Nazi political doctrine claiming a need to acquire more territory in order to accommodate the expanding German nation. First introduced as a political concept in the 1870s, the concept was given patriotic significance by Hitler and Goebbels. The corollary to Lebensraum was the Drang nach Osten (German, ‘drive to the East’), which claimed large areas of eastern Europe for the Third Reich to enable the so‐called Nazi master race to subjugate and colonize the Slavic peoples.