The Führer Directives were instructions and strategic plans issued by Adolf Hitler himself. They covered a wide range of subjects from detailed direction of military units in World War II to the governance of occupied territories and their populations. Under the Nazi system, they were binding, to be followed to the letter and superseded any other law. They should not be confused with the Führer Orders, issued late in the war, which were more precise and low-level and could be written or oral. They were as binding as the more general Directives.