, was the occasion for leave-taking by many top Nazis, Göring included. By this time, Göring's hunting lodge [[Carinhall]] had been evacuated, the building destroyed,{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=310}} and its art treasures moved to [[Berchtesgaden]] and elsewhere.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=722}} Göring arrived at his estate at Obersalzberg on 22 April, the same day that Hitler, in a lengthy diatribe against his generals, first publicly admitted that the war was lost and that he intended to remain in Berlin to the end and then commit suicide.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=723}} He also stated that Göring was in a better position to negotiate a peace settlement.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=1115–1116}}
OKW operations chief [[Alfred Jodl]] was present for Hitler's rant, and notified Göring's chief of staff, [[Karl Koller (general)|Karl Koller]], at a meeting a few hours later. Sensing its implications, Koller immediately flew to Berchtesgaden to notify Göring of this development. A week after the start of the Soviet invasion, Hitler had issued a decree naming Göring his successor in the event of his death, thus codifying the declaration he had made soon after the beginning of the war. The decree also gave Göring full authority to act as Hitler's deputy if Hitler ever lost his freedom of action.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=1115–1116}}
Göring feared being branded a traitor if he tried to take power, but also feared being accused of dereliction of duty if he did nothing. After some hesitation, Göring reviewed his copy of the 1941 decree naming him Hitler's successor. After conferring with Koller and [[Hans Lammers]] (the state secretary of the Reich Chancellery), Göring concluded that by remaining in Berlin to face certain death, Hitler had incapacitated himself from governing. All agreed that under the terms of the decree, it was incumbent upon Göring to take power in Hitler's stead.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1116}} He was also motivated by fears that his rival, [[Martin Bormann]], would seize power upon Hitler's death and would have him killed as a traitor. With this in mind, Göring sent a carefully worded telegram asking Hitler for permission to take over as the leader of Germany, stressing that he would be acting as Hitler's deputy. He added that, if Hitler did not reply by 22:00 that night (23 April), he would assume that Hitler had indeed lost his freedom of action, and would assume leadership of the Reich.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=315}}
The telegram was intercepted by Bormann, who convinced Hitler that Göring was a traitor. Bormann argued that Göring's telegram was not a request for permission to act as Hitler's deputy, but a demand to resign or be overthrown.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1118}} Bormann also intercepted another telegram in which Göring directed Ribbentrop to report to him if there was no further communication from Hitler or Göring before midnight.{{sfn|Speer|1971|pp=608–609}} Hitler sent a reply to Göring{{mdash}}prepared with Bormann's help{{mdash}}rescinding the 1941 decree and threatening him with execution for high treason unless he immediately resigned from all of his offices. Göring duly resigned. Afterwards, Hitler (or Bormann, depending on the source) ordered the SS to place Göring, his staff, and Lammers under house arrest at Obersalzberg.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1118}}{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=724}} Bormann made an announcement over the radio that Göring had resigned for health reasons.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=318}}
[[File:SFP 186 - Hermann Göring.ogv|left|thumb|Göring after his capture (May 1945)]]
By 26 April, the complex at Obersalzberg [[Bombing of Obersalzberg|was under attack]] by the Allies, so Göring was moved to [[Burg Mauterndorf|his castle at Mauterndorf]]. In his [[Last will and testament of Adolf Hitler|last will and testament]], Hitler expelled Göring from the party, formally rescinded the decree making him his successor, and upbraided Göring for "illegally attempting to seize control of the state".{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1126}} He then appointed [[Karl Dönitz]], the Navy's commander-in-chief, as president of the Reich and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Hitler and his wife, [[Eva Braun]], [[Death of Adolf Hitler|committed suicide]] on 30 April 1945, a few hours after a hastily arranged wedding. Göring was freed on 5 May by a passing Luftwaffe unit, and he made his way to the U.S. lines in hopes of surrendering to them rather than to the Soviets. He was taken into custody near [[Radstadt]] on 6 May by elements of the [[36th Infantry Division (United States)|36th Infantry Division]] of the [[United States Army|US Army]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=320–325}}{{efn|Upon being captured by American soldiers, Göring immediately asked to be taken before Eisenhower. He hoped to be treated as a "spokesman for Germany".{{sfn|Overy|2012|p=228}} }} This move likely saved Göring's life; Bormann had ordered him executed if Berlin had fallen.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1128}}
== Trial and death ==
{{main|Nuremberg trials}}
[[File:Defendants in the dock at the Nuremberg Trials.jpg|thumb|Göring (first row, far left) at the Nuremberg trial]]
Göring was flown to [[Camp Ashcan]], a temporary prisoner-of-war camp housed in the Palace Hotel at [[Mondorf-les-Bains]], Luxembourg. Here he was weaned off [[dihydrocodeine]] (a mild morphine derivative)—he had been taking the equivalent of three or four grains (260 to 320 mg) of morphine a day—and was put on a strict diet; he lost {{convert|60|lb}}. His [[Intelligence quotient|IQ]] was tested while in custody and found to be 138.{{sfn|Gilbert|1995|p=31}} Top Nazi officials were transferred in September to Nuremberg, which was to be the location of a series of military tribunals beginning in November.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=329–331}}
Göring was the second-highest-ranking official tried at Nuremberg, behind Reich President (former Admiral) Karl Dönitz. The prosecution levelled an indictment of four charges, including a charge of conspiracy; waging a war of aggression; war crimes, including the [[Nazi plunder|plundering and removal to Germany of works of art and other property]]; and crimes against humanity, including the disappearance of political and other opponents under the {{lang|de|[[Nacht und Nebel]]}} ({{translation|Night and Fog}}) decree; the torture and ill treatment of prisoners of war; and the murder and enslavement of civilians, including what was at the time estimated to be 5,700,000 Jews. Not permitted to present a lengthy statement, Göring declared himself to be "in the sense of the indictment not guilty".{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=336–337}}
The trial lasted 218 days. The prosecution presented its case from November through March, and Göring's defence{{mdash}}the first to be presented{{mdash}}lasted from 8 to 22 March. The sentences were read on 30 September 1946.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=337}} Göring, forced to remain silent while seated in the dock, communicated his opinions about the proceedings using gestures, shaking his head, or laughing. He constantly took notes and whispered with the other defendants, and tried to control the erratic behaviour of Hess, who was seated beside him.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=339}} During breaks in the proceedings, Göring tried to dominate the other defendants, and he was eventually placed in solitary confinement when he attempted to influence their testimony.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=341–342}} Göring told American psychiatrist [[Leon Goldensohn]] that the court was "stupid" to try "little fellows" like Funk and [[Ernst Kaltenbrunner|Kaltenbrunner]] instead of letting Göring take all the blame on himself.{{sfn|Goldensohn|2004|}} He also claimed that he had never heard of most of the other defendants before the trial.{{sfn|Goldensohn|2004|}}
[[File:Goering on trial (color).jpg|thumb|left|Göring at the Nuremberg trials]]
On several occasions over the course of the trial, the prosecution showed films of the [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]] and other atrocities. Everyone present, including Göring, found the contents of the films shocking; he said that the films must have been faked. Witnesses, including [[Paul Körner (Nazi official)|Paul Körner]] and [[Erhard Milch]], tried to portray Göring as a peaceful moderate. Milch stated that it had been impossible to oppose Hitler or disobey his orders; to do so would likely have meant death for oneself and one's family.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=343–347}} When testifying on his own behalf, Göring emphasised his loyalty to Hitler, and claimed to know nothing about what had happened in the concentration camps, which were under Himmler's control. He provided evasive, convoluted answers to direct questions and had plausible excuses for all of his actions during the war. He used the witness stand as a venue to expound at great length on his own role in the Reich, attempting to present himself as a peacemaker and diplomat before the outbreak of the war.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=359–367}} During cross-examination, chief prosecutor [[Robert H. Jackson]] read the minutes of a meeting that had been held shortly after [[Kristallnacht]], a major [[pogrom]] in November 1938. At the meeting, Göring had plotted to confiscate Jewish property in the wake of the pogrom.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=369}} Later, [[David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir|David Maxwell-Fyfe]] proved that Göring must have known about [[Stalag Luft III murders|the killing of 50 airmen]] who had been recaptured after escaping from [[Stalag Luft III]] in time to have saved them.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=371}} He also presented clear evidence that Göring knew about the extermination of the [[Hungarian Jews]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=374–375}}
Göring was found guilty on all four counts and was sentenced to death by hanging. The judgment stated:
{{blockquote|There is nothing to be said in mitigation. For Göring was often, indeed almost always, the moving force, second only to his leader. He was the leading war aggressor, both as political and as military leader; he was the director of the slave labour programme and the creator of the oppressive programme against the Jews and other races, at home and abroad. All of these crimes he has frankly admitted. On some specific cases there may be conflict of testimony, but in terms of the broad outline, his own admissions are more than sufficiently wide to be conclusive of his guilt. His guilt is unique in its enormity. The record discloses no excuses for this man.{{sfn|International Military Tribunal|1946}}}}
[[File:Goering-corpse.jpg|thumb|Göring's corpse]]
Göring made an appeal asking to be shot as a soldier instead of hanged as a common criminal, but the court refused.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=392–393}} He committed suicide with a [[potassium cyanide]] capsule the night before he was to be hanged.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=964}}
Speculation as to how Göring obtained the poison holds that US Army lieutenant Jack G. Wheelis, who was stationed at the trials, retrieved the capsules from their hiding place among Göring's confiscated personal effects and passed them to Göring,{{sfn|Taylor|1992|p=623}} who had earlier presented Wheelis with his gold watch, pen, and cigarette case.{{sfn|Botting|2006|p=280}} In 2005, former US Army private Herbert Lee Stivers, who served in the [[1st Infantry Division (United States)|1st Infantry Division]]'s [[26th Infantry Regiment]]{{mdash}}the honour guard for the Nuremberg Trials{{mdash}}claimed he gave Göring "medicine" hidden inside a fountain pen that a German woman had asked him to smuggle into the prison. Stivers later said that he did not know what was in the pill until after Göring's suicide.{{sfn|BBC News|2005}}
Göring's body, as with those of the men who [[Nuremberg executions|were executed]], was displayed at the execution ground for witnesses. The bodies were cremated at [[Ostfriedhof (Munich)|Ostfriedhof]], Munich, and the ashes were scattered in the [[Isar]] River.{{sfn|Darnstädt|2005}}{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=393}}{{sfn|Overy|2001|p=205}}
== Personal properties ==
{{see also|Nazi plunder|Reichswerke Hermann Göring}}
[[File:Göering weapon and baton.jpg|thumb|left|Göring's {{lang|de|Reichsmarschall}} baton and [[Smith & Wesson Model 10]] revolver. To the left is the silver-bound guest book from [[Carinhall]] ([[West Point Museum]]).]]
Göring's name is closely associated with the Nazi plunder of Jewish property. His name appears 135 times on the [[Nazi plunder#Art Looting Investigation Unit|OSS Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU) Red Flag Names List]]{{sfn|OSS Reports}} compiled by US Army intelligence in 1945-6 and declassified in 1997.{{sfn|NARA Records}}
The confiscation of Jewish property gave Göring the opportunity to amass a personal fortune. Some properties he seized himself or acquired for a nominal price. In other cases, he collected bribes for allowing others to steal Jewish property. He took [[Political corruption|kickbacks]] from industrialists for favourable decisions as Four Year Plan director, and money for supplying arms to the Spanish Republicans in the [[Foreign involvement in the Spanish Civil War|Spanish Civil War]] via [[Pyrkal]] in Greece (although Germany was supporting Franco and the Nationalists).{{sfn|Beevor|2006|pp=366–368, 538}}
Göring was appointed Reich Master of the Hunt in 1933 and Master of the German Forests in 1934. He instituted reforms to the forestry laws and acted to protect endangered species. Around this time he became interested in [[Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve|Schorfheide Forest]], where he set aside {{convert|100000|acres|km2}} as a state park, which is still extant. There he built an elaborate hunting lodge, Carinhall, in memory of his first wife, Carin. By 1934, her body had been transported to the site and placed in a vault on the estate.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=120–123}} Through most of the 1930s, Göring kept pet lion cubs, borrowed from the [[Berlin Zoological Garden|Berlin Zoo]], both at Carinhall and at his house at [[Obersalzberg]].{{sfn|Kellerhoff|2018}} The main lodge at Carinhall had a large art gallery where Göring displayed works that had been plundered from private collections and museums around Europe from 1939 onward.{{sfn|Speer|1971|pp=244–245}}{{sfn|Rothfeld|2002}} Göring worked closely with the {{lang|de|Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg}} ({{translation|[[Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce]]}}), an organisation tasked with the looting of artwork and cultural material from Jewish collections, libraries, and museums throughout Europe.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=283–285}} Headed by Alfred Rosenberg, the task force set up a collection centre and headquarters in Paris. Some 26,000 railroad cars full of art treasures, furniture, and other looted items were sent to Germany from France alone. Göring repeatedly visited the Paris headquarters to review the incoming stolen goods and to select items to be sent on a special train to Carinhall and his other homes.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=283–285, 291}} The estimated value of his collection, which numbered some 1,500 pieces, was $200 million.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=281}}
[[File:Standarte des Reichsmarschalls (1941–45).jpg|thumb|Standard, on display at the {{lang|fr|Musée de la Guerre}} in [[Les Invalides]], Paris]]
Göring was known for his extravagant tastes and garish clothing. He had various special uniforms made for the many posts he held;{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=115–116}} his {{lang|de|Reichsmarschall}} uniform included a jewel-encrusted baton. [[Hans-Ulrich Rudel]], the top {{lang|de|[[Stuka]]}} pilot of the war, recalled twice meeting Göring dressed in outlandish costumes: first, a medieval hunting costume, practicing archery with his doctor; and second, dressed in a red [[toga]] fastened with a golden clasp, smoking an unusually large pipe. [[Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs|Italian Foreign Minister]] [[Galeazzo Ciano]] once noted Göring wearing a fur coat that looked like what "a high-grade prostitute wears to the opera".{{sfn|Fussell|2002|pp=24–25}} He threw lavish housewarming parties each time a round of construction was completed at Carinhall, and changed costumes several times throughout the evenings.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=122}}
Göring was noted for his patronage of music, especially opera. He entertained frequently and sumptuously, and hosted elaborate birthday parties for himself.{{sfn|Speer|1971|p=417}} Armaments minister [[Albert Speer]] recalled that guests brought expensive gifts such as gold bars, Dutch cigars, and valuable artwork. For his birthday in 1944, Speer gave Göring an oversized marble bust of Hitler.{{sfn|Speer|1971|pp=416–417}} As a member of the Prussian Council of State, Speer was required to donate a considerable portion of his salary towards the council's birthday gift to Göring without even being asked. {{lang|de|Generalfeldmarschall}} Erhard Milch told Speer that similar donations were required out of the Air Ministry's general fund.{{sfn|Speer|1971|pp=417–418}} For his birthday in 1940, Ciano decorated Göring with the coveted [[Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation|Collar of Annunziata]]. The award reduced him to tears.{{sfn|Mosley|1974|p=280}}
The design of the {{lang|de|Reichsmarschall}} standard, on a light blue field, featured a gold [[German eagle]] grasping a wreath surmounted by two batons overlaid with a swastika. The reverse side of the flag had the {{lang|de|Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes}} ({{translation|Grand Cross of the Iron Cross}}) surrounded by a wreath between four Luftwaffe eagles. The flag was carried by a personal standard-bearer at all public occasions.
Though he liked to be called "{{lang|de|der Eiserne}}" ({{translation|the Iron Man}}), the once-dashing and muscular fighter pilot had become corpulent. He was one of the few Nazi leaders who did not take offence at hearing jokes about himself, "no matter how rude", taking them as a sign of popularity. Germans joked about his ego, saying that he would wear an admiral's uniform with rubber medals to take a bath, and his obesity, joking that "he sits down on his stomach".{{sfn|Block|Trow|1971|p=330}}{{sfn|Gunther|1940|p=65}} One joke claimed that he had sent a wire to Hitler after his visit to the Vatican: "Mission accomplished. Pope unfrocked. Tiara and pontifical vestments are a perfect fit."{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=409}}{{clear left}}
== Role in the Holocaust ==
{{see also|Luftwaffe#War crimes and bombing of non-military targets}}
[[File:Carta Göring.JPG|thumb|Göring's July 1941 letter to [[Reinhard Heydrich]]]]
[[Joseph Goebbels]] and Himmler were far more antisemitic than Göring, who mainly adopted that attitude because party politics required him to do so.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=136–137}} His deputy, [[Erhard Milch]], had a Jewish parent. However, Göring supported the [[Nuremberg Laws]] of 1935, and later initiated economic measures unfavourable to Jews.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=136–137}} He required the registration of all Jewish property as part of the Four Year Plan, and at a meeting held after {{lang|de|Kristallnacht}} was livid that the financial burden for the Jewish losses would have to be made good by German-owned insurance companies. He proposed that the Jews be fined one billion [[Reichsmark|marks]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=189–191}}
At the same meeting, options for the disposition of the Jews and their property were discussed. Jews would be segregated into ghettos or encouraged to emigrate, and their property would be seized in a programme of [[Aryanization (Nazism)|Aryanization]]. Compensation for seized property would be low, if any was given at all.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=189–191}} Detailed minutes of this meeting and other documents were read out at the Nuremberg trial, proving his knowledge of and complicity with the persecution of the Jews.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=369}}
On 24 January 1939, Göring established in Berlin the head office of the [[Central Office for Jewish Emigration]],{{sfn|Hilberg|1985|p=160}} modelled on the similar organization established in Vienna in August 1938.{{sfn|Cesarani|2005|p=62}} Under the direction of Heydrich, it was tasked with using any means necessary to prompt Jews to leave the Reich, and creating a Jewish organization that would co-ordinate emigration from the Jewish side.{{sfn|Cesarani|2005|p=77}}
In July 1941, Göring issued a memo to Heydrich ordering him to organise the practical details of the [[Final Solution]] to the "Jewish Question". By the time that this letter was written, many Jews and others had already been killed in Poland, [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russia]], and elsewhere. At the [[Wannsee Conference]], held six months later, Heydrich formally announced that genocide of the Jews was now official Reich policy. Göring did not attend the conference, but he was present at other meetings where the number of people killed was discussed.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=259–260}}{{sfn|Blood|2001|p=75}}
Göring directed [[anti-partisan]] operations by Luftwaffe security battalions in the [[Białowieża Forest]] between 1942 and 1944 that resulted in the murder of thousands of Jews and Polish civilians.{{sfn|Blood|2010|pp=261–262, 266}}
At the Nuremberg trial Göring told [[first lieutenant]] and U.S. Army psychologist [[Gustave Gilbert]] that he would never have supported the anti-Jewish measures if he had known what was going to happen. "I only thought we would eliminate Jews from positions in big business and government", he claimed.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=378}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1995|p=208}}
== Decorations and awards ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-13805, Hermann Göring.jpg|thumb|Göring wearing his {{lang|fr|[[Pour le Mérite]]}} medal (1932)]]
===German===
* [[Iron Cross]]
** 2nd Class on 15 September 1914{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
** 1st Class on 22 March 1915{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
* [[Pour le Mérite]] (2 June 1918){{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
* [[Blood Order]] (Commemorative Medal of 9 November 1923){{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
* [[Clasp to the Iron Cross]]
** 2nd Class on 30 September 1939{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
** 1st Class on 30 September 1939{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
* [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]] on 30 September 1939{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
* Grand Cross of the Iron Cross for "the victories of the Luftwaffe in 1940 during the French campaign" (the only award of this decoration during World War II – 19 August 1940){{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=89}}
* Order from the Grand Duke of Baden [[Orden vom Zähringer Löwen]] (de) Knights Cross 2nd Class with Swords{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=89}}
* [[Golden Party Badge]]{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
* Knights Cross with Swords of the [[House Order of Hohenzollern]]{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=89}}
* Knights Cross of the [[Military Karl-Friedrich Merit Order]]{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=89}}
* [[Danzig Cross]], 1st and 2nd class{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
=== Foreign ===
* Knight of the [[Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius]] (Kingdom of Bulgaria){{sfn|Petrov|2005|p=56}}
* Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Dannebrog]], with Breast Star in Diamonds (Kingdom of Denmark) (25 July 1938){{sfn|Gade|2011}}{{sfn|Bille-Hansen|Holck|1943|p=20}}
* Grand Cross of the [[Order of the White Rose of Finland]] (6 March 1935){{sfn|Matikkala|2017|p=36}}
* Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (21 April 1941){{sfn|Matikkala|2017|p=515}}
* Grand Cross with Swords of the [[Order of the Cross of Liberty]] (Finland) (25 March 1942){{sfn|Matikkala|2017|p=511}}
* Grand Cross of the [[Order of St. Stephen of Hungary|Order of St Stephen]] (Kingdom of Hungary){{sfn|Lajos|2011|p=41}}
* Knight of the [[Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation]] (Kingdom of Italy) (12 January 1940){{sfn|Overy|2012|p=233}}
* Commander Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Sword]], with Collar (Kingdom of Sweden) (1939){{sfn|Statskalender|1940|p=10}}
* Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Rising Sun]], with [[Order of the Paulownia Flowers|Paulownia Flowers]] (Empire of Japan) (4 October 1943){{sfn|Gazeta Lwowska|1943|p=1}}
== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|Germany|Military of Germany|World War II|World War I||Politics|Aviation}}
* [[Aerial victory standards of World War I]]
* [[Air warfare of World War II]]
* [[Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring]]
* [[Glossary of Nazi Germany]]
* [[Glossary of German military terms]]
* [[Göring's Green Folder]]
* [[List of Nazi Party leaders and officials]]
==Notes==
{{notes
| notes =
{{efn
| name = spelling
|{{lang|de|Göring}} is the German spelling, but the name is [[English terms with diacritical marks#Words imported from other languages|commonly transliterated]] {{transliteration|de|Goering}} in English and other languages, using {{angbr|[[Oe (digraph)|oe]]}} the alternative German spelling for [[Umlaut (diacritic)|umlauts]] in general.
}}
{{efn
| name = swastika
|The swastika was a badge which the count and some friends had adopted at school, and he adopted it as a family emblem. See {{harvnb|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=403–404}}.
}}
}}
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| last = Holland
| first = James
| author-link = James Holland (author)
| title = The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History; May-October 1940
| publisher = St. Martin’s Press
| location = New York
| year = 2011
| isbn = 978-0-31-267500-4
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/battleofbritainf00holl
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Hooton
| first = Edward
| title = Phoenix Triumphant: The Rise and Rise of the Luftwaffe
| publisher = Arms & Armour
| location = Garden City, NJ
| year = 1999
| isbn = 1-85409-181-6
}}
* {{cite web
| title = Judgment of International Military Tribunal on Hermann Goering
| work = The Avalon Project
| publisher = Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library
| location = New Haven, Connecticut
| date = 30 September 1946
| url = http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/judgoeri.asp
| access-date = 8 May 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|International Military Tribunal|1946}}
}}
* {{cite news
| last1 = Kellerhoff
| first1 = Sven Felix
| title = Raubkunst: Für Löwen hatte Hermann Göring eine Schwäche
| url = https://www.welt.de/geschichte/zweiter-weltkrieg/article174823838/Raubkunst-Fuer-Loewen-hatte-Hermann-Goering-eine-Schwaeche.html
| website = Die Welt
| access-date = 22 January 2020
| language = de
| date = 23 March 2018
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Kershaw
| first = Ian
| author-link = Ian Kershaw
| year = 2008
| title = Hitler: A Biography
| publisher = W.W. Norton & Company
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-393-06757-6
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Kilduff
| first = Peter
| title = Herman Göring, Fighter Ace: The World War I Career of Germany's Most Infamous Airman
| year = 2013
| publisher = Grub Street
| location = London
| isbn = 978-1-906502-66-9
}}
* {{cite book |title=Bihang till Sveriges Statskalender 1940. |date=1940 |publisher=Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri |location=Uppsala |language=sv |chapter=Kungl. Svenska Riddarordnarna |ref={{sfnRef|Statskalender|1940}} }}
* {{cite book |last1=Lajos |first1=Pallos |editor1-last=Tibor |editor1-first=Kovács |title=2010–2011 A Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum történeti évkönyve |date=2011 |publisher=Hungarian National Museum |location=Budapest |issn=0133-6622 |pages=39–65 |language=hu |chapter=A Magyar Királyi Szent István Rend jelvényei a Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum Éremtárában|journal=Folia Historica: Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum Évkönyve }}
*{{cite book |last=Lilla |first=Joachim |title=Der Prußische Staatsrat 1921–1933: Ein biographisches Handbuch |publisher= Droste Verlag |location= Düsseldorf |year= 2005 |isbn= 978-3-770-05271-4}}
* {{cite book
| last1 = Manvell
| first1 = Roger
| author-link1 = Roger Manvell
| last2 = Fraenkel
| first2 = Heinrich
| author-link2 = Heinrich Fraenkel
| title = Goering: The Rise and Fall of the Notorious Nazi Leader
| publisher = Skyhorse
| location = London
| year = 2011
| orig-year = 1962
| isbn = 978-1-61608-109-6
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Matikkala
| first = Antti
| year = 2017
| title = Kunnian ruletti: Korkeimmat ulkomaalaisille 1941–1944 annetut suomalaiset kunniamerkit
| language = fi
| location = Helsinki
| publisher = Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura
| isbn = 978-952-222-847-5
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Miller
| first = Michael D.
| year = 2006
| title = Leaders of the SS and German Police, Vol. 1
| publisher = R. James Bender
| location = San Jose, CA
| isbn = 978-93-297-0037-2
}}
* {{cite book
| last1 = Miller
| first1 = Michael D.
| last2 = Schulz
| first2 = Andreas
| title = Leaders of the Storm Troops, Vol. 1
| publisher = Helion & Company
| location = Solihull, West Midlands
| year = 2015
| isbn = 978-1-909982-87-1
}}
* {{cite book | last=Moorhouse | first=Roger | year=2012 | title=Berlin at War | location=New York | publisher=Basic Books | isbn=978-0-46502-855-9}}
* {{cite book
| last = Mosley
| first = Leonard
| author-link = Leonard Mosley
| title = The Reich Marshal: A Biography of Hermann Goering
| publisher = Doubleday
| location = Garden City, NJ
| year = 1974
| isbn = 0-385-04961-7
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/reichmarshalbiog0000mosl
}}
* {{cite web
| title = Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume 2, Chapter XV, Part 3: The Reich Cabinet
| publisher = Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality
| date = 1946
| url = https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/NT_Nazi_Vol-II.pdf
| access-date = 20 August 2017
| ref = {{sfnRef|Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression|1946}}
}}
* {{cite book
| editor1-last = Noakes
| editor1-first = Jeremy
| editor2-last = Pridham
| editor2-first = Geoffrey
| title = Nazism 1919–1945: Foreign Policy, War and Racial Extermination
| year = 2001
| orig-year = 1988
| series = Exeter Studies in History
| volume = 3
| publisher = University of Exeter Press
| location = Exeter
}}
* {{cite web
| title = Nuremberg Trial Proceedings, Volume 9: Eighty-fourth day, Monday, 18 March 1946, morning session
| work = The Avalon Project
| publisher = Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library
| location = New Haven, Connecticut
| url = http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/03-18-46.asp
| access-date = 28 March 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Nuremberg Trial Proceedings, 18 March 1946}}
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Oestermann
| first = Günter
| title = Junger Wolf im Nebel. Ein Junge in Deutschland 1930–1945
| year = 2001
| publisher = [Norderstedt] Books on Demand
| location = Hamburg
| language = de
| isbn = 978-3-8311-2487-9
}}
* {{cite web
| title = OSS (USS Office of Strategic Services) Art Looting Intelligence Unit (ALIU) Reports 1945–1946 and ALIU Red Flag Names List and Index
| url = http://www.lootedart.com/MVI3RM469661
| publisher = Central Registry of Information on Looted Cultural Property 1933–1945
| access-date = 16 July 2017
| ref = {{sfnRef|OSS Reports}}
}}
* {{cite book | last=Overy | first=Richard | year=2012 | orig-year=1984 | title=Goering: Hitler's Iron Knight | location=London and New York | publisher=I.B. Taurus | isbn=978-1-84885-932-6}}
* {{cite book
| last = Overy
| first = Richard J.
| author-link = Richard Overy
| title = Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands, 1945
| year = 2001
| publisher = Viking
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-670-03008-8
| url = https://archive.org/details/interrogationsna00rich
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Overy
| first = Richard J.
| title = War and Economy in the Third Reich
| year = 2002
| orig-year = 1994
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = Oxford; New York
| isbn = 978-0-19-164737-6
}}
* {{cite book | last=Perry | first=Marvin | title=World War II in Europe: A Concise History | place=Boston | publisher=Wadsworth | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-11183-652-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Petrov |first1=Todor |title=Bulgarian Orders and Medals 1878–2005 |year=2005 |publisher=Military Publishing House Ltd. |location=Sofia |isbn=954-509-317-X}}
* {{cite news |title=PRUSSIAN DIET OUT FOR 4-YEAR PERIOD: Adopts Act Transferring All Its Powers to the Cabinet Headed by Goering. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/05/19/archives/prussian-diet-out-for-4year-period-adopts-act-transferring-all-its.html |work= The New York Times |date=19 May 1933 |page=8 |ref={{sfnRef|New York Times, 19 May 1933}} }}
* {{cite book
| last = Raeder
| first = Erich
| title = Erich Rader, Grand Admiral: The Personal Memoir of the Commander in Chief of the German Navy From 1935 Until His Final Break With Hitler in 1943
| publisher = New York: Da Capo Press. United States Naval Institute
| location = London
| year = 2001
| isbn = 0-306-80962-1
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Rothfeld
| first = Anne
| title = Nazi Looted Art: The Holocaust Records Preservation Project, Part 1
| year = 2002
| journal = Prologue Magazine
| publisher = U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
| volume = 34
| issue = 3
| url = https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2002/summer/nazi-looted-art-1.html
}}
* {{cite web
| last = Selwood
| first = Dominic
| author-link = Dominic Selwood
| title = Dresden was a civilian town with no military significance. Why did we burn its people?
| work = The Telegraph
| date = 13 February 2015
| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/11410633/Dresden-was-a-civilian-town-with-no-military-significance.-Why-did-we-burn-its-people.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150213225757/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/11410633/Dresden-was-a-civilian-town-with-no-military-significance.-Why-did-we-burn-its-people.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 13 February 2015
| access-date = 14 February 2015
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Shirer
| first = William L.
| author-link = William L. Shirer
| title = The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
| publisher = Simon & Schuster
| location = New York
| year = 1960
| isbn = 978-0-671-62420-0
| title-link = The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Speer
| first = Albert
| author-link = Albert Speer
| orig-year = 1969
| year = 1971
| title = Inside the Third Reich
| publisher = Avon
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-380-00071-5
| title-link = Inside the Third Reich
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Stolfi
| first = Russel
| title = Barbarossa Revisited: A Critical Reappraisal of the Opening Stages of the Russo-German Campaign (June–December 1941)
| journal = [[Journal of Modern History]]
| date = March 1982
| volume = 54
| issue = 1
| pages = 27–46
| doi = 10.1086/244076
| s2cid = 143690841
| url = https://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/10945/44218/1/Stolfi_Barbarossa_1982.pdf
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Taylor
| first = A. J. P.
| author-link = A. J. P. Taylor
| title = English History 1914–1945
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = Reading, Berkshire
| year = 1965
| isbn = 0-19-280140-6
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Taylor
| first = Telford
| title = The Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials
| publisher = Knopf
| location = New York
| year = 1992
| isbn = 978-0-394-58355-6
}}
{{refend}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite book
| last = Brandenburg
| first = Erich
| title = Die Nachkommen Karls Des Grossen
| publisher = Degener
| location = Neustadt/Aisch
| year = 1995
| isbn = 3-7686-5102-9
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Burke
| first = William Hastings
| title = Thirty Four
| year = 2009
| publisher = Wolfgeist
| location = London
| isbn = 978-0-9563712-0-1
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Butler
| first = Ewan
| title = Marshal Without Glory
| year = 1951
| publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
| location = London
| oclc = 1246848
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Fest
| first = Joachim
| author-link = Joachim Fest
| title = Inside Hitler's Bunker
| publisher = Farrar, Straus and Giroux
| location = New York
| year = 2004
| isbn = 0-374-13577-0
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Frischauer
| first = Willi
| orig-year = 1950
| year = 2013
| title = Goering
| publisher = Unmaterial Books
| isbn = 978-1-78301-221-3
}}
* {{cite book
|last = Göring
|first = Hermann
|title = Germany Reborn
|year = 1934
|publisher = E. Mathews & Marrot
|location = London
|oclc = 570220
|url = http://www.third-reich-books.com/x-567-hermann-goering-germany-reborn.htm
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040803085611/http://www.third-reich-books.com/x-567-hermann-goering-germany-reborn.htm
|archive-date = 3 August 2004
|df = dmy-all
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Leffland
| first = Ella
| year = 1990
| title = The Knight, Death and the Devil
| publisher = Morrow
| location = New York
| isbn = 0-688-05836-1
| url = https://archive.org/details/knightdeathth00leff
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Maser
| first = Werner
| year = 2000
| title = Hitlers janusköpfiger Paladin: die politische Biographie
| location = Berlin
| language = de
| isbn = 3-86124-509-4
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Maser
| first = Werner
| title = Fälschung, Dichtung und Wahrheit über Hitler und Stalin
| publisher = Olzog
| location = Munich
| language = de
| year = 2004
| isbn = 3-7892-8134-4
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Paul
| first = Wolfgang
| title = Wer War Hermann Göring: Biographie
| publisher = Bechtle
| location = Esslingen
| language = de
| year = 1983
| isbn = 3-7628-0427-3
}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Hermann Göring}}
{{wikiquote|Hermann Göring}}
* [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/03-13-46.asp#Goering1 Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Vol. 9] Transcript of Goering's testimony at the trial
* [http://www.historynet.com/lost-prison-interview-with-hermann-goring-the-reichsmarschalls-revelations.htm "Lost Prison Interview with Hermann Goring: The Reichsmarschall's Revelations"] published by [http://www.thehistorynet.com ''World War II Magazine'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131228012959/http://langbrosjukhus.se/hermann-goring/ Göring at Långbro asylum]
* [http://www.dhm.de/datenbank/goering/dhm_goering.php?seite=9 The Goering Collection: online database (in German as Die Kunstsammlung Hermann Göring) of 4263 artworks in Hermann Göring's collection]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/006239}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Erich Wieland]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Commanding Officer of [[Jasta 27|''Jasta'' 27]]|years=1917–1918}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Hermann Frommherz]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Wilhelm Reinhard (pilot)|Wilhelm Reinhard]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Commanding Officer of [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I)|''Jagdgeschwader'' 1]]|years=1918}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Erich von Wedel]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Erich von Wedel]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Commanding Officer of [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I)|''Jagdgeschwader'' 1]]|years=1918}}
{{s-non|reason=Unit disbanded}}
|-
{{s-new|reason=Luftwaffe re-established}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Oberkommando der Luftwaffe|Commander-in-Chief]] of the [[Luftwaffe]]|years=1935–1945}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Robert Ritter von Greim]]}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Hans Ulrich Klintzsch]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Oberste SA-Führer|Leader of the SA]] |years=1923}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Franz Pfeffer von Salomon]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Paul Löbe]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Presidents of the Reichstag (Germany)|President of the ''Reichstag'']] |years=1932–1945}}
{{s-non|reason=Reichstag abolished}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Franz von Papen]] <br /> (''Reichskomissar'')}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Prussia]] |years=1933–1945}}
{{s-non|rows=3|reason=[[Prussia#The end of Prussia|Prussia abolished]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Adolf Hitler]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=''[[Reichsstatthalter]]'' of Prussia|years=1933–1945}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Robert Ley]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=President of the [[Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany)|Prussian State Council]]|years=1933–1945}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Hjalmar Schacht]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Members of Hitler's cabinet|''Reichsminister'' of Economics]]|years=1937–1938}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Walther Funk]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Navboxes
|title=Articles and topics related to Hermann Göring
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}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Goering, Hermann}}
[[Category:Hermann Göring| ]]
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[[Category:People from Rosenheim]]
[[Category:People from the Kingdom of Bavaria]]
[[Category:Politicide perpetrators]]
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[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to death by international courts and tribunals]]
[[Category:Prisoners who died in German detention]]
[[Category:Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave, 1st class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class)]]
[[Category:Romani genocide perpetrators]]
[[Category:Sturmabteilung officers]]
[[Category:Suicides by cyanide poisoning]]' |
New page wikitext, after the edit (new_wikitext) | '{{Short description|German Nazi politician and military leader (1893–1946)}}
{{redirect2|Göring|Goering}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Hermann Göring
| image = Hermann Goering - Nuremberg2.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Göring on trial, {{circa}} 1946
| order = 16th
| office = List of presidents of the Reichstag{{!}}President of the Reichstag
| term_start = 30 August 1932
| term_end = 23 April 1945
| president = [[Paul von Hindenburg]]<br />(1932–1934)
| 1blankname = Führer
| 1namedata = [[Adolf Hitler]]<br />(1934–1945)
| 2blankname = Chancellor
| 2namedata = {{plainlist|
* [[Franz von Papen]]
* [[Kurt von Schleicher]]
* Adolf Hitler
}}
| predecessor = [[Paul Löbe]]
| successor = {{Collapsible list
| title = {{nobold|''Office abolished''}}
| [[Erich Köhler]]<br />([[President of the Bundestag|President of the West German Bundestag]] in 1949)
| [[Johannes Dieckmann]]<br />([[Leadership of East Germany#Heads of parliament|President of the East German People's Chamber]] in 1949)
}}
| office1 = {{lang|de|[[Oberkommando der Luftwaffe#Organization|Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe]]}}
| term_start1 = 1 March 1935
| term_end1 = 24 April 1945
| 1blankname1 = Führer
| 1namedata1 = Adolf Hitler
| predecessor1 = ''Office established''
| successor1 = [[Robert Ritter von Greim]]
| office2 = {{lang|de|[[Reichsstatthalter#Third Reich|Reichsstatthalter]]}} of Prussia
| term_label2 = Acting
| term_start2 = 25 April 1933{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=284}}
| term_end2 = 23 April 1945
| predecessor2 = Adolf Hitler
| successor2 = ''Office abolished''
| office3 = {{lang|de|[[Minister President of Prussia|Ministerpräsident]]}} of Prussia
| term_start3 = 11 April 1933
| term_end3 = 23 April 1945
| predecessor3 = [[Franz von Papen]]<br />({{lang|de|Reichskommissar}})
| successor3 = ''Office abolished''
| title4 = Additional positions
| suboffice4 = Chair of the Ministerial Council for [[Defence of the Reich|Reich Defense]]{{sfn|Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression|1946|pp=100–101}}
| subterm4 = 1939–1945
| suboffice5 = [[List of German economics ministers|''Reichsminister'' of Economics]]
| subterm5 = 1937–1938
| suboffice6 = [[Four Year Plan|Reich Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan]]{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=358}}
| subterm6 = 1936–1945
| suboffice7 = {{lang|de|Reichsminister}} of Forestry
| subterm7 = 1934–1945
| suboffice8 = [[Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany)|''Reichsminister'' of Aviation]]
| subterm8 = 1933–1945
| suboffice9 = President of the [[Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany)|Prussian State Council]]
| subterm9 = 1933–1945
| suboffice10 = {{lang|de|[[Oberste SA-Führer]]}}
| subterm10 = 1923
| birth_name = Hermann Wilhelm Göring
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1893|01|12}}
| birth_place = [[Rosenheim]], [[Kingdom of Bavaria]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1946|10|15|1893|01|12}}
| death_place = [[Nuremberg Prison]], [[Nuremberg]], [[Allied-occupied Germany]]
| death_cause = [[Suicide]] by [[cyanide poisoning]]
| party = [[Nazi Party]] (1922–1945)
| spouse = {{plainlist |
* {{marriage|[[Carin Göring|Carin von Kantzow]]|1923|1931|end=d.}}
* {{marriage|[[Emmy Göring|Emmy Sonnemann]]|1935}}
}}
| children = [[Edda Göring]]
| parents = {{plainlist|
* [[Heinrich Ernst Göring]] (father)
* Franziska Tiefenbrunn (mother)
}}
| relatives = [[Albert Göring]] (brother)
| residence = [[Carinhall]]
| occupation = {{plainlist|
* Aviator
* Politician
}}
| cabinet = [[Hitler cabinet]]
| signature = Hermann Göring Signature.svg
| signature_alt = <!--Military service-->
| nickname =
| allegiance = {{Unbulleted list|[[German Empire]]|[[Nazi Germany]]}}
| branch = {{Unbulleted list|[[Imperial German Army]]|{{lang|de|[[Luftstreitkräfte]]}}|{{lang|de|[[Sturmabteilung]]}}|{{lang|de|[[Luftwaffe]]}}}}
| serviceyears = {{plainlist|
* 1912–1918
* 1933–1945
}}
| rank = {{Unbulleted list | {{lang|de|[[Reichsmarschall]]}} | {{lang|de|[[Sturmabteilung|SA]]-[[Gruppenführer]]}} | {{lang|de|[[Ranks and insignia of the Forest protection (Nazi Germany)|Reichsforst-]] und [[Deutsche Jägerschaft|Reichsjägermeister]]}}}}
| unit =
| commands = [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I)|''Jagdgeschwader'' 1]]
| battles = {{unbulleted list |[[World War I]] |[[World War II]]}}
| mawards = {{Unbulleted list | <!--[[Iron Cross]], 1st Class | [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]] | [[Order of the Zähringer Lion|Zähring Lion]] with Swords |[[Friedrich Order]] | {{longitem|[[House Order of Hohenzollern]] with Swords, 3rd Class}} | --> {{lang|fr|[[Pour le Mérite]]}} | [[Grand Cross of the Iron Cross]] }}
| footnotes =
| module = '''Criminal conviction'''{{Infobox criminal
|child = yes
|conviction = [[Crimes of aggression|Conspiracy to commit crimes against peace]]<br>[[Crimes of aggression]]<br>[[War crimes]]<br>[[Crimes against humanity]]
| trial = Nuremberg trials
| conviction_penalty = [[Capital punishment|Death]]
| conviction_status = [[Deceased]]
}}
| alma_mater = [[University of Munich]]
}}
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==Early life and education==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R25668, Hermann Göring.jpg|thumb|left|Göring in 1907, at age 14]]
Göring was born on 12 January 1893{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=21}} at the Marienbad Sanatorium in [[Rosenheim]], [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]]. His father, [[Heinrich Ernst Göring]] (31 October 1839 – 7 December 1913), a former cavalry officer, had been the first [[List of colonial governors of South West Africa|governor-general of German South West Africa]] (modern-day [[Namibia]]).{{sfn|Block|Trow|1971|pp=327–330}} Heinrich had three children from a previous marriage. Göring was the fourth of five children by Heinrich's second wife, Franziska Tiefenbrunn (1859–15 July 1943), a Bavarian peasant. Göring's elder siblings were Karl, Olga, and Paula; his younger brother was [[Albert Göring|Albert]]. At the time that Göring was born, his father was serving as consul general in [[Haiti]], and his mother had returned home briefly to give birth. She left the six-week-old baby with a friend in Bavaria and did not see the child again for three years, when she and Heinrich returned to Germany.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=21–22}}
Göring's godfather was {{ill|Hermann Epenstein|WD=Q14631226}}, a wealthy Jewish physician and businessman his father had met in Africa. Epenstein provided the Göring family, who were surviving on Heinrich's pension, first with a family home in Berlin-Friedenau,{{sfn|Freitag|2015|pp=25–45}} and then a small castle called Veldenstein, near [[Nuremberg]]. Göring's mother became Epenstein's mistress around this time, and remained so for some fifteen years. Epenstein acquired the minor title of [[Ritter]] (knight) von Epenstein through service and donations to the Crown.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=22–24}}
Interested in a career as a soldier from a very early age, Göring enjoyed playing with toy soldiers and dressing up in a [[Boer]] uniform his father had given him. He was sent to boarding school at age eleven, where the food was poor and discipline was harsh. He sold a violin to pay for his train ticket home, and then took to his bed, feigning illness, until he was told he would not have to return.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=24–25}} He continued to enjoy war games, pretending to lay siege to the castle Veldenstein and studying Teutonic legends and sagas. He became a mountain climber, scaling peaks in Germany, at the [[Mont Blanc massif]], and in the [[Austrian Alps]]. At age 16, he was sent to a military academy at [[Berlin Lichterfelde]], from which he graduated with distinction.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=24–28}}
Göring joined the Prince Wilhelm Regiment (112th Infantry, Garrison: [[Mulhouse|Mülhausen]]) of the [[Prussian Army]] in 1912. The next year his mother had a falling-out with Epenstein. The family was forced to leave Veldenstein and moved to [[Munich]]; Göring's father died shortly afterwards. It was in Bavaria where Göring developed his "romantic sense of Germanness" that further evolved under National Socialism.{{sfn|Overy|2012|p=5}} When World War I began in August 1914, Göring was stationed at [[Mülhausen]] with his regiment.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=24–28}}
== World War I ==
[[File:Göring.ogg|thumb|left|Film clip of Göring in a [[Fokker D.VII]] during World War I (1918)]]
During the first year of World War I, Göring served with his infantry regiment in the area of [[Mülhausen]], a garrison town less than 2 km from the French frontier. He was hospitalized with [[rheumatism]], a result of the damp of [[trench warfare]]. While he was recovering, his friend [[Bruno Loerzer]] convinced him to transfer to what would become, by October 1916, the {{lang|de|[[Luftstreitkräfte]]}} ({{translation|air combat forces}}) of the German army, but his request was turned down. Later that year, Göring flew as Loerzer's observer in {{lang|de|[[Feldflieger Abteilung]]}} 25 (FFA 25); Göring had informally transferred himself. He was discovered and sentenced to three weeks' confinement to barracks, but the sentence was never carried out. By the time it was supposed to be imposed, Göring's association with Loerzer had been made official. They were assigned as a team to FFA 25 in the [[William, German Crown Prince|Crown Prince]]'s Fifth Army. They flew reconnaissance and bombing missions, for which the Crown Prince invested both Göring and Loerzer with the [[Iron Cross]], first class.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=28–29}}
[[File:Nicola Perscheid - Hermann Göring um 1918.jpg|thumb|Göring as a fighter pilot in 1918]]
After completing the pilot's training course, Göring was assigned to [[Jagdstaffel 5|''Jagdstaffel'' 5]]. Seriously wounded in the hip in aerial combat, he took nearly a year to recover. He then was transferred to [[Jagdstaffel 26|''Jagdstaffel'' 26]], commanded by Loerzer, in February 1917. He steadily scored [[dogfight|air victories]] until May, when he was assigned to command [[Jagdstaffel 27|''Jagdstaffel'' 27]]. Serving with ''Jastas'' 5, 26 and 27, he continued to win victories. In addition to his Iron Crosses (1st and 2nd Class), he received the [[Order of the Zähringer Lion|Zähringer Lion]] with swords, the [[Friedrich Order]], the [[House Order of Hohenzollern]] with swords third class, and finally, in May 1918, the coveted {{lang|fr|[[Pour le Mérite]]}}.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=31–32}} According to [[Hermann Dahlmann]], who knew both men, Göring had Loerzer lobby for the award.{{sfn|Franks|1993|pp= 95, 117, 156 }} He finished the war with [[List of World War I aces credited with 20 or more victories|22 victories]].{{sfn|Franks|1993|p=117}} A thorough post-war examination of [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] loss records showed that only two of his awarded victories were doubtful. Three were possible and 17 were certain, or highly likely.{{sfn|Kilduff|2013|pp=165–166}}
On 7 July 1918, following the death of [[Wilhelm Reinhard (pilot)|Wilhelm Reinhard]], successor to [[Manfred von Richthofen]], Göring was made commander of the "Flying Circus", [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I)|''Jagdgeschwader'' 1]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=31–33}} His arrogance made him unpopular with the men of his squadron.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=403}}
In the last days of the war, Göring was repeatedly ordered to withdraw his squadron, first to [[Tellancourt]] airdrome, then to [[Darmstadt]]. At one point, he was ordered to surrender the aircraft to the Allies; he refused. Many of his pilots intentionally crash-landed their planes to keep them from falling into enemy hands.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=34–36}}
Like many other German veterans, Göring was a proponent of the [[stab-in-the-back myth]], the belief which held that the German Army had not really lost the war, but instead was betrayed by the civilian leadership: Marxists, Jews, and especially the [[Weimar Republic|republicans]], who had overthrown the German monarchy.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=39}} Atop the frustration of military defeat, Göring also experienced the personal disappointment of being snubbed by his fiancée's upper-class family, who broke off the engagement when he returned penniless from the front.{{sfn|Overy|2012|pp=5–6}}
== After World War I ==
Göring remained in aviation after the war. He tried [[barnstorming]] and briefly worked at [[Fokker]]. After spending most of 1919 living in [[Denmark]], he moved to Sweden and joined {{lang|sv|[[Svensk Lufttrafik]]}}, a Swedish airline. Göring was often hired for private flights. During the winter of 1920–1921, he was hired by [[Count Eric von Rosen]] to fly him to his castle from Stockholm. Invited to spend the night, Göring may at this time have first seen the [[swastika]] emblem, which Rosen had set in the chimney piece as a family badge.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=39–41}}{{efn|name=swastika}}
This was also the first time that Göring saw his future wife; the count introduced his sister-in-law, Baroness [[Carin Göring|Carin von Kantzow]] ({{nee}} Freiin von Fock). Estranged from her husband of 10 years, she had an eight-year-old son. Göring was immediately infatuated and asked her to meet him in Stockholm. They arranged a visit at the home of her parents and spent much time together through 1921, when Göring left to study political science at the [[University of Munich]]. Carin obtained a divorce, followed Göring to Munich, and married him on 3 February 1922.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=43}} Their first home together was a hunting lodge at Hochkreuth in the [[Bavarian Alps]], near [[Bayrischzell]], some {{convert|80|km|mi}} from Munich.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=41, 43}} After Göring met [[Adolf Hitler]] and joined the [[Nazi Party]] in 1922, they moved to {{Ill|Obermenzing (district)|lt=Obermenzing|de|Obermenzing}}, a suburb of Munich.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=45, 47}}
== Early Nazi career ==
[[File:Hitler 1928.jpg|right|thumb|Göring (left) stands in front of [[Hitler]] at a [[Nuremberg rallies|Nazi Party rally]] in [[Nuremberg]] (1929).]]
Göring joined the Nazi Party in 1922 after hearing a speech by Hitler.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=45, 47}}{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=426}} He was given command of the {{lang|de|[[Sturmabteilung]]}} (SA) as the {{lang|de|[[Oberster SA-Führer]]}} in 1923.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=112}} He was later appointed an {{lang|de|SA-[[Gruppenführer]]}} (Lieutenant general) and held this rank on the SA rolls until 1945. At this time, Carin—who liked Hitler—often played hostess to meetings of leading Nazis, including her husband, Hitler, [[Rudolf Hess]], [[Alfred Rosenberg]], and [[Ernst Röhm]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=47}} Hitler later recalled his early association with Göring:
{{bquote|I liked him. I made him the head of my SA. He is the only one of its heads that ran the SA properly. I gave him a dishevelled rabble. In a very short time he had organised a division of 11,000 men.{{sfn|Hitler|1988|p=168}}}}
Hitler and the Nazi Party held mass meetings and rallies in Munich and elsewhere during the early 1920s, attempting to gain supporters in a bid for political power.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=49–51}} Inspired by [[Benito Mussolini]]'s [[March on Rome]], the Nazis attempted to seize power on 8–9 November 1923 in a failed coup known as the [[Beer Hall Putsch]]. Göring, who was with Hitler leading the march to the War Ministry, was shot in the groin.{{sfn|Holland|2011|p=54}} Fourteen Nazis and four policemen were killed; many top Nazis, including Hitler, were arrested.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=131}} With Carin's help, Göring was smuggled to [[Innsbruck]], where he received surgery and was given morphine for the pain. He remained in hospital until 24 December.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=57–58}} This was the beginning of his morphine addiction, which lasted until his imprisonment at Nuremberg.{{sfn|Speer|1971|p=644}} Meanwhile, the authorities in Munich declared Göring a wanted man. The Görings—acutely short of funds and reliant on the good will of Nazi sympathizers abroad—moved from Austria to [[Venice]]. In May 1924 they visited Rome, via [[Florence]] and [[Siena]]. Sometime in 1924, Göring met Mussolini through his contacts with members of Italy's Fascist Party;{{sfn|Overy|2012|p=7}} Mussolini had also expressed an interest in meeting Hitler, who was by then in prison.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=59–60}} Hitler penned his infamous tome {{lang|de|[[Mein Kampf]]}} while incarcerated, before being released in December 1924.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=160}}
Meanwhile, personal problems continued to multiply for Göring. By 1925, Carin's mother was ill. The Görings—with difficulty—raised the money in the spring of 1925 for a journey to Sweden via Austria, [[Czechoslovakia]], Poland, and [[Free City of Danzig|Danzig]] (now Gdańsk). Göring had become a violent morphine addict; Carin's family were shocked by his deterioration. Carin, who was ill with [[epilepsy]] and a weak heart, had to allow the doctors to take charge of Göring; her son was taken by his father. Göring was certified a dangerous drug addict and was placed in [[Långbro Asylum]] on 1 September 1925.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=61}} He was violent to the point where he had to be confined in a [[straitjacket]], but his psychiatrist felt he was sane; the condition was caused solely by the morphine.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=404}} Weaned off the drug, he left the facility briefly, but had to return for further treatment. He returned to Germany when an amnesty was declared in 1927 and resumed working in the aircraft industry.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=62, 64}} Carin Göring, ill with epilepsy and [[tuberculosis]],{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=146}} died of heart failure on 17 October 1931.
Meanwhile, the Nazi Party was in a period of rebuilding and waiting. The economy had recovered, which meant fewer opportunities for the Nazis to agitate. The SA was reorganised, but with [[Franz Pfeffer von Salomon]] as its head rather than Göring, and the {{lang|de|[[Schutzstaffel]]}} (SS) was founded in 1925, initially as a bodyguard for Hitler. Membership in the party increased from 27,000 in 1925 to 108,000 in 1928 and 178,000 in 1929. In [[1928 German federal election|the May 1928 elections]] the Nazi Party only obtained 12 seats out of an available 491 in the {{lang|de|[[Reichstag (Weimar Republic)|Reichstag]]}}.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=118–121}} Göring was elected as a representative from Bavaria.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=66}} Having secured a seat in the {{lang|de|Reichstag}}, Göring gained a more prominent place in the Nazi movement, since Hitler saw him as a public relations officer for Nazism in this capacity.{{sfn|Overy|2012|p=8}} Göring continued to be elected to the Reichstag in all subsequent elections during the Weimar and Nazi regimes.{{sfn|Reichstag databank}} Electoral success also afforded Göring with access to powerful sympathizers to the Nazi cause, such as [[Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia]] and the conservative-minded businessmen, [[Fritz Thyssen]] and [[Hjalmar Schacht]].{{sfn|Overy|2012|p=9}} The [[Great Depression]] led to a disastrous downturn in the German economy, and [[1930 German federal election|in the 1930 election]], the Nazi Party won 6,409,600 votes and 107 seats.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=136, 138}}{{efn|By 1930, the Nazi party claimed upwards of 293,000 members.{{sfn|Childers|2017|p=131}} }} In May 1931, Hitler sent Göring on a mission to the [[Holy See|Vatican]], where he met the future [[Pope Pius XII]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=74}}
In the [[July 1932 German federal election|July 1932 election]], the Nazis won 230 seats to become far and away the largest party in the {{lang|de|Reichstag}}. By longstanding tradition, the Nazis were thus entitled to select the President of the {{lang|de|Reichstag}}, and elected Göring to the post.{{sfn|Evans|2003|p=297}} He would retain this position until 23 April 1945.
== Reichstag fire ==
The [[Reichstag fire]] occurred on the night of 27 February 1933. Göring was one of the first to arrive on the scene. [[Marinus van der Lubbe]], a Communist radical, was arrested and claimed sole responsibility for the fire. Göring immediately called for a crackdown on Communists.{{sfn|Evans|2003|pp=329–330}}
The Nazis took advantage of the fire to advance their own political aims. The [[Reichstag Fire Decree]], passed the next day on Hitler's urging, suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. Activities of the [[Communist Party of Germany|German Communist Party]] were suppressed, and some 4,000 Party members were arrested.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=194}} Göring demanded that the prisoners should be shot, but [[Rudolf Diels]], head of the Prussian political police, ignored the order.{{sfn|Evans|2003|p=331}} Some researchers, including [[William L. Shirer]] and [[Alan Bullock]], are of the opinion that the Nazi Party itself was responsible for starting the fire.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=192}}{{sfn|Bullock|1999|p=262}}
At the [[Nuremberg trials]], General [[Franz Halder]] testified that Göring admitted responsibility for starting the fire. He said that, at a luncheon held on Hitler's birthday in 1942, Göring said, "The only one who really knows about the Reichstag is I, because I set it on fire!"{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=193}} In his own Nuremberg testimony, Göring denied this story.{{sfn|Nuremberg Trial Proceedings, 18 March 1946}}
== Second marriage ==
During the early 1930s, Göring was often in the company of [[Emmy Göring|Emmy Sonnemann]], an actress from [[Hamburg]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=111}} They were married on 10 April 1935, in Berlin. The wedding was celebrated on a huge scale. A large reception was held the night before at the [[Berlin State Opera|Berlin Opera House]]. Fighter aircraft flew overhead on the night of the reception and the day of the ceremony,{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=139–140}} at which Hitler was best man.{{sfn|Gunther|1940|p=63}} Göring's daughter, [[Edda Göring|Edda]], was born on 2 June 1938.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=187}}
== Nazi potentate ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F051620-0043, Hitler, Göring und v. Schirach auf Obersalzberg.jpg|thumb|left|Hitler, Bormann, Göring and [[Baldur von Schirach]] in [[Obersalzberg]], 1936]]
{{Nazism sidebar}}
When Hitler was named [[chancellor of Germany]] on 30 January 1933, Göring was appointed as ''[[Reichsminister]]'' [[minister without portfolio|without portfolio]] and ''[[Reichskommissar]]'' of Aviation.{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=47}} This was followed on 11 April 1933 by his appointment as [[Minister-President]] of Prussia, Prussian [[interior minister]] and chief of the Prussian police.{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|pp=50–51}} On 25 April 1933, Hitler also delegated his powers as ''[[Reichsstatthalter]]'' (Reich Governor) of Prussia to Göring.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=284}} On 18 May 1933, Göring secured passage of an [[enabling act]] through the [[Landtag of Prussia]] that conferred all legislative powers on the cabinet.{{sfn|New York Times, 19 May 1933}} Utilizing this authority, on 8 July 1933 Göring enacted a law abolishing the [[Prussian State Council]], the second chamber of the Prussian legislature that represented the interests of the Prussian provinces. In its place, he created a revised non-legislative [[Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany)|Prussian State Council]] to serve merely as a body of advisors to him. Göring would serve as President of the Council. It would consist, ''[[ex officio]]'', of the Prussian cabinet ministers and state secretaries, as well as hand-picked Nazi Party officials and other industry and society leaders selected solely by Göring.{{sfn|Lilla|2005|pp=292–295}} In October 1933, Göring was made a member of [[Hans Frank]]'s [[Academy for German Law]] at its inaugural meeting.{{sfn|Frank|1933–1934|p=253}} In July 1934, he was appointed ''Reichforstmeister'', with the rank of a ''Reichsminister'', as the head of the newly created [[Reich Forestry Office]].{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=58}}
[[Wilhelm Frick]], the Reich interior minister, and the head of the SS, [[Heinrich Himmler]], hoped to create a unified police force for all of Germany, but Göring on 26 April 1933 established a special Prussian police force, with [[Rudolf Diels]] at its head. The force was called the {{lang|de|Geheime Staatspolizei}} ({{translation|Secret State Police}}), or [[Gestapo]]. Göring, thinking that Diels was not ruthless enough to use the Gestapo effectively to counteract the power of the SA, handed over control of the Gestapo to Himmler on 20 April 1934.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=54}} By this time, the SA numbered over two million men.{{sfn|Goldhagen|1996|p=95}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-C01410, Berlin, Göring auf der "Grünen Woche".jpg|thumb|left|Göring attending the [[Berlin International Green Week|Green Week]] in Berlin, 1937]]
Hitler was deeply concerned that [[Ernst Röhm]], the chief of the SA, was planning a coup. Himmler and [[Reinhard Heydrich]] plotted with Göring to use the Gestapo and SS to crush the SA.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=306}} Members of the SA got wind of the proposed action and thousands of them took to the streets in violent demonstrations on the night of 29 June 1934. Enraged, Hitler ordered the arrest of the SA leadership. Röhm was shot dead in his cell when he refused to commit suicide; Göring personally went over the lists of prisoners—numbering in the thousands—and determined who else should be shot. At least 85 people were killed in the period of 30 June to 2 July, which is now known as the [[Night of the Long Knives]].{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=31–35, 39}} Hitler admitted in the Reichstag on 13 July that the killings had been entirely illegal, but claimed a plot had been under way to overthrow the Reich. A retroactive law was passed making the action legal. Any criticism was met with arrests.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=38}}
One of the terms of the [[Treaty of Versailles]], which had been in place since the end of World War I, stated that Germany was not allowed to maintain an air force. After the 1928 signing of the [[Kellogg–Briand Pact]], police aircraft were permitted. Göring was appointed Air Traffic Minister in May 1933. Germany began to accumulate aircraft in violation of the Treaty, and in 1935 the existence of the [[Luftwaffe]] was formally acknowledged,{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=116–117}} with Göring as Reich Aviation Minister.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=364}}
During a cabinet meeting in September 1936, Göring and Hitler announced that the [[German rearmament]] programme must be sped up. On 18 October, Hitler named Göring as [[Plenipotentiary]] of the Four Year Plan to undertake this task. Göring created a new organisation to administer the Plan and drew the ministries of labour and agriculture under its umbrella. He bypassed the Economics Ministry in his policy-making decisions, to the chagrin of [[Hjalmar Schacht]], the minister in charge. Huge expenditures were made on rearmament, in spite of growing deficits.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=357–360}} Schacht resigned on 26 November 1937, and Göring took over the Economics Ministry on an interim basis until January 1938.{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=60}} He then managed to install [[Walther Funk]] in the position, who also took control of the [[Reichsbank]] when Schacht was forced out of that post as well in January 1939. In this way, both of these institutions effectively were brought under Göring's control under the auspices of the Four Year Plan.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=361}} In July 1937, the [[Reichswerke Hermann Göring]] was established under state ownership – though led by Göring – with the aim of boosting steel production beyond the level which private enterprise could economically provide.{{sfn|Overy|2002|p=145}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-17986, Schorfheide, Lord Edward Frederik Halifax, Hermann Göring crop.jpg|thumb|Göring with [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Halifax]] at Schorfheide, 20 November 1937]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2004-1202-504, Berlin, Adolf Hitler und Hermann Göring.jpg|thumb|Hitler with Göring on balcony of the Chancellery, Berlin, 16 March 1938]]
In 1938, Göring was involved in the [[Blomberg–Fritsch Affair]], which led to the resignations of the War Minister, {{lang|de|[[Generalfeldmarschall]]}} [[Werner von Blomberg]], and the army commander, General [[Werner von Fritsch]]. Göring had acted as witness at Blomberg's wedding to Margarethe Gruhn, a 26-year-old typist, on 12 January 1938. Information received from the police showed that the young bride was a prostitute.{{sfn|Gerwarth|2011|p=116}} Göring felt obligated to tell Hitler, but also saw this event as an opportunity to dispose of Blomberg. Blomberg was forced to resign. Göring did not want Fritsch to be appointed to that position and thus be his superior. Several days later, Heydrich revealed a file on Fritsch that contained allegations of homosexual activity and blackmail. The charges were later proven to be false, but Fritsch had lost Hitler's trust and was forced to resign.{{sfn|Gerwarth|2011|pp=116, 117}} Hitler used the dismissals as an opportunity to reshuffle the leadership of the military. Göring asked for the post of War Minister, but was turned down; he was appointed to the rank of {{lang|de|Generalfeldmarschall}}. Hitler took over as [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht|supreme commander of the armed forces]] and created subordinate posts to head the three main branches of service.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=642–644}}
{{main|Anschluss}}
As minister in charge of the Four Year Plan, Göring became concerned with the lack of natural resources in Germany, and began pushing for Austria to be incorporated into the Reich. The province of [[Styria]] had rich iron ore deposits, and the country as a whole was home to many skilled labourers that would also be useful. Hitler had always been in favour of a takeover of Austria, his native country. He met the Austrian Chancellor [[Kurt Schuschnigg]] on 12 February 1938, threatening invasion if peaceful unification was not forthcoming. The Nazi Party was made legal in Austria to gain a power base, and a referendum on reunification was scheduled for March. When Hitler did not approve of the wording of the plebiscite, Göring telephoned Schuschnigg and Austrian head of state [[Wilhelm Miklas]] to demand Schuschnigg's resignation, threatening invasion by German troops and civil unrest by the Austrian Nazi Party members. Schuschnigg resigned on 11 March and the plebiscite was cancelled. By 5:30 the next morning, German troops that had been massing on the border marched into Austria, meeting no resistance.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=646–652}}
{{main|German occupation of Czechoslovakia}}
Although [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]] had been named Foreign Minister in February 1938, Göring continued to involve himself in foreign affairs.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=187}} That July, he contacted the British government with the idea that he should make an official visit to discuss Germany's intentions for Czechoslovakia. [[Neville Chamberlain]] was in favour of a meeting, and there was talk of a pact being signed between Britain and Germany. In February 1938, Göring visited Warsaw to quell rumours about the upcoming [[invasion of Poland]]. He had conversations with the Hungarian government that summer as well, discussing their potential role in an invasion of Czechoslovakia. At the [[Nuremberg Rally]] that September, Göring and other speakers denounced the Czechs as an inferior race that must be conquered.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=194–197}} Chamberlain and Hitler had a series of meetings that led to the signing of the [[Munich Agreement]] (29 September 1938), which turned over control of the [[Sudetenland]] to Germany.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=674}} In March 1939, Göring threatened Czechoslovak president [[Emil Hácha]] with the bombing of [[Prague]]. Hácha then agreed to sign a communique accepting [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)|the German occupation]] of the remainder of [[Bohemia]] and [[Moravia]].{{sfn|Noakes|Pridham|2001|p=119}}
Although many in the party disliked him,{{sfn|Gunther|1940|p=19}} before the war Göring enjoyed widespread personal popularity among the German public because of his perceived sociability, colour and humour.{{sfn|Overy|2002|p=73}}{{sfn|Overy|2002|p=236}} As the Nazi leader most responsible for economic matters, he presented himself as a champion of national interests over allegedly corrupt big business and the old German elite. The Nazi press was on Göring's side. Other leaders, such as Hess and Ribbentrop, were envious of his popularity.{{sfn|Overy|2002|p=73}} In Britain and the United States, some viewed Göring as more acceptable than the other Nazis and as a possible mediator between the western democracies and Hitler.{{sfn|Overy|2002|p=236}}
== World War II ==
[[File:Hermann Göring - Röhr.jpg|thumb|Göring as {{Lang|de|[[Reichsmarschall]]}}]]
=== Success on all fronts ===
Göring and other senior officers were concerned that Germany was not yet ready for war, but Hitler insisted on pushing ahead as soon as possible.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=197, 211}} On 30 August 1939, immediately prior to the outbreak of the [[Second World War]], Hitler appointed Göring as the chairman of a new six-person [[Council of Ministers for Defense of the Reich]] which was set up to operate as a war cabinet.{{sfn| Broszat| 1981| pp=308–309}} The invasion of Poland, the opening action of World War II, began at dawn on 1 September 1939.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=597}} Later in the day, speaking to the {{lang|de|Reichstag}}, Hitler designated Göring as his successor as Führer of all Germany, "If anything should befall me",{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=599}} with Hess as the second alternate.{{sfn|Gunther|1940|p=19}} Big German victories followed one after the other in quick succession. With the help of the Luftwaffe, the [[Polish Air Force]] was defeated within a week.{{sfn|Hooton|1999|pp=177–189}}{{efn|Confident that the Luftwaffe was without peer and practically invincible in the wake of these victories, Göring commented to the German press that should the enemy ever penetrate German airspace, they could call him "Meyer".{{sfn|Moorhouse|2012|p=350}}{{sfn|Perry|2013|p=45fn}} }} The {{lang|de|[[Fallschirmjäger (World War II)|Fallschirmjäger]]}} seized vital airfields in [[Norway]] ([[Operation Weserübung]]) and captured [[Fort Eben-Emael]] in Belgium on 10 May 1940, the first day of the [[Battle of France]]. Göring's Luftwaffe played critical roles in the [[Battle of the Netherlands|Battles of the Netherlands]], [[Battle of Belgium|of Belgium]] and of France in May 1940.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=721, 723, 725}}
After the [[Fall of France]], Hitler awarded Göring the [[Grand Cross of the Iron Cross]] for his successful leadership.{{sfn|Fellgiebel|2000|p=198}} During the [[1940 Field Marshal Ceremony]], Hitler promoted Göring to the rank of {{lang|de|[[Reichsmarschall]] des Grossdeutschen Reiches}} ({{translation|Reich Marshal of the Greater German Reich}}), a specially-created rank which made him senior to all field marshals in the military, including the Luftwaffe. As a result of this promotion, he was the highest-ranking soldier in Germany until the end of the war. Göring had already received the [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]] on 30 September 1939 as Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe.{{sfn|Fellgiebel|2000|p=198}}
The UK had declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, the third day of the invasion of Poland.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=615}} In July 1940, Hitler began preparations for an invasion of Britain. As part of the plan, the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) had to be neutralized. Bombing raids commenced on British air installations and on cities and centres of industry.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=113, 136, 143}} Göring had by then already announced in a radio speech, "If as much as a single enemy aircraft flies over German soil, my name is Meier!",{{sfn|Oestermann|2001|p=157}} something that would return to haunt him, when the RAF began bombing German cities on 11 May 1940.{{sfn|Selwood|2015}} Though he was confident the Luftwaffe could defeat the RAF within days, Göring, like Admiral [[Erich Raeder]], [[Oberkommando der Marine|commander-in-chief of the ''Kriegsmarine'']] (navy),{{sfn|Raeder|2001|pp=324–325}} was pessimistic about the chance of success of the planned invasion (codenamed [[Operation Sea Lion]]).{{sfn|Bungay|2000|p=337}} Göring hoped that a victory in the air would be enough to force peace without an invasion. The campaign failed, and Sea Lion was postponed indefinitely on 17 September 1940.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=144}} After their defeat in the [[Battle of Britain]], the Luftwaffe attempted to defeat Britain via [[strategic bombing]]. On 12 October 1940 Hitler cancelled Sea Lion due to the onset of winter.{{sfn|Taylor|1965|p=500}} By the end of the year, it was clear that British morale was not being shaken by [[the Blitz]], though the bombings continued through May 1941.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=145}}
=== Decline on all fronts ===
[[File:Orders issued by Hermann Goring for German troops.jpg|thumb|Göring issuing an order for German troops on the Eastern Front, 1941]]
In spite of the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]], signed in 1939, Nazi Germany began [[Operation Barbarossa]]—the invasion of the Soviet Union—on 22 June 1941. Initially, the Luftwaffe was at an advantage, destroying thousands of Soviet aircraft in the first month of fighting.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=178–179}} Hitler and his top staff were sure that the campaign would be over by Christmas, and no provisions were made for reserves of men or equipment.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=187}} But, by July, the Germans had only 1,000 planes remaining in operation, and their troop losses were over 213,000 men. The choice was made to concentrate the attack on only one part of the vast front; efforts would be directed at capturing Moscow.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=201}} After the long, but successful, [[Battle of Smolensk (1941)|Battle of Smolensk]], Hitler ordered [[Army Group Centre]] to halt its advance to Moscow and temporarily diverted its Panzer groups north and south to aid in the encirclement of [[Leningrad]] and [[Kiev]].{{sfn|Stolfi|1982}} The pause provided the [[Red Army]] with an opportunity to mobilize fresh reserves; historian [[Russel H. S. Stolfi|Russel Stolfi]] considers it to be one of the major factors that caused the failure of the Moscow offensive, which was resumed in October 1941 with the [[Battle of Moscow]].{{sfn|Stolfi|1982}} Poor weather conditions, fuel shortages, a delay in building aircraft bases in Eastern Europe, and overstretched supply lines were also factors. Hitler did not give permission for even a partial retreat until mid-January 1942; by this time the losses were comparable to those of the [[French invasion of Russia]] in 1812.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=207–213}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Reprich-012-08, Wolfschanze, Hitler, Ley, Porsche und Göring.jpg|thumb|left|Hitler meeting Göring and automotive engineer [[Ferdinand Porsche]] at the ''[[Wolf's Lair]]'' in 1942]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1977-149-13, Hermann Göring, Adolf Hitler, Albert Speer.jpg|thumb|Göring with Hitler and [[Albert Speer]], 10 August 1943]]
After the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], Göring, along with Field Marshal [[Wilhelm Keitel]] and Admiral [[Erich Raeder]], urged Hitler to immediately declare war on the United States.{{sfn|Fleming|1987}}
Hitler decided that the summer 1942 campaign would be concentrated in the south; efforts would be made to capture the oilfields in the [[Caucasus]].{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=404–405}} The [[Battle of Stalingrad]], a major turning point of the war,{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=421}} began on 23 August 1942 with a bombing campaign by the Luftwaffe.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=409}} The German [[6th Army (Wehrmacht)|Sixth Army]] entered the city, but because of its location on the front line, it was still possible for the Soviets to encircle and trap it there without reinforcements or supplies. When the Sixth Army was surrounded by the end of November in [[Operation Uranus]], Göring promised that the Luftwaffe would be able to deliver a minimum of 300 tons of supplies to the trapped men every day. On the basis of these assurances, Hitler demanded that there be no retreat; they were to fight to the last man. Though some airlifts were able to get through, the amount of supplies delivered never exceeded 120 tons per day.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=412–413}}{{sfn|Speer|1971|p=329}} The remnants of the Sixth Army—some 91,000 men out of an army of 285,000—surrendered in early February 1943; only 5,000 of these captives survived the [[German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union|Soviet prisoner of war camps]] to see Germany again.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=932}}
=== War over Germany ===
Meanwhile, the strength of the US and British bomber fleets had increased. Based in Britain, they began [[Defence of the Reich|operations against German targets]]. The first thousand-bomber raid was staged [[Bombing of Cologne in World War II|on Cologne]] on 30 May 1942.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=438, 441}} Air raids continued on targets farther from England after auxiliary fuel tanks were installed on US [[fighter aircraft]]. Göring refused to believe reports that American fighters had been shot down as far east as [[Aachen]] in winter 1942–1943. His reputation began to decline.{{sfn|Speer|1971|p=378}}
The American [[P-51 Mustang]], with a [[combat radius]] of over {{convert|1800|mi}} when using underwing [[drop tank]]s, began to escort the bombers in large formations to and from the target area in early 1944. From that point onwards, the Luftwaffe began to suffer casualties in aircrews it could not sufficiently replace. By targeting oil refineries and rail communications, [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] bombers crippled the German war effort by late 1944.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=461}} German civilians blamed Göring for his failure to protect the homeland.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=447}} Hitler began excluding him from conferences, but retained him in his positions at the head of the Luftwaffe and as plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=296, 297, 299}} As he lost Hitler's trust, Göring began to spend more time at his various residences.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=510}} On [[D-Day]] (6 June 1944), the Luftwaffe only had some 300 fighters and a small number of bombers in the area of the landings; the Allies had a total strength of 11,000 aircraft.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=295, 302}}
=== End of the war ===
{{see also|Göring Telegram}}
[[File:Goeringcaptivity.jpg|thumb|Göring in captivity 9 May 1945]]
As the [[Battle of Berlin|Soviets approached Berlin]], Hitler's efforts to organise the defence of the city became ever more meaningless and futile.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=725}} His last birthday, celebrated at the {{lang|de|[[Führerbunker]]}} in Berlin on 20 April 1945, was the occasion for leave-taking by many top Nazis, Göring included. By this time, Göring's hunting lodge [[Carinhall]] had been evacuated, the building destroyed,{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=310}} and its art treasures moved to [[Berchtesgaden]] and elsewhere.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=722}} Göring arrived at his estate at Obersalzberg on 22 April, the same day that Hitler, in a lengthy diatribe against his generals, first publicly admitted that the war was lost and that he intended to remain in Berlin to the end and then commit suicide.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=723}} He also stated that Göring was in a better position to negotiate a peace settlement.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=1115–1116}}
OKW operations chief [[Alfred Jodl]] was present for Hitler's rant, and notified Göring's chief of staff, [[Karl Koller (general)|Karl Koller]], at a meeting a few hours later. Sensing its implications, Koller immediately flew to Berchtesgaden to notify Göring of this development. A week after the start of the Soviet invasion, Hitler had issued a decree naming Göring his successor in the event of his death, thus codifying the declaration he had made soon after the beginning of the war. The decree also gave Göring full authority to act as Hitler's deputy if Hitler ever lost his freedom of action.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=1115–1116}}
Göring feared being branded a traitor if he tried to take power, but also feared being accused of dereliction of duty if he did nothing. After some hesitation, Göring reviewed his copy of the 1941 decree naming him Hitler's successor. After conferring with Koller and [[Hans Lammers]] (the state secretary of the Reich Chancellery), Göring concluded that by remaining in Berlin to face certain death, Hitler had incapacitated himself from governing. All agreed that under the terms of the decree, it was incumbent upon Göring to take power in Hitler's stead.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1116}} He was also motivated by fears that his rival, [[Martin Bormann]], would seize power upon Hitler's death and would have him killed as a traitor. With this in mind, Göring sent a carefully worded telegram asking Hitler for permission to take over as the leader of Germany, stressing that he would be acting as Hitler's deputy. He added that, if Hitler did not reply by 22:00 that night (23 April), he would assume that Hitler had indeed lost his freedom of action, and would assume leadership of the Reich.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=315}}
The telegram was intercepted by Bormann, who convinced Hitler that Göring was a traitor. Bormann argued that Göring's telegram was not a request for permission to act as Hitler's deputy, but a demand to resign or be overthrown.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1118}} Bormann also intercepted another telegram in which Göring directed Ribbentrop to report to him if there was no further communication from Hitler or Göring before midnight.{{sfn|Speer|1971|pp=608–609}} Hitler sent a reply to Göring{{mdash}}prepared with Bormann's help{{mdash}}rescinding the 1941 decree and threatening him with execution for high treason unless he immediately resigned from all of his offices. Göring duly resigned. Afterwards, Hitler (or Bormann, depending on the source) ordered the SS to place Göring, his staff, and Lammers under house arrest at Obersalzberg.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1118}}{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=724}} Bormann made an announcement over the radio that Göring had resigned for health reasons.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=318}}
[[File:SFP 186 - Hermann Göring.ogv|left|thumb|Göring after his capture (May 1945)]]
By 26 April, the complex at Obersalzberg [[Bombing of Obersalzberg|was under attack]] by the Allies, so Göring was moved to [[Burg Mauterndorf|his castle at Mauterndorf]]. In his [[Last will and testament of Adolf Hitler|last will and testament]], Hitler expelled Göring from the party, formally rescinded the decree making him his successor, and upbraided Göring for "illegally attempting to seize control of the state".{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1126}} He then appointed [[Karl Dönitz]], the Navy's commander-in-chief, as president of the Reich and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Hitler and his wife, [[Eva Braun]], [[Death of Adolf Hitler|committed suicide]] on 30 April 1945, a few hours after a hastily arranged wedding. Göring was freed on 5 May by a passing Luftwaffe unit, and he made his way to the U.S. lines in hopes of surrendering to them rather than to the Soviets. He was taken into custody near [[Radstadt]] on 6 May by elements of the [[36th Infantry Division (United States)|36th Infantry Division]] of the [[United States Army|US Army]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=320–325}}{{efn|Upon being captured by American soldiers, Göring immediately asked to be taken before Eisenhower. He hoped to be treated as a "spokesman for Germany".{{sfn|Overy|2012|p=228}} }} This move likely saved Göring's life; Bormann had ordered him executed if Berlin had fallen.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1128}}
== Trial and death ==
{{main|Nuremberg trials}}
[[File:Defendants in the dock at the Nuremberg Trials.jpg|thumb|Göring (first row, far left) at the Nuremberg trial]]
Göring was flown to [[Camp Ashcan]], a temporary prisoner-of-war camp housed in the Palace Hotel at [[Mondorf-les-Bains]], Luxembourg. Here he was weaned off [[dihydrocodeine]] (a mild morphine derivative)—he had been taking the equivalent of three or four grains (260 to 320 mg) of morphine a day—and was put on a strict diet; he lost {{convert|60|lb}}. His [[Intelligence quotient|IQ]] was tested while in custody and found to be 138.{{sfn|Gilbert|1995|p=31}} Top Nazi officials were transferred in September to Nuremberg, which was to be the location of a series of military tribunals beginning in November.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=329–331}}
Göring was the second-highest-ranking official tried at Nuremberg, behind Reich President (former Admiral) Karl Dönitz. The prosecution levelled an indictment of four charges, including a charge of conspiracy; waging a war of aggression; war crimes, including the [[Nazi plunder|plundering and removal to Germany of works of art and other property]]; and crimes against humanity, including the disappearance of political and other opponents under the {{lang|de|[[Nacht und Nebel]]}} ({{translation|Night and Fog}}) decree; the torture and ill treatment of prisoners of war; and the murder and enslavement of civilians, including what was at the time estimated to be 5,700,000 Jews. Not permitted to present a lengthy statement, Göring declared himself to be "in the sense of the indictment not guilty".{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=336–337}}
The trial lasted 218 days. The prosecution presented its case from November through March, and Göring's defence{{mdash}}the first to be presented{{mdash}}lasted from 8 to 22 March. The sentences were read on 30 September 1946.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=337}} Göring, forced to remain silent while seated in the dock, communicated his opinions about the proceedings using gestures, shaking his head, or laughing. He constantly took notes and whispered with the other defendants, and tried to control the erratic behaviour of Hess, who was seated beside him.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=339}} During breaks in the proceedings, Göring tried to dominate the other defendants, and he was eventually placed in solitary confinement when he attempted to influence their testimony.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=341–342}} Göring told American psychiatrist [[Leon Goldensohn]] that the court was "stupid" to try "little fellows" like Funk and [[Ernst Kaltenbrunner|Kaltenbrunner]] instead of letting Göring take all the blame on himself.{{sfn|Goldensohn|2004|}} He also claimed that he had never heard of most of the other defendants before the trial.{{sfn|Goldensohn|2004|}}
[[File:Goering on trial (color).jpg|thumb|left|Göring at the Nuremberg trials]]
On several occasions over the course of the trial, the prosecution showed films of the [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]] and other atrocities. Everyone present, including Göring, found the contents of the films shocking; he said that the films must have been faked. Witnesses, including [[Paul Körner (Nazi official)|Paul Körner]] and [[Erhard Milch]], tried to portray Göring as a peaceful moderate. Milch stated that it had been impossible to oppose Hitler or disobey his orders; to do so would likely have meant death for oneself and one's family.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=343–347}} When testifying on his own behalf, Göring emphasised his loyalty to Hitler, and claimed to know nothing about what had happened in the concentration camps, which were under Himmler's control. He provided evasive, convoluted answers to direct questions and had plausible excuses for all of his actions during the war. He used the witness stand as a venue to expound at great length on his own role in the Reich, attempting to present himself as a peacemaker and diplomat before the outbreak of the war.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=359–367}} During cross-examination, chief prosecutor [[Robert H. Jackson]] read the minutes of a meeting that had been held shortly after [[Kristallnacht]], a major [[pogrom]] in November 1938. At the meeting, Göring had plotted to confiscate Jewish property in the wake of the pogrom.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=369}} Later, [[David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir|David Maxwell-Fyfe]] proved that Göring must have known about [[Stalag Luft III murders|the killing of 50 airmen]] who had been recaptured after escaping from [[Stalag Luft III]] in time to have saved them.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=371}} He also presented clear evidence that Göring knew about the extermination of the [[Hungarian Jews]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=374–375}}
Göring was found guilty on all four counts and was sentenced to death by hanging. The judgment stated:
{{blockquote|There is nothing to be said in mitigation. For Göring was often, indeed almost always, the moving force, second only to his leader. He was the leading war aggressor, both as political and as military leader; he was the director of the slave labour programme and the creator of the oppressive programme against the Jews and other races, at home and abroad. All of these crimes he has frankly admitted. On some specific cases there may be conflict of testimony, but in terms of the broad outline, his own admissions are more than sufficiently wide to be conclusive of his guilt. His guilt is unique in its enormity. The record discloses no excuses for this man.{{sfn|International Military Tribunal|1946}}}}
[[File:Goering-corpse.jpg|thumb|Göring's corpse]]
Göring made an appeal asking to be shot as a soldier instead of hanged as a common criminal, but the court refused.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=392–393}} He committed suicide with a [[potassium cyanide]] capsule the night before he was to be hanged.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=964}}
Speculation as to how Göring obtained the poison holds that US Army lieutenant Jack G. Wheelis, who was stationed at the trials, retrieved the capsules from their hiding place among Göring's confiscated personal effects and passed them to Göring,{{sfn|Taylor|1992|p=623}} who had earlier presented Wheelis with his gold watch, pen, and cigarette case.{{sfn|Botting|2006|p=280}} In 2005, former US Army private Herbert Lee Stivers, who served in the [[1st Infantry Division (United States)|1st Infantry Division]]'s [[26th Infantry Regiment]]{{mdash}}the honour guard for the Nuremberg Trials{{mdash}}claimed he gave Göring "medicine" hidden inside a fountain pen that a German woman had asked him to smuggle into the prison. Stivers later said that he did not know what was in the pill until after Göring's suicide.{{sfn|BBC News|2005}}
Göring's body, as with those of the men who [[Nuremberg executions|were executed]], was displayed at the execution ground for witnesses. The bodies were cremated at [[Ostfriedhof (Munich)|Ostfriedhof]], Munich, and the ashes were scattered in the [[Isar]] River.{{sfn|Darnstädt|2005}}{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=393}}{{sfn|Overy|2001|p=205}}
== Personal properties ==
{{see also|Nazi plunder|Reichswerke Hermann Göring}}
[[File:Göering weapon and baton.jpg|thumb|left|Göring's {{lang|de|Reichsmarschall}} baton and [[Smith & Wesson Model 10]] revolver. To the left is the silver-bound guest book from [[Carinhall]] ([[West Point Museum]]).]]
Göring's name is closely associated with the Nazi plunder of Jewish property. His name appears 135 times on the [[Nazi plunder#Art Looting Investigation Unit|OSS Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU) Red Flag Names List]]{{sfn|OSS Reports}} compiled by US Army intelligence in 1945-6 and declassified in 1997.{{sfn|NARA Records}}
The confiscation of Jewish property gave Göring the opportunity to amass a personal fortune. Some properties he seized himself or acquired for a nominal price. In other cases, he collected bribes for allowing others to steal Jewish property. He took [[Political corruption|kickbacks]] from industrialists for favourable decisions as Four Year Plan director, and money for supplying arms to the Spanish Republicans in the [[Foreign involvement in the Spanish Civil War|Spanish Civil War]] via [[Pyrkal]] in Greece (although Germany was supporting Franco and the Nationalists).{{sfn|Beevor|2006|pp=366–368, 538}}
Göring was appointed Reich Master of the Hunt in 1933 and Master of the German Forests in 1934. He instituted reforms to the forestry laws and acted to protect endangered species. Around this time he became interested in [[Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve|Schorfheide Forest]], where he set aside {{convert|100000|acres|km2}} as a state park, which is still extant. There he built an elaborate hunting lodge, Carinhall, in memory of his first wife, Carin. By 1934, her body had been transported to the site and placed in a vault on the estate.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=120–123}} Through most of the 1930s, Göring kept pet lion cubs, borrowed from the [[Berlin Zoological Garden|Berlin Zoo]], both at Carinhall and at his house at [[Obersalzberg]].{{sfn|Kellerhoff|2018}} The main lodge at Carinhall had a large art gallery where Göring displayed works that had been plundered from private collections and museums around Europe from 1939 onward.{{sfn|Speer|1971|pp=244–245}}{{sfn|Rothfeld|2002}} Göring worked closely with the {{lang|de|Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg}} ({{translation|[[Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce]]}}), an organisation tasked with the looting of artwork and cultural material from Jewish collections, libraries, and museums throughout Europe.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=283–285}} Headed by Alfred Rosenberg, the task force set up a collection centre and headquarters in Paris. Some 26,000 railroad cars full of art treasures, furniture, and other looted items were sent to Germany from France alone. Göring repeatedly visited the Paris headquarters to review the incoming stolen goods and to select items to be sent on a special train to Carinhall and his other homes.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=283–285, 291}} The estimated value of his collection, which numbered some 1,500 pieces, was $200 million.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=281}}
[[File:Standarte des Reichsmarschalls (1941–45).jpg|thumb|Standard, on display at the {{lang|fr|Musée de la Guerre}} in [[Les Invalides]], Paris]]
Göring was known for his extravagant tastes and garish clothing. He had various special uniforms made for the many posts he held;{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=115–116}} his {{lang|de|Reichsmarschall}} uniform included a jewel-encrusted baton. [[Hans-Ulrich Rudel]], the top {{lang|de|[[Stuka]]}} pilot of the war, recalled twice meeting Göring dressed in outlandish costumes: first, a medieval hunting costume, practicing archery with his doctor; and second, dressed in a red [[toga]] fastened with a golden clasp, smoking an unusually large pipe. [[Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs|Italian Foreign Minister]] [[Galeazzo Ciano]] once noted Göring wearing a fur coat that looked like what "a high-grade prostitute wears to the opera".{{sfn|Fussell|2002|pp=24–25}} He threw lavish housewarming parties each time a round of construction was completed at Carinhall, and changed costumes several times throughout the evenings.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=122}}
Göring was noted for his patronage of music, especially opera. He entertained frequently and sumptuously, and hosted elaborate birthday parties for himself.{{sfn|Speer|1971|p=417}} Armaments minister [[Albert Speer]] recalled that guests brought expensive gifts such as gold bars, Dutch cigars, and valuable artwork. For his birthday in 1944, Speer gave Göring an oversized marble bust of Hitler.{{sfn|Speer|1971|pp=416–417}} As a member of the Prussian Council of State, Speer was required to donate a considerable portion of his salary towards the council's birthday gift to Göring without even being asked. {{lang|de|Generalfeldmarschall}} Erhard Milch told Speer that similar donations were required out of the Air Ministry's general fund.{{sfn|Speer|1971|pp=417–418}} For his birthday in 1940, Ciano decorated Göring with the coveted [[Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation|Collar of Annunziata]]. The award reduced him to tears.{{sfn|Mosley|1974|p=280}}
The design of the {{lang|de|Reichsmarschall}} standard, on a light blue field, featured a gold [[German eagle]] grasping a wreath surmounted by two batons overlaid with a swastika. The reverse side of the flag had the {{lang|de|Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes}} ({{translation|Grand Cross of the Iron Cross}}) surrounded by a wreath between four Luftwaffe eagles. The flag was carried by a personal standard-bearer at all public occasions.
Though he liked to be called "{{lang|de|der Eiserne}}" ({{translation|the Iron Man}}), the once-dashing and muscular fighter pilot had become corpulent. He was one of the few Nazi leaders who did not take offence at hearing jokes about himself, "no matter how rude", taking them as a sign of popularity. Germans joked about his ego, saying that he would wear an admiral's uniform with rubber medals to take a bath, and his obesity, joking that "he sits down on his stomach".{{sfn|Block|Trow|1971|p=330}}{{sfn|Gunther|1940|p=65}} One joke claimed that he had sent a wire to Hitler after his visit to the Vatican: "Mission accomplished. Pope unfrocked. Tiara and pontifical vestments are a perfect fit."{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=409}}{{clear left}}
== Role in the Holocaust ==
{{see also|Luftwaffe#War crimes and bombing of non-military targets}}
[[File:Carta Göring.JPG|thumb|Göring's July 1941 letter to [[Reinhard Heydrich]]]]
[[Joseph Goebbels]] and Himmler were far more antisemitic than Göring, who mainly adopted that attitude because party politics required him to do so.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=136–137}} His deputy, [[Erhard Milch]], had a Jewish parent. However, Göring supported the [[Nuremberg Laws]] of 1935, and later initiated economic measures unfavourable to Jews.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=136–137}} He required the registration of all Jewish property as part of the Four Year Plan, and at a meeting held after {{lang|de|Kristallnacht}} was livid that the financial burden for the Jewish losses would have to be made good by German-owned insurance companies. He proposed that the Jews be fined one billion [[Reichsmark|marks]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=189–191}}
At the same meeting, options for the disposition of the Jews and their property were discussed. Jews would be segregated into ghettos or encouraged to emigrate, and their property would be seized in a programme of [[Aryanization (Nazism)|Aryanization]]. Compensation for seized property would be low, if any was given at all.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=189–191}} Detailed minutes of this meeting and other documents were read out at the Nuremberg trial, proving his knowledge of and complicity with the persecution of the Jews.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=369}}
On 24 January 1939, Göring established in Berlin the head office of the [[Central Office for Jewish Emigration]],{{sfn|Hilberg|1985|p=160}} modelled on the similar organization established in Vienna in August 1938.{{sfn|Cesarani|2005|p=62}} Under the direction of Heydrich, it was tasked with using any means necessary to prompt Jews to leave the Reich, and creating a Jewish organization that would co-ordinate emigration from the Jewish side.{{sfn|Cesarani|2005|p=77}}
In July 1941, Göring issued a memo to Heydrich ordering him to organise the practical details of the [[Final Solution]] to the "Jewish Question". By the time that this letter was written, many Jews and others had already been killed in Poland, [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russia]], and elsewhere. At the [[Wannsee Conference]], held six months later, Heydrich formally announced that genocide of the Jews was now official Reich policy. Göring did not attend the conference, but he was present at other meetings where the number of people killed was discussed.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=259–260}}{{sfn|Blood|2001|p=75}}
Göring directed [[anti-partisan]] operations by Luftwaffe security battalions in the [[Białowieża Forest]] between 1942 and 1944 that resulted in the murder of thousands of Jews and Polish civilians.{{sfn|Blood|2010|pp=261–262, 266}}
At the Nuremberg trial Göring told [[first lieutenant]] and U.S. Army psychologist [[Gustave Gilbert]] that he would never have supported the anti-Jewish measures if he had known what was going to happen. "I only thought we would eliminate Jews from positions in big business and government", he claimed.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=378}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1995|p=208}}
== Decorations and awards ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-13805, Hermann Göring.jpg|thumb|Göring wearing his {{lang|fr|[[Pour le Mérite]]}} medal (1932)]]
===German===
* [[Iron Cross]]
** 2nd Class on 15 September 1914{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
** 1st Class on 22 March 1915{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
* [[Pour le Mérite]] (2 June 1918){{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
* [[Blood Order]] (Commemorative Medal of 9 November 1923){{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
* [[Clasp to the Iron Cross]]
** 2nd Class on 30 September 1939{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
** 1st Class on 30 September 1939{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
* [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]] on 30 September 1939{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
* Grand Cross of the Iron Cross for "the victories of the Luftwaffe in 1940 during the French campaign" (the only award of this decoration during World War II – 19 August 1940){{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=89}}
* Order from the Grand Duke of Baden [[Orden vom Zähringer Löwen]] (de) Knights Cross 2nd Class with Swords{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=89}}
* [[Golden Party Badge]]{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
* Knights Cross with Swords of the [[House Order of Hohenzollern]]{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=89}}
* Knights Cross of the [[Military Karl-Friedrich Merit Order]]{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2015|p=89}}
* [[Danzig Cross]], 1st and 2nd class{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=442}}
=== Foreign ===
* Knight of the [[Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius]] (Kingdom of Bulgaria){{sfn|Petrov|2005|p=56}}
* Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Dannebrog]], with Breast Star in Diamonds (Kingdom of Denmark) (25 July 1938){{sfn|Gade|2011}}{{sfn|Bille-Hansen|Holck|1943|p=20}}
* Grand Cross of the [[Order of the White Rose of Finland]] (6 March 1935){{sfn|Matikkala|2017|p=36}}
* Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (21 April 1941){{sfn|Matikkala|2017|p=515}}
* Grand Cross with Swords of the [[Order of the Cross of Liberty]] (Finland) (25 March 1942){{sfn|Matikkala|2017|p=511}}
* Grand Cross of the [[Order of St. Stephen of Hungary|Order of St Stephen]] (Kingdom of Hungary){{sfn|Lajos|2011|p=41}}
* Knight of the [[Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation]] (Kingdom of Italy) (12 January 1940){{sfn|Overy|2012|p=233}}
* Commander Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Sword]], with Collar (Kingdom of Sweden) (1939){{sfn|Statskalender|1940|p=10}}
* Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Rising Sun]], with [[Order of the Paulownia Flowers|Paulownia Flowers]] (Empire of Japan) (4 October 1943){{sfn|Gazeta Lwowska|1943|p=1}}
== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|Germany|Military of Germany|World War II|World War I||Politics|Aviation}}
* [[Aerial victory standards of World War I]]
* [[Air warfare of World War II]]
* [[Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring]]
* [[Glossary of Nazi Germany]]
* [[Glossary of German military terms]]
* [[Göring's Green Folder]]
* [[List of Nazi Party leaders and officials]]
==Notes==
{{notes
| notes =
{{efn
| name = spelling
|{{lang|de|Göring}} is the German spelling, but the name is [[English terms with diacritical marks#Words imported from other languages|commonly transliterated]] {{transliteration|de|Goering}} in English and other languages, using {{angbr|[[Oe (digraph)|oe]]}} the alternative German spelling for [[Umlaut (diacritic)|umlauts]] in general.
}}
{{efn
| name = swastika
|The swastika was a badge which the count and some friends had adopted at school, and he adopted it as a family emblem. See {{harvnb|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|pp=403–404}}.
}}
}}
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| title = Hitler's Hangman: The Life of Heydrich
| publisher = Yale University Press
| location = New Haven, CT
| isbn = 978-0-300-11575-8
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Gilbert
| first = Gustave
| author-link = Gustave Gilbert
| title = Nuremberg Diary
| publisher = Da Capo Press
| location = New York
| year = 1995
| isbn =978-0-306-80661-2
}}
* {{cite book
|last= Goldensohn
|first= Leon N.
|author-link= Leon Goldensohn
|year= 2004
|title= The Nuremberg Interviews: Conversations with the Defendants and Witnesses
|location= New York
|publisher= [[Alfred A. Knopf]]
|isbn= 978-0-375-41469-5
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Goldhagen
| first = Daniel
| author-link = Daniel Goldhagen
| title = Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
| year = 1996
| publisher = Knopf
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-679-44695-8
| title-link = Hitler's Willing Executioners
}}
* {{Cite news
| title = Guard 'gave Goering suicide pill'
| work = BBC News
| date = 8 February 2005
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4247069.stm
| access-date = 8 May 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|BBC News|2005}}
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Gunther
| first = John
| author-link = John Gunther
| title = Inside Europe
| year = 1940
| publisher = Harper & Brothers
| location = New York
| url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.149663/2015.149663.Inside-Europe#page/n1/mode/2up
| oclc = 836676034
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Hilberg
| first = Raul
| title = The Destruction of the European Jews
| publisher = Holmes & Meier
| location = New York
| year = 1985
| isbn = 0-8419-0910-5
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Hitler
| first = Adolf
| author-link = Adolf Hitler
| title = Hitler's Table Talk, 1941–1944
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = Oxford; New York
| year = 1988
| isbn = 978-0-19-285180-2
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Holland
| first = James
| author-link = James Holland (author)
| title = The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History; May-October 1940
| publisher = St. Martin’s Press
| location = New York
| year = 2011
| isbn = 978-0-31-267500-4
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/battleofbritainf00holl
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Hooton
| first = Edward
| title = Phoenix Triumphant: The Rise and Rise of the Luftwaffe
| publisher = Arms & Armour
| location = Garden City, NJ
| year = 1999
| isbn = 1-85409-181-6
}}
* {{cite web
| title = Judgment of International Military Tribunal on Hermann Goering
| work = The Avalon Project
| publisher = Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library
| location = New Haven, Connecticut
| date = 30 September 1946
| url = http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/judgoeri.asp
| access-date = 8 May 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|International Military Tribunal|1946}}
}}
* {{cite news
| last1 = Kellerhoff
| first1 = Sven Felix
| title = Raubkunst: Für Löwen hatte Hermann Göring eine Schwäche
| url = https://www.welt.de/geschichte/zweiter-weltkrieg/article174823838/Raubkunst-Fuer-Loewen-hatte-Hermann-Goering-eine-Schwaeche.html
| website = Die Welt
| access-date = 22 January 2020
| language = de
| date = 23 March 2018
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Kershaw
| first = Ian
| author-link = Ian Kershaw
| year = 2008
| title = Hitler: A Biography
| publisher = W.W. Norton & Company
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-393-06757-6
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Kilduff
| first = Peter
| title = Herman Göring, Fighter Ace: The World War I Career of Germany's Most Infamous Airman
| year = 2013
| publisher = Grub Street
| location = London
| isbn = 978-1-906502-66-9
}}
* {{cite book |title=Bihang till Sveriges Statskalender 1940. |date=1940 |publisher=Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri |location=Uppsala |language=sv |chapter=Kungl. Svenska Riddarordnarna |ref={{sfnRef|Statskalender|1940}} }}
* {{cite book |last1=Lajos |first1=Pallos |editor1-last=Tibor |editor1-first=Kovács |title=2010–2011 A Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum történeti évkönyve |date=2011 |publisher=Hungarian National Museum |location=Budapest |issn=0133-6622 |pages=39–65 |language=hu |chapter=A Magyar Királyi Szent István Rend jelvényei a Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum Éremtárában|journal=Folia Historica: Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum Évkönyve }}
*{{cite book |last=Lilla |first=Joachim |title=Der Prußische Staatsrat 1921–1933: Ein biographisches Handbuch |publisher= Droste Verlag |location= Düsseldorf |year= 2005 |isbn= 978-3-770-05271-4}}
* {{cite book
| last1 = Manvell
| first1 = Roger
| author-link1 = Roger Manvell
| last2 = Fraenkel
| first2 = Heinrich
| author-link2 = Heinrich Fraenkel
| title = Goering: The Rise and Fall of the Notorious Nazi Leader
| publisher = Skyhorse
| location = London
| year = 2011
| orig-year = 1962
| isbn = 978-1-61608-109-6
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Matikkala
| first = Antti
| year = 2017
| title = Kunnian ruletti: Korkeimmat ulkomaalaisille 1941–1944 annetut suomalaiset kunniamerkit
| language = fi
| location = Helsinki
| publisher = Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura
| isbn = 978-952-222-847-5
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Miller
| first = Michael D.
| year = 2006
| title = Leaders of the SS and German Police, Vol. 1
| publisher = R. James Bender
| location = San Jose, CA
| isbn = 978-93-297-0037-2
}}
* {{cite book
| last1 = Miller
| first1 = Michael D.
| last2 = Schulz
| first2 = Andreas
| title = Leaders of the Storm Troops, Vol. 1
| publisher = Helion & Company
| location = Solihull, West Midlands
| year = 2015
| isbn = 978-1-909982-87-1
}}
* {{cite book | last=Moorhouse | first=Roger | year=2012 | title=Berlin at War | location=New York | publisher=Basic Books | isbn=978-0-46502-855-9}}
* {{cite book
| last = Mosley
| first = Leonard
| author-link = Leonard Mosley
| title = The Reich Marshal: A Biography of Hermann Goering
| publisher = Doubleday
| location = Garden City, NJ
| year = 1974
| isbn = 0-385-04961-7
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/reichmarshalbiog0000mosl
}}
* {{cite web
| title = Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume 2, Chapter XV, Part 3: The Reich Cabinet
| publisher = Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality
| date = 1946
| url = https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/NT_Nazi_Vol-II.pdf
| access-date = 20 August 2017
| ref = {{sfnRef|Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression|1946}}
}}
* {{cite book
| editor1-last = Noakes
| editor1-first = Jeremy
| editor2-last = Pridham
| editor2-first = Geoffrey
| title = Nazism 1919–1945: Foreign Policy, War and Racial Extermination
| year = 2001
| orig-year = 1988
| series = Exeter Studies in History
| volume = 3
| publisher = University of Exeter Press
| location = Exeter
}}
* {{cite web
| title = Nuremberg Trial Proceedings, Volume 9: Eighty-fourth day, Monday, 18 March 1946, morning session
| work = The Avalon Project
| publisher = Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library
| location = New Haven, Connecticut
| url = http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/03-18-46.asp
| access-date = 28 March 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Nuremberg Trial Proceedings, 18 March 1946}}
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Oestermann
| first = Günter
| title = Junger Wolf im Nebel. Ein Junge in Deutschland 1930–1945
| year = 2001
| publisher = [Norderstedt] Books on Demand
| location = Hamburg
| language = de
| isbn = 978-3-8311-2487-9
}}
* {{cite web
| title = OSS (USS Office of Strategic Services) Art Looting Intelligence Unit (ALIU) Reports 1945–1946 and ALIU Red Flag Names List and Index
| url = http://www.lootedart.com/MVI3RM469661
| publisher = Central Registry of Information on Looted Cultural Property 1933–1945
| access-date = 16 July 2017
| ref = {{sfnRef|OSS Reports}}
}}
* {{cite book | last=Overy | first=Richard | year=2012 | orig-year=1984 | title=Goering: Hitler's Iron Knight | location=London and New York | publisher=I.B. Taurus | isbn=978-1-84885-932-6}}
* {{cite book
| last = Overy
| first = Richard J.
| author-link = Richard Overy
| title = Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands, 1945
| year = 2001
| publisher = Viking
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-670-03008-8
| url = https://archive.org/details/interrogationsna00rich
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Overy
| first = Richard J.
| title = War and Economy in the Third Reich
| year = 2002
| orig-year = 1994
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = Oxford; New York
| isbn = 978-0-19-164737-6
}}
* {{cite book | last=Perry | first=Marvin | title=World War II in Europe: A Concise History | place=Boston | publisher=Wadsworth | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-11183-652-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Petrov |first1=Todor |title=Bulgarian Orders and Medals 1878–2005 |year=2005 |publisher=Military Publishing House Ltd. |location=Sofia |isbn=954-509-317-X}}
* {{cite news |title=PRUSSIAN DIET OUT FOR 4-YEAR PERIOD: Adopts Act Transferring All Its Powers to the Cabinet Headed by Goering. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/05/19/archives/prussian-diet-out-for-4year-period-adopts-act-transferring-all-its.html |work= The New York Times |date=19 May 1933 |page=8 |ref={{sfnRef|New York Times, 19 May 1933}} }}
* {{cite book
| last = Raeder
| first = Erich
| title = Erich Rader, Grand Admiral: The Personal Memoir of the Commander in Chief of the German Navy From 1935 Until His Final Break With Hitler in 1943
| publisher = New York: Da Capo Press. United States Naval Institute
| location = London
| year = 2001
| isbn = 0-306-80962-1
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Rothfeld
| first = Anne
| title = Nazi Looted Art: The Holocaust Records Preservation Project, Part 1
| year = 2002
| journal = Prologue Magazine
| publisher = U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
| volume = 34
| issue = 3
| url = https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2002/summer/nazi-looted-art-1.html
}}
* {{cite web
| last = Selwood
| first = Dominic
| author-link = Dominic Selwood
| title = Dresden was a civilian town with no military significance. Why did we burn its people?
| work = The Telegraph
| date = 13 February 2015
| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/11410633/Dresden-was-a-civilian-town-with-no-military-significance.-Why-did-we-burn-its-people.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150213225757/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/11410633/Dresden-was-a-civilian-town-with-no-military-significance.-Why-did-we-burn-its-people.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 13 February 2015
| access-date = 14 February 2015
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Shirer
| first = William L.
| author-link = William L. Shirer
| title = The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
| publisher = Simon & Schuster
| location = New York
| year = 1960
| isbn = 978-0-671-62420-0
| title-link = The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Speer
| first = Albert
| author-link = Albert Speer
| orig-year = 1969
| year = 1971
| title = Inside the Third Reich
| publisher = Avon
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-380-00071-5
| title-link = Inside the Third Reich
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Stolfi
| first = Russel
| title = Barbarossa Revisited: A Critical Reappraisal of the Opening Stages of the Russo-German Campaign (June–December 1941)
| journal = [[Journal of Modern History]]
| date = March 1982
| volume = 54
| issue = 1
| pages = 27–46
| doi = 10.1086/244076
| s2cid = 143690841
| url = https://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/10945/44218/1/Stolfi_Barbarossa_1982.pdf
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Taylor
| first = A. J. P.
| author-link = A. J. P. Taylor
| title = English History 1914–1945
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = Reading, Berkshire
| year = 1965
| isbn = 0-19-280140-6
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Taylor
| first = Telford
| title = The Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials
| publisher = Knopf
| location = New York
| year = 1992
| isbn = 978-0-394-58355-6
}}
{{refend}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite book
| last = Brandenburg
| first = Erich
| title = Die Nachkommen Karls Des Grossen
| publisher = Degener
| location = Neustadt/Aisch
| year = 1995
| isbn = 3-7686-5102-9
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Burke
| first = William Hastings
| title = Thirty Four
| year = 2009
| publisher = Wolfgeist
| location = London
| isbn = 978-0-9563712-0-1
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Butler
| first = Ewan
| title = Marshal Without Glory
| year = 1951
| publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
| location = London
| oclc = 1246848
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Fest
| first = Joachim
| author-link = Joachim Fest
| title = Inside Hitler's Bunker
| publisher = Farrar, Straus and Giroux
| location = New York
| year = 2004
| isbn = 0-374-13577-0
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Frischauer
| first = Willi
| orig-year = 1950
| year = 2013
| title = Goering
| publisher = Unmaterial Books
| isbn = 978-1-78301-221-3
}}
* {{cite book
|last = Göring
|first = Hermann
|title = Germany Reborn
|year = 1934
|publisher = E. Mathews & Marrot
|location = London
|oclc = 570220
|url = http://www.third-reich-books.com/x-567-hermann-goering-germany-reborn.htm
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040803085611/http://www.third-reich-books.com/x-567-hermann-goering-germany-reborn.htm
|archive-date = 3 August 2004
|df = dmy-all
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Leffland
| first = Ella
| year = 1990
| title = The Knight, Death and the Devil
| publisher = Morrow
| location = New York
| isbn = 0-688-05836-1
| url = https://archive.org/details/knightdeathth00leff
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Maser
| first = Werner
| year = 2000
| title = Hitlers janusköpfiger Paladin: die politische Biographie
| location = Berlin
| language = de
| isbn = 3-86124-509-4
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Maser
| first = Werner
| title = Fälschung, Dichtung und Wahrheit über Hitler und Stalin
| publisher = Olzog
| location = Munich
| language = de
| year = 2004
| isbn = 3-7892-8134-4
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Paul
| first = Wolfgang
| title = Wer War Hermann Göring: Biographie
| publisher = Bechtle
| location = Esslingen
| language = de
| year = 1983
| isbn = 3-7628-0427-3
}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Hermann Göring}}
{{wikiquote|Hermann Göring}}
* [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/03-13-46.asp#Goering1 Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Vol. 9] Transcript of Goering's testimony at the trial
* [http://www.historynet.com/lost-prison-interview-with-hermann-goring-the-reichsmarschalls-revelations.htm "Lost Prison Interview with Hermann Goring: The Reichsmarschall's Revelations"] published by [http://www.thehistorynet.com ''World War II Magazine'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131228012959/http://langbrosjukhus.se/hermann-goring/ Göring at Långbro asylum]
* [http://www.dhm.de/datenbank/goering/dhm_goering.php?seite=9 The Goering Collection: online database (in German as Die Kunstsammlung Hermann Göring) of 4263 artworks in Hermann Göring's collection]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/006239}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Erich Wieland]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Commanding Officer of [[Jasta 27|''Jasta'' 27]]|years=1917–1918}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Hermann Frommherz]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Wilhelm Reinhard (pilot)|Wilhelm Reinhard]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Commanding Officer of [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I)|''Jagdgeschwader'' 1]]|years=1918}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Erich von Wedel]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Erich von Wedel]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Commanding Officer of [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I)|''Jagdgeschwader'' 1]]|years=1918}}
{{s-non|reason=Unit disbanded}}
|-
{{s-new|reason=Luftwaffe re-established}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Oberkommando der Luftwaffe|Commander-in-Chief]] of the [[Luftwaffe]]|years=1935–1945}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Robert Ritter von Greim]]}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Hans Ulrich Klintzsch]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Oberste SA-Führer|Leader of the SA]] |years=1923}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Franz Pfeffer von Salomon]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Paul Löbe]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Presidents of the Reichstag (Germany)|President of the ''Reichstag'']] |years=1932–1945}}
{{s-non|reason=Reichstag abolished}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Franz von Papen]] <br /> (''Reichskomissar'')}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Prussia]] |years=1933–1945}}
{{s-non|rows=3|reason=[[Prussia#The end of Prussia|Prussia abolished]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Adolf Hitler]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=''[[Reichsstatthalter]]'' of Prussia|years=1933–1945}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Robert Ley]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=President of the [[Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany)|Prussian State Council]]|years=1933–1945}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Hjalmar Schacht]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Members of Hitler's cabinet|''Reichsminister'' of Economics]]|years=1937–1938}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Walther Funk]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Navboxes
|title=Articles and topics related to Hermann Göring
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Goering, Hermann}}
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[[Category:Suicides by cyanide poisoning]]' |
