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Posted by Darrenatwork (U11744656) on Friday, 24th April 2009
Why, in 1940, did the Germans invade Holland whereas in 1914 they respected Holland's neutrality?
, in reply to message 1.
Posted by Parti-NG-ton Blue (U13898629) on Friday, 24th April 2009
Different leadership, different plans.
Care to expand on that? Was Holland occupied primarily for military strategic reasons, or was it more political (ie part of Hitler's master plan for Europe). Was, for example, the increased importance of airpower a factor?
In WWI, it's hard to think why the Germans would have wanted to invade Holland; they invaded Belgium simply to gain a corridor through to France. Presumably they had no need of the Dutch ports, because they had the Belgian ones.
Greetings Mike Alexander,
The Germans had no intention of invading Holland in WW1 as their primary goal was the defeat of France. Round two of the Franco/Prussian war so to speak. However, the intentions of Herr Hitler took on a more menacing design.
Control of the Dutch coastline meant that, after the Fall of France, the whole coastline of mainland Europe facing the Channel and North Sea was under German control. This made it impossible for the Royal Navy to mount a blockade of Germany as had been done, to significant effect, in WWI and made it easier for U-boat patrols to slip into the North Atlantic.
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