Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France
1940–1944 German military administration in Belgium and France
This article is about the World War II German military regime operating out of Brussels, the territory of which comprised the country of Belgium and the two French departments Nord and Pas-de-Calais. It is not to be confused with the separate military regime based in Paris, which included most of the remainder of German-occupied France, or with the Zone occupée.
Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France
Militärverwaltung Deutschlands in Belgien und Nordfrankreich(German) Militaire administratie van Duitsland in België en Noord-Frankrijk(Dutch) Administration Militaire Allemande en Belgique et du Nord de la France(French)
The Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France (German: Militärverwaltung in Belgien und Nordfrankreich) was an interim occupation authority established during the Second World War by Nazi Germany that included present-day Belgium and the French departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais.[1] The administration was also responsible for governing the zone interdite, a narrow strip of territory running along the French northern and eastern borders.[2] It remained in existence until July 1944. Plans to transfer Belgium from the military administration to a civilian administration were promoted by the SS, and Hitler had been ready to do so until Autumn 1942, when he put off the plans for what was intended to be temporary but ended up being permanent until the end of German occupation.[3] The SS had suggested either Josef Terboven or Ernst Kaltenbrunner as the Reich Commissioner of the civilian administration.[4]
The Nazi administration was assisted by fascist Flemish, Walloon, and French collaborationists. In binational Belgian territory, the predominantly French region of Wallonia, the collaborationist Rexists provided aid to the Nazis while in Flemish-populated Flanders, the Flemish National Union supported the Nazis. In Northern France, Flemish separatist tendencies were stirred by the pro-Nazi Vlaamsch Verbond van Frankrijk led by priest Jean-Marie Gantois.[6]
The attachment of the departments Nord and Pas-de-Calais to the military administration in Brussels was initially made on military considerations, and was supposedly done in preparation for the planned invasion of Britain.[7] Ultimately, the attachment was based on Hitler's intention to move the Reich's border westward, and was also used to maintain pressure on the Vichy regime – which protested the curtailment of its authority in what was still de jure national French territory – to ensure its good behavior.[8]
Command structure
The Military Administration formed the core of a wider command structure which allowed the governance of occupied Belgium. It could rely on both military and civilian components:
Regional and district headquarters: Oberfeld-, Feld- or Kreiskommandanten
Belgian collaborationist groups Principally the Vlaams Nationaal Verbond (VNV) or Rex; Each with internal command structure.
Based on description in Van den Wijngaert, Mark; Dujardin, Vincent (2006). "La Belgique sans Roi, 1940-1950". Nouvelle Historie de Belgique. Vol. 2: 1905-1950. Brussels: Éd. Complexe. pp. 19–20. ISBN2-8048-0078-4.
^Vinen, Richard (2006). The Unfree French: Life under the Occupation (1st ed.). London: Allen Lane. pp. 105–6. ISBN0-713-99496-7.
^Kroener, Müller & Umbreit (2003) Germany and the Second World War V/II, p. 26
^Kroener, Müller & Umbreit (2003) Germany and the Second World War V/II, p. 27
^Kroener, Müller & Umbreit (2003) Germany and the Second World War V/II, p. 29
^Kroener, Bernhard R.; Müller, Rolf-Dieter; Umbreit, Hans (2000). Germany and the Second World War:Organization and mobilization of the German sphere of power. Wartime administration, economy, and manpower resources 1939-1941. Oxford University Press. p. 84. ISBN0198228872.
Dejonghe, Etienne (January–March 1970). "Un mouvement séparatiste dans le Nord et le Pas-de-Calais sous l'occupation (1940-1944): le "Vlaamsch Verbond van Frankrijk"". Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine. 17 (1): 50–77. doi:10.3406/rhmc.1970.2058. JSTOR20527887.
Wouters, Nico (2006). "Localisation in the Age of Centralisation: Local Government in Belgium and Nord-Pas-de-Calais (1940-1945)". In De Wever, Bruno; Van Goethem, Herman; Wouters, Nico (eds.). Local Government in Occupied Europe (1939-1945). Ghent: Academia Press. pp. 83–108. ISBN9789038208923.
Sueur, Marc (1984). "La Collaboration Politique dans le Département du Nord (1940-1944)". Revue d'histoire de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale et des conflits contemporains. 34 (135): 3–45. JSTOR25729197.
De Jonghe, Albert (1972). Hitler en het politieke lot van België, 1940-1944. De vestiging van een Zivilverwaltung in België en Noord-Frankrijk. Antwerp: Uitgeverij De Nederlandssche Boekhandel.
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