Denmark: How to Capture a Country Before Lunch

It is a matter of months after Germany has successfully invaded Poland. Britain and France have declared war on Germany and the Second World War has begun. However, aside from some minor ( and half-hearted) border skirmishes on the French-German border, nothing has happened on the ground in Europe.

This silence, on April 9, 1940, was about to be broken. The Germans, remembering the First World War, wanted to prevent the British from effectively blockading Germany from its shipments of war-vital iron ore. To do this, the Germans needed to take Norway and in order to do that they needed to secure Denmark.

In the early morning hours of April 9, the Germans deployed a relatively small ground force in conjunction with paratroopers, the first such operation in history. By 9:00 AM, the Germans had secured the major airfields as well as Copenhagen the capital. While there was some sporadic resistance by the Danes, they knew they couldn't win and by noon Denmark had surrendered. However, because the Danes did not roll over and give up without a fight, and because the Germans viewed the Danes as fellow Aryans, they were treated better than most occupied nations during the war. Nevertheless, it is most certainly one of the shortest wars in history. Until next time take care, and thanks for reading.