Göring Hermann Wilhelm

Gö·ring

also Goe·ring  (gĕr′ĭng, gûr′-, gœ′rĭng), Hermann Wilhelm 1893-1946.

German Nazi politician and military leader who was responsible for the buildup of German air forces, directed the German wartime economy, and was named Hitler's successor (1939). Severely criticized for Germany's military decline, he lost favor with Hitler and was stripped of his command (1943). After he was convicted and sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials (1946), he committed suicide.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.