Using documents from the archives of the USSR, East Germany and Germany, as well as official documents, memoirs, monographic literature and periodicals, the author reveals the ominous role of leading German monopolies in establishing a terrorist Hitler dictatorship, shows how the most reactionary and aggressive circles of German financial capital directed the policy of the Hitler government. The work examines the economic, ideological and military-diplomatic preparation of Nazi Germany for World War II. A significant place is given to the consideration of the struggle of the progressive forces of the German people against fascism, as well as the critique of the concepts of West German and Anglo-American bourgeois historiography.