Grossdeutschland was firstly a 19th century political idea postulating the (never realized) idea of a unified Germany, led by HabsburgAustria and with Vienna as its capital, as opposed to the Prussian-led alternative, known as Kleindeutschland (Small Germany). With the foundation of the German Empire in 1871, which did not include Austria, the Kleindeutschland solution was put into practice.
Following that idea, the Deutsches Reich (German Empire) was informally named to Grossdeutsches Reich when Austria became part of the Third Reich after the Anschluss (annexation) in 1938.
Grossdeutschland was also the name of German Wehrmacht's élite armored division during World War II.
While Grossdeutschland was an élite Army unit, it is often incorrectly perceived as being a part of the Waffen-SS, and its involvement in war crimes against the population of occupied countries has never been proven.
While the historical accuracy of Sajer's autobiographical work has been questioned, it offers nevertheless a compelling and moving account of the horrors of war on the Eastern Front.
GreaterGermany's declaration of war upon the Soviet Union in May of 1941 didn't surprise the rest of Europe as much as it signalled GreaterGermany's desire for expansion eastward, to fulfill Nazi ideology's plans for a vast eastern European colonial empire under German control.
The Greater German offensive was poorly planned -- the dictates of the Eastern Front kept the German army from transferring its experienced troops to the western invasions, while the post-assassination purges of the German officer corps left it incapable of the disciplined attacks that marked the German invasions of eastern Europe.
GreaterGermany was destroyed -- Austria, Bavaria, and Saxony regained their independence, while even devastated Brandenburg was transformed into an independent republic, and the German population living to the east of the Oder and Western Neisse was expelled by enraged Poles.
Großdeutschland (German for GreaterGermany) is a term referring to the concept of one German nation-state.
The counter-concept is known as Kleindeutschland (Small Germany).
In the 19th century, Großdeutschland was the idea of a unified Germany including Austria, as opposed to the Prussian-promoted alternative of Kleindeutschland ("Small Germany"), which excluded Austria.
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