Battle of the Netherlands

Battle of the Netherlands
Part of Battle of France
The centre of Rotterdam destroyed after bombing
Date 10–14 May 1940 10–17 May 1940 (Zealand) Location Netherlands Result Decisive German victory German occupation of the Netherlands Creation of Reichskommissariat Niederlande Removal of Dutch military presence in the continental European Theater. The Dutch government goes into exile in the United Kingdom.
Belligerents
Netherlands France  United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Henri Winkelman Jan Joseph Godfried van Voorst tot Voorst Henri Giraud	Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Hans Graf von Sponeck
Strength
9 divisions 700 guns 1 tank 5 tankettes 32 armoured cars 145 aircraft Total: 280,000 men	22 divisions 1378 guns 759 tanks 830 aircraft 6 armoured trains Total: 750,000 men
Casualties and losses
2332 KIA (Dutch Army) 7000 wounded 216 French KIA 43 British KIA Over 2000 civilians killed	2032 KIA 6000–7000 wounded 4 armoured trains 225–275 aircraft total loss 1350 prisoners to England

Decisive German victory

The Battle of the Netherlands (Dutch: Slag om Nederland) was part of Case Yellow (German: Fall Gelb), the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and France during World War II.

The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until the main Dutch forces surrendered on the 14th. Dutch troops in the province of Zealand continued to resist the Wehrmacht until 17 May when Germany completed its occupation of the whole nation.

The Battle of the Netherlands saw one of the first major uses of paratroopers to occupy crucial targets prior to ground troops reaching the area. The German Luftwaffe utilised paratroopers in the capture of several major airfields in the Netherlands in and around key cities such as Rotterdam and The Hague in order to quickly overrun the nation and immobilise Dutch forces.

The battle ended soon after the devastating bombing of Rotterdam by the German Luftwaffe and the subsequent threat by the Germans to bomb other large Dutch cities if Dutch forces refused to surrender. The Dutch General Staff knew it could not stop the bombers and surrendered in order to prevent other cities from suffering the same fate. The Netherlands remained under German occupation until 1945, when the last Dutch territory was liberated.

Britain and France declared war on Germany in 1939, following the German invasion of Poland, but no major land operations occurred in Western Europe during the period known as the Phoney War in the winter of 1939–1940. During this time, the British and French built up their forces in expectation of a long war, and the Germans completed their conquest of Poland. On 9 October, Adolf Hitler ordered plans to be made for an invasion of the Low Countries, to use them as a base against Great Britain and to pre-empt a similar attack by the Allied forces, which could threaten the vital Ruhr Area.

...
Wikipedia