Nazi Germany’sNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
Occupation of Denmark began with
Operation WeserübungOperation Weserübung was the code name for Nazi Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during World War II and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
9 April 1940, and lasted until German forces withdrew at the end of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
following their surrender to the
AlliesThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . The involvement of the Allies in World War II was either natural and inevitable they were invaded or under the direct threat of invasion by the Axis or compelled by concerns that the Axis powers...
on 5 May 1945. Contrary to the situation in other countries under German occupation, most Danish institutions continued to function relatively normally until 1943. Both the Danish government and
KingChristian X was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and last king of Iceland between 1918 and 1944. He was born at Charlottenlund Palace near Copenhagen....
remained in the country in an uneasy relationship between a democratic and a totalitarian system until German authorities dissolved the government following a wave of strikes and
sabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions...
.
Invasion
The
occupationBelligerent military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
of Denmark was initially not an important objective for the German government. The decision to occupy its small northern neighbour was taken to facilitate a planned invasion of the strategically more important Norway, and as a precaution against the expected British response. German military planners believed that a base in the northern part of
JutlandJutland , historically also called Cimbria, forms the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish-German border to its south...
, specifically the
airfield of AalborgAalborg Air Base is a military base for the Danish Air Force . It is located near Aalborg, Denmark.Aalborg Air Base shares its runway system as well as some services with Aalborg Lufthavn....
, would be essential to operations in Norway, and they began planning the occupation of parts of Denmark. However, as late as February 1940 no firm decision to occupy Denmark had been made. The issue was finally settled when
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
personally crossed out the words
die Nordspitze Jütlands (the Northern tip of Jutland) and replaced them with
Dä, a German abbreviation for Denmark.
Although the Danish territory of
South JutlandSouth Jutland is the name for the region south of the Kongeå in Jutland, Denmark. The region north of the Kongeå is called Nørrejylland . Both territories had their own ting assemblies in the Middle Ages . South Jutland is mentioned for the first time in the Knýtlinga saga.In the 13th century...
was home to a significant German minority, and the province had been regained from Germany as a result of a
plebisciteThe Schleswig Plebiscites were two plebiscites, organized according to section XII, articles 109 to 114 of the Treaty of Versailles of June 28 1919, in order to determine the future border between Denmark and Germany through the former duchy of Schleswig...
resulting from the
Versailles TreatyThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, Germany was in no apparent hurry to reclaim it. In a much more vague and longer-term way, some Nazis hoped to incorporate Denmark into a greater "Nordic Union" at some stage, but these plans never materialized. Officially Germany claimed to be protecting Denmark from a British invasion.
At 4:15 on the morning of 9 April 1940, German forces crossed the border into
neutralA neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
Denmark, in direct violation of a German-Danish treaty of non-aggression signed the previous year. In a coordinated operation, German ships began disembarking troops at the docks in
CopenhagenCopenhagen ; ) is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban area with a population of 1,167,569 and a metropolitan area with a population of 1,875,179...
. Although outnumbered and poorly equipped, soldiers in several parts of the country offered resistance; most notably the
Royal GuardDen Kongelige Livgarde is an infantry regiment of the Royal Danish Army, formed in 1658. It serves a dual role as both a front line combat unit, and as a guard/ceremonial unit in regard to the Danish monarchy. The regiment was founded by King Frederik III...
in Copenhagen and units in
South JutlandSouth Jutland is the name for the region south of the Kongeå in Jutland, Denmark. The region north of the Kongeå is called Nørrejylland . Both territories had their own ting assemblies in the Middle Ages . South Jutland is mentioned for the first time in the Knýtlinga saga.In the 13th century...
. At the same time as the border crossing, German planes dropped the notorious
OPROP!OPROP! was a German leaflet dropped over several Danish cities in the Battle of Denmark on April 9, 1940. The leaflets were signed by the head of Operation Weserübung Süd, general Leonhard Kaupisch...
leaflets over Copenhagen calling for Danes to accept the German occupation peacefully, and claiming that Germany had occupied Denmark in order to protect it against Great Britain and France. Colonel Lunding from the Danish army's intelligence office later confirmed that Danish intelligence knew the attack would be coming on either April 8 or 9 and had warned the government accordingly. The Danish ambassador to Germany,
Herluf ZahleHerluf Zahle was a Danish barrister with the Supreme Court, a career diplomat and the President of the League of Nations from 1928 to 1929.- References :* at Dansk Biografisk Haandleksikon...
, issued a similar warning which was also ignored.
As a result of the rapid turn of events, the Danish government did not have enough time to officially declare war on Germany. Sixteen Danish soldiers died in the invasion, but after two hours the Danish government
surrenderedSurrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and eventually become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is a common symbol of surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.When the...
, believing that resistance was useless and hoping to work out an advantageous agreement with Germany. The flat territory of
JutlandJutland , historically also called Cimbria, forms the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish-German border to its south...
, immediately adjacent to Germany, was a perfect area for the German army to operate in, and the surprise attack on Copenhagen had made any attempt to defend Zealand impossible. The Germans had also been quick to establish control over
the bridgeThe Little Belt Bridge , also known as The Old Little Belt Bridge, is a truss bridge over the Little Belt strait in Denmark. The first bridge to have been constructed over the strait, it spans from Snoghøj on Jutland to Kongebrogaarden on Funen. It is owned by the state and Banedanmark, the Danish...
across the
Little BeltThe Little Belt is a strait between the Danish island of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula.The belt is about 50km long and 800m to 28km wide, the maximum depth is approximately 75m...
, thus gaining access to the island of
FunenFunen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163
rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 447,000 people . The main city is Odense, connected...
. Believing that further resistance would only result in the futile loss of still more Danish lives, the Danish cabinet ultimately decided to bow to the German pressure "under protest". The German forces were technologically sophisticated and numerous; the Danish forces comparatively tiny and used obsolete equipment; partially a result of a pre-war policy of trying to avoid antagonizing Germany by supplying the army with modern equipment. Even stiff resistance from the Danes would not have lasted long.
The occupation was so quickly accomplished that most Danes got out of bed without realizing that their country had already been occupied. To the rest of the world these events seemed perplexing, almost as if Denmark's Social Democratic government had sided with Germany, and indeed Denmark had a pro-Nazi government until 1943. Denmark had historically very close ties to Germany, with the southern provinces being part of the German (Holy Roman) Empire, and the Danes producing supplies for the Germans during World War I. The Danish people were, however, divided about what the best policy toward Germany might be. Some were ardent Nazis while others eventually formed resistance groups.
Faroe Islands
After the occupation of Denmark, British forces made a pre-emptive invasion of the
Faroe IslandsThe Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, Faroe, or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland...
- then still a Danish amt (county) - to prevent their occupation by German troops.
Iceland
From 1918 until 1944
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
was self-governing, but the Danish King was Head of State of both Denmark and Iceland. As with the
Faroe IslandsThe Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, Faroe, or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland...
, the United Kingdom occupied Iceland (to pre-empt a German occupation) but later turned it over to the United States, before that country entered the war in 1941. Iceland became a fully independent republic in 1944 and has remained so thereafter.
Greenland
Regarding
GreenlandGreenland is an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago...
, on 9 April 1941, the Danish envoy (ambassador) to the United States,
Henrik KauffmannHenrik Kauffmann was the Danish ambassador to the United States during World War II. On April 9 1941, the anniversary of the German occupation of Denmark, he signed on his own initiative "in the Name of the King" an "Agreement relating to the Defense of Greenland" authorizing the United States to...
, signed a treaty with the U.S., authorising it to defend Greenland and construct military stations there. Kauffmann was supported in this decision by the Danish diplomats in the United States and the local authorities in Greenland. Signing this treaty "in the name of the King" was a clear violation of his diplomatic powers, but Kauffmann argued that he would not receive orders from an occupied Copenhagen.
Protectorate Government 1940-43
As a result of the cooperative attitude of the Danish authorities, German officials claimed that they would "respect Danish sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as neutrality." The German authorities were inclined towards lenient terms with Denmark for several reasons:
- They had no particular strategic or ideological interests in the country, so they were ready to leave the responsibilities and burdens of administration
The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to jurisdiction.-United States:In United States usage, the term refers to the executive branch under a specific president , for example: the "George W...
to a Germanic 'brother' people.
- Their only strong interest in Denmark, that of surplus agricultural products
Agriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
, would likely be supplied anyway by the Danes – out of economic necessity. German records indicate that the German administration had not fully realized this potential before the occupation took place.
- They also hoped to score propaganda points by making Denmark, in Hitler's words, "a model protectorate
A protectorate, in international law, is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity. In exchange for this, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of...
." It would show to the world what a future Nazi controlled Europe could be.
- On top of these more practical goals, Nazi race ideology
The master race was a concept in Nazi ideology, which holds that the Teutonics , one of the branches of what in the late 19th and early 20th century was called the Aryan race, represent an ideal and "pure race"...
held that Danes were "fellow Nordic AryanAryan is an English language loanword denoting variously*in historical or dated usage,**the Indo-Iranian languages and their speakers, viz. the Iranian and Indo-Aryan peoples**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers,...
s," and could therefore to some extent be trusted to handle their own domestic affairs.
These factors combined to allow Denmark a very favourable relationship with Nazi Germany. The government remained intact and the
parliamentA parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French parlement, the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at...
continued to function more or less as it had before. They were able to maintain much of their former control over domestic policy. The
policeA police service is a public force empowered to enforce the law and provide security through the legitimized use of force.The term is most commonly associated with police services of a state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of...
and judicial system remained in Danish hands and unlike most occupied countries,
King Christian XChristian X was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and last king of Iceland between 1918 and 1944. He was born at Charlottenlund Palace near Copenhagen....
remained in the country as Danish Head of State. The German Reich was formally represented by a
Reichsbevollmächtigter ('
ReichReich is a German loanword cognate with the English reign, but used most often to designate an empire, realm, or nation. The qualitative connotation from the German is " sovereign state." It is also cognate with the Latin word and the Scandinavian rike/rige, , , ; as found in bishopric...
PlenipotentiaryThe word plenipotentiary has two meanings.As a noun, it refers to a person who has "full powers"...
'), i.e. a diplomat accredited to the Sovereign, a post awarded to
Cecil von Renthe-FinkCecil von Renthe-Fink was a German diplomat. He was plenipotentiary of Denmark from April 9 1940 until 1942.He was appointed ambassador to Denmark in 1936. In 1939 he became a member of the Nazi party. After the occupation of Denmark he became plenipotentiary. In 1942 he was replaced by Dr. Werner...
, the German ambassador, and then in November 1942 to the lawyer and SS-general
Werner BestWerner Best was a German jurist, police chief, SS-Obergruppenführer and Nazi leader from Darmstadt, Hesse. Best served as civilian administrator of France and Denmark while Nazi Germany occupied those countries during World War II.-Early World War II:From 1939-40, Best was an SS-Obergruppenführer...
.
Danish public opinion generally backed the new government, particularly after the fall of France in June 1940. There was a general feeling that the unpleasant reality of German occupation must be confronted in the most realistic way possible, given the international situation. Politicians realized that they would have to try hard to maintain Denmark's privileged position by presenting a united front to the German authorities, so all of the mainstream democratic parties formed a new government together. Parliament and the government agreed to work closely together. Though the effect of this was close to the creation of a one party state, it remained a representative government.
The Danish government was dominated by Social Democrats, including the pre-war prime minister
Thorvald StauningThorvald August Marinus Stauning was the first social democratic Prime Minister of Denmark. He served as Prime Minister from 1924 to 1926 and again from 1929 until his death in 1942....
, who had been strongly opposed to the Nazi party. Stauning himself was deeply depressed by the prospects for Europe under Nazism. Nonetheless, his party pursued a strategy of cooperation, hoping to maintain democracy and Danish control in Denmark for as long as possible. There were many issues that they had to work out with Germany in the months after the occupation. In an effort to keep the Germans satisfied they compromised Danish democracy and society in several fundamental ways:
- Newspaper articles and news reports "which might jeopardize German-Danish relations" were outlawed in violation of the Danish constitutional prohibition of censorship.
- On June 22. 1941, the German authorities in Denmark requested that the Danish communists should be arrested. The Danish government complied. Using secret registers, the Danish police in the following days arrested 339 communists, of which 246, including the three communist members of the Danish parliament, were imprisoned in the Horserød work camp. In 1943 about half of them were transferred to Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof was the first concentration camp built by the Nazi Germany regime outside of Germany.Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo . The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of...
where 22 of them died. On August 22 1941, the Danish parliament, in violation of the Danish constitution passed a law outlawing the communist party and communist activities.
- After the assault on the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km front...
, Denmark joined the Anti-Comintern PactThe Anti-Comintern Pact was concluded between Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan on November 25, 1936 and was directed against the Communist International in general, and the Soviet Union in particular....
, together with the fellow NordicThe Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories which include the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
state of Finland; the Communist PartyA political party described as a communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government. The name originates from the 1848 tract Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels...
was banned in Denmark. As a result, many Communists were found among the first members of the Danish resistance movementThe Danish resistance movement was an underground insurgency movement to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the unusually lenient terms given to Danish people by the Nazi occupation authority, the movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale...
.
- Normal relations with Allied
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . The involvement of the Allies in World War II was either natural and inevitable they were invaded or under the direct threat of invasion by the Axis or compelled by concerns that the Axis powers...
governments were severed.
- Industrial production
An industry is the manufacturing of a good or service within a category. Although industry is a broad term for any kind of economic production, in economics and urban planning industry is a synonym for the secondary sector, which is a type of economic activity involved in the manufacturing of raw...
and trade was, partly due to geo-political reality and economic necessity, redirected toward Germany. Denmark had traditionally been a major trading partner of both Britain and Germany. Many government officials saw expanded trade with Germany as vital to maintaining social order in Denmark. Increased unemploymentUnemployment occurs when a person is available to work and seeking work but currently without work. The prevalence of unemployment is usually measured using the unemployment rate, which is defined as the percentage of those in the labor force who are unemployed...
and poverty was feared to lead to more of open revolt within the country, since Danes tended to blame all negative developments on the Germans. It was feared that any revolt would result in a crackdown by the German authorities.
- The Danish army was largely demobilised, although some units remained until August 1943. The army was allowed to maintain 2,200 men + 1,100 auxiliary troops. Much of the fleet remained in port, but in Danish hands. In at least two towns, the army created secret weapons caches on 10 April 1940. On 23 April 1940, members of the Danish military intelligence established contacts with their British counterparts through the British diplomatic mission in Stockholm, and began dispatching intelligence reports to them by Autumn 1940. This traffic became regular and continued until the Germans dissolved the Danish army in 1943. Following the liberation of Denmark, Field Marshal
Field Marshal is the highest military rank of the United Kingdom, a five-star rank. It ranks immediately above the rank of General and is the British Army equivalent to an Admiral of the Fleet and Marshal of the Royal Air Force....
Bernard Law Montgomery described the intelligence gathered in Denmark as "second to none".
In return for these concessions, the Danish cabinet rejected German demands for legislation discriminating against Denmark's Jewish minority. Demands to introduce the death penalty were likewise rebuffed and so were German demands to allow German military courts jurisdiction over Danish citizens. Denmark also rejected demands for the transfer of Danish army units to German military use.
Stauning remained
prime minister until his death in 1942, as head of a coalition cabinet encompassing all major political parties (the exceptions being the tiny Nazi party, and the Communist Party, which was outlawed in 1941 as discussed).
Vilhelm BuhlVilhelm Buhl was Prime Minister of Denmark from 4 May 1942 to 9 November 1942 as head of the Unity Government during the German occupation of Denmark of World War II, until the Nazis ordered him removed...
replaced him briefly, only to be replaced by foreign minister
Erik ScaveniusErik Julius Christian Scavenius was the Danish foreign minister 1909–1910, 1913–1920 and 1940–1943, and prime minister from 1942 to 1943. His cabinet resigned in 1943 and suspended operations...
who had been the main link to the Nazi authorities throughout the war. Scavenius was a
diplomatA diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organisation. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, not an elected politician, and had an
elitistElitism is the belief or attitude that those individuals who are considered members of the elite—a select group of people with outstanding personal abilities, intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes—are those whose views on a matter are to...
approach to government. He was very afraid that emotional public opinion would destabilize his attempts to build a compromise between Danish
sovereigntySovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
and the realities of German occupation. Scavenius felt strongly that he was Denmark's most ardent defender. After the war there was much recrimination of his stance, particularly from members of the active resistance who felt that he had hindered the cause of resistance and threatened Denmark's national honour. He felt that these people were vain, seeking to build their own reputations or political careers through emotionalism.
The Danish authorities were able to use their more cooperative stance to win important concessions for the country. They continually refused to enter a
customsA customs union is a is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff. The participant countries set up common external trade policy, but in some cases they use different import quotas...
and
currency unionA currency union is where two or more states share the same currency, though without there necessarily having any further integration as would be characterised by an Economic and Monetary Union, which involves economic integration to the point of a single market.-Examples of existing...
with Germany. Danes were concerned both about the negative economic effects of the German proposals, as well as the political ones. German officials did not want to risk their special relationship with Denmark by forcing an agreement on them as they had in other countries. The Danish government was also able to stall negotiations over the return of
South JutlandSouth Jutland County is a former county on the south-central portion of the Jutland Peninsula in southern Denmark....
to Germany, ban "closed rank uniformed marches" that would have made nationalist German or Danish Nazi agitation more possible, keep
National SocialistsNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
out of the government, and hold
a relatively free electionThe Danish Folketing election of 1943 was held on 23 March 1943, except on the Faroe Islands where the election was held on 3 May. It was the first election during the German occupation, and although many people feared how the Germans might react to the election, the event took place peacefully...
with decidedly anti-Nazi results in the middle of the war. Danish military officials also had access to sensitive German information which they delivered to the Allies under government cover. The economic consequences of the occupation were also mitigated by German-Danish cooperation. Inflation rose sharply in the first year of the war, as the German Army spent a large amount of German military currency in Denmark, most importantly on military installations and troop deployments. Due to the Occupation, the National Bank of Denmark was compelled to exchange German currency for Danish notes, effectively granting the Germans a gigantic unsecured loan with only vague promises that the money would eventually be paid, something which never happened. The Danish government was later able to renegotiate the Germans' arbitrary exchange rate between the German military currency and the
Danish KroneThe krone is the currency of Denmark, including the autonomous provinces of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The krone is pegged to the euro via the European Union's exchange rate mechanism. The plural form is "kroner" and one krone is divided into 100 øre, the singular form being the same as the...
to reduce this problem.
The success most often alluded to in regard to the Danish policy toward Germany is the protection of the
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ish minority in Denmark. Throughout the years of its hold on power, the government consistently refused to accept German demands regarding the Jews. The authorities would not enact special laws concerning Jews, and their civil rights remained equal with those of the rest of the population. German authorities became increasingly exasperated with this position but concluded that any attempt to remove or mistreat Jews would be "politically unacceptable." Even the
GestapoThe was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning in April 1934, it was under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel under Heinrich Himmler in his position as leader of the SS and Chief of German Police...
officer Dr.
Werner BestWerner Best was a German jurist, police chief, SS-Obergruppenführer and Nazi leader from Darmstadt, Hesse. Best served as civilian administrator of France and Denmark while Nazi Germany occupied those countries during World War II.-Early World War II:From 1939-40, Best was an SS-Obergruppenführer...
, plenipotentiary in Denmark from November 1942, believed that any attempt to remove the Jews would be enormously disruptive to the relationship between the two governments and recommended against any action concerning the Jews of Denmark.
King Christian XChristian X was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and last king of Iceland between 1918 and 1944. He was born at Charlottenlund Palace near Copenhagen....
remained in Denmark throughout the war, a symbol of courage much appreciated by his subjects, though the story claiming that he would wear the star of David if Jews were forced to is apocryphal.
Free Corps Denmark
On the 29th of June, 1941, days after the
invasion of the USSROperation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km front...
,
Free Corps Denmark was founded as a corps of Danish volunteers to fight against the Soviet Union.
Free Corps Denmark was set up at the initiative of the SS and DNSAP who approached Lieutenant-Colonel C.P. Kryssing of the Danish army shortly after the invasion of the USSR had begun. The Nazi paper
Fædrelandet proclaimed the creation of the corps on 29 June 1941.
According to Danish law, it was not illegal to join a foreign army, but active recruiting on Danish soil was illegal. The SS disregarded this law and began recruiting efforts - predominantly recruiting Danish Nazis and members of the German-speaking minority. The Danish government discovered this and decided to concentrate on persuading the Germans not to recruit underage boys. General Prior wanted to sack Kryssing and his designated second-in-command but decided to consult the cabinet. It agreed that Kryssing should be sacked in its meeting on 2 July 1941, but this decision was later withdrawn when Erik Scavenius--who had not attended the original meeting--returned from negotiations and announced that he had reached an agreement with Renthe-Fink that soldiers wishing to join this corps could be given leave until further notice. The government issued an announcement stating that "Lieut.Colonel C.P. Kryssing, Chief of the 5th Artillery reg., Holbæk, has with the consent of the Royal Danish Government assumed command over 'Free Corps Denmark'". The Danish text only explicitly said that the government recognized that Kryssing had been given a new command, it did not sanction the creation of the corps, which had already happened without its creators asking the government's consent.. In July 1941
Heinrich HimmlerHeinrich Luitpold Himmler , one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, served as Chief of the German Police and Minister of the Interior...
complained that Denmark was unofficially trying to stop recruitment, since the word ran in the army that anyone joining would be committing treason. The government later instructed the army and navy not to obstruct applications from soldiers wishing to leave active duty and join the corps.
A 1998 study showed that the average recruit to
Free Corps Denmark was a Nazi, a member of the German minority in Denmark, or both and that recruitment was very broad socially. Historian Bo Lidegaard notes: "The relationship between the population and the corps was freezing cold, and legionnaires on leave time and again came into fights, with civilians meeting the corps' volunteers with massive contempt." Lidegaard gives the following figures for 1941: 6,000 Danish citizens had signed up to German army duty (1,500 of these belonged to the German minority in Denmark).
Anti-Comintern pact
On 20 November 1941, 5 months after the invasion of the USSR, the Danish government received a German "invitation" to join the Anti-Comintern pact. Finland accepted reluctantly on 25 November and stated that it presumed that Denmark would also attend the ceremony (effectively conditioning its own attendance). Erik Scavenius argued that Denmark should sign the pact but the Cabinet ministers refused, stating that this would violate the policy of neutrality. Scavenius reported this decision to Renthe-Fink. Fink replied on 21 November that "Germany would be unable to comprehend" a Danish rejection and demanded this decision be reversed before the end of the day. He assured Scavenius that the pact contained neither "political or other obligations" (i.e., going to war with the USSR). At a cabinet meeting the same day, it was suggested to seek a written confirmation of this promise in an addendum to the protocol. Stauning agreed on these terms, since it would effectively make the signing meaningless. The Danish foreign office drew up a list of four terms that stated that Denmark only committed itself to "police action" in Denmark and that the nation remained neutral. The German foreign ministry agreed to the terms, provided that the protocol was not made public, which was the intent of the Danish foreign ministry.
As Berlin grew tired of waiting,
Joachim von RibbentropUlrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.- Early life :...
called Copenhagen on 23 November threatening to "cancel the peaceful occupation" unless Denmark complied. On 23 November, the
Wehrmacht in Denmark was put on alert and
Renthe-FinkCecil von Renthe-Fink was a German diplomat. He was plenipotentiary of Denmark from April 9 1940 until 1942.He was appointed ambassador to Denmark in 1936. In 1939 he became a member of the Nazi party. After the occupation of Denmark he became plenipotentiary. In 1942 he was replaced by Dr. Werner...
met
StauningThorvald August Marinus Stauning was the first social democratic Prime Minister of Denmark. He served as Prime Minister from 1924 to 1926 and again from 1929 until his death in 1942....
and Foreign Minister
MunchPeter Rochegune Munch was a leading Danish historian and politician. He was a leading member of the Radikale Venstre, and represented Langeland in parliament....
at 10 AM stating that there would be no room for "parliamentary excuses". If the German demands were not met Germany "would no longer be committed by the promises given on 9 April 1940" (the threat of a state of war, a Nazi government, and territorial dismemberment). In a Cabinet meeting at 2 PM that day, Stauning,
ScaveniusErik Julius Christian Scavenius was the Danish foreign minister 1909–1910, 1913–1920 and 1940–1943, and prime minister from 1942 to 1943. His cabinet resigned in 1943 and suspended operations...
, Munch,
Gunnar LarsenGunnar Otterbech Larsen was a Norwegian journalist, writer, and translator.He worked in the newspaper Dagbladet from 1923 to 1958, where he was news editor from 1930 and became editor-in-chief with Helge Seip in 1954....
and one additional minister advocated accession; seven ministers opposed. In a meeting the same day in the Nine Man committee, three more ministers caved in, most notably Vilhelm Buhl, stating "Cooperation is the last shred of our defence". Prime Minister Stauning's notes from the day stated:
The objective is a political positioning. But this was established by the occupation. The danger of saying no--I would not like to see a TerbovenJosef Antonius Heinrich Terboven was a Nazi leader, best known as the Reichskommissar during the German military occupation of Norway.- Early life :...
here. Sign with addendum--that modifies the pact.
Scavenius boarded a train and headed for Berlin, where he arrived on Monday 24 November. The next crisis came when he was met by Renthe-Fink, who informed him that Ribbentrop had informed Fink that there had been a "misunderstanding" regarding the four clauses and that clause 2 would be deleted. This had specified that Denmark only had police-like obligations. Scavenius had a strict mandate not to change a sentence and stated that he would be unable to return to Copenhagen with a different content from the one agreed upon, but that he was willing to reopen negotiations to clarify the matter further. This reply enraged Ribbentrop (and rumours claim that he was considering ordering the SS to arrest Scavenius). The task fell to German diplomat von Weizsäcker to patch up a compromise. He watered down the wording but left the content pretty intact. Nonetheless, for Scavenius it was a strong setback that the four clauses would now only get the status of a unilateral Danish declaration (
Aktennotitz) with a comment on it by Fink that its content "no doubt" was in compliance with the pact. Furthermore he was instructed to give a public speech while abstaining from mentioning the four clauses but only making general statements about Denmark's status as a neutral nation. Scavenius signed the pact. At the following reception, the Italian ambassador described Scavenius as "a fish dragged on land ... a small old gentleman in a suit asking himself how on earth he got to this place". Lidegaard comments that the old man remained defiant: during a conversation with Ribbentrop in which the latter complained about the "barbarous cannibalism" of Russian POWs, Scavenius rhetorically asked if that statement meant that Germany didn't feed her prisoners.
When news of the signing reached Denmark, it left the population outraged, and rumours immediately spread about what Denmark had now committed itself to. The cabinet sent a car to pick up Scavenius at the ferry, to avoid his riding the train alone to Copenhagen. At the same time a large demonstration gathered outside of
ParliamentChristiansborg Palace, on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, is the seat of the Folketing , the Danish Prime Minister's Office and the Danish Supreme Court...
, which led the Minister of Justice, Eigil Thune Jacobsen, to remark that he didn't like to see Danish police beating up students singing patriotic songs. When Scavenius had returned to Copenhagen, he asked the cabinet to debate once and for all where the red lines existed in Danish relations with Germany. This debate concluded that three red lines existed: 1) No legislation discriminating against Jews, 2) Denmark should never join the
Axis PactThe Axis powers comprised the countries that were opposed to the Allies during World War II. The three major Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers...
between Germany, Italy, and Japan, 3) No unit of the Danish army should ever fight against foreign forces. To the surprise of many, Scavenius accepted these instructions without hesitation.
Telegram crisis
In 1942,
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
transmitted a long, flattering birthday telegram to King Christian. The King replied with a simple
Spreche Meinen besten Dank aus. Chr. Rex (English:
Giving my best thanks. King Christian) sending the
FührerThe word Führer is 'leader' or 'guide' in the German language, derived from the verb , a cognate of the Old English words faran and fær and the Modern English words derived from the older terms such as now mostly used in compounds such as wayfarer and sea-faring...
into a state of rage at this deliberate slight, and seriously damaging Danish relations with Germany. Hitler immediately recalled his ambassador and expelled the Danish ambassador from Germany. The plenipotentiary, Rente-Fink was replaced by Werner Best and orders to crack down in Denmark were issued. Hitler also demanded that Erik Scavenius become prime minister, and all remaining Danish troops were ordered out of Jutland.
Increasing resistance
As the war dragged on, the Danish population became increasingly hostile to the Germans. Soldiers stationed in Denmark had found most of the population cold and distant from the beginning of the occupation, but their willingness to cooperate had made the relationship workable. The government had attempted to discourage sabotage and violent resistance to the occupation, but by the autumn of 1942 the numbers of violent acts of resistance were increasing steadily to the point that Germany declared Denmark "enemy territory" for the first time. After the battles of
StalingradThe Battle of Stalingrad was a battle of World War II between Nazi Germany and its allies and the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 17 July 1942 and 2 February 1943....
and
El-AlameinThe Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. The battle lasted from 23 October to 5 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance...
the incidents of resistance, violent and symbolic, increased rapidly.
In March 1943 the Germans allowed a
general electionThe Danish Folketing election of 1943 was held on 23 March 1943, except on the Faroe Islands where the election was held on 3 May. It was the first election during the German occupation, and although many people feared how the Germans might react to the election, the event took place peacefully...
to be held. The voter turnout was 89.5%, the highest in any Danish parliamentary election, and 94% cast their ballots for one of the democratic parties behind the cooperation policy while 2.2% voted for the anti-cooperation
Dansk Samling. 2.1% voted for the Nazi party, almost corresponding to the 1.8% the party had received in the
1939 electionsThe Danish Folketing election of 1939 was held on 3 April 1939, except on the Faroe Islands where the election was held on 19 April. The election followed a dissolution of both chambers in order to call a referendum on changing the constitution. The referendum was held on 23 May but failed due to a...
. The election, discontent, and a growing feeling of optimism that Germany would be defeated led to widespread
strikesStrike action, often simply called a strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to perform work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became important in factories and mines...
and civil disturbances in the summer of 1943. The Danish government refused to deal with the situation in a way that would satisfy the Germans, who presented an ultimatum to the government, including the following demands, on 28 August 1943: A ban on people assembling in public, outlawing strikes, the introduction of a curfew, censorship should be conducted with German assistance, special (German military) courts should be introduced, and the death penalty should be introduced in cases of sabotage. In addition, the city of
OdenseThe city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark. The name Odense comes from the Norse god Odin.Odense city has a population of 158,678 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
was ordered to pay a fine of 1 million kroner for the death of a German soldier killed in that city and hostages were to be held as security.
The Danish government refused, so on 29 August 1943 the Germans officially dissolved the Danish government and instituted
martial lawMartial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice.Martial law is sometimes imposed during wars or occupations in the absence of any other civil government. Examples of this form of military rule include Germany and Japan...
. The Danish cabinet handed in its resignation, although since King Christian never officially accepted it, the government remained functioning
de jure until the end of the war, but this is a technicality. In reality all day-to-day business had been handed over to the Permanent Secretaries, each effectively running his own ministry. The Germans ran the rest of the country, and the Danish
ParliamentRigsdagen was the name of the Parliament of Denmark from 1849 to 1953.Rigsdagen was Denmark's first parliament, and it was incorporated in the Constitution of 1849. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses, the Folketing and the Landstinget. The distinction between the two houses...
didn't convene for the remainder of the occupation.
Anticipating a German attack on the Copenhagen Docks, the
Danish navyThe Royal Danish Navy is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for the maritime defence and sovereignty of Danish, Greenlandic and Faroese territorial waters...
had instructed its captains to resist any German attempts to assume control over their vessels. The navy managed to scuttle 32 of its larger ships, while Germany succeeded in seizing 14 of the larger and 50 of the smaller vessels. The Germans later succeeded in raising and refitting 15 of the sunken ships. During the scuttling of the Danish fleet, a number of vessels were ordered to attempt an escape to Swedish waters, and 13 vessels succeeded in this attempt, four of which were larger ships. By the autumn of 1944, these ships officially formed a Danish naval
flotillaA flotilla , or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats or minesweepers...
in exile In 1943, Swedish authorities allowed 500 Danish soldiers in Sweden to train themselves as "police troops". By the autumn of 1944, Sweden raised this number to 4,800 and recognized the entire unit as a Danish military
brigadeA brigade is a military unit that is typically composed of two to five regiments or battalions, depending on the era and nationality of a given army. Usually, a brigade is a sub-component of a division, a larger unit consisting of two or more brigades; however, some brigades are classified as a...
in exile. Danish collaboration continued on an administrative level, with the Danish bureaucracy functioning under German command.
After the fall of the government, Denmark was exposed to the full extent of Nazi terror. In October the Germans decided to remove all Jews from Denmark, but thanks to an information leak from German diplomat
Georg Ferdinand DuckwitzGeorg Ferdinand Duckwitz was a German attache who warned the Danish Jews about their intended deportation in 1943...
and
swift actionThe rescue of the Danish Jews occurred during Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark during World War II. When Hitler ordered that Danish Jews be arrested and deported on 1–2 October 1943, many Danes took part in a collective effort to evacuate the roughly 8,000 Jews of Denmark by sea to nearby...
by Danish civilians, the vast majority of the Danish Jews were transported to safety in neutral Sweden by means of fishing boats and motorboats. The entire evacuation lasted two months and one man helped ferry more than 1,400 Jews to safety.
SabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions...
, unencumbered by government opposition, grew greatly in frequency and severity, though it was rarely of very serious concern to the Germans. Nonetheless, the
Danish resistance movementThe Danish resistance movement was an underground insurgency movement to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the unusually lenient terms given to Danish people by the Nazi occupation authority, the movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale...
had some successes, such as on
D-DayD-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
when the
trainA train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport freight or passengers from one place to another. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway....
network in Denmark was disrupted for days, delaying the arrival of German reinforcements in
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
. An underground government was established, and the
illegal pressThe phrase underground press is most often used to refer to the independently published and distributed underground papers associated with the counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and other western nations...
flourished. Allied governments, who had been skeptical about Denmark's commitment to fight Germany, began recognizing it as a full ally.
The permanent secretary of the ministry of foreign affairs Nils Svenningsen in January 1944 suggested establishment of a Danish camp in order to avoid deportations to Germany. Werner Best accepted this suggestion, but on condition that this camp was built close to the German border.
Frøslev Prison CampFrøslev Camp was an internment camp in German-occupied Denmark during World War II.In order to avoid deportation of Danes to German concentration camps, Danish authorities suggested, in January 1944, that an internment camp be created in Denmark...
was set up in August 1944.
Gestapo had limited trust in the Danish police which had a total 10,000 members. 1,960 of these were
arrested and deported to GermanyDuring World War II, the Danish government choose to cooperate with the Nazi occupation force. Even though this applied to the Danish police as well, many where reluctant to cooperate...
on 19 September 1944.
In September 1943, a variety of resistance groups grouped together in the Danish Freedom Council, which coordinated resistance activities.
A high-profile resister was former government minister
John Christmas MøllerGuido Leo John Christmas Møller was a Danish politician representing the Conservative People's Party. After the German occupation of Denmark, he joined the coalition cabinet, but was forced to withdraw following German pressure in October 1940; the German authorities felt he was too negative...
who fled to England in 1942 and became a widely popular commentator because of his broadcasts to the nation over the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
.
Economy
Denmark faced some serious economic problems during the war. The
Danish economyWith very few natural resources, the mixed economy of Denmark relies almost entirely on human resources. The service sector makes up the vast amount of the employment and economy. Its industrialized market economy depends on imported raw materials and foreign trade. Within the European Union,...
was fundamentally hurt by the rising cost of raw material imports such as
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and
oilPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
. The
blockadeA blockade is an effort to cut off the communications of a particular area by force. It is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually directed at an entire country or region, rather than a fortress or city. Also, a blockade historically took place at sea, with the blockading power seeking...
against Germany affected Denmark too with unfortunate results. Since the country has virtually no
natural resourcesNatural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...
of its own it was very vulnerable to these price shocks and shortages. The government had foreseen the possibility of coal and oil shortages and had stockpiled some before the war, which, combined with
rationingRationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarce goods or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
, prevented some of the worst potential problems from coming to the country. The disruptions to the European trading network were also damaging to the economy, but all things considered, Denmark did quite well compared to other countries during the war.
The country, at least certain sections of it, did so well that it has been open to the accusation of profiteering from the war. After the war there was some effort to find and punish profiteers, but the consequences and scope of these trials were far less severe than in many other countries, largely a reflection of the general acceptance of the realistic need for cooperation with Germany. On the whole, though the country fared relatively well, this is only a relative measure. Phil Giltner has worked out that Germany had a "debt" of roughly 6.9 billion
KronerThe krone is the currency of Denmark, including the autonomous provinces of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The krone is pegged to the euro via the European Union's exchange rate mechanism. The plural form is "kroner" and one krone is divided into 100 øre, the singular form being the same as the...
to Denmark as a whole. This means that they had taken far more out of the Danish economy than they had put in, aside from the negative side effects of the war on trade.
Post-war currency reform
The
Danish National BankDanmarks Nationalbank is the central bank of Denmark. It is a non-eurozone member of the European System of Central Banks . The bank issues the Danish currency, the krone....
estimates that the occupation had resulted in the printing press increasing the currency supply from the pre-war figure of 400 million
kronerThe krone is the currency of Denmark, including the autonomous provinces of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The krone is pegged to the euro via the European Union's exchange rate mechanism. The plural form is "kroner" and one krone is divided into 100 øre, the singular form being the same as the...
to 1,600 million, much of which ended up in the hands of war profiteers. In July 1945, two months after the Liberation of Denmark, the Danish
ParliamentRigsdagen was the name of the Parliament of Denmark from 1849 to 1953.Rigsdagen was Denmark's first parliament, and it was incorporated in the Constitution of 1849. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses, the Folketing and the Landstinget. The distinction between the two houses...
passed an emergency law initiating a currency reform, making all old banknotes void. A small number of employees at the National Bank had clandestinely begun the production of new banknotes in late 1943. The production of new notes happened without the knowledge of the German forces located at the bank, and by the spring of 1945 the bank's stock of notes was sufficient to initiate the exchange. The law required was passed hastily on Friday 20 July and published the same day; it also closed all shops for the weekend. By Monday 23 July, all old notes were officially outlawed as legal tender and any note not declared in a bank by 30 July would lose its value. This law allowed any Dane to exchange a total of 100 kroner to new notes, no questions asked. An amount up to 500 kroner would be exchanged, provided the owner signed a written statement explaining its origins. Any amount above this level would be deposited in an
escrowAn escrow account is
*an account established by a broker, under the provisions of license law, for the purpose of holding funds on behalf of the broker's principal or some other person until the consummation or termination of a transaction, or...
account and only released or exchanged following scrutiny by tax officials examining the validity of the person's statement about the origins of this wealth. All existing
bank accountA bank account is a financial account with a banking institution, recording the financial transactions between the customer and the bank and the resulting financial position of the customer with the bank....
s were also scrutinized. Multiple exchanges of cash by the same person were avoided by the requirement that currency would only be exchanged to anybody also handing in a specified
ration stampRation stamps or ration card is a card issued by a government allowing the holder to obtain certain rations. They are frequently seen in wartime. They are also used to provide goods to the poor sections of the society at highly subsidized prices....
, previously issued in a different context, which had not yet been authorized for use. The exchange resulted in a significant drop in the currency supply, and around 20% of the 3,000 million kroner property declared had not previously been registered by the tax authorities. Estimates vary for the amounts of currency simply destroyed by its owners. All banknotes issued since the changeover date remain valid indefinitely; earlier ones are not valid.
Hardship and the end of the war
Most of Denmark was liberated from German rule in May 1945 by British forces commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery; the easternmost island of
BornholmBornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea located to the east of the rest of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts like glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming...
was liberated by Soviet forces, who remained there for more than a year.
Although Denmark was spared many of the difficulties other areas of Europe suffered, its population still experienced hardships, particularly after the Germans took charge in 1943. Yet on the whole, Denmark can be said to have suffered the least of all the European combatants from the war. Many were killed and imprisoned because of their work resisting the German authorities. There were small bombing raids on select targets in the country, but nothing comparable to that suffered by, for instance, neighbouring Norway or the Netherlands. One area that was badly damaged was the island of
BornholmBornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea located to the east of the rest of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts like glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming...
, largely due to
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
bombardment of the German garrison there.
Just over 850 members of the
resistanceThe Danish resistance movement was an underground insurgency movement to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the unusually lenient terms given to Danish people by the Nazi occupation authority, the movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale...
were killed during the war. Roughly 900 Danish civilians were killed in a variety of ways: either by being caught in air raids, killed during civil disturbances, or in reprisal killings, the so-called
clearing-murders. 39 Danish soldiers were killed or injured during the invasion, and four were killed on 29 August 1943 when the Germans dissolved the Danish government. Some sources estimate that about 360 Danes died in concentration camps. The largest groups of fatalities were amongst Danish sailors, who continued to operate throughout the war, most falling victim to submarines. 1,850 sailors died. Just over 100 soldiers died as part of Allied forces.
Approximately 6,000 Danes were sent to concentration camps during WWII, of whom about 600 (10 %) died. In comparison with other countries this is a relatively low mortality rate in the concentration camps.
After the war, 40,000 people were arrested on suspicion of
collaborationCollaborationism describes the treason of cooperating with enemy forces occupying one's country. As such it implies criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, including complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions, pillage, and economic exploitation as well as...
. Of these, 13,500 were punished in some way. 78 received
death sentence"Death Sentence" is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov....
s, of which 46 were carried out. Most received prison sentences of under four years. Many people criticized the process for victimizing "small" people disproportionately, while many politicians and businesses were left untouched. Another difficult issues was what to do with collaborators who were essentially "following orders" that their own government had given them, such as business executives who had been encouraged to work with the Germans.
Although some members of the resistance tried to organize new political parties after the war to reshape the political order in Denmark, they were unable to do so. The only party that appeared to receive a significant boost from resistance was the Communist Party. The Communists received about one-eighth of the popular vote in the October 1945 elections.
German refugees
In the final weeks of the war, between February 11 and May 9, about 250,000 German refugees fled across the Baltic Sea, fleeing the advancing Soviet Army. For the most part, the refugees were from East Prussia, Pomerania, and the Baltic states. Many of the refugees were women, children, or elderly. A third of the refugees were younger than 15 years old.
The refugees were interned in hundreds of camps from Copenhagen to Jutland, placed behind barbed wire and guarded by military personnel. The largest camp, located in Oksbøl, on the west coast of
JutlandJutland , historically also called Cimbria, forms the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish-German border to its south...
, held 37,000 refugees.
In the camps, food rations were meager and medical care was inadequate. In 1945 alone, more than 13,000 people died, among them some 7,000 children under the age of five.
See also
- Battle of Denmark
The Battle of Denmark was the fighting that followed the German army crossing the Danish border on 9 April 1940 by land, sea and air. The German ground campaign against Denmark was the briefest on record in military history.-Motivation for invading Denmark:...
- Danish resistance movement
The Danish resistance movement was an underground insurgency movement to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the unusually lenient terms given to Danish people by the Nazi occupation authority, the movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale...
- Rescue of the Danish Jews
The rescue of the Danish Jews occurred during Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark during World War II. When Hitler ordered that Danish Jews be arrested and deported on 1–2 October 1943, many Danes took part in a collective effort to evacuate the roughly 8,000 Jews of Denmark by sea to nearby...
- British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II
The British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II, also known as "Operation Valentine," was implemented immediately following the German invasion of Denmark and Norway....
- Deportation of the Danish police
During World War II, the Danish government choose to cooperate with the Nazi occupation force. Even though this applied to the Danish police as well, many where reluctant to cooperate...
- Frøslev Prison Camp
Frøslev Camp was an internment camp in German-occupied Denmark during World War II.In order to avoid deportation of Danes to German concentration camps, Danish authorities suggested, in January 1944, that an internment camp be created in Denmark...
- Werner Best
Werner Best was a German jurist, police chief, SS-Obergruppenführer and Nazi leader from Darmstadt, Hesse. Best served as civilian administrator of France and Denmark while Nazi Germany occupied those countries during World War II.-Early World War II:From 1939-40, Best was an SS-Obergruppenführer...
External links