A naval leader in Germany before and during World War II  attained the highest possible naval rank since who, was later replaced by  the man who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as the head of state of Germany?
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Erich Raeder resignation and later Erich Johann Albert Raeder (24 April 1876 – 6 November 1960) was a naval leader in Germany before and during World War II. Raeder attained the highest possible naval rank—that of "Großadmiral" (Grand Admiral) — in 1939, becoming the first person to hold that rank since Alfred von Tirpitz. Raeder led the "Kriegsmarine" (German War Navy) for the first half of the war; he resigned in 1943 and was replaced by Karl Dönitz. He was sentenced to life in prison at the Nuremberg Trials, but was released early due to failing health.
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Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelt Doenitz) (] ; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German admiral who played a major role in the naval history of World War II. Dönitz briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as the head of state of Germany.
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Government of Nazi Germany The Government of Nazi Germany was a dictatorship run according to the "Führerprinzip". As the successor to the government of the Weimar Republic, it inherited the government structure and institutions of the previous state. Although the Weimar Constitution technically remained in effect until Germany's surrender in 1945, there were no actual restraints on the exercise of state power. In addition to the already extant government of the Weimar Republic, the Nazi leadership created a large number of different organizations for the purpose of helping them govern and remain in power. They rearmed and strengthened the military, set up an extensive state security apparatus and created their own personal party army, which in 1940 became known as the Waffen-SS.
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Nuremberg executions The Nuremberg executions took place on October 16, 1946, shortly after the conclusion of the Nuremberg Trials. Ten prominent members of the political and military leadership of Nazi Germany were executed by hanging: Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Alfred Jodl, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg, Fritz Sauckel, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, and Julius Streicher. Hermann Göring was also scheduled to be hanged on that day, but committed suicide using a potassium cyanide capsule the night before. Martin Bormann was also sentenced to death in absentia, but he was killed or committed suicide while attempting to escape Berlin in 1945.
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Erich von Falkenhayn General Erich Georg Anton von Falkenhayn (11 September 1861 – 8 April 1922) was the Chief of the German General Staff during the First World War from September 1914 until 29 August 1916. He was removed in the late summer of 1916 after the failure at the battle of Verdun, the opening of the Allied offensive on the Somme, the Brusilov Offensive and the entry of Romania into the war. He was later given important field commands in Romania and Syria. His reputation as a war leader was attacked in Germany during and after the war, especially by the faction which supported Hindenburg. Falkenhayn held that Germany could not win the war by a decisive battle but would have to reach a compromise peace; his enemies said he lacked the resolve necessary to win a decisive victory. Falkenhayn's relations with the Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg were troubled and undercut Falkenhayn's plans.
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Admiral of the fleet An admiral of the fleet or fleet admiral (sometimes also known as admiral of the navy or grand admiral) is a military naval officer of the highest rank. In many nations the rank is reserved for wartime or ceremonial appointments. It is usually a rank above admiral (which is now usually the highest rank in peace-time for officers in active service), and is often held by the most senior admiral of an entire naval service.
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Führer Führer (] , spelled Fuehrer when the umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "leader" or "guide". As a political title it is most associated with the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, who was the only person to hold the position of Führer. The word "Führer" in the sense of "guide" remains common in German, and it is used in numerous compound words. However, because of its strong association with Hitler, the isolated word usually comes with stigma and negative connotations when used with the meaning of "leader", especially in political contexts. The word "Führer" has cognates in the Scandinavian languages, spelled "fører" in Danish and Norwegian and "förare" in Swedish, which have the same meaning and use as the German word, but without necessarily having political connotations.
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Otto Meissner Otto Lebrecht Eduard Daniel Meissner (13 March 1880, Bischwiller, Alsace – 27 May 1953, Munich) was head of the Office of the President of Germany during the entire period of the Weimar Republic under Friedrich Ebert and Paul von Hindenburg and, finally, at the beginning of the Nazi government under Adolf Hitler.
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Göring Telegram The Göring Telegram was a message sent by Adolf Hitler's designated successor—Hermann Göring—on 23 April 1945 asking for permission to assume leadership of the crumbling Third Reich. The telegram caused Hitler to strip his hand-picked successor of power and appoint new political successors, Joseph Goebbels and Karl Dönitz.
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Ludwig von Reuter Ludwig von Reuter (9 February 1869 – 18 December 1943) was a German admiral during World War I who commanded the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet when it was interned at Scapa Flow at the end of the war. On 21 June 1919 he ordered the scuttling of the fleet to prevent the British from seizing the ships.
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Kommodore Kommodore (pronounced "kom-o-'dor-eh") was the highest senior officer rank (German: "Stabsoffizier Rang" ) in the German "Kriegsmarine", comparable to commodore in anglophone naval forces. According to modern armed forces it was the equivalent of the NATO OF-5 grade. There was no counterpart in the German "Heer" and" Luftwaffe", but "Kommodore" would have been comparable to "Oberführer" in the "Waffen-SS".
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Leopold Bürkner Leopold Bürkner (29 January 1894 - 15 July 1975) was a German naval officer who served on torpedo boats in World War I. In the post-war period he served on a pocket battleship that patrolled the Spanish coast during the Spanish Civil War and then commanded a light cruiser. In 1938 he became head of the foreign liaison section of the Abwehr, the General Staff intelligence department. During World War II he rose to the rank of Vice Admiral.
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Wilhelm Keitel Wilhelm Keitel (22 September 1882 – 16 October 1946) was a German field marshal who served as Chief of the Armed Forces High Command ("Oberkommando der Wehrmacht" or OKW) in Nazi Germany during World War II. According to David Stahel, Keitel was "well known and [...] reviled as Hitler's dependable mouthpiece and habitual yes-man" among his military colleagues.
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Unterfeldwebel Unterfeldwebel (lit. "Under Field Sergeant") Was a rank of the East German National People's Army from 1956 to 1990. It was also used in the armed forces of Nazi Germany, the Wehrmacht, from 1935 until 1945, when Nazi Germany was defeated in The Second World War. The equivalent to "Unterfeldwebel" in the Bundeswehr of West Germany and later the Federal Republic of Germany is the rank Stabsunteroffizier (OR-5).
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Hansjürgen Reinicke Hans-Jürgen "Hansjürgen" Rudolf Reinicke (10 August 1902 – 29 January 1978) was a "Kapitän zur See", commander of heavy cruiser "Prinz Eugen", in Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine" during the Second World War and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
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Otto von Schrader Otto von Schrader (18 March 1888 – 19 July 1945) was a German Admiral during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. As a U boat commander during World War I he was credited with the sinking of 57 ships for a total of  gross register tons (GRT) , a further 6 ships damaged for a total of  GRT , including  , and one ship taken as prize for a total of  GRT . Schrader was taken prisoner of war in Norway at the end of World war II. He committed suicide in Norwegian captivity on 19 July 1945.
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Franz Halder Franz Halder (30 June 1884 – 2 April 1972) was a German general and the chief of the "Oberkommando des Heeres" staff (OKH, Army High Command) from 1938 until September 1942, when he was dismissed after frequent disagreements with Adolf Hitler. Until December 1941 Halder's military position corresponded to the old Chief of the General Staff position, which during World War I had been the highest military office in the German Imperial Army. Halder's diary during his time as chief of OKH General Staff has been a source for authors that have written about such subjects as Hitler, World War II and the Nazi Party. In William Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", Halder's diary is cited hundreds of times.
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Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ] ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German political and military leader as well as one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945. A veteran World War I fighter pilot ace, he was a recipient of the "Pour le Mérite". He was the last commander of "Jagdgeschwader" 1, the fighter wing once led by Manfred von Richthofen.
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Deputy Führer Deputy Führer (German: "Stellvertreter des Führers", more faithfully translated as "Deputy "of the" Führer") was the title for the deputy head of the Nazi Party. The only person to ever hold this title was Rudolf Hess.
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Günter Luther Günter Luther (17 March 1922 – 31 May 1997) was a German admiral who became Inspector of the Navy and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe for NATO. During World War II, he served as a military pilot in the Kriegsmarine and a paratrooper in the Luftwaffe. After the war, he joined the newly founded West German "Bundesmarine" in 1956.
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Nazi Party Chancellery The Party Chancellery ("Parteikanzlei"), was the name of the head office for the German Nazi Party (NSDAP), designated as such on 12 May 1941. The office existed previously as the Staff of the Deputy Führer ("Stab des Stellvertreters des Führers") but was renamed after Rudolf Hess flew to England in an attempt to negotiate a peace agreement without Hitler's authorization. Hess was denounced by Hitler, his former office was dissolved, and the new Party Chancellery was formed in its place under Martin Bormann.
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List of Kriegsmarine ships The list of "Kriegsmarine" ships includes all ships commissioned into the "Kriegsmarine", the navy of Nazi Germany, during its existence from 1935 to the conclusion of World War II in 1945.