尼祿法令

尼祿法令（德語：Nerobefehl），亦稱焦土法令，正式名稱為《帝國領土拆除法令》（德語：Befehl betreffend Zerstörungsmaßnahmen im Reichsgebiet），是1945年3月19日由阿道夫·希特拉下達，納粹德國國防軍最高統帥部頒佈的一項法令。該法令旨在下令摧毀納粹德國的基礎設施，以防止盟軍在深入德國境內時使用這些設施。其大致內容為「命令撤退的同時對佔領地區的工業、文化、經濟等進行破壞…」。隨後被稱為尼祿法令，以羅馬皇帝尼祿的名字命名，根據一個虛構的故事，他在公元64年設意製造了羅馬城的大火。戰中阿爾伯特·施佩爾刻意不遵守該法令。

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Background

By the beginning of 1945, the German situation was desperate. Most of the conquered territories had been liberated or recaptured, the Ardennes Offensive had failed, and Allied armies were advancing on Germany proper from both the East and the West. However, Hitler was not willing to accept the terms of unconditional surrender, and considered this as repeating the same shame as Versailles. Moreover, according to some around him, Hitler came to view the German people as having failed him, unworthy of their great mission in history and thus deserving to die alongside his regime.

American soldiers of the 4th U.S. Infantry Division look at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, after the French capital had been liberated on 25 August 1944. Pictured by John Downey.

This was not the first time Hitler had tried to destroy infrastructure before it could be taken. Shortly before the Liberation of Paris, Hitler ordered explosives to be placed around important landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, and key transportation hubs. If the Allies came near the city, the military governor, General Dietrich von Choltitz was to detonate these bombs, leaving Paris "lying in complete debris." Von Choltitz, however, did not carry out the order and surrendered to the Allies, later alleging that this was the moment he realized that "Hitler was insane." Similarly, Hitler had issued orders to enact a scorched earth policy upon the Netherlands in late 1944, when it became obvious that the Allies were about to retake the country, but Arthur Seyss-Inquart, the Reichskommissar in charge of the Netherlands during its occupation, was able to greatly limit the scope to which the order was executed.

The Decree

Reichsminister Speer rests on a doorstep

Its most pertinent section reads as follows:

It is a mistake to think that transport and communication facilities, industrial establishments and supply depots, which have not been destroyed, or have only been temporarily put out of action, can be used again for our own ends when the lost territory has been recovered. The enemy will leave us nothing but scorched earth when he withdraws, without paying the slightest regard to the population. I therefore order:

1) All military transport and communication facilities, industrial establishments and supply depots, as well as anything else of value within Reich territory, which could in any way be used by the enemy immediately or within the foreseeable future for the prosecution of the war, will be destroyed.

Actions

Alfred Jodl (between Major Wilhelm Oxenius to the left and Generaladmiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg to the right) signing the German Instrument of Surrender at Reims, France 7 May 1945

The decree was in vain. The responsibility for carrying it out fell to Albert Speer, Hitler's Minister of Armaments and War Production. According to him, Speer was appalled by the order and lost faith in the dictator. Just as von Choltitz had several months earlier, Speer deliberately failed to carry out the order. Upon receiving it, he requested to be given exclusive power to implement the plan, instead using his power to convince the generals and Gauleiters to ignore the order. Hitler remained unaware of this until the very end of the war, when Speer, while visiting Hitler in his Berlin bunker, admitted to him that he deliberately disobeyed. Hitler was angry with his minister, but allowed Speer to leave nonetheless. Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945, forty-two days after issuing the order. Shortly afterwards, on 7 May 1945, General Alfred Jodl signed the German military surrender, and on 23 May Speer was arrested on the orders of U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, together with the rest of the provisional German government led by Admiral Karl Dönitz, Hitler's successor as head of state.

參見

• Albert Speer
• Gotthard Heinrici
• Hellmuth Reymann
• Is Paris Burning?
• Morgenthau Plan
• Destruction of Warsaw
• Railroad plough
• Scorched earth