German-occupied Europe
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 and 1945, during and shortly before World War II, generally administered by the Nazi regime.[1] The German Wehrmacht occupied European territory:
- as far east as the town of Mozdok in the northern Caucasus in the Soviet Union (1942–1943)
- as far north as the settlement of Barentsburg in Svalbard in the Kingdom of Norway
- as far south as the island of Gavdos in the Kingdom of Greece
- as far west as the island of Ushant in the French Republic
Outside of Europe proper, German forces effectively controlled areas of North Africa in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia under ostensible British, Italian and Vichy French rule at times between 1941 and 1943. German military scientists established the Schatzgräber weather station base (1943–1944) as far north as Alexandra Land in Franz Josef Land – arguably part of Asia. Manned German weather stations also operated in North America (Greenland: Holzauge, Bassgeiger, Edelweiss base – 1942–1944). Additionally, German Kriegsmarine vessels operated in all of the world's oceans throughout the war.
Background
Several German-occupied countries initially entered World War II as Allies of the United Kingdom[2] or the Soviet Union.[3] Some were forced to surrender before outbreak of the war such as Czechoslovakia;[4] others like Poland (invaded on 1 September 1939)[1] were conquered in battle and then occupied. In some cases, the legitimate governments went into exile, in other cases the governments-in-exile were formed by their citizens in other Allied countries.[5] Some countries occupied by Nazi Germany were officially neutral. Others were former members of the Axis powers that were occupied by German forces at a later stage of the war.[6][7]
Occupied countries
The countries occupied included all, or most of the following:
| Country or territory of occupation | Puppet state(s) or military administration(s) | Timeline of occupation(s) | German annexed or occupied territory | Resistance movement(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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8 September 1943 – 29 November 1944 | None | Albanian resistance |
 |
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30 June 1940 – 9 May 1945 | None | Guernseyian resistance |
 |
|
1 July 1940 – 9 May 1945 | None | Jerseyian resistance |
 |
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1 October 1938 – 11 May 1945 |  |
Czechoslovakian resistance |
 |
None. Although there was substantial popular support in Austria for some type of (re)unification with Germany, Chancellors Engelbert Dollfuss and his successor Kurt Schuschnigg wanted to maintain at least some type of independence. Dollfuss had implemented an authoritarian regime now termed Austrofascism, continued by Schussnigg, which imprisoned many members of the Austrian Nazi Party and the Social Democratic Party which both favored unification. Violence by Austrian Nazi Party members including the assassination of Dollfuss, along with German propaganda and ultimately threats of invasion by Adolf Hitler, eventually led Schuschnigg to capitulate and resign. Hitler, however, did not wait for his hand-picked successor, Austrian Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart, to be sworn in and ordered German troops to invade Austria at dawn on 12 March 1938, where they were met with cheering crowds and an Austrian army previously ordered not to resist. | 12 March 1938 – 9 May 1945 | |
Austrian resistance |
 |
None. The city was directly annexed to Germany along with the surrounding Polish Pomeranian Voivodeship. | 1 September 1939 – 9 May 1945 | |
Danzigian resistance |
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|
10 May 1940 – 9 May 1945 | |
French resistance |
 |
|
10 May 1940 – February 1945 | |
Luxembourg resistance |
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 |
8 September 1943 – 8 May 1945 | None | |
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|
10 May 1940 – 4 February 1945 | |
Belgian resistance |
 |
protectorate state | 9 April 1940 – 5 May 1945 | None | Danish resistance |
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|
6 April 1941 – 8 May 1945 | None | Greek resistance |
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|
19 March 1944 – May 1945 | None | Hungarian resistance |
|
|
8 September 1943 – 2 May 1945 | None | Italian resistance |
 |
|
9 April 1940 – 8 May 1945 | None | Norwegian resistance |
 |
|
10 May 1940 – 20 May 1945 | None | Dutch resistance |
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|
6 April 1941 – 15 May 1945 | |
Yugoslav resistance |
 |
None | 8 September 1943 – 3 September 1944 | None | |
 |
None | 15 September 1944 – 25 April 1945 | None | Finnish resistance |
 |
|
22 March 1939 – 21 July 1940
23 June 1941 – 5 August 1941 |
|
Lithuanian resistance |
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|
1 September 1939 – 9 May 1945 | |
Polish resistance |
 |
None | 17 September 1944 – 20 September 1944 | None | |
|
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April 30, 1941 – January 1945 | None | Serbian resistance |
|
|
23 March 1939 – May 1945 | None | Slovakian resistance |
 |
None. In a referendum in 1935, over 90% of residents supported reunification with Germany over remaining a League of Nations protectorate of France and the United Kingdom or joining France. | 1 March 1935 – April 1945 |
|
Saar Basinian resistance |
 |
|
30 June 1941 – September 1941 | |
Ukrainian resistance |
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Lepel Republic
|
22 June 1941 – 10 May 1945 | |
Soviet resistance |
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Governments in exile
Allied governments in exile
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Axis governments in exile
| Government in exile | Capital in exile | Timeline of exile | Occupier(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|
September 16, 1944 – May 10, 1945 | |
|
|
1944 – April 22, 1945 |  |
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|
March 28/29, 1945 – May 7, 1945 |
|
 |
|
1944–1945 | |
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Summer of 1944 – May 8, 1945 | |
|
|
April 4, 1945 – 8 May 1945 | |
Neutral governments in exile
| Government in exile | Capital in exile | Timeline of exile | Occupier(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
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(1923–1938)
|
1919 – present |
|
 |
 (1944 – August 20, 1991)
|
June 17, 1940 – August 20, 1991 |
|
|
 (1920–1939)
|
1920 – August 22, 1992 |
|
See also
- Drang nach Osten ("The Drive Eastward")
- Lebensraum ("Living Space")
- Neuordnung ("New Order")
- Areas annexed by Nazi Germany
- Pan-Germanism
References
- Encyclopædia Britannica, German occupied Europe. World War II. Retrieved 1 September 2015 from the Internet Archive.
- Prazmowska, Anita (1995-03-23). Britain and Poland 1939–1943: The Betrayed Ally. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521483858.
- Moorhouse, Roger (2014-10-14). The Devils' Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Stalin, 1939–1941. Basic Books. ISBN 9780465054923.
- Goldstein, Erik; Lukes, Igor (2012-10-12). The Munich Crisis, 1938: Prelude to World War II. Routledge. ISBN 9781136328329.
- Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José (2001-08-30). Europe in Exile: European Exile Communities in Britain 1940–45. Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781782389910.
- Hanson, Victor Davis (2017-10-17). The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won. Basic Books. ISBN 9780465093199.
- Cornelius, Deborah S. (2011). Hungary in World War II: Caught in the Cauldron. Fordham Univ Press. ISBN 9780823233434.
Bibliography
- Bank, Jan. Churches and Religion in the Second World War (Occupation in Europe) (2016)
- Gildea, Robert and Olivier Wieviorka. Surviving Hitler and Mussolini: Daily Life in Occupied Europe (2007).
- Klemann, Hein A.M. and Sergei Kudryashov, eds. Occupied Economies: An Economic History of Nazi-Occupied Europe, 1939–1945 (2011).
- Lagrou, Pieter. The Legacy of Nazi Occupation: Patriotic Memory and National Recovery in Western Europe, 1945–1965 (1999)
- Mazower, Mark (2008). Hitler's Empire: Nazi Rule in Occupied Europe. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 9780713996814.
- Scheck, Raffael; Fabien Théofilakis; and Julia S. Torrie, eds. German-occupied Europe in the Second World War (Routledge, 2019). 276 pp. online review
- Snyder, Timothy. Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin (2010), on Eastern Europe
- Toynbee, Arnold, ed. Survey of International Affairs, 1939–1946: Hitler's Europe (Oxford University Press. 1954) 730pp. online review; full text online free
Primary sources
- Carlyle Margaret, ed. Documents on International Affairs, 1939–1946. Volume II, Hitler's Europe (Oxford University Press. 1954) 362pp.)