In 1934 he became commander of the German air force, and was responsible for the German rearmament programme. Until 1936 Goering headed the Gestapo, which he had founded; from then until 1943 he directed the German economy. In that year he fell from favour, was deprived of all authority, and was finally dismissed in 1945 after unauthorized attempts to make peace with the Allies. Sentenced to death at the Nuremberg war trials, he committed suicide in his cell.