1936–1939 [before WWII] • Mussolini's plans to conquer Egypt and Sudan since 1935 (postponed in favour to avoid British entrancy in the
Italo-Ethiopian Conflict). •
De Bono's invasion of Ethiopia (Italian military operation to annex
Ethiopian Empire) •
Italian conquest of Absinia after the
Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1936 • Axis operations and territorial ambitions during
Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) •
Italian military intervention in Spain •
Italian occupation of Mallorca (included the intention of annexing the
Balearic Islands,
Ceuta and
Spanish Morocco, and then creating a
client state in
Spain) •
Operation Schulmeister (proposed cession of the Balearic Islands by the Spanish Republic to Italy in exchange of neutrality in the
Spanish Civil War). •
German involvement in the Spanish Civil War • Proposed cession of the Balearic or
Canary Islands by the Spanish Republic to Nazi Germany in exchange of neutrality in the
Spanish Civil War. •
German march into Austria (annexation of
Austria into
Nazi Germany as
Ostmark on 12 March 1938) •
Operation Otto (cancelled planned invasion of Austria, never carried out due to pacifical Anschluss) •
German Occupation of Czechoslovakia (German
annexation of the
Sudetenland and establishment of the
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in 1938, and of the
puppet Slovak Republic in 1939) •
Fall Grün (planned invasion of
Czechoslovakia, to be carried out in September 1938. Averted by the signing of the
Munich Agreement. Not to be confused with the
military plan to invade Ireland by the same name, see below) •
First Vienna Award,
Slovak–Hungarian War and
Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine (annexation of southern Czechoslovak territories and
Transcarpathia to
Hungary in March 1939) •
1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania (German plans to invade and conquer
Lithuania if they don't give
Memelland to Nazi Germany, which happened in March 1939) • Nazi proposals of a German-Lithuanian military alliance to invade Poland during
Danzig crisis, returning the
Vilnius Region to Lithuania in exchange of being turned into a German Puppet State. expansionism before WW2 •
Danzig crisis (German plans from January to August 1939 concerning Poland before the start of
Polish-German War) • "little solution" proposed by
Albert Forster (German invasion and annexation of
Free City of Danzig to the Reich as a "
Korperschaft", while also forcing
Poland to join to
Anti-Comintern Pact, making them a
client state with the rest of its borders intact and renovation of
German–Polish declaration of non-aggression). • "big solution" supported by
Nazi Party (German conquest of Danzig and
Polish Corridor to the Reich, then compensating Poland, turned into a
landlocked and German
Puppet state, with German support to annex parts of
Soviet Ukraine in a future Nazi-Soviet War, giving Poland an exit to the
Black Sea). •
Italian occupation of Albania after the
Italian invasion of Albania in April 1939 •
Nazi–Soviet Union relations and
Nazi–Soviet economic relations [1934–1941] (Russo-German plans to develop a partition of the
Eastern Hemisphere, or at least
Eastern Europe, since 1 September 1939 to 1941). • and the
Third ReichMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact (First partition of Eastern Europe:
Finland,
Estonia,
Latvia,
Eastern Poland and
Bessarabia to USSR's
Sphere of influence.
Lithuania,
Western Poland,
Czechoslovakia,
Hungary and
Romania to Nazi Germany's one) •
German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty (Second Partition of Eastern Europe: Exchange of
Lithuania to USSR, and Central
Poland to Nazi Germany) •
German–Soviet Border and Commercial Agreement (Final Partition of Eastern Europe:
Baltic states,
Eastern Poland,
Bessarabia and
Bukovina annexed to USSR.
Western Poland and Bohemia annexed to Nazi Germany while Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria are puppet states. Finland stays independent) •
German–Soviet Axis talks (considered plans to join the
Soviet Union to the
Axis powers and its
New World Order) • First Offer from Axis to the Soviets in Partitioning the world (
Soviet Baltic states,
Eastern Poland,
Moldovian SSR, Eastern
Turkey,
Iran,
Afghanistan,
British India and
Mongolia in Soviet Sphere of Influence.
Finland and
Sakhalin being a neutral zone between German and Japanese Empires) • Second Offer from Soviet to Axis in Partitioning the world (the same, but
Bulgaria,
Finland, Western
Turkey and
Sakhalin included in Soviet Sphere of Influence)
1939–1941 [before Eastern Front] German Operations expansion over Europe before
Invasion of Russia. •
Fall Weiss (
German invasion of Poland. Carried out 1 September 1939) •
Operation Himmler (
false flag operation to provide a
casus belli for the invasion of
Poland, including the
Gleiwitz incident) • German invitations to
Slovakia,
Lithuania,
Hungary and the
Ukrainian Nationalists to be part of the
Fourth Partition of Poland on 4–10 September 1939. Consisting of Lithuania receiving the
Vilnius Region, Hungary the
Turka and
Sambir citys, and Ukraine the southern
Kresy (cancelled due to Soviet approachments). •
Slovak invasion of Poland (Slovakian invasion and annexation of Polish disputed territories) •
Canaris Memorandum of September 12, 1939 (German outlines to support the Ukrainian national uprising in
Western Ukraine, before
Soviet occupation of Eastern Poland, to create a pro-Nazi Ukraine
puppet state against southern USSR's sphere of influence). • German proposals to
Kazys Škirpa to transform Lithuania into a German Protectorate in the north, and the rest of Central Poland as another German Protectorate • Unnamed
Abwehr-
Ossewabrandwag operation (projected pro-Nazi
Afrikaner nationalist revolt against the
Union of South Africa and British Empire after August 1940, not carried out) •
Operation Sea Lion (invasion of
Great Britain after September 1940, not carried out) •
Operation Herbstreise (a planned series of deception operations to support
Sea Lion) •
Operation Green (invasion of
Ireland in support of
Sea Lion, also known as
Fall Grün. Not to be confused with the
military plan to invade Czechoslovakia by the same name, see above) •
Operation Whale (German Operations to instigate nationalist uprisings and support
Scottish independence and
Welsh independence movements) •
Mediterranean Plan (Projected invasion of
Gibraltar,
Malta,
North Africa,
Suez, and the
Middle East by German, Italian, Spanish and Vichy French forces to cut off
British naval supremacy in the
Indo-Mediterranean and menace
Soviet Caucasian Front in the
Black Sea, plus the capture of the
Canary Islands, the
Azores and the
Cape Verde islands to destroy British and American commerce in the
Atlantic as also
Free France control of
French Africa. Planned to be carried out after September 1940. Never carried out due to not achieving
Plan Z and Hitler's preference over
Operation Barbarossa) •
Madagascar Plan (projected German occupation of
French Madagascar by the
SS to forcibly deport
Jews of Europe to there. Planned to be carried out after September 1940. Never carried out due to British victory in
Battle of Britain, cancelled in 1942) •
German military mission in Romania (Deployment of German forces to protect the oil refineries at
Ploiești and to turn the remnants of
Romania in the German
Sphere of influence against
Soviets in Bessarabia, carried out in September and October 1940). •
Operation Ikarus (invasion of
Iceland, not carried out) •
Operation Felix (Spanish/German joint plan for control of
Gibraltar,
Canary Islands,
Cape Verde, and
Azores, it included the potential invasion of
Portugal,
Morocco and
Spanish Sahara). • Unnamed operation (subsequent occupation of
Madeira) • Unnamed operation (first attempt at reinforcing
Italian Libya with German forces) •
Operation Tannenbaum (German-Italian invasion plan for
Switzerland and
Liechtenstein) •
The Fuhrmann Plan (attempted German occupation of Uruguay in 1940. Never carried out due being discovered by Uruguayan government) • Operation Strafe (German planned invasion of
Bulgaria in case they reject to join
Tripartite Pact. Developed on on 30 November 1940, cancelled after get Bulgarian support) •
Operation Marita (invasion of
Greece via Bulgaria, Germany supporting the Italian efforts. Carried out 6 April 1941.) •
Operation Alpenveilchen (planned German invasion of
Italian Albania to cross into Greece. Cancelled in favour of Yugoslav route.) •
Operation 25 (Axis invasion of Yugoslavia. Carried out 6 April 1941) •
Operation Merkur (invasion of
Crete. Carried out 20 May 1941.) •
Operation Sonnenblume (
Erwin Rommel and the
Afrika Korps reinforcing the Axis defenses of
Cyrenaica in 1941) •
Erwin Rommel mandate of 10 April 1941 (German attempted invasion of Egypt to conquer Egypt and occupy the
Suez Canal) •
Führer Directive No. 30 (Projected German intervention in
Anglo-Iraqi War in support of
Arab nationalists in the
Kingdom of Iraq after the
1941 Iraqi coup d'état) •
Paris Protocols (Vichy France-German cooperation in the Middle East with the goal of a projected invasion of British Iraq through
French Syria and maybe German occupied Caucasus. Never carried out due to
British offensive on Syria–Lebanon) • Unnamed German operation involving Iran (Attempted German pressure over Iran to force them join the Axis and invade Iraq in support of
Rashid Ali al-Gaylani. Rejected by Iranian authorities that were skeptical due to
Axis-Soviet partnership) •
Operation Isabella (invasion of
Portugal and
Spain to counter any possible landing of Anglo-American troops in the
Iberian Peninsula. Prepared in May 1941 and never carried out.) •
Operation Fire Eater (German-Italian plans to instigate a
Pasthun rebellion against
British India on the
Pakistani Side and form a pro-Axis
Pashtunistan state, planned to be carried out on June–July 1941. Cancelled due to being discovered by the Afghan Government with British help) •
Lossberg study (projected invasion of
USSR, carried out later) • Projected German administrative divisions of
occupied European territories: •
Greater Germanic Reich (theoretical planning mostly) • German annexations • Czechoslovak areas annexed •
Reichsgau Sudetenland •
Polish areas annexed •
Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia •
Reichsgau Wartheland •
Bialystok District and
Zichenau annexation to
Gau East Prussia • Belgian areas annexed •
Eupen and
Malmedy to
Gau Cologne-Aachen • French areas annexed •
Civil Administration Area of Alsace to
Gau Baden •
Civil Administration Area of Lorraine to
Gau Westmark •
Civil Administration Area of Luxembourg to
Gau Moselland • Yugoslav [Slovenian] areas annexed •
Upper Carniola annexation to
Reichsgau Kärnten •
Lower Styria annexation to
Reichsgau Steiermark • German planned annexations •
Civilian occupation regime of western and northern territories •
Reichskommissariat Niederlande (implemented in 1940 as planned annexation of
Greater Netherlands in the
Westland Gau) •
Reichskommissariat Belgien-Nordfrankreich (implemented in 1944) •
Reichskommissariat Norwegen (implemented in 1940) •
Military Administration of eastern, western and southern territories •
German Zone of Protection in Slovakia •
Military Administration in Poland (implemented in 1939, then turned into
General Government) •
German military administration in occupied France •
Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia •
German Zone in Greece •
Generalplan Ost (planned annexation of
European Soviet Union) • Puppet States •
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia •
Slovak Republic •
Protectorate over Denmark •
Quisling Norway •
Vichy France •
Independent State of Croatia •
Hellenic State Italian Operations during the 2nd World War • Unnamed Italian plans to invade
Yugoslavia in April 1940 (intended to be an outside conflict of the War between Germany and the
Allies, never carried out due to joining Italy to the German war against Britain and France) •
Staging Plan 12 (Italian invasion of France, carried out in June 1940, there was no planning for an offensive against France beyond mobilisation) •
East African campaign (Italian Operations on the
Horn of Africa that were carried out since 10 June 1940) •
Italian invasion of Sudan (Italian uncoordinated operations to conquer
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and to help Operation E from the south, limitately carried out on 10 June 1940) •
Italian planned invasion of Djbouit (Italian uncoordinated operations to conquer
French Somaliland in June 1940, planned on January to 31 March 1940, never carried out due to
Fall of France) • Italian incursions over Kenya (Italian uncoordinated operations to seizure strategical defensive positions inner Kenya's border, carried out on 4 July 1940) •
Italian invasion of British Somaliland (Italian uncoordinated operations to conquer
British Somaliland, carried out on 3 August 1940) •
Italian bombing of Mandatory Palestine in World War II (Italian attack on
British Palestine, carried out in July 1940) •
Operation E (Italian invasion of
British Egypt from
Italian Libya, carried out 9 September 1940) • Unnamed Italian plan, proposed by
Italo Balbo in April 1940, of a 2nd Italian invasion of
Egypt from
Italian East Africa (never carried out due to
Ethiopian resistance). •
Italian bombing of Bahrain (Italian attack on
British Empire's routes on
Bahrain, carried out 19 October 1940) • Plan Contingency G[reece] (First Italian attempt of invasion of Greece to conquer the
Ionian Islands, the
Sporades and the
Cyclades islands to restore the old
Venetian Empire, annexing the
Epirus and
Acarnania regions to
Italian Albania, while also establishing a pro-Axis Greek puppet state. Carried out on 28 October 1940 and start of
Greco-Italian War) • Unnamed Italian plans for a future Italo-Greek invasion of
British Cyprus after the war (never carried out due to Italian defeat). • Italian militar proposals to Bulgaria on 18 October 1940 (Mussolini's invitation to Tsar
Boris III of Bulgaria to be part of the Operation G and re-conquer former
Bulgarian Thrace in a joint-invasion, never carried out due to economical problems). •
Independent protectorate of Greece •
Impero italiano •
Italian North Africa (
Italian Libya,
Italian Tunisia,
Italian Egypt) •
Italian East Africa (
Italian Eritrea,
Italian Somaliland,
Italian Ethiopia)
1941–1944 [after Eastern Front] maximum extension of European occupied territory in 1942. ,
Moscow, and
Stalingrad) until the
Arkhangelsk–Astrakhan line. •
Operation Südsee (German-Japanese naval plans to seizure the
Northeast Passage and prepare further invasion of
Siberia. Prepared in 1941 and cancelled due to the priorities of
German war effort in the USSR) •
Operation Barbarossa (invasion of USSR, carried out 22 June 1941.) •
Baltic offensive operation (German
Army Group North invasion of
Baltic states,
Belarus and
North Russia to
Siege Leningrad. Carried out 22 June 1941) •
Operation Beowulf (German invasion of the
Estonian islands of
Saaremaa,
Hiiumaa and
Muhu on 9 September 1941) •
Operation München (joint Romanian-German invasion of
Bessarabia and
Northern Bukovina. Carried out 2 July 1941.) •
Operation Silver Fox (plan to capture the Soviet
nickel mines of
Pechengsky (
Finnish:
Petsamo) and the port city of
Murmansk. Carried out 29 June 1941.) •
Operation Reindeer (plan to occupy the mines of Pechengsky) •
Operation Platinum Fox (plan to capture Murmansk) •
Sea of Azov Offensive Operation (joint German-Romanian offensive to capture the Azov coast. Carried out 12 September 1941.) •
Operation Typhoon (strategic pincer offensive against the
Moscow region. Carried out 2 October 1941.) • Operation Wotan (tank operation with the goal of capturing Moscow) •
Siege of Odessa (German-assisted Romanian offensive to capture the port city of
Odessa and complete the Romanian conquest of
Transnistria. Carried out 8 August 1941.) • Unnamed Operation concerning
Indo-Iranian region (German plans to invade India via Persia through the projected conquered Soviet Union. Planned since June 1941, never carried out due to the strategical failure of Barbarossa Operation) •
Operation Tibet (German plans to instigate a pro-Axis insurrection in
Tibet to menace
British Raj in 1942. Cancelled due to economical problems) •
Operation Wiesengrund (German plans to conquer
Rybachy Peninsula by the
Kriegsmarine to end the connection between Soviets and Allies. Planned to be carried out in March 1942, but cancelled in 1944) •
Amerikabomber Project (German plans to attack
East Coast and
Eastern United States through long-range
strategic bomber from a potential occupied Azores. Developed since April 1942, never carried out due to economical problems) •
Operation Salam (German plans to instigate a pro-Axis insurrection by
Egyptian nationalists in May 1942. Ended in failure) •
Operation Störfang (combined German-Romanian assault supported by Italian naval units to capture the
Crimean port city of
Sevastopol. Carried out 2 June 1942.) •
Operation Pastorius (failed sabotage mission to destroy military, manufacturing and transportation targets throughout the United States. Carried out 12 June 1942, but foiled during the summer.) •
Operation Herkules (attempted German-Italian air invasion of
British Malta on mid-July 1942. Cancelled due to priorize
Afrika Korps land-force operations in North-Africa than air Force operation in the Mediterranean after near-disaster of paratroops on
Battle of Crete). • Unnamed Operations concerning
Iran and
Afghanistan (German invitation for Iran and Afghanistan to join the Axis Powers and invade
Soviet Union and
British Raj in exchange of support for
Pan-Iranist aspirations) • Planned establishment of pro-Axis regimes on Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkey, turning them in a "northern tier" of buffer states against
Asian Russia and
Soviet Central Asia, being in equal condition with Germany in exchange. • Unnamed Operations concerning
Turkey (German invitation for Turkey to join the Axis Powers and invade
Soviet Union,
French Syria and
British Iraq in exchange of
Turkish territorial expansion over
Greece islands,
Western Thrace,
Adjara,
Aleppo and the
Mosul region) • Planned establishment of pro-Turkish and Axis puppet states on the
Caucasus and
Black Sea (
Armenia and
Georgia), with
Crimea Peninsula as a frontier of German and Turkish sphere of influence. • Projected German-Armenian military intervention against a possible
Pan-Turkism unifications, specially against a "Büyük Turan" union between hypothetical pro-Axis Turkey and
Azerbaijan (as the last would be under German-Iranian sphere of influence). •
Operation Gertrud (projected German-Bulgarian-
Armenian invasion of
Turkey in case it joined the Allies in the beginning of the summer of 1942) • Planned Axis partition of Turkey (according to
Treaty of Sèvres borders, in order to seizure Axis control of
Anatolia) between
Bulgaria (
East Thrace),
Greece (
Turkish aegean islands and maybe former
Hellenic Asia Minor),
Vichy France-
Syria (
Alexandretta,
Syrian Northern Sanjaks,
Cilicia and east-central Anatolia),
Iraq (
Turkish Kurdistan),
Italy (
Lycia and portions of southern and west-central Anatolia) while also an establishment of
Great Armenia and
Greater Georgia. The rest of Turkey would be a joint German-Italian puppet state. •
Operation Ilona (a plan aiming to counter an Anglo-American invasion of Iberia by holding north Spanish and Portuguese ports to protect German positions in France. Prepared in 1942, never carried out.) •
Operation Nordlicht (scheduled operation to capture
Leningrad, planned to begin on 23 August 1942. Not carried out due to the Soviet
Sinyavino Offensive on 19 August.) • Unnamed operation concerning the Levant (
OKW studies to invade the
Suez Canal through
Turkey, and an offensive towards
Mesopotamia from the
Caucasus, to conquer the
Levant and extent
Holocaust to the
Holy Land) • Planned invasion of Egypt by the
Einsatzkommando Egypt from a 2nd front in a German Occupied Jerusalen • Planned Axis alliance with
Arab Nationalists to expel the British and establish a
Greater Arabia under Italian influence • Unnamed operation concerning
South Asia (
OKW studies to invade the
Hindustan from
Iran and
Afghanistan through occupied
Soviet Central Asia) •
Operation Polar Fox (attempted invasion of
Sweden from
German occupied Norway during June–July 1943) •
Operation Citadel (pincer offensives with the goal of encircling of Red Army forces after the
Battle of Stalingrad. Carried out 4 July 1943.) •
Operation Eisenhammer (planned
strategic bombing operation against power generators near
Moscow and
Gorky) •
Operation Theseus/Aida (planned invasion of Egypt and Suez Canal from Libya to prepare a German invasion of
Middle East. Ended in failure after
Battle of Gazala) • 20 July 1942 instructions to
Walter Rauff (orders from
Nazi Party to extent the
Final Solution in a hypothetic German occupation of
British Palestine) •
Plan Orient (projected German invasion of
Middle East and linking with Japanese forces to conquest
India. Mostly by
Afrika Corps in Libya and Egypt, but also troops from Bulgaria and the Balkans, and troops from Caucasus and Southern Russia) •
Operation Attila/Anton (occupation of
un-occupied zone of
France, including
French Tunis, after
allied landings in
French North Africa to prevent an Allied invasion of
Southern France) •
Operation Herkules (revision of previous plans to invade Malta) •
Operation François (attempt made by the German Army's
Abwehr to use the dissident
Qashqai people in Iran to make a nationalist rebellion against the
British and Soviets and establish a pro-Axis regime, or at least cut the
Persian Corridor). •
Operation Long Jump (alleged German plan to kill
Joseph Stalin,
Winston Churchill, and
Franklin D. Roosevelt at the 1943
Tehran Conference) •
Operation Margarethe I (German invasion of
Hungary. Carried out 19 March 1944.) •
Operation Margarethe II (scheduled German invasion of
Romania) •
Operation Tanne Ost (German invasion with the goal of capturing the
Finnish island of
Suursaari (
Russian:
Gogland) in the
Gulf of Finland after that country signed the
Moscow Armistice on
Lapland War). •
Operation Tanne West (scheduled German invasion of the Finnish-controlled
Åland. Cancelled on 3 October 1944 to avoid bad relations with Sweden) •
Operation Panzerfaust (second German invasion of Hungary to depose
Miklós Horthy and install a
puppet government. Carried out 15 October 1944.) • German military operations in the
Slovak National Uprising to retain control of
Slovakia. •
Operation Atlas (German-Arab plans to instigate an anti-British insurrection by Arab nationalists in Palestine that were loyals to the
mufti of Jerusalem,
Amin al-Husseini) •
Operation Maquis blanc (German-
French collaborators plans to restore
Vichy France authority by
Guerrilla warfare and
Sabotage to instigate French people, sypmathizers to the
Révolution nationale, to insurrect against
Free France and the Anglo-American occupation. Partially carried out from December 15, 1944, but incomplete due to economical problems). •
Operation Herbstnebel (German plans to attack in eastern
Belgium and
Luxembourg, east of the
Meuse River. Cancelled due to election of Case Martin "big solution" plan, which formed the basis for the
Battle of the Bulge.). •
Operation Wacht am Rhein (also known as the
Battle of the Bulge. German panzer attack through the
Ardennes with the goal of recapturing
Antwerp and encircling of British Allied forces in Belgium and the Netherlands) •
Operation North Wind (plan to encircle and destroy the
U.S. 7th Army and
French 1st Army and recapture
Strasbourg. Carried out 1 January 1945) •
Operation Dentist (a planned follow-up encirclement of the
U.S. 3rd Army. Never carried out due to the failure of North Wind.) •
Operation Spring Awakening (offensive operation on the Hungarian part of the
Eastern front with the goal of recapturing
Budapest, while simultaneously defending the
Nagykanizsa oil fields south of
Lake Balaton) • Projected German administrative divisions in occupied eastern territories: •
Lebensraum (Contempled annexation of territories until the
Ural Mountains in Nazi planning) •
Lokot Republic (implemented in 1942) •
Belarusian Central Rada (implemented in 1943) •
Reichskommissariat Ostland (implemented in 1941) •
Reichskommissariat Ukraine (implemented in 1941) •
Reichskommissariat Moskowien (theorical planning only) •
Reichskommissariat Kaukasien (theorical planning only) •
Reichskommissariat Don-Wolga (theorical planning only) •
Reichskommissariat Ural (theorical planning only) •
Reichskommissariat Turkestan (theorical planning only) • Projected Romanian administrative divisions in occupied eastern territories: •
Transnistria Governorate (implemented in 1941, never fully annexed) • Projected Italian administrative divisions in occupied eastern territories: • Italian Protectorate of
Georgia. == Operational plans of Japan and Thailand ==