1941 marked an escalation of the Second World War in Europe. By the middle of the year, Germany and its European allies had already consolidated power across most of the continent, with only the United Kingdom and Soviet Union not under Axis control or on neutral terms with Germany. As population sizes were fundamental to the war effort, both in terms of military manpower and the workforce of the home front, the annexation of other countries proved vital in supplying new volunteers, conscripts, and forced laborers for the Axis war effort. Together, Germany and Austria had a similar population to the rest of Europe's Axis powers combined, with all giving a total population of 154 million. However, the total population of the Axis-occupied territories in Europe was comparable to the Axis home fronts themselves, at almost 130 million people
Germans in the East
Eastern Europe had a sizeable population of ethnic Germans who often worked with the Axis powers, and the German Army recruited upwards of a million volunteers from occupied countries. The Soviet Union in particular had a number of Russia German enclaves across the region, that reached as far as the Volga river and Kazakhstan and numbered at several million people. In Russia, these communities had existed for centuries, but they were ostracized or mistrusted by Soviet leadership and the deaths of these communities under Stalin's regime is often considered genocide. In addition to ethnic Germans, collaborators also included large numbers of Eastern Europeans who sympathized with Nazi ideology, or were hostile to Soviet or communist expansion; this also included ethnic minorities, such as Muslims from the Balkans or USSR.
Collaborators in the West
The perceived threat of communism in the west saw men volunteer from countries such as France, the Netherlands, or Norway, to fight in the Axis armies. The fluctuating borders of the interwar period also meant that there were many German communities across the borders of neighboring countries, whose men also enlisted in the Wehrmacht. Within these occupied countries, conspirators with local knowledge were used to track down Jews and political adversaries, and many collaborated in order to elevate their positions in the government or enterprises. Apart from Austria, however, the majority of the public in annexed territories were unsupportive or hostile to their occupiers, and after the war, many of the surviving collaborators were tried (and often executed) for their actions.
Population of Germany, its European allies and German-occupied areas during the Second World War in 1941
(in millions)
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Russian Federal State Statistics Service. (May 6, 2020). Population of Germany, its European allies and German-occupied areas during the Second World War in 1941 (in millions) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved September 01, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1262482/wwii-population-german-occupied-areas-mid-1941/
Russian Federal State Statistics Service. "Population of Germany, its European allies and German-occupied areas during the Second World War in 1941 (in millions)." Chart. May 6, 2020. Statista. Accessed September 01, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1262482/wwii-population-german-occupied-areas-mid-1941/
Russian Federal State Statistics Service. (2020). Population of Germany, its European allies and German-occupied areas during the Second World War in 1941 (in millions). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: September 01, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1262482/wwii-population-german-occupied-areas-mid-1941/
Russian Federal State Statistics Service. "Population of Germany, Its European Allies and German-occupied Areas during The Second World War in 1941 (in Millions)." Statista, Statista Inc., 6 May 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1262482/wwii-population-german-occupied-areas-mid-1941/
Russian Federal State Statistics Service, Population of Germany, its European allies and German-occupied areas during the Second World War in 1941 (in millions) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1262482/wwii-population-german-occupied-areas-mid-1941/ (last visited September 01, 2024)
Population of Germany, its European allies and German-occupied areas during the Second World War in 1941 (in millions) [Graph], Russian Federal State Statistics Service, May 6, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1262482/wwii-population-german-occupied-areas-mid-1941/