History UsefulNotes / HermannGoring

While Hitler's official second-in-command for much of his time in office was Rudolf Hess[[note]]Hess was Deputy Führer of the NSDAP[[/note]], Göring held the most power after Hitler himself. Göring was given the unique military rank of ''Reichsmarshall'', ranking him above any of Germany's Generals or Field Marshals (below only Hitler as Supreme Commander of the ''[[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Wehrmacht]]''), and became the commander of the country's revitalized air force, the ''Luftwaffe''. He took charge of the Reich's industrial and business policies as Reich Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan (to rival [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheUSSR the Soviet Five Year Plans]]) and held absolute power over the greatest conglomerate of iron and steel industry in the Reich and possibly [[MegaCorp the largest company under a single leader in the entire world by 1941]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichswerke_Hermann_G%C3%B6ring the Hermann-Görings-Werke]], and by absorption of the captured Czech and Soviet factories he became ''the greatest steel baron in history''. Above the likes of Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Carnegie, Charles M. Schwab or any other business magnate in popular culture. Politically, Göring also served as President of the ''Reichstag'', though there was little need for a legislature in a single-party autocracy. He also became Minister-President of UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} and founded UsefulNotes/TheGestapo to bring most of the police forces of the federal Weimar Republic under his control, but he later transferred control of the organization to Himmler, who made it a subsidiary of the SS. Whereas Hitler was promoted as a practically god-like figure, Göring prided himself on his image as an everyman, and often acted as the public face of the Third Reich.

The Allies soon captured Göring and weaned him off his morphine addiction -- ironically sharpening his mind and enabling him to give what observers described as a surprisingly effective and convincing defence at the Nuremberg Trials. However, the evidence against Göring was simply too overwhelming, and when combined with most of the other high-ranking members of Hitler's inner circle (including Goebbels, Bormann, [[UsefulNotes/HeinrichHimmler Himmler]] and Heydrich) being dead already, he was always going to be the one who most carried the can for the Nazis' crimes against humanity. Not surprisingly, he was sentenced to death, and after having his request to be executed by a military firing squad rejected, he decided it was BetterToDieThanBeKilled and committed suicide the night before his scheduled execution, with a cyanide capsule he managed to have smuggled into his cell.

* A [[YoungFutureFamousPeople young Göring]] appears in ''Film/VonRichthofenAndBrown'' during his service years as a pilot in WWI. Manfred van Richthofen aka the "Red Baron" dresses down Göring for [[ShootTheMedic firing on medical personel]], and they get into a heated argument over it.

* A [[YoungFutureFamousPeople young Göring]] appears in ''Film/VonRichthofenAndBrown'' during his service years as a pilot in WWI. Manfred van Richthofen aka the "Red Baron" dresses down Göring for firing on medical personel, and they get into a heated argument over it.

While Hitler's official second-in-command for much of his time in office was Rudolf Hess[[note]]Hess was Deputy Führer of the NSDAP[[/note]], Göring held the most power after Hitler himself. Göring was given the unique military rank of ''Reichsmarshall'', ranking him above any of Germany's Generals or Field Marshals (below only Hitler as Supreme Commander of the ''Wehrmacht''), and became the commander of the country's revitalized air force, the ''Luftwaffe''. He took charge of the Reich's industrial and business policies as Reich Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan (to rival [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheUSSR the Soviet Five Year Plans]]) and held absolute power over the greatest conglomerate of iron and steel industry in the Reich and possibly [[MegaCorp the largest company under a single leader in the entire world by 1941]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichswerke_Hermann_G%C3%B6ring the Hermann-Görings-Werke]], and by absorption of the captured Czech and Soviet factories he became ''the greatest steel baron in history''. Above the likes of Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Carnegie, Charles M. Schwab or any other business magnate in popular culture. Politically, Göring also served as President of the ''Reichstag'', though there was little need for a legislature in a single-party autocracy. He also became Minister-President of UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} and founded UsefulNotes/TheGestapo to bring most of the police forces of the federal Weimar Republic under his control, but he later transferred control of the organization to Himmler, who made it a subsidiary of the SS. Whereas Hitler was promoted as a practically god-like figure, Göring prided himself on his image as an everyman, and often acted as the public face of the Third Reich.

While Hitler's official second-in-command for much of his time in office was Rudolf Hess[[note]]Hess was Deputy Führer of the NSDAP[[/note]], Göring held the most power after Hitler himself. Göring was given the unique military rank of ''Reichsmarshall'', ranking him above any of Germany's Generals or Field Marshals (below only Hitler as Supreme Commander of the ''Wehrmacht''), and became the commander of the country's revitalized air force, the ''Luftwaffe''. He took charge of the Reich's industrial and business policies as Reich Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan (to rival [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheUSSR the Soviet Five Year Plans]]) and held absolute power over the greatest conglomerate of iron and steel industry in the Reich and possibly [[MegaCorp the largest company under a single leader in the entire world by 1941]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichswerke_Hermann_G%C3%B6ring the Hermann-Görings-Werke]], and by absorption of the captured Czech and Soviet factories he became ''the greatest steel baron in history''. Above the likes of Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Carnegie, Charles M. Schwab or any other business magnate in popular culture. Politically, Göring also served as President of the ''Reichstag'', though there was little need for a legislature in a single-party autocracy. He was also made Minister-President of UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} and founded UsefulNotes/TheGestapo to bring most of the police forces of the federal Weimar Republic under his control, but he later transferred control of the organization to Himmler, who made it a subsidiary of the SS. Whereas Hitler was promoted as a practically god-like figure, Göring prided himself on his image as an everyman, and often acted as the public face of the Third Reich.

While Hitler's official second-in-command for much of his time in office was Rudolf Hess[[note]]Hess was Deputy Führer of the NSDAP[[/note]], Göring held the most power after Hitler himself. Göring was given the unique military rank of ''Reichsmarshall'', ranking him above any of Germany's Generals or Field Marshals (below only Hitler as Supreme Commander of the ''Wehrmacht''), and became the commander of the country's revitalized air force, the ''Luftwaffe''. He took charge of the Reich's industrial and business policies as Reich Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan (to rival the Soviet Five Year Plans) and held absolute power over the greatest conglomerate of iron and steel industry in the Reich and possibly [[MegaCorp the largest company under a single leader in the entire world by 1941]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichswerke_Hermann_G%C3%B6ring the Hermann-Görings-Werke]], and by absorption of the captured Czech and Soviet factories he became ''the greatest steel baron in history''. Above the likes of Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Carnegie, Charles M. Schwab or any other business magnate in popular culture. Politically, Göring also served as President of the ''Reichstag'', though there was little need for a legislature in a single-party autocracy. He was also made Minister-President of UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} and founded UsefulNotes/TheGestapo to bring most of the police forces of the federal Weimar Republic under his control, but he later transferred control of the organization to Himmler, who made it a subsidiary of the SS. Whereas Hitler was promoted as a practically god-like figure, Göring prided himself on his image as an everyman, and often acted as the public face of the Third Reich.

While Hitler's official second-in-command for much of his time in office was Rudolf Hess, Göring held the most power after Hitler himself. Göring became the commander of the country's air force, the ''Luftwaffe'', and took charge of industrial and business policies as Reich Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan (to rival the Soviet Five Year Plans). He held absolute power over the greatest conglomerate of iron and steel industry in the Reich and possibly [[MegaCorp the largest company under a single leader in the entire world by 1941]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichswerke_Hermann_G%C3%B6ring the Hermann-Görings-Werke]], and by absorption of the captured Czech and Soviet factories he became ''the greatest steel baron in history''. Above the likes of Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Carnegie, Charles M. Schwab or any other business magnate in popular culture. Politically, Göring also served as President of the ''Reichstag'', though there was little need for a legislature in a single-party autocracy. He was also made Minister-President of UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} and founded UsefulNotes/TheGestapo to bring most of the police forces of the federal Weimar Republic under his control, but he later transferred control of the organization to Himmler, who made it a subsidiary of the SS. Whereas Hitler was promoted as a practically god-like figure, Göring prided himself on his image as an everyman, and often acted as the public face of the Third Reich.

While Hitler's official second-in-command for much of his time in office was Rudolf Hess, Göring held the most power after Hitler himself, taking charge of industrial and business policies and becoming commander of the country's air force, the ''Luftwaffe''. Politically, Göring also served as President of the ''Reichstag'', though there was little need for a legislature in a single-party autocracy, and Minister-President of UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}. In that second capacity he founded UsefulNotes/TheGestapo to bring most of the police forces of the federal Weimar Republic under his control, but he later transferred control of the organization to Himmler, who made it a subsidiary of the SS. Whereas Hitler was promoted as a practically god-like figure, Göring prided himself on his image as an everyman, and often acted as the public face of the Third Reich.

* ''Film/{{Conspiracy|2001}}'': Göring does not appear in person, but Erich Neumann is at the conference as Göring's subordinate as Director of the Four-Year Plan. While the attendants have no illusions about Göring's power[[note]]In fact, Heydrich uses Göring's July 1941 order for the ''Endlösing'' to legitimate Operation Reinhard.[[/note]], the other members of the SS and NSDAP-dominated conference generally try to sideline Neumann. At that point, Göring is involved in a [[EnemyCivilWar power struggle]] with Himmler and Bormann.

On his return to Germany, Göring briefly worked in the aircraft industry, before becoming one of the first twelve Nazis to be elected to the ''Reichstag'' in 1928. In this role he was able to greatly expand the party's influence, bringing prominent members of German society into the party. Shortly after the ''Reichstag'' Fire of 1933[[note]]Some sources claim that Göring, likely acting on Hitler's orders, was the chief culprit behind the fire, though he himself denied this. Most contemporary historians accept that it was a lone wolf act of terrorism by a Dutch communist, not a Nazi false flag. They did, obviously, [[GovernmentExploitedCrisis take advantage of the fire to consolidate their power]].[[/note]], Göring's political manoeuvrings played a key role in allowing the passage of the Enabling Act and ''Reichstag'' Fire Decree, both of which allowed Hitler to assume total power over the country.

On his return to Germany, Göring briefly worked in the aircraft industry, before becoming one of the first twelve Nazis to be elected to the ''Reichstag'' in 1928. In this role he was able to greatly expand the party's influence, bringing prominent members of German society into the party. Shortly after the ''Reichstag'' Fire of 1933[[note]]Some sources claim that Göring, likely acting on Hitler's orders, was the chief culprit behind the fire, though he himself denied this[[/note]], Göring's political manoeuvrings played a key role in allowing the passage of the Enabling Act and ''Reichstag'' Fire Decree, both of which allowed Hitler to assume total power over the country.

* ''WesternAnimation/HerrMeetsHare'', a famous American WartimeCartoon that particularly ridicules Göring. Voiced by * ''WesternAnimation/AlfredJKwak'': Geppe appears to be based on Göring, being a fat hippo who serves as the second-in-command to the show's [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Hitler-expy]] Dolf. In the English dub, he's even given a DubNameChange to Hermann.
Creator/MelBlanc.

* ''WesternAnimation/HerrMeetsHare'', a famous American WartimeCartoon that particularly ridicules Göring. Voiced by Creator/MelBlanc.

* ''WesternAnimation/AlfredJKwak'': Geppe appears to be based on Göring, being a fat hippo who serves as the second-in-command to the show's [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Hitler-expy]] Dolf. In the English dub, he's even given a DubNameChange to Hermann.

By 1943, Göring's mismanagement of the ''Luftwaffe'' was becoming increasingly apparent. It was Göring's insistence that the Sixth Army did not need to withdraw from Stalingrad by claiming the ''Luftwaffe'' would be able to keep it supplied from the air; this failure resulted in the army's complete destruction and the Nazis' first acknowledgement of major defeat. He refused to believe reports that the Allies had modified their aircrafts to greatly increase their range until Allied bombing runs were inflicting major damage on Germany's infrastructure. His continued inability to do anything to combat these bombing raids meant that Germany's ability to continue the war was crippled beyond repair by late in the following year.

When UsefulNotes/WorldWarII began, Göring commanded the ''Luftwaffe'' to impressive victories in the invasion of France. However, he made the first of what would prove to be several critical blunders when he convinced Hitler that there was no need to have their ground troops crush the remnants of the British Expeditionary Force that had been forced to retreat to Dunkirk, and that their air forces could be relied on to bomb what was left of the BEF out of existence. The ''Luftwaffe'' utterly failed to do so, however, allowing time for the BEF to be evacuated by a ragtag group of military and civilian boats, and turning what by any means should have been a devastating loss into what was actually considered a morale-boosting victory by the British. This in turn was followed by the German loss in the Battle of Britain and then the ultimate failure of the Blitz to force the British to stand down -- and while Göring had actually advised Hitler against the former, his lack of strategic planning was blamed for the latter, as he had the ''Luftwaffe'' concentrate on civilian targets in an attempt to intimidate the British into surrender, rather than focusing on destroying the country's military and industrial infrastructure.

The German invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa was launched in June 1941 -- apparently over Göring's misgivings -- and followed the same pattern as the war in Western Europe, with impressive early victories by German air forces soon petering out into a stalemate. More damagingly, the ''Luftwaffe'' seriously struggled to keep up the German supply lines (partly due to poor management on Göring's part, though also partly due to the much greater distances involved and their forces being spread too thin), ultimately leading to the invasion effort collapsing and Germany being forced onto the back foot.

By 1943, Göring's mismanagement of the ''Luftwaffe'' was becoming increasingly apparent. It was Göring's insistence that the Sixth Army did not need to withdraw from Stalingrad by claiming the ''Luftwaffe'' would be able to keep it supplied from the air; this failure resulted in the army's complete destruction and the Nazis' first acknowledgement of major defeat. He refused to believe reports that the Allies had modified their aircraft to greatly increase their range until Allied bombing runs were inflicting major damage on Germany's infrastructure. His continued inability to do anything to combat these bombing raids meant that Germany's ability to continue the war was crippled beyond repair by late in the following year.[[note]]During the early days of the war, Göring proclaimed that a single bomb would not fall on Germany. If it did, he would change his name to Meyer, a German idiom to denote something is impossible, or even eat his hat. As the Allies began to devastate German cities, cynical civilians would call out to him on his tours "Hello, Herr Meyer. How's your hat?"[[/note]]

* Played by Creator/MelBlanc in ''WesternAnimation/HerrMeetsHare''.

Göring was born in the town of Rosenheim in Bavaria, and enlisted in the German military two years before the outbreak of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. He spent the first two years of the conflict stationed in trenches, but his witnessing the general futility of this approach to warfare convinced him to instead request to become a pilot, ultimately becoming commander of the famed "Flying Circus" unit in the final months of the conflict. While reputedly unpopular with the men under his command, Göring became an {{Ace|Pilot}}, amassing quite an impressive flying record. Unfortunately for him, Germany's eventual defeat caused his then-fiancee to dump him (he would, in the event, marry twice thereafter), with the resultant humiliation he experienced playing a major role in his becoming a proponent of the belief that Germany had been stabbed in the back. This in turn caused him to become an early member of the National-Socialist Party in 1922.