ABSTRACT
The map of Europe underwent a radical transformation in the years immediately following the outbreak of war in September 1939. Hitler’s march across the continent, which had already started in a preliminary way before that date, pro ceeded virtually unchecked and by the latter half of 1942 the new German Empire was practically synonymous with that of continental Europe. It stretched from Brittany in the west to the mountains of the Caucasus in the east, and from the arctic tip of Norway to the shores of the Mediterranean. Independent states and territories disappeared almost overnight under Hitier’s onward drive and only a few nations managed to retain their autonomy, and even then it was not always very secure. They comprised the neutral countries of Portugal, Spain, Eire, Switzerland, Sweden and Turkey. In addition, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, and possibly Finland which slipped from neutrality to quasi-alliance with Germany, retained a semblance of sovereignty by joining Hitler as military allies, though in practice they became very much satellite dependencies of the German Reich. Italy, ostensibly an equal partner in the exercise of European domination, very soon became more akin to a satellite country since her economic and political structure was no match for that of Germany.
