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The Dutch were neutral during World War I. There was considerable sympathy in the Netherlands for the Germans during World I. The Dutch offered asylum to the Kaiser at the end of the War and refused to turn him over to the allies for trial. After the war, the Dutch supported charities offering relief to children in both Germany and Austria. The Dutch hoped to remain neutral in World War II, but were invaded by the NAZIs as part of their Western offensive. The Dutch Air Force was destroyed and the country capitulated after the Luftwaffe terror bombing of Rotterdam. Queen Wilhemina fled to London to form a Government-in-exile. The NAZIs occupied the Netherlands for 4 years. They succeeded in killing most Dutch Jews. The Resistance had little possibility of armed oposition, but assisted the allies with relaying intelligence and assisting down airmen. After D-Day, the Allies reached the Dutch in September, but the failure of Operation Market Garden (October 1944) left most of the country still in NAZI hands until the Allies crossed the Rhine (March 1945). By this time the Dutch were near starvation.
The Dutch were neutral during World War I. Neither the Allies or the Germans occupied the Netherlands. The German invasion launching the war was directed at neighboring Belgium to the south. The Dutch as a trading nation, however, were significantly affected by the Allied naval blockade. The Allies were concerned that the Germans might obtain goods and supplies through Dutch ports. The Allies thus carefully regulated Dutchbtrade and put them under strict quotas. The Netherlands Trust was established to administer the Allied quotas regulating Dutch imports through the blockade. The Allies even attempted to prevent Dutch trade with Germany, but were unsuccessful. It is less clear why the Germans did not occupy the Netherlands. The German offensive launchingb the war did not need to pass through the Netherlands. Some believe the port of Rotterdam. There was considerable sympathy in the Netherlands for the Germans during World I. I'm not sure why this was. Perhaps it was ethnic and commercial ties. Perhaps itv was the Allied blockade. The Dutch offered asylum to the Kaiser at the end of the War and refused to turn him over to the allies for trial. After the war, the Dutch supported charities offering relief to children in both Germany and Austria.
The Dutch hoped to remain neutral in World War II. The Dutch were for the most part horrified at what they had been reading about the NAZIS. They had offered asylum to large nmbers of Jews and political refugees. Much of the Netherlands food was imported. These imports were impaired by the war. The Government was forced to implement food rationing. (I'm not sure about the date these regulations were implemented.) Most Dutch despite their feelings toward the NAZIs did not believe that the NAZIs would ever invade their country.
The NAZIs laubched their Western Offensive by invading the Netherlands and Belgium (may 10, 1940). The Luftwaffe destroyed the small obsolete Dutch Air Force. The Sutch Army could do little to impeded the power of the Wehrmact.
The Germans proceeded to conquer virtually all of Western Europe. After a few months of the "Phony War", France's turn came. The Germans struck on a wide
front against the neutral Netherlands, Belgiym, and Luxemburg. The terror bombing of Rotterdam convinced the already hard-pressed Dutch Army to surrender.
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) rushed north to aid the Dutch. The Germans then struck in the Belgian Ardenes which allowed them to avoid the formidable
Maginot Line. The French and Belgians considered the Ardenes impassable to tanks. The Germans managed to easily penetrate the rough terraine, crossed two
substantial rivers, and the XIX Panzer Corps rapidly reached the English Channel--cutting the BEF off from the French and rendering the Maginot Line uselss. The
French entrenched behind the Maginot Line simply could not cope with the exposive highly mobil style of Blitzkrieg warfare. The Panzers surrounded the Belgian
Army which King Leopold III surrendered. The BEF was within Hitler's grasp. Paris soon fell and the French signed a NAZI imposed armistace. The collapse of
France after only a few weeks was a disaster of emense proportions. It was the French Army that had provided the bulk of the allied War Western Front in World
War I. The German victory was not accomplished with massivelyu superior numbers or weaponry. In fact they had fewer men and tanks. What they had was a
superior tactical doctrine. The Germans were amazed to find, for example, that French tanks were not even equipped with radios, and a more disciplined fighting
force. NAZI propaganda began to describe Hitler as " Der grösste Feldherr Allerzeiten " (the greatest field commander of all time). [Davidson, p. 483.]
The Dutch capitulated after the Luftwaffe terror bombing of Rotterdam.
The same tactic was employed in Germany's western campaign in 1940. This time it was Rotterdam (May 1940). The Luftwaffe targetted the Dutch seaport of
Rotterdam AFTER the city had surrendered. Screaming Stuka dive-bombers leveled the center of the city. Luftwaffe bombers on May 13-14 concentrated on
Rotterdam without regard for civilian casualties. Hitler describes the tactic as "Schrecklichkeit" (frightfulness), the use of terror to break a country's will to resist. It
worked in the Netherlands. The terror bombing of Rotterdam and threats of similar bombings of other Dutch cities convinced the Dutch that resistance was futile.
The Dutch Army surrendered on May 15. A Dutch reader tells us, "When Rotterdam was attacked by the Luftwaffe in 1940, I was 11 years old and living 65 km
miles east of that city. I do remember the airplanes in the sky. They flew very low over our heads, ready to drop the bombs. We did not hear the actual bombing,
but the next day the westwinds blew clouds of ashes in our direction. Pretty soon everything was covered : the roof on our house, the plants in our garden. Then we
knew that something terrible had happened."
Queen Wilhelmina fled to London after the German invasion. Important Dutch officials like Prime Minister de Geer also reached London. They at first hoped that France would conterattack and quickly liberate their country, but soon the enormity of the NAZI victory became apparent. The British and French moved north to come to their assistnce, but were soon cut off and forced to evacuate at Dunkirk. The French srrender and Marshall Petain's decession to collaborate with the NAZIs through the Vichy regime raised the issue of what the Dutch should do, At the time the NAZI victory seem overwealming. Britain itself looked like it might be the next country to fall. De Geer in fact wanted to return to the Netherlands and colaborate with the NAZIs. The Quuen was adament there would be no collaboration. She fired de Geer anf appointed Gerbrandy. While the Netherlands was occupied, there were colonial pssessions, especially the Dutch East Indies, one of the most important oil ptoducers at the time. The Quuen through her support bhind the British and hoped for eventual American entry into the War. Her action after the War received the support of the Dutch Parliament (1946). Her decisive action impressed Churchill who called her "the only man in the Dutch government".
The Dutch East Indies (DEI) figured prominently in Japan's decession to launch the Pacific War. The Netherlands itself was invaded and occupied by the NAZIs (May 1940). The Dutch royal family and the Dutch government fled to London and established a government-in-exile. The Dutch DEI colonial administration in Batavia recognized the government-in-exile. The DEI figured prominently in Japan's decession to launch the Pacific War. The DEI was one of the principal colonies the Japanese wanted for their empire because of the petroleum resources, primarily located on Sumatra. Japan had virtually no petroleum and had been importing American oil which the United States embargoed after the Japanese moved into French Indo-China. The Japanese demanded that DEI officials export oil to them and DEI officials complied. Even so the Japanese after the dall of the British bastion at Singapore (Fenruary 1942) invaded the DEI (March 1942). Parchute landing seized the oil fields intact. The Japanese in fact benefitted little. The American submarine campaign by 1943 was making it difficult to ship raw material from the DEI and other occupied territories to the Japan Home Islands. The American destruction of the Imperial Fleet and reconquest of the Philippines (October 1944) made it virtually imposible. The Japanese in the DEI committed terrible attrocities. An estimated 4 million civilians perished during the Japanese occupation.
The NAZIs occupied the Netherlands for 4 years. The Dutch for racial reasons were not one of the occupied countries targeted by the NAZIs for destruction. Children were still affected. Dutch Jews were arrested as were Dutch politicans that were anti-NAZI as well as Ressiastance members. Jewish children were the least likely to survive. Many children had fathers or brothers interned as POWs. Some parents and relatives were drafted for slave labor in Germany. Many Dutch government and cultural institutions, however, were allowed to function as long as they did not interfere with occupation policies. Unlike countries in the east, the schools, for example, were allowed to continue
opoerating. A Dutch reader who was a schoolboy at the time tells us that during the occupation, "We were not bothered by their propaganda at school, but the teachers learned to keep their mouths shut in regards to the occupying forces. The general atmosphere was very anti-German and more anti-Nazi, but the Germans did not try to 'educate' Dutch children like they did in their own country." Of course if the War had gone differently, the NAZIs would have made major changes in Dutch schools along the lines of their own education ststem. I was a boy during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940-45). Despite the German attitudes toward the Dutch racially, the Netherlands and Dutch children still endured severe privations during the War. A Dutch reader who was a boy during the War writes, "We
suffered terribly and nearly died of starvation. I could write a book about it. We did not live far from a village, Putten, where the entire population was killed as a reprisal for the murder of some high ranking Germans in that area. As far as I know Putten was the only place in Holland where women and children were shot. But nearly every occupied country had its "Putten", Ouradour in France, Lidice in Czechoslovakia come to mind." [Stueck]
The NAZIs succeeded in killing most Dutch Jews. Some German Jews had fled to the Netherlands before the War began. Dutch Jews had heard rumors of what had happened in Poland. Many had thought that they were safe in the Netherlands.
Most Dutch thought that the Germans would respect Dutch neutrality as they had in World War I. They were wrong. The Germans invaded and occupied the country in only a few days (May 1940). The terror bombing of Rotterdam and threats of similar bombings of other Dutch cities convinced the Dutch that resistance was futile. Queen Wilemina fled with her family to England. Hitler appointed an Austrian, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, who had been involved in the administration of occupied Poland to seve as the NAZI governor of occupied Poland. In his first addressed to the Dutch people, Seyss-Inquart assured the Dutch people that Germany would not impose NAZI ideology and that they would respect existing Dutch laws. Unlike Poland thaere were no mass killings of Jews or burning of syynagoges as
German soldiers occupied the country. The NAZIs administered the Netherlands differently than other occupied countries in the West (Belgiumm Denmark, and France). Most scholars believe that if Germany had won the War that the Netherlands would have been annexed to the Reich. The Dutch population was in
fact more Aryan than the German population and thus for the race-obsessed NAZIs like Hitler and Himmler it would be a valuable addition to the Reich. Seyss-Inquart ruled by decree. Over the 5 years he governed the Netherlamds (1940-45), he issued hundreds of decrees. Contrary to his pledge, he turned the Netherlamds into a throughly NAZI police state. Many of his decrees were inconsequential, but slowly they created thge circumstances that permitted the NAZIs to murder most Dutch Jews.
The Dutch Scouting movement was disrupted during the World War II by the German invasion in May 1940. The Netherlands was occupied until liberation by the Allies in the Spring of 1945. The NAZIs at first discouraged and then outlawed Scouting. The NAZIs tried to organize a rival the Jeugdstorm, a NAZI-approved organization for boys (and girls in their own department), but few Dutch boys joined. Some Scouting was continued clandestinely, but Scouts could not wear their uniforms. All Scout troops got an invitation to join the Jeugdstorm. In spite of this conciliatory design it is needless to say that very few Dutch Scouts joined the Jeugdstorm. Many Dutch Scouts were active in the Resistamce. A Dutch reader reports, "Once in a while you saw a Jeugdstormer in his blue uniform wearing a pair of brown corduroy shorts. Than you knew he was an ex-boy scout, a 'traitor'."
The NAZIs tried to organize a rival youth group, the Jeugdstorm--the NAZI-approved organization for boys (and girls in their own department), but few Dutch boys joined. All Scout troops got an invitation to join the Jeugdstorm. There were posters on trees and walls with the words: "Come and join the Jeugdstorm!" This youth (jeugd means youth in Dutch) movement was founded in the Netherlands by the the Dutch Nazi party (NSB) around 1934. It was something like the Hitler Jugend, but the uniform was different. The shirt was sky-blue of color, the shorts were black, If I remember correctly the scarf or neckerchief was also black or dark-blue, there was no swastika anywhere but instead some other not so offensive Nordic sign like a seagull. The most interesting thing of this uniform was the head covering. It looked like the black velvet "topi" Indonesian Muslims are wearing. They were black also, but the material was like angora wool with tiny black curls. On top vertically through the center was an opening that showed an orange-colored fabric, as shiny as silk, actually amazing, because orange was a very patriotic Dutch color, after all the royal family is the House of Orange-Nassau. In spite of this conciliatory design it is needless to say that very few Dutch Scouts joined the Jeugdstorm. A Dutch reader reports, "Once in a while you saw a Jeugdstormer in his blue uniform wearing a pair of brown corduroy shorts. Than you knew he was an ex-boy scout, a 'traitor'." Actually it proved dangerous for older boys to join the Jeugdstorm. It was organized like the Hitler Youth to recruit boys into the military. Many Jeugdstorm boys died on the Eastern Front in Dutch units fightening with the Wehrmacht.
One subject the Dutch and other Western Europeans do not like to discuss is the level of collaboration with the NAZIs. It is a subject for which we do not yet have much information. We do know that while the Queen and Government officials fled to England to form a Government-in-exile, the Dutch beaureacracy largely colaborated with the NAZI occupation authorities. As the War went on conditions in the Netherlands deteriorated. Food in particular became increasingly difficult to obtain. Thus connections with the occupation authorities had a range of advantages. Also after the Germans began concripting young Dutch men for war work in Germany, there were increasingly fewer youth for the young men to associate with. There were, however, large numbers of youthful German soldier. Not only were there Weheremacht soldiers, but also a substantial Luftwaffe presence in the Netherlands. The erial pathway from Allied bases in England to targets in the Reich went over the Netherlands and Belgium. As a result, HGerman air defenses in the Netherlands and Belgiium were an important part of the defense of the Reich. Here I am unsure just what the German policies about franternization were. There were liasons between the occupation soldiers and Dutch women. The extent of the liasons I am unsure about. Nor am I unsure about the number of children fahered by German soldiers.
The Resistance had little possibility of armed oposition, but assisted the allies with relaying intelligence and assisting downed Allied airmen. The important resistance to the NAZIs didc not come from the Dutch Army. Rather it was conducted by civilians. The Dutch resisted in a variety of ways. There was sabotage of German equipment and vehicles. The Resistance stole food ration cards, essential to helping Jews in hiding as well as others hiding from the NAZIs.
The Resistance was divided into two main groups, the sabotaging group and the communications group. The Dutch Resistance did not begin in earest until the NAZIs began intensified their persecution of theJews. Other than the actioins against theJews, German authorities in the Netherlands had behaved relatively correctly. Resistance intensified when the NAZIs began conscripting the Dutch for war work in Germany. The Resistance took many forms. There were fistfights in the streets with the Jeugdstorm, but this could be dangerous. Resistance members stole identification papers and ration cards. They also attempted to hide Jews. This was very dangerous. Many Dutch people were sympsthetic, byt did not dare take in Jews becausev it put the entire family in danger. the Resistance did save some Jews and succeeded in keeping downed airmen out of German hands. The Resistance created a network of well organized codes and safehouses.
The Allied D-Day opened the way for the liberation of Western Europe (June 6, 1944). The Germans managed to bottle the Allies up in Normandy, but could not dislodge the beachhead or prevent an enormous build-up. The Allies found it difficult to fight in the Bockage country, but finally Operartion Cobra succeeded in breaking out led by Patton's 3rd Army (July). The German 7th Army was largely destroyed. The Allies liberated Paris and crossed the Seine. The Germans retreated to Germany and the Allies raced for the Rhine. Unfortunately for the Dutch, much of the country was orth of the Rhine and the NAZIs decided to use the Rhine as the major defensive line in the West.
A reconnaissance-patrol of the U.S. 113th Cavalry Group Red Horse crossed the Dutch border near Maastricht (September 9). The American 30th Infantry Division "Old Hickory", entered the southern Netherlands in force at Zuid-Limburg (September 12). The British and Canadians entered the Netherlans further east.
After the failure of Market Garden, the British launched Operation Pheasant (October 20). This was the beginning of the liberation of central and western Noord-Barbant Province. The first Canadian Army attacked from Belgium and the British Second Army attacked from the eastern Netherlands. The 51st Highland Division drove to Schijndel village (October 23). The British, Canadians, and Poles liberated souheastern Metherlands (Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, Walcheren and Noord– and Zuid-Beveland) (September through November). The 2nd British Army liberated northwestern Limburg (November-December). This largely completed the liberation of the Netherlands south of the Rhine. The final step was Canadian and American operations after the Buldge which succeeded in liberating northeast Limburg and the German Rhineland.
German researchers led by the brilliant Wener Von Braun who was later to play an important role in the American space program developed the revolutionary new weapn, the V-2 balistic missle in great secrecy at Penemunde along the Baltic coast. Reports from aerial recognisance and the Polish underground alerted the Allies to this new weapon. A British air rade delayed, but did not stop development of the weapon. The V-2 along with the V-1 and jet aircraft were the most innovative German weapns development. The German ME-262 could have had a major impact on the War if Hitler had not meddled in the program. The balistic missle was later to become a key military weapon. In World War II, the limited war head and imprecission in targeting meant that it no matter how innovative was not a weapon of great military significance. It was, however, a terrifying weapn that could be use to kill civilians. The Allies, after the break-out from Normandy (July) rapidly seized the German coastal facilities from which the V-1 buzz bombs were launched. The Allies liberated Belgium with its key port of Antwerp (September). This left the Netherlands as the only place that even V-2 rockets could be launched on London. The German began their V-2 offensive by firing two missiles at Paris (September 6). Hitler was, however, still fixated on London. The first launches targeting London followed 2 days later (September 8).
Montgomery had been pressuring Eisenhower to order one big push into Germany which of course he thought he should direct rather than Patton. Eisenhower kept insisting on a broad front advance. At this stage of the campaign. Most of the Allied supplies were still coming in over the Normandy beaches. Ports like Brest, Boulogne and Calais were still in German hands. The German V-2 attacks while not a real military threat, were terrifying civilians and it was Montgomery who was best placed to seize the launching sites in the Netherlands which could still be used to hit London. Eisenhower as a result, acceeded to Montgomery's plan to seize the Rhine River bridge at Arnhem and cross the Rhine through the Netherlands. Available supplies were diverted toward this effort, Operation Markt Garden (September 17-26). While more attention is given to airborn opertions on D-Day, Market Garden was the largest airborn operation of World War II. Over 30.000 allied paratroopers were employed in the operation. Eisenhower was a proponent of a broad-front offensive against Germany. His field commnanders, especially Montgomery and Patton, wanted to focus the offensive on specific sectors (their own) to pierce the enemy defenses. Available supply lines in September 1944 were inadequate for a general broad-front offensive against the Germans. If there was to be an offensive in Septmber against the Germans, Eisenhower had to chose a specific sector. He chose Montgomery in the Netherlands. Eisenhower has never fully explained this decission. Seceral factors were certasinly involved. The route through the Netherlands was the most direct and shortest into the industrial heart of Germany. The Germans were launching V-1 rockets from the Netherlands which were causing civilian casualties in London and other British cities. Montgomery's plan offered a key objective, the seizure of the Rhine River bridge at Arnhem. In addition, the liberation of Belgium had brought with it the port of Antwerp which meant that if Montgomery was successful, supplies to exploit the crossing of the Rhine could be brought in through Antwerp, instead of the long truck routres through France. The effort achieved some success, but failed at Arnhem. This allowed the Germans to stabilized their Western front as Winter approached.The failure of Operation Market Garden left most of the country still in NAZI hands.
Conditions in the Netherlands north of the Rhine were very difficult after the failure of Operation Market Garden. The NAZIs after the Allies approached introduced draconian regulations in areas under their control. The Germans prohibited Dutch citizens from using electricity or to be in the streets after dark (August 1944). The Germans shot Dutch people who violated these regulations. The Allies liberated most of the Netherland south of the Rhine (October 1944). These regulations, however, maintained in effect north of the Rhine. The NAZIs used Dutch cities to continue launching V-2s at London. Food was very scarce. The Allies finally crossed the Rhine with the invasion of Germany (March 1945). By this time the Dutch were near starvation. Dutch children were primarily affected at the end of the War where the civilian population east of the Rhine was close to statvation by the times the Allies liberated them in 1945. A reader reports, "We in occupied Holland were certainly happy to see the Canadian liberators. We were starving to death." [Stueck]
The NAZIs finally surrendered to the Allies (May 7, 1945) ending World War II in Europe. The Netherlands suffered considerable destruction and loss of life. About 270,000 Dutch were killed, many of whom were Jewish.. Almost half of the the Netherland's industrial plants were destroyed as well as most of the railway system. The ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam were heavily damaged. The Germans had flooded a substantial part of the county in an effort to slow the Allied advance. Over flooding was due to unintended damage to the dikes. About 15 percent of the country was under water as a result of the War.
Dutch Scouts appeared in uniform as soon as the Allies reached the southern Netherlands. Local groups began organizing informally soon after. The national organization did not reconstitute itself until after the Allies moved across the Rhine and liberate all of the Netherlands. The NAZIs surrendered ending the War soon after. Dutch scouting started immediately at the end of the war (May 1945).
In those chaotic days scouts helped the Red Cross with the delivery of letters and packages in Rotterdam and other cities. They offered their help and services, also as translators and interpreters to the Allied Powers (in this case mostly Canadians). They used bicycles and sometimes a jeep to deliver the mail. They started May 10 until May 25 when the Dutch Postal Service could take over the job. On a given day like May 16 the scouts delieverd 5,800 letters and packages. The letters had a speccial stamp on the envelop: "Padvinders Post Dienst" ("Boy Scouts' Postal Service"). [Stueck]
Conditions in the Netherlands were so difficult that several hundred thousand Dutch people emmigrated, primarily to Australia, Canada, and the United States.
The Netherlands became a charter member of the United Nations (1945). The Dutch like other Europeans countries received Marshall Plan assistance from the United States (1947). They Dutch received about $1 billion in Marshall Plan aid. The pre-War policy of neutrality was as a result of the NAZI occupation disgarded. The Dutch joined neoghboring countries in both economic and security pacts. The Netherlands formed Benelux with neighboring Belgium and Luxenburg. The Dutch also joined the Council of Europe, the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Common Market, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Dutch 10b years after the War had fully recivered. Industrial production was 60 percent above pre-War levels. Agricultural production was nearly 20 percent greater.
Davidson, Eugene. The Unmaking of Adolf Hitler (Univesity of Missouri: Columbia, 1996), 519p.
Stueck, Rudi. E-mail message, Aoril 22, 2003 and May 29, 2006.
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