Netherlands in World War II

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the Netherlands during World War II.

World War II in the Netherlands can be broken down into four periods:

  • September 1939 to May 1940: After the war broke out, the Netherlands declared neutrality. The country was later invaded and occupied by Germany.
  • May 1940 to June 1941: An economic boom caused by orders from Germany, combined with the "velvet glove" approach from Arthur Seyss-Inquart, resulted in a comparatively mild occupation.
  • June 1941 to June 1944: As the war intensified, Germany demanded higher contributions from occupied territories, resulting in a decline of living standards in the Netherlands. Repression against the Jewish population intensified and thousands were deported to extermination camps. The "velvet glove" approach ended. Meanwhile the Netherlands's East Indies possession in Asia was invaded and occupied by Japan.
  • June 1944 to May 1945: Conditions in the Netherlands deteriorated further, leading to starvation and lack of fuel. The German occupation authorities gradually lost control over the situation. Nazis wanted to make a last stand and commit acts of destruction, others tried to mitigate the situation, until the country was finally liberated by the Allies. In the East Indies, Japan continued to occupy it until its surrender months later.

Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of Fall Gelb (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces surrendered. The Dutch government and the royal family fled to London. Princess Juliana and her children sought refuge in Ottawa, Canada, until after the war.

German occupation lasted in some areas until the German surrender in May 1945. The occupiers deported most of the Jewish Netherlanders to Nazi concentration camps. Due to the variation in the survival rate of Jewish inhabitants among the regions in the Netherlands, scholars have questioned the validity of a single explanation at the national level. In part due to the well-organised population registers, about 70 per cent of the country's Jewish population were killed in the war—the highest rate in Western Europe, a much higher percentage than in Belgium or France, although lower than some Eastern countries like Lithuania. Declassified records revealed that the Germans paid a bounty to Dutch police and administration officials to find Jews. Hundreds of thousands of Dutch citizens were believed to be collaborators with the Germans. In early 1941, Communists in and around the city of Amsterdam organised the February strike—a general strike to protest the persecution of Jewish citizens. Active resistance, at first carried out by a minority, grew in the course of the occupation. In 1942, the East Indies colony was invaded and taken by Japan.

The Allies liberated most of the south of the Netherlands in the second half of 1944 but were unable to cross the great rivers. The rest of the country, especially the west and north, remained under German occupation and suffered from a famine at the end of 1944, known as the "Hunger Winter". On 5 May 1945, the German surrender at Lüneburg Heath led to the final liberation of the whole country, the Netherlands being one of the last nations of Europe to be liberated from Germany. This is now commemorated every year as Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day). The end of the war is commemorated as National Remembrance 15 August.

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