MAPMAN.

The pursuit of empire, or conquering land, has been a harmful practice of most cultures since ancient times. The Greeks, Romans, and Mongols all built vast empires this way. Naturally, none of these empires were created without some form of destruction. Whether in loss of life or damaged property, the conquered people suffered the brunt of the carnage.

Today, there are no countries looking to expand their boundaries to the degree of the ancient models. However, that wasn't the case nearly 60 years ago when Germany, led by dictator Adolf Hitler, tried to conquer most of Europe and northern Africa, much as the Romans had done almost 2,000 years before. Hitler thought that his empire, known as the "Third Reich," would last 1,000 years, but it crumbled in less than 12.

Bryan Mullins, from Florida, is concerned about the extent of empires when he asks:

How much land did Adolf Hitler control during WWII?

In 1945, the month of May marked the end of World War II and the last time the term Deutches Reich (German Empire) appeared on maps of Europe. But by the time Hitler's empire collapsed, it had controlled, occupied, or made client states of most of continental Europe, with the exception of neutral countries Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland, and a few pockets of semi-liberated areas on the Balkan Peninsula.

At its full extent, the Third Reich stretched as far east as present-day Ukraine and Russia, while its northern limit pushed past the Arctic Circle in Norway, and its southern extreme touched the Sahara Desert of Libya.

Unlike the Roman Empire, which remained intact for hundreds of years, the Third Reich could not withstand the challenges made to it by the Allies-the United States, Russia, and Great Britain.

Thankfully, the only place Hitler's empire occupies now is in history books or on the History Channel.