Nazi Germany's ultimate goal was to become a regional hegemon. At the same time, Hitler's violation of the Treaty of Versailles, the annexation of Austria and the incorporation of the Czechoslovak Sudetenland are arguably proof of Germany's guaranteed survival as a state. Through the war with Poland and Western Europe, Germany gained territory and clearly expanded its relative power at the expense of the defeated states and Great Britain. The war with Russia in 1941 aimed to expand German territory; “Lebensraum (living space of the German population)”; and strengthen the German economy by securing the oil resources of the Caucasus. Consequently, Germany defeated by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union in 1945 faced decline from great power to weak status for the second time in thirty years. Over the next few years, the United States and the Soviet Union, the two remaining great powers, expanded their spheres of influence and defended each other. More importantly, the results of World War II significantly shaped the international order and this bipolar order is expected to continue for around forty years.