War for Oil: The Nazi Quest for an Oil Empire

by Eichholtz, Dietrich; Broadwin, John

• ISBN13: 9781597977210
• ISBN10: 1597977217
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-06-30
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

As Hitler's Einsatzgruppen (mobile SS killing units) marched into the Soviet Union directly behind the advancing Wehrmacht to murder Jews and others, less well-known units were also following in the footsteps of the German armed forces. They were called, among other things, petroleum units, petroleum commissions, or technical brigades. Their mission was to seize and exploit the oil-producing areas of the conquered territories. Following the pillaging of oil in Poland, France, and the Low Countries, these predatory units were the latest examples of Nazi Germany's relentless efforts before and during WorldWar II to achieve self-sufficiency in fuel. But only in the East'”first in the Soviet Union and then in the Middle East'”could Hitler find sufficient quantities of oil to free Germany of all external dependency and to provide the resources he needed to wage war indefinitely. In this prodigiously researched study, Dietrich Eichholtz tells the story of Nazi Germany's plans to establish a global oil empire, from the plan's inception in 1938 to its collapse in 1943.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	p. ix
Translator's Note	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
Preface	p. xv
Thirst for Oil	p. 1
Booty in Austria: Spoils of "Blitzkrieg"	p. 9
Seizure of "Enemy Property" in Romania	p. 19
The Resistible Decision: "Barbarossa"	p. 31
"Kontinentale Öl AG": Germany's Aims in the Middle East	p. 37
The Raid on Iraq	p. 47
The "Caucasus Pincers" (I)	p. 59
The "Caucasus Pincers" (II)	p. 75
Beginning and End of the Oil Expedition to the Caucasus	p. 93
Notes	p. 105
Biographical Notes	p. 127
Glossary of Terms: German-English	p. 137
Glossary of Terms: English-German	p. 147
List of Abbreviations	p. 157
Selected Bibliography	p. 161
Index	p. 169
About the Author and Translator	p. 175
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