1940 Denmark invaded

British Newsreel. April 18, 1940. Strategically, Denmark's importance to Germany was as a staging area for operations in Norway, and of course as a border nation to Germany which would have to be controlled in some way. Given Denmark's position in the Baltic Sea the country was also important for the control of naval and shipping access to major German and Russian harbors.The country is small and relatively flat, ideal territory for German army operations, and Denmark's small army had little hope of success in armed resistance. Nevertheless, in the early morning hours a few Danish troops engaged the German army, suffering losses of 16 dead and 20 wounded. Germany never gave any official number of losses, but these were probably heavier, with 12 armored cars and several motorcycles and cars destroyed. Four German tanks were damaged and one Heinkel 111 shot down. Two German soldiers were temporarily captured by the Danes during the brief fighting.Just before the initial German incursions into Denmark the German ambassador to Denmark, Renthe-Fink, called the Danish Foreign Minister Munch and requested a meeting with him. When the two men met 20 minutes later Renthe-Fink declared that German troops were at that moment moving in to occupy Denmark to protect the country from Franco-British attack. The German ambassador demanded that Danish resistance must cease immediately and contact be made between Danish authorities and the German armed forces. If the demands were not met the Luftwaffe was to bomb the capital Copenhagen.As the German demands were communicated the first German advances had already been made, with forces having landed by ferry in Gedser at 04:15 and moved north. German Fallschirmjäger units had made unopposed landings and taken the Storstrøm Bridge as well as the fortress of Masnedø.At 04:20 local time 1,000 German infantry landed in Copenhagen harbor from the minelayer Hansestadt Danzig, quickly capturing the Danish garrison at the Citadel without encountering resistance. From the harbor the Germans moved towards Amalienborg Palace to capture the Danish royals. By the time the invasion forces arrived at the King's residence the King's Royal Guard had been alarmed and other reinforcements were in their way to the palace. The first German attack on Amalienborg was repulsed, giving Christian X and his ministers time to confer with the Danish Army chief General Prior. As the discussions were ongoing several formations of Heinkel 111 and Dornier 17 bombers roared over the city dropping leaflets. Faced with the explicit threat of the Luftwaffe bombing the civilian population of Copenhagen, and only General Prior in favour of continuing the fighting, the Danish government capitulated in exchange for retaining political independence in domestic matters.At 05:45 two squadrons of German Me 110s had attacked Værløse airfield on Zealand and wiped out the Danish Army Air Service by strafing. Despite Danish anti-aircraft fire the German fighters destroyed 11 Danish aircraft and seriously damaged another 14.The Danish capitulation resulted in the uniquely lenient Occupation of Denmark, particularly until the summer of 1943, and also in postponing the arrest and deportation of Danish Jews until nearly all of them were warned and on their way to refuge in Sweden. In the end, 477 Danish Jews were deported, and 70 of them lost their lives, out of a pre-war total of Jews and half-Jews at a little over 8,000.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Operation
• Weserubung
• Denmark
• Copenhagen
• Invasion
• Occupation
• 1940
• German
• Army
• Wehrmacht
• Norway

[ROEDERBABY]

You're fucking stupid. Denmark was the country in the whole world that saved MOST Jews.

95% of all the Jewish population survived the WW2 - not to mention the sabotage, that helped countries such as France and Great Britain to slow down their production of both armies, artilleries and weapons.

[lokumspoet961]

there was not killed a single one here!! we saved them all to Sweden!!, and if there where some killed it was not by danes! it was german Nazis!! you are the biggest retard on the planet!! read the mails i have send you!!

[pyllywaltteri]

talk about courge. Kings of Denmark and Belgium didnt run but stayed and help thei fellow countrymen through tough times

[gmodzombieteam]

@Rayban32 4 million agains 80 millions... and Denmark is flat as a pancake. and it's not that the people of Denmark did't wanner fight. it was our stupid ass goverment of the time who did't want to fight. we had soldiers who got to fight the germans a bit. down in south denmark. and we could have fought long time. but in the end we would loose anyway..

[LundbyFizz]

@krusokat Actually it partly happened.. After the war, the danish government agreed on killing danish nazis.. which in my opinion was okay..

[Andrew55392FG]

Denmark could have been unoccupied BUT Churchill´s widen the front policy got this country to in 2 ww.

Afterwards the country should pay for a lot of rubbish surplus material from the war. The country war not allowed to use all left over from the germans because it was to new..... specially all left aircraft with jet engine and other.

[krusokat]

@GBOY69GAY what the hell are you talking about? that did NOT happen O.o

[steveh352]

Looks like nobody was watching how the nazis fought in the spanish civil war. And looks like too many young men were more than ready to join german army and figt in russia. Appears 10% fought germans, 20% joined german army, rest of people sold them beer and cheese, bread. Hey, no country has not made huge mistakes and lost way.

[jrwel14]

part danish. Go resistance fighters! Kill the nazis!

[GBOY69GAY]

One funny history detail: Danish people killed more each others during the few days after Denark was liberated than Germans killed Danish resistance saboteurs during the occupation. When Denmark was liberated and the German troops surendered, the Danish people began kill each others. The Danish communists fought against the Danish NSDAP supporters. They killed more each others there in Denmark during few days than German troops Danish people during the many years very gentle German occupation.

[estagonandfire]

@Bjowolf2 you make it sound like all of em are like that. but they arnt. some people have just not felt welcome, in their host countrys and maybe that is why they turn into losers.. the fault is on both sides, mutual misunderstanding most of the cases. Religious fanaticism is however the weak man's path and should not be in any way respected or accepted.