The Gau Westmark (English: ''Western March'') was an
administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
from 1933 to 1945. From 1925 to 1933, it was a regional subdivision of the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
.
History
The Nazi Gau (plural Gaue) system was established at a
party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featu ...
conference on 22 May 1926 to improve administration of the party structure. From 1933 onwards, after the
Nazi seizure of power
Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...
, the ''Gaue'' increasingly replaced the states as administrative subdivisions in Germany.
The ''Gau'' had its origin in 1925 in ''Gau Rheinpfalz'' (English:''Rhenish Palatinate''), comprising the parts of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld () is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde''. The town itself has approximately 7,000 inhabitants.
Geography
...
was also annexed to the Gau in 1934. With the return of the Saar Basin to Germany on 1 March 1935, the two regions were merged and formed the new ''Gau Pfalz-Saar''. This ''Gau'' was renamed ''Gau Saarpfalz'' (English:''Saar-Palatinate'') on 13 January 1936.
After the outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
and the defeat of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in 1940, the French ''département'' of
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A ...
, renamed " CdZ-Gebiet Lothringen", was added to the ''Gau'' on 30 November 1940. On 7 December 1940, it was again renamed, now ''Gau Westmark''. Gauleiter Bürckel hoped that ''Westmark'' would be extended as far as Germany's future western border, especially keeping in mind the ore region of Briey-
Longwy
Longwy (; older german: Langich, ; lb, label= Luxemburgish, Lonkech) is a commune in the French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France.
The inhabitants are known as ''Longoviciens'' ...
in the département of
Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019. Bürckel further laid claims to parts of Alsace and even
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
. The ''Gau'', however, remained as it was until the defeat of Germany in 1945.
At the head of each Gau stood a
Gauleiter
A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a '' Gau'' or '' Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest rank in the Nazi political leadership, subordinate only to '' Reichsleiter'' and to ...
, a position which became increasingly more powerful, especially after the outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. Local Gauleiters were in charge of propaganda and surveillance and, from September 1944 onwards, the
Volkssturm
The (; "people's storm") was a levée en masse national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was not set up by the German Army, the ground component of the combined German ''Wehrmacht'' armed forces, ...
and the defence of the Gau.
The position of Gauleiter was held by Friedrich Wambsganss from February 1925 to 13 March 1926 and
Josef Bürckel
Joseph Bürckel (30 March 1895 – 28 September 1944) was a German Nazi politician and a member of the German parliament (the Reichstag). He was an early member of the Nazi Party and was influential in the rise of the National Socialist movemen ...
from 13 March 1926 until his death on 28 September 1944, when Willi Stöhr took over and served for the duration of the existence of the Gau.