German-occupied Europe
Europe at the height of German control in 1942
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were occupied and civil occupied including puppet government by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 and 1945 and administered by the Nazi regime.[1]
The furthest east in Europe the German Wehrmacht managed to occupy was the town of Mozdok in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
The furthest north in Europe the German Wehrmacht managed to occupy was the settlement of Barentsburg in the Kingdom of Norway.
The furthest south in Europe the German Wehrmacht managed to occupy was the island of Gavdos in the Kingdom of Greece.
The furthest west in Europe the German Wehrmacht managed to occupy was the island of Ushant in the French Republic.
Contents
1 Background
2 Occupied countries
2.1 Governments in exile
2.1.1 Allied governments in exile
2.1.2 Axis governments in exile
2.1.3 Neutral governments in exile
3 See also
4 References
5 Bibliography
6 External links
Background
Several German occupied countries 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 territory | Resistance movement(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Albanian Kingdom |  Albanian Kingdom | 8 September 1943 – 29 November 1944 | None | Albanian resistance |
 Guernsey |  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
|  Slovak Republic
| 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, see Anschluss | 12 March 1938 – 9 May 1945 | Reichsgau Kärnten Reichsgau Niederdonau Reichsgau Oberdonau Reichsgau Salzburg Reichsgau Steiermark Reichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg Reichsgau Wien | Austrian resistance |
 | None | 1 September 1939 – 9 May 1945 | Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia | Danzigian resistance |
 French Republic
|  French State
| 10 May 1940 – 9 May 1945 | Gau Baden Gau Westmark Reichsgau Wallonien | French resistance |
 Luxembourg | Military Administration 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
| 10 May 1940 – February 1945 | Gau Cologne-Aachen
| 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
| 6 April 1941 – 15 May 1945 | Reichsgau Kärnten Reichsgau Steiermark | Yugoslav resistance |
 Monaco | None | 8 September 1943 – 3 September 1944 | None | |
 Finland | None | 15 September 1944 – 25 April 1945 | None | Finnish resistance |
 Republic of LithuaniaProvisional 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
| 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
| 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 | 1 March 1935 – April 1945 | Gau Palatinate-Saar
| Saar Basinian resistance |
 Ukrainian National Government | Reich Commissariat Ukraine | 30 June 1941 – September 1941 | General Government | Ukrainian resistance |
 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics | Military Administration in the Soviet Union
| 22 June 1941 – 10 May 1945 | Bezirk Bialystok General Government | Soviet resistance |
Governments in exile
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)
| 1940 – August 31, 1944 | French State
|
| Government of the Republic of Poland in exile | Paris (September 29/30, 1939 – 1940) Angers, French Republic(1940 – June 12, 1940)
| September 29/30, 1939 – December 22, 1990 | German Reich/Greater German Reich
|
| Belgium | London (October 22, 1940 – September 8, 1944) | October 22, 1940 – September 8, 1944 | German Reich/Greater German Reich
|
| Denmark | 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
|
| 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 |
| Netherlands | London | 1940 – 1945 | Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Dutch Territories |
| Provisional Government of Czechoslovakia | Paris (October 2, 1939 – 1940)
| October 2, 1939 – April 2, 1945 | German Reich/Greater German Reich
|
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
|
| French State | Sigmaringen, Greater German Reich | 1944 – April 22, 1945 | Provisional Government of the French Republic |
 Kingdom of Hungary | Vienna, Greater German Reich
| March 28, 1945 – May 7, 1945 | Czechoslovak Republic
|
 Kingdom of Romania | Vienna, Greater German Reich | 1944 – 1945 | Kingdom of Romania |
Montenegrin State Council |  Zagreb, Independent State of Croatia | 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)
| 1919 – present | German Reich/Greater German Reich
|
 Republic of Estonia |  Stockholm, Kingdom of Sweden(1944 – August 20, 1991)
| June 17, 1940 – August 20, 1991 | Realm Commissariat East
|
| Ukrainian People's Republic |  Warsaw, Republic of Poland(1920 – 1939)
| 1920 – August 22, 1992 | German Reich/Greater German Reich
|
See also
Drang nach Osten ("The Drive Eastward")
Lebensraum ("Living Space")
Neuordnung ("New Order")- Areas annexed by Nazi Germany
- Pan-Germanism
References
^ ab 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..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ 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.
- 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
- Carlyle Margaret, ed. Documents on International Affairs, 1939–1946. Volume II, Hitler's Europe (Oxford University Press. 1954) 362pp.)
External links
- Map of Europe in 1942
- http://www.worldwar2history.info/war/Allies.html
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/germany_advances_through_europe
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupationʘ[permanent dead link]
