 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "OPROP!" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
OPROP! (Opraab! in correct 1940-Danish;Opråb! in correct modernDanish;transl. proclamation, exclamation) was aGermanairborne propaganda leaflet dropped over severalDanish cities at theGerman invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940. The leaflets were signed by the head ofOperation Weserübung Süd, GeneralLeonhard Kaupisch. The text, written in broken but understandableDanish mixed withNorwegian, justified the German invasion as fraternally protecting Danish and Norwegian neutrality against British aggression, denouncedWinston Churchill as a warmonger, and exhorted the Danish populace not to resist the German presence while an arrangement with the Danish government was being negotiated.
The OPROP! leaflet drop had a notable impact in regards to the Danish capitulation. When the German infantry arrived at theAmalienborg Palace in the morning of 9 April 1940, they were met with determined opposition from theKing's Royal Guard, which repelled the initial attack, suffering three wounded. This gaveChristian X and his ministers time to confer with the Danish Army chief GeneralWilliam Wain Prior. As the discussions were ongoing, several formations ofHeinkel He 111 andDornier 17 bombers flew over the city dropping the OPROP! leaflets. Faced with the explicit threat of theLuftwaffe bombing the civilian population ofCopenhagen, and only General Prior in favour of continuing the fighting, the Danish government capitulated in exchange for retaining political independence in domestic matters.[1]
In 2016, historian Hans Christian Bjerg argued that the poor broken Danish on the leaflet was because it was a rushed translation of a similar leaflet written by the Germans for use over Norway on the same day. The background reason was that Operation Weserübung initially called for invasion only of Norway and that the additional invasion of Denmark was decided at a late stage in the planning.[2]
  | ThisDanish history article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |