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Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France Reichskommissariat Belgien-Nordfrankreich (German) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | |||||||||||
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| Status | Reichskommissariat ofNazi Germany | ||||||||||
| Capital | Brussels | ||||||||||
| Reichskommissar | |||||||||||
• 1944 | Josef Grohé | ||||||||||
| Historical era | World War II | ||||||||||
• Established | 13 July 1944 | ||||||||||
• Grohé appointed | 18 July 1944 | ||||||||||
| 3 September 1944 | |||||||||||
• Disestablished | 15 December 1944 | ||||||||||
| Currency | Belgian franc | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | Belgium France | ||||||||||
TheReichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France (German:Reichskommissariat Belgien-Nordfrankreich) was aNazi German civil administration (Zivilverwaltung) which governed most ofoccupied Belgium and northern parts ofoccupied France in the second half of 1944 duringWorld War II.
TheReichskommissariat was established on 13 July 1944 by Hitler's"Erlaß des Führers über die Errichtung einer Zivilverwaltung in den besetzten Gebieten von Belgien und Nordfrankreich vom 13. Juli 1944".[1][2] It replaced an earlier military government, theMilitary Administration in Belgium and Northern France, established in the same territory in 1940.[3]
The Reichskommissariat for Belgium and Northern France was almost completely conquered by the Allies in September 1944 as part ofOperation Overlord. Nevertheless, this territory was formally annexed by Nazi Germany. On December 8, theReichsgau Wallonien was established, and on December 15, theReichsgau Flandern. Brussels was administered externally as theDistrikt Brüssel. At this time, the Germans occupied only isolated areas in Belgium and northern France, particularly during theBattle of the Bulge.Dunkirk remained occupied by the Germans until May 1945.[4][5][6]
Afterits invasion by Germany in May 1940,Belgium was initially placed under a "temporary" military government, in spite of more radical factions within the German government, such as theSS, urging for the installation of anotherNazi civil government, as had been done inNorway andthe Netherlands.[7] On 15 June it was joined with the two Frenchdépartements ofNord andPas-de-Calais (included on the grounds thatpart of this territory belonged to GermanicFlanders, as well as the fact that the entire region formed an integral economic unit[8]) as theMilitary Administration in Belgium and North France (Militärverwaltung in Belgien und Nordfrankreich).[citation needed]
In spite of this uncompromising attitude at the time, it was decided that the entire area should someday be assimilated into the Third Reich[9] and divided into three new Reichsgaue of aGreater Germanic Reich:Flandern andBrabant for the Flemish territories, andWallonien for the Walloon parts.[10] Reichsgau Brabant was to be headed by Gauleiter U. van Brusselen. On 13 July 1944, a Reichskommissariat Belgien-Nordfrankreich was established to accomplish precisely this goal, derived from the previous military administration.[11]
On 18 July 1944, theGauleiter ofGau Cologne-Aachen,Josef Grohé, was namedReichskommissar of the territory, known as theReichskommissariat Belgien und Nordfrankreich orReichskommissariat für die besetzte Gebiete von Belgien und Nordfrankreich.[12][1] It covered theNord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, as well as Belgium except forEupen-Malmedy which were reincorporated directly into the German Reich.[citation needed]
TheWehrmacht troops in the area were commanded byWehrmachtbefehlshaber Belgien-NordfrankreichMartin Grase (13 July 1944 – 16 September 1944).[citation needed]
The territory was mostly liberated by theAllies in September 1944, in the aftermath of theNormandy landings, so the existence of the territory was short.[citation needed]
Although most of Belgium and Northern France were no longer underde facto German control by the end of September 1944, the Nazi German leadership and its Flemish and Walloon collaborators continued making plans for the future political division and administration of the territories. Most versions of these plans included the future establishment of three separate territories: aReichsgau Flandern, aReichsgau Wallonien, and aDistrict orFree City of Brussels, which were supposed to be annexed by the German Reich.[13][14][15] On 8 December 1944, German Foreign MinisterJoachim von Ribbentrop appointedLéon Degrelle as the "Head of the Walloon Liberation Committee", followed by the appointment ofJef van de Wiele on 15 December 1944 to "Head of the Flemish Liberation Committee".[14] When the German military launched theArdennes Offensive on 16 December 1944, the Nazi collaborators had renewed hopes of carrying out their ideals.[16] In a 20 December 1944 interview with a pro-Nazi newspaper, Degrelle said no decision had yet been taken about the future of Belgium: 'The issue of the transformation of the States of the West is not current. The war must be won first...'[16] Degrelle's "Walloon Liberation Committee" was based in Bonn.[17] Meanwhile, van de Wiele'sVlaamsche Landsleiding, a self-proclaimed Flemish collaborator government-in-exile which had fled toÚstí nad Labem (German:Aussig) in November 1944[18] and had been designing statutes for a futureReichsland Flandern,[19] in late December 1944 moved to Wahn nearCologne to prepare for the 'liberation' of Flanders as it was building a combat group of Flemish collaborators to join the Ardennes Offensive.[20] In January 1945, Van de Wiele was negotiating with Foreign Ministry representative Diehl about the future establishment of separate subdivisions for Flanders and Wallonia; he did not care whether Flanders was to be called aReichsgau orReichsmark, as long as the 'artificial' Belgian state was split, and the 'unnatural union' of Flemings and Walloons was brought to an end.[21] The Ardennes Offensive was a disaster, and after the German troops were ordered to retreat on 13 January 1945, any further talks on the political future of Belgium were discontinued, as the German leadership was no longer interested in discussing plans with Van de Wiele.[22]
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