Historian’s Corner

Queen Margrethe II recently celebrated her 80th birthday. I hadn’t realized another very important, but traumatic, historical event in Denmark happened in very close proximity to her birth. Her birth took place just one week after their old rival Germany invaded during World War II. In 1939 Hitler sought non-aggression pacts with the Scandinavian countries, Denmark was the only one to sign up. Diplomats to Berlin warned by some a few days before the attack. On 9 April 1940, German forces occupied Copenhagen, among other Danish cities for more than five years. Denmark was overpowered by the Germans in a mere two hours, one of the quickest in history. Only thirteen Danes lost their lives in the skirmish. Denmark became the gateway to Norway as German troops entered major Norwegian ports, deploying thousands of German troops and occupying Norway. The close proximity without any barriers made attack from Germany extremely easy. No country was able to come to their aid. The Danes had also reduced the strength of their army as World War II was beginning in recent months. A quote from The Scandinavians by Donald S Connery published in 1966 follows: “At 4 a.m. on April 9, German troops began pouring across the Jutland border. Soldiers stepped ashore in Copenhagen from their hiding places on an innocent-looking merchant ship. As parachute troops were dropped at key points around the country, surprise air attacks wiped out most of the small Danish air force on the ground. The Danish Army of merely 14,000 men never really got out of its barracks. A few detachments fought briefly in Jutland. The Royal Life Guards at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, however, were issued live ammunition and managed to hold off the German detachment which had been assigned to capture the King, Christian X conferred with the heads of the government, who urged capitulation. He heard the commander in chief argue for resistance, but by 6 a.m. he gave the order to surrender. The Danish population awoke that warm spring day to learn that Denmark, as a free democracy, had died during the night.

There was little for the Danes to do but go on about their business. They streamed as usual to their fields and factories and offices. Life was strangely normal in the wake of the national humiliation. The Germans insisted that they had only stepped in to save Denmark from being attacked by the British. They promised to respect Denmark’s integrity and political independence. Denmark was to be a ‘model protectorate.’ The Danish Jews were left alone and the Danish armed forces were not even disarmed until 1943. Seeking to make the best of the bad situation, the major political parties formed a coalition government under Social Democratic Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning….” The Norwegian government refused to surrender and accept German rule and continued to fight alongside British troops. In Denmark, King Christian X, Queen Margerthe’s grandfather, surrendered almost immediately convinced that his army could not fight off the German invasion. At this point Hitler had now added two more countries along with Poland which had been conquered. Scandinavia had traditionally held a policy of neutrality during the World War I, but was unable to do so, except for Sweden, in World War II. Denmark was under siege for several years as their resistance gradually mounted. They eventually joined the Western alliance of NATO, (i.e. the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 1949. Initially, Hitler sought to conquer the Danes with kindness as if Germany were a protective older brother from attack by the British. This occupation was considered to be the most benign and indulgent of the Nazi occupations. But eventually the Danish rallied in bitter resistance efforts. Danish Social Democratic Prime Minister Hans Hedtoft insisted: “Never again an April 9!” He had been a key leader of this political party, but was forced to resign his position in 1941 because he was too critical of the German occupation of Denmark. In 1943, he was instrumental in beginning the rescue of the Danish Jews. He was Prime Minister of Denmark from 1947 to 1950 and again from 1953 until his death in 1955. He also served as the President of the Nordic Council in 1953.

Respectfully submitted, Donna Christensen Thomas DSS National Historian