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Slovenia is a sleeper that is often overlooked by European travelers. It goes back in history to at least the 6th century BC. This jewel of a country half the size of Switzerland is bordered by Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. With a backdrop of the Julian Alps, its scenery is spectacular. Slovenia declared its independence from the Yugoslavian confederation in 1990.
Another country with an ancient history is Lebanon. It's probably best known for its once vast cedar forests that supplied monarchs like King Solomon with timber to build his famous temple. Most of the cedar forests are now gone, but Lebanon still occupies a strategic place between East and West on the Mediterranean. Those who have sampled Lebanese cuisine, won't soon forget this resilient little country.
I find Singapore quite interesting. It's one of the smallest, just 274 square miles. At one time it was an English colony,later was seized and occupied by the Japanese,became independent and went from a third world country to one of wealthiest most educated nations in the world.
I find Singapore quite interesting. It's one of the smallest, just 274 square miles. At one time it was an English colony,later was seized and occupied by the Japanese,became independent and went from a third world country to one of wealthiest most educated nations in the world.
I think it was one of the federated states of the newly independent Malaysia for a little while, too.
Really interesting as I now understand as I guess it was kind of akin with the Vichy being the ''Prime Minister'' (running the gov) and the Nazi's being the ''Head of State'' (control of military) if that analogy is quasi correct?
Not exactly. As far as both sides were concerned, Vichy was an independent nation with its' own Head of State (Marshal Petain), Prime Minister (Pierre Laval), and Minister of National Defense (General Maxime Weygand) who directed the military affairs of Vichy. The Vichy armed forces were not subordinated to German control and could be employed by the government any way it chose outside of the occupied zone. The only exception was with regard to those naval vessels still under direct command and control of Vichy. By the terms of the armistice, these ships were to be restricted to port and disarmed over time. If Vichy wished to move them, they were required to request permission from the German government before doing so. And on at least one occasion, Vichy asked for and received permission to send ships from Toulon to assist Vichy forces fighting against Free French forces who were attempting to seize control of Dakar in West Africa. With the occupation of the “Free Zone”, the military of Vichy ceased to exist and the defense of France then became the responsibility of the Germans, but all else remained unchanged.
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Originally Posted by 6 Foot 3
]O.k. another thought is that did the Nazi's allow an ''Vichy'' in Sweden, Denmark and/or the Low Countries also??
Generally speaking, the German policy with regard to the occupied territories in the West was this: The country in question would initially be under the direct control of the overall German commander for that area. Negotiations would be entered into with the country’s government to set down conditions under which it could continue to administer the day to day affairs of the nation. If an agreement could not be reached, then the territory would become what was called a “Reichskommissariat”. A “Reichskommissar” or civil administrator would then be dispatched from Germany to oversee the integration of the country and its’ economy into the Reich.
Holland and Norway are two examples where the heads of state and prime ministers either fled the country or refused to aid the Germans. Though both nations had their own versions of the Nazi Party, popular support for these movements was miniscule, spoiling German efforts to install governments which could been seen as even remotely legitimate in the eyes of the citizenry. In Holland, Anton Mussert, leader of the “Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging”, made personal appeals to Hitler, begging for the opportunity to form a government. Hitler rebuffed Mussert and instead appointed a Reichskommissar, Dr. Arthur Seyss-Inquart, who would essentially have dictatorial power over the civil administration of Holland. Hitler later designated Mussert as the “Fuhrer of the Dutch People”, but it was little more than a meaningless title; Seyss-Inquart was clearly the man in charge.
When the King of Norway and his government were evacuated from Oslo in April 1940, Vidkun Quisling went on the radio and announced that he and his “Nasjonal Samling” party were now in control of the government. When it became clear the Norwegian people had no intention of accepting Quisling as their new leader, Quisling was removed from office by the newly appointed Reichskommissar, Josef Terboven. In 1942, as part of an effort to suppress growing anti-German sentiment created by Terboven’s heavy handed approach to governing, Quisling was re-installed as “Minister-President” of the National Government. Though this gave Quisling a degree of authority that Mussert was never allowed, Quisling and his “government” were unquestionably German puppets almost to a greater extent then Petain and Vichy ever were. What Seyss-Inquart and Terboven did manage to accomplish quite successfully though was the co-opting of the political parties Mussert and Quisling led, enabling them to use members of the rank and file to fill various ministerial offices with people who would at least be loyal to the Germans.
The only other country in Western Europe the Germans can be said to have treated in almost the same manner as Vichy, was Denmark. Hitler had no particular interest in Denmark other than for use in facilitating the invasion of Norway. When German forces rolled into Denmark, the Danes quickly capitulated. This act, in addition to the decision by King Christian and Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning to remain in the country to ensure the continued functioning of the government, caused the Germans to offer somewhat more favorable terms then they otherwise might have. Instead of becoming a Reichskommissariat, Denmark was given the status of a protectorate. The King remained Head of State, the parliament continued to meet, and overall administration of the country was the sole responsibility of Danish officials. The Danish Navy retained command of all warships and the Danish Army was allowed to maintain a small security force numbering about 5,000 men. All requests from German occupation authorities and the Wehrmacht were presented to the Danish government via a Reich Plenipotentiary, who was basically a civilian ambassador.
This arrangement continued until August 1943. At that time, acts of sabotage and resistance to the German occcupation increased dramatically. When the Danish government proved itself unwilling to take steps to curb this activity, the Germans dissolved the government, placed the King under house arrest, and declared martial law. Authority over civilian affairs was assumed by the commander of the occupation forces and his orders were carried out by Danish officials who were forced to stay at their posts under threat of punishment if they failed to do so. Things in Denmark continued to function in this fashion until the country was liberated in May 1945.
What were some of the different methods of occupation the Germans used for different countries? I'm sure they had a different approach in regards to some countries vs others.
Your above post was really fantastic as i'm going to start calling you The Professor . Anyway informative as always and thanks again for answering my questions !!!
What were some of the different methods of occupation the Germans used for different countries? I'm sure they had a different approach in regards to some countries vs others.
My apologies for the delay in answering your question. If you are referring to how the Germans administered occupied territories, then yes, they did in fact have more than one method, though the establishment of Reichskommissariats was the most common. And the Reichskommissariat system was not something the Germans used only in the conquered territories of Western Europe. Two were actually set up in Eastern Europe; “Reichskommissariat Ostland” which was comprised of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, and “Reichskommissariat Ukraine”. Further Reichskommissariats were envisioned for Moscow (which would have as its’ eastern boundary the Ural Mountains), the Caucasus, and Turkestan.
Variations in the occupation scheme could be found in both the West and the East. In the West, Belgium was placed under the control of a “Militarverwaltung” or military administration led by General Alexander von Falkenhausen, though the actual responsibility for running the government was in the hands of General Eggert Reeder. Reeder’s job was made somewhat easier due to having the co-operation of the “secretaires-generaux” of the various government ministries, who had essentially been ordered by the Belgian parliament to remain at their posts and keep the government going in the absence of their superiors. Belgium remained under military adminstration until July 1944 when the “Reichskommissariat Belgium and Northern France” was formed with Josef Grohe serving as Reichskommissar.
Eastern Europe probably saw the most variety when it came to how the Germans chose to administer their newly “acquired” lands. Yugoslavia was dismantled and split up into zones of occupation controlled by Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria. In the German zone, pro-fascist puppet regimes were installed in Croatia and Serbia. With Czechoslovakia, the Germans set about creating two separate entities in March 1939. The first was an independent “Slovak Republic” which would be led by Josef Tiso, a Catholic priest turned Slovak nationalist-fascist politician. The Slovak Republic would be a German protectorate in the same way Denmark was later on, and would be responsible for the establishment of its’ own armed forces, economic structure, and foreign policy. Interestingly, even though the Slovak Republic came into being through German manipulation of the unstable political situation in Czechoslovakia, the Republic was recognized internationally as a legitimate, independent state. The remainder of Czechoslovakia became the “Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia”, which on paper at least was supposed to be an autonomous Czech administration working with German occupation authorities led by a so-called “Reichsprotektor”. In reality, Czech officials exercised no power whatsoever and simply did the bidding of the Reichsprotektor; a position held at one point by the infamous Reinhard Heydrich.
In Poland, once the parts with sizable German populations were reincorporated into the Reich, the rest of the country became what was known as the “General Government”. Despite the rather bland sounding name, the General Government would become a place where the most brutal aspects of Nazism would be exercised openly and without hesitation or restriction. By Hitler’s decree, the General Government was a state unto itself, completely separate from the Reich and outside the jurisdiction of its’ laws. All power rested solely in the hands of the General Governor who answered to no one other than the Fuhrer himself. Hitler selected Hans Frank to fill the post of Governor General. Frank had been both Hitler’s private attorney as well as the Nazi Party’s legal adviser, and was fanatically loyal to Hitler personally. The General Governor was given one task; eradicate every remaining vestige of the Polish state and permanently destroy the identity of the Poles as a people, using whatever level of violence needed to do it. Starting in October 1939, that’s exactly what Hans Frank did. The SS, Gestapo, and newly established “Ethnic German Self-Protection Militias” spread out across the land to enforce Frank’s mandate. By the time 1939 came to a close, sixty-five thousand Polish and Jewish men, women, and children had already lost their lives, mostly in mass shootings. In the nearly six years the General Government existed, acts such as this would become the norm.
Lastly, the territory taken during the push toward Moscow during Operation Barbarossa and which did not fall under the jurisdiction of either Reichskommissariat Ostland or Ukraine, was referred to simply as the “Military Operating Area”. Other than to make various towns relatively secure for use by the Wehrmacht, no formal attempts were made to administer or bring order to the area as a whole. That was to be done after the Russians were defeated.
Of course, another factor that impacted how occupied territories were treated was where on the Nazi racial totem pole the inhabitants happened to fall. Generally speaking, the more “Aryan” they were felt to be, the more suitable the population was considered for “Germanization” and eventual absorption into the Reich. Thus, if you were fortunate enough to be Dutch, Norwegian, or Danish, things didn’t go as badly for you as they could have. If you had the misfortune of being a Slav, then you had no value to the Reich other than as a potential slave laborer and were treated accordingly.
I had to do thesis research on Yugoslavia (present day Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia, Slovenia) a few years back. I then spent a few days in Serbia and really enjoyed it. I would like to visit the coastal areas on former Yugoslavia some day.
Very interesting obviously 1900s on. But even in the 1,200s and further back when Rome had territory there.
I would vote for the Netherlands. Its amazing what they accomplished and how much land they had to "re-claim" from the sea. Even their path to independence was a pretty grand accomplishment considering that they were fighting the largest empire in the world.
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. Anyway informative as always and thanks again for answering my questions !!!
