WWII Military History of Denmark
It is thought that Denmark was never an intended target of Hitlerıs Germany, but it became one when he realised that Britain was likely to launch a campaign to prevent him entering Norway. As a result Hitler needed to occupy Denmark to provide himself with a stepping-stone to the more strategically important Norway although his publicly stated reason was to protect Denmark from British or French aggression.
On the 9th of April 1940, German troops crossed over the border between Germany and Denmark despite the previous yearıs non-aggression treaty and Denmarkıs declared neutrality. At the same time German forces disembarked from ships already in Copenhagen. They also took possession of the bridge linking the island of Funen.
This carefully co-ordinated attack paralysed the Danish forces who were only equipped with obsolete weaponry in a vain bid to avoid antagonising their German neighbours by matching their rearmament programme. Despite some pockets of resistance from the Danish army and some fatalities, the Danish cabinet quickly realised that any further resistance would be futile and costly, so within a few hours they surrendered to the German occupation under protest.
As a result of this action Britain occupied the previously Danish controlled
Faroe Islands so as to prevent any landings by German troops.
Although by this stage Iceland was no longer under control of Denmark and
was now self-governing, Britain also occupied Iceland for the same reason,
but handed over control to the United States in 1941.
The Danish ambassador in the US also signed a treaty with the US to allow it
to defend Greenland and station troops there.
Back in Denmark, the Germans agreed to work with the Danish authorities and respect the sovereignty of King Christian X. As a recognised fellow Aryan nation, the Germans believed that they could allow Denmark to control themselves and provide an example to the rest of Europe as to how a unified National Socialist state should operate.
Because of this the early war years in Denmark where far less harsh than in other occupied territories. There were some shortages as now Denmark could only trade with Germany and her allies, but their parliament was left virtually intact and the Danish administration still operated in Denmark, under agreements with the German authorities. The Danes had to accede to some of Germanyıs rules, such as outlawing news reports that would damage German-Danish relations, but amazingly, they managed to avoid many rules that Germany tried to impose, such as persecuting the Danish Jews or not entering a currency union with Germany.
However, as the war progressed relations between Denmark and Germany slowly began to deteriorate. First, after Hitlerıs invasion of Russia, the Communist party in Denmark was outlawed. This drove many of the communists under ground into the newly fledged resistance movement.
Also wide spread strikes and civil disturbances broke out in the summer of 1943 as the population began to believe that Germany was unlikely to win the war. The German authorities, unimpressed with the way the Danish government dealt with the situation, introduced martial law and disbanded the Danish government on the 29th August.
In response to this move, civil disobedience increased. The Danish navy
sailed some of its larger ships to Sweden, and scuttled many more in
Copenhagen harbour (although the Germans managed to refloat some of these
later).
Most of Denmarkıs Jewish population were quickly ferried across to Sweden as
well as some of the remainder of the Danish army.
Conditions in Denmark deteriorated as the war progressed towards its
conclusion, but the Danes did manage to negotiate some concessions after
losing control of the country. Danes were now being arrested and many more
would have been taken to concentration camps in Germany had it not been for
the Danes being allowed to set up their own camp just inside the Danish
border near to Germany.
Denmark continued to suffer arrests and deportations until May 1945 when
Field Marshal Montgomery officially liberated the country.
Denmark had suffered less in comparison to many occupied territories and this led to many accusations of collaboration and profiteering. However, towards the end of the war Danish resistance had become recognised and supported by the Allies who valued the quality of the intelligence gathered by them.
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