The
Netherlands became a constitutional monarchy in 1839. It remained
neutral in the First World War and although
it was a colonial power the country remained militarily weak in the
1930s. By 1940 it had a small conscript army of fourteen divisions
and an air force of only 118 aircraft.
The
Dutch electorate had rejected fascist
political
parties in the 1930s but the general feeling was that the aggressive
foreign policy of Nazi Germany could
be controlled by appeasement.
When
Britain and France
declared war on Germany in 1939 the Netherlands
remained neutral. However, this did not stop the Netherlands was invaded
by the German Army on 10th May 1940.
Queen Wilhelmina along with members
of her family and the Dutch government managed to
escape and went to live in London. After
the Luftwaffe
bombed
of civilians the country surrendered on 15th May 1940.
Adolf
Hitler sent the Austrian Arthur
Seyss-Inquart
to
became the governor of the Netherlands. Gradually the resistance
began to build up its networks and an underground
press was established. The two main resistance groups were the Order
Dienst, who concentrated on the gathering of intelligence, and the
Knokploegen, who carried out acts of sabotage.
The
trade union movement made attempts to protect the Jews in the Netherlands
and in February 1941 they called an anti-persecution strike. However,
they were unable to stop 100,000 Dutch Jews from being deported and
murdered in extermination camps
in Nazi Germany.
By
1944 an estimated 300,000 Dutch labourers and technicians were deported
to Germany to work in war industries. Also
deported were students in the Netherlands who refused to sign a loyalty
oath.
In
October 1944, to help the Allies, who had retaken the southern part
of the Netherlands, the railway workers organized a strike to reduce
the movement of supplies to the German
Army
fighting
on the frontline.
The
distribution of the communication network by the resistance and the
Allied bombing campaigns caused severe food shortages in the Netherlands
and the Royal Air Force was forced to drop
emergency supplies into occupied areas. Queen
Wilhelmina
and her exiled government returned to
the Netherlands in May 1945.
(1)
Winston
Churchill, The Second World War (1948)
It was clear that once
Hitler had disposed of Poland, he would be far more powerful on the
ground and in the air than the British and French combined. There
could therefore be no question of a French offensive against Germany.
What then were the probabilities of a German offensive against France?
There were of course three
methods open. First: Invasion through Switzerland. This might turn
the southern flank of the Maginot Line, but had many geographical
and strategic difficulties. Secondly: Invasion of France across the
common frontier. This appeared unlikely, as the German Army was not
believed to be fully equipped or armed for a heavy attack on the Maginot
Line. And thirdly: Invasion of France through Holland and Belgium.
This would turn the Maginot Line and would not entail the losses likely
to be sustained in a frontal attack against permanent fortifications.
(2)
Kurt Student was the commander in chief
of the Airbourne troops used in the invasion of the Netherlands
in May 1940.
Altogether, we had 4,500 trained parachute troops in the spring of
1940. To give the offensive against Holland a fair chance it was necessary
to use the bulk of them there. So we allotted five battalions, some
4,000 men, to that task, supplemented by an air-transported division,
the 22nd, which comprised 12,000 men.
The limitations of our
strength compelled us to concentrate on two objectives - the points
which seemed the most essential to the success of the invasion. The
main effort, under my own control, was directed against the bridges
at Rotterdam, Dordrecht and Moerdijk by which the main route from
the south was carried across the mouths of the Rhine. Our task was
to capture the bridges before the Dutch could blow them up, and keep
them open until the arrival of our mobile ground forces. My force
comprised four parachute battalions and one air-transported regiment
(of three battalions). We achieved complete success, at a cost of
only 180 casualties. We dared not fail, for if we did the whole invasion
would have failed.
The secondary attack was
made against The Hague. Its aim was to get a hold upon the Dutch capital,
and in particular to capture the Government offices and the Service
headquarters. The force employed here was commanded by General Graf
Sponcck; it consisted of one parachute battalion and two air-transported
regiments. This attack did not succeed. Several hundred men were killed
and wounded, while as many were taken prisoner.
(3)
William Shirer, CBS Broadcast from Berlin
(11th May, 1940)
It's still difficult to
realize from the atmosphere in the streets of Berlin that the war
has now entered its decisive phase, with Germany's powerful army sweeping
into Belgium and the Netherlands.
I mean, yesterday and today
have been so normal here. People going about their business just as
usual. No excitement in the air. When I came up to the studio just
now, I noticed that repair work on the streets was going on just as
before. Workers were busy on new buildings. No excitement discernible
in them.
The morning papers all
headline the results after the first day of this decisive battle.
These are, in the main, that in Holland the German nut-cracker reached
the Yssel Line, which is the first Dutch line of defense. That further
south, the advancing German troops crossed at several places the River
Maas, just inside the Dutch frontier. That Maastricht was captured,
which means that the Dutch province of Limburg, which juts down between
Belgium and Germany, was completely overrun on the first day, and
that the Germans have now crossed the Albert Canal west
of Maastricht.
I toured along the Albert
Canal last year soon after it was completed, and it forms a fairly
strong defensive line, running as it does across northern Belgium
from Maastricht to Antwerp. The canal, when I saw it, was dotted with
bunkers, and the Belgians thought it would be a hard piece of water
to cross. German correspondents with their army report that the first
two or three of these bunkers at the extreme eastern end of the canal
have been taken, largely, one gathers from their dispatches, by aerial
bombings.
That the Germans are using
air superiority to the full became apparent shortly after yesterday's
operations began. And several German correspondents with the air force
report on the bombings and machine-gunnings which were carried out
yesterday on Dutch, Belgian, and French airbases, and on troops and
communications behind the lines. They report for the most part having
met a lot of anti-aircraft fire, but little opposition from fighters.
German army engineers are
also playing a prominent part in the German drive, as indeed they
did in the Polish and Belgian campaigns. The German correspondents
report that there has been a great deal of blowing up of bridges by
the retreating Dutch and Belgians, but that German engineers are putting
up emergency bridges in great haste. The same German correspondents
also report - and this is interesting - that yesterday enemy airplanes
certainly did not strafe the advancing German troops.
(4)
Manchester Guardian (2nd May,
1945)
An announcement
issued from S.H.A.E.F last night stated that an agreement had been
reached by Allied and German representatives for the supply of food
to the Dutch by air, sea and road:
Ten dropping zones for
supplies by air have been arranged. Foodships will enter Rotterdam,
and the Germans will make available one main road. The supply schedule
under the agreement will start to-day with 1.000 tons.
The Germans will meet the
ships entering Rotterdam at a prearranged redezvous and guarantee
safe conduct supply to Holland by one main road.
The Allied representatives
included Lieutenant General W.B. Smith, Chief of Staff, S.H.A.E.F
chairman of the conference, Major General Suslaparoff, Russian representative,
Major General de Guingand, Chief of Staff 21st Army Group, Prince
Bernhard, Commander-in-chief Netherlands forces. The German delegation
was headed by Reichs Kimmissar Seyss-Inquart.
Yesterday R.A.F Lancasters
dropped more than 1.000 tons of food for the Dutch, this being the
third day in succession they have carried suppliers to Holland. Four
hundred United States flying fortresses also took loads over.
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