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:

Europe at the height of German military expansion, 1942

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 (1941–1944) 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)
Albanian Kingdom Albanian Kingdom 8 September 1943  – 29 November 1944 None Albanian resistance
Guernsey

 Alderney

 Sark

Military Administration in France 30 June 1940  – 9 May 1945 None Guernseyian resistance
Jersey Military Administration in France 1 July 1940  – 9 May 1945 None Jerseyian resistance
Czechoslovak Republic

Czecho-Slovak Republic


Czechoslovak Republic

Slovak Republic

German Zone of Protection in Slovakia

1 October 1938  – 11 May 1945 Gau Bayreuth
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Reichsgau Niederdonau
Reichsgau Oberdonau
Reichsgau Sudetenland
Czechoslovakian resistance
Federal State of Austria 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 Reichsgau Kärnten
Reichsgau Niederdonau
Reichsgau Oberdonau
Reichsgau Salzburg
Reichsgau Steiermark
Reichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg
Reichsgau Wien
Austrian resistance
Free City of Danzig None. The city was directly annexed to Germany along with the surrounding Polish Pomeranian Voivodeship. 1 September 1939  – 9 May 1945 Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia Danzigian resistance
French Republic

Free France


Provisional Government of the French Republic

French State

Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France


Military Administration in France


Realm Commissariat of Belgium and Northern France

10 May 1940  – 9 May 1945 Gau Baden
Gau Westmark
Reichsgau Wallonien
French resistance
Luxembourg Military Administration of Luxembourg

Civil Administration Area of Luxembourg

10 May 1940  – February 1945 Gau Moselland Luxembourg resistance
Italian Islands of the Aegean Italian Islands of the Aegean 8 September 1943  – 8 May 1945 None
Belgium Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France

Realm Commissariat of Belgium and Northern France

10 May 1940  – 4 February 1945 Gau Cologne-Aachen

Reichsgau Wallonien

Belgian resistance
Denmark protectorate state 9 April 1940  – 5 May 1945 None Danish resistance
Kingdom of Greece Military Administration in Greece
6 April 1941  – 8 May 1945 None Greek resistance
Kingdom of Hungary Kingdom of Hungary 19 March 1944  – May 1945 None Hungarian resistance
Kingdom of Italy Italian Social Republic

8 September 1943  – 2 May 1945 None Italian resistance
Norway Realm Commissariat for the Occupied Norwegian Territories 9 April 1940  – 8 May 1945 None Norwegian resistance
Netherlands Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Dutch Territories 10 May 1940  – 20 May 1945 None Dutch resistance
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Albanian Kingdom

German occupied territory of Montenegro


Independent State of Croatia


Independent State of Macedonia


Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia

6 April 1941  – 15 May 1945 Reichsgau Kärnten
Reichsgau Steiermark
Yugoslav resistance
Monaco None 8 September 1943  – 3 September 1944 None
Republic of Lithuania

Provisional Government of Lithuania

Reich Commissariat East 22 March 1939  – 21 July 1940

23 June 1941  – 5 August 1941

Gau East Prussia Lithuanian resistance
Republic of Poland Military Administration in Poland

General Government administration


Reich Commissariat East


Reich Commissariat Ukraine

1 September 1939  – 9 May 1945 Bezirk Bialystok
Gau East Prussia
Gau Niederschlesien
General Government
Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia
Reichsgau Wartheland
Polish resistance
San Marino None 17 September 1944  – 20 September 1944 None
Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia Commissioner Government

Government of National Salvation

April 30, 1941  – January 1945 None Serbian resistance
Slovak Republic German Zone of Protection in Slovakia 23 March 1939  – May 1945 None Slovakian resistance
Territory of the Saar Basin 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 Gau Palatinate-Saar

Gau Saar-Palatinate
Gau Westmark

Saar Basinian resistance
Ukrainian National Government Reich Commissariat Ukraine 30 June 1941  – September 1941 General Government Ukrainian resistance
Parts of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Lepel Republic

Military Administration in the Soviet Union


Reich Commissariat East


Reich Commissariat Ukraine

22 June 1941  – 10 May 1945 Bezirk Bialystok
General Government
Soviet resistance

Allied governments in exile

Government in exile Capital in exile Timeline of exile Occupier(s)
Austrian Democratic Union London 1941–1945 German Reich/Greater German Reich
Free France London
(1940–1941)

Algiers, French Algeria
(1942 – August 31, 1944)

1940 – August 31, 1944 French State

German Reich/Greater German Reich
Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France
Reich Commissariat of Belgium and Northern France

Government of the Republic of Poland in exile Paris
(September 29/30, 1939 – 1940)
Angers, French Republic
(1940 – June 12, 1940)

London
(June 12, 1940 – 1990)

September 29/30, 1939 – December 22, 1990 German Reich/Greater German Reich

Reich Commissariat East
Reich Commissariat Ukraine
Slovak Republic
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
People's Republic of Poland

Belgium London
(October 22, 1940 – September 8, 1944)
October 22, 1940 – September 8, 1944 German Reich/Greater German Reich

Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France
Reich Commissariat of Belgium and Northern France

Denmark None 1943–1945 German Reich/Greater German Reich
Luxembourg London 1940–1944 German Reich/Greater German Reich
Kingdom of Greece Cairo, Egypt April 29, 1941 – October 12, 1944 German Reich/Greater German Reich

Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Bulgaria

Norway London June 7, 1940 – May 31, 1945 Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Norwegian Territories
Kingdom of Yugoslavia London June 7, 1941 – March 7, 1945 Albanian Kingdom

Commissioner Government
German occupied territory of Montenegro
German Reich/Greater German Reich
Government of National Salvation
Independent State of Croatia
Independent Macedonia
Kingdom of Bulgaria
Kingdom of Hungary
Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia

Netherlands London 1940–1945 Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Dutch Territories
Provisional Government of Czechoslovakia Paris
(October 2, 1939 – 1940)

London
(1940–1941)
Aston Abbotts, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
(1941–1945)

October 2, 1939 – April 2, 1945 German Reich/Greater German Reich

Kingdom of Hungary
Slovak Republic

Axis governments in exile

Government in exile Capital in exile Timeline of exile Occupier(s)
Kingdom of Bulgaria Vienna, Greater German Reich September 16, 1944 – May 10, 1945 Kingdom of Bulgaria

Kingdom of Greece
Kingdom of Yugoslavia

French State Sigmaringen, Greater German Reich 1944 – April 22, 1945 Provisional Government of the French Republic
Kingdom of Hungary Vienna, Greater German Reich

Munich, Greater German Reich

March 28/29, 1945 – May 7, 1945 Czechoslovak Republic

Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Kingdom of Romania Vienna, Greater German Reich 1944–1945 Kingdom of Romania
Montenegrin State Council Zagreb, Independent State of Croatia Summer of 1944 – May 8, 1945 Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Slovak Republic Kremsmünster, Great-German Reich April 4, 1945 – 8 May 1945 Czechoslovak Republic

Neutral governments in exile

Government in exile Capital in exile Timeline of exile Occupier(s)
Belarusian Democratic Republic Prague, Czechoslovak Republic
(1923–1938)

Prague, Czecho-Slovak Republic
(1938–1939)


Prague, German Reich/Greater German Reich
(1939–1945)

1919 – present German Reich/Greater German Reich

Realm Commissariat East
Realm Commissariat Ukraine
Republic of Poland
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Republic of Estonia Stockholm, Kingdom of Sweden
(1944 – August 20, 1991)

New York City, United States of America

June 17, 1940 – August 20, 1991 Realm Commissariat East

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Ukrainian People's Republic Warsaw, Republic of Poland
(1920–1939)

Prague, German Reich/Greater German Reich
(1939–1944)

1920 – August 22, 1992 German Reich/Greater German Reich

Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Romania
Realm Commissariat Ukraine
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

See also

References

  1. Encyclopædia Britannica, German occupied Europe. World War II. Retrieved 1 September 2015 from the Internet Archive.
  2. Prazmowska, Anita (1995-03-23). Britain and Poland 1939–1943: The Betrayed Ally. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521483858.
  3. Moorhouse, Roger (2014-10-14). The Devils' Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Stalin, 1939–1941. Basic Books. ISBN 9780465054923.
  4. Goldstein, Erik; Lukes, Igor (2012-10-12). The Munich Crisis, 1938: Prelude to World War II. Routledge. ISBN 9781136328329.
  5. Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José (2001-08-30). Europe in Exile: European Exile Communities in Britain 1940–45. Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781782389910.
  6. Hanson, Victor Davis (2017-10-17). The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won. Basic Books. ISBN 9780465093199.
  7. 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.)
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