Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France

Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France
Militärverwaltung in Belgien und Nordfrankreich
Territory under German military administration
←   ← 1940–1944 →
Flag Emblem
German and Italian occupation zones: the zone occupée, the zone libre,the zone interdites, annexed Alsace-Lorraine Luxembourg and Eupen-Malmédy, and the Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France.
Capital		Brussels
Languages		Dutch French German
Political structure		Military administration
Military Commander
-	1940	Gerd von Rundstedt
-	1940–1944	Alexander von Falkenhausen
Administrator
-	1940–1944	Eggert Reeder
Historical era		World War II
-	Established	1940
-	Disestablished	1944
Currency		Belgian franc

The Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France (German: Militärverwaltung in Belgien und Nordfrankreich) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany that included present-day Belgium and the French departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais.^[1] The administration was also responsible for governing the zone interdite, a narrow strip of territory running along the French north and east coasts.^[2] It remained in existence until July 1944. Plans to transfer Belgium from the military administration to a civilian administration were promoted by the SS, and Hitler had been ready to do so until Autumn 1942, when he put off the plans for the time being.^[3] The SS had suggested either Josef Terboven or Ernst Kaltenbrunner as the Reich Commissioner of the civilian administration.^[4]

Reichskommissariat

On 18 July 1944, the Military Administration was replaced by a civil one, led by the Gauleiter, Josef Grohé, who was named the Reichskommissar of the Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France (Reichskommissariat Belgien und Nordfrankreich)^[1][5]

Role of collaborationist groups

The Nazi administration was assisted by fascist Flemish, Walloon, and French collaborationists. In binational Belgian territory, the predominantly French region of Wallonia, the collaborationist Rexists provided aide to the Nazis while in Flemish-populated Flanders, the Flemish National Union supported the Nazis. In Northern France, Flemish separatist tendencies were stirred by the pro-Nazi Vlaamsch Verbond van Frankrijk led by priest Jean-Marie Gantois.^[6]

The attachment of the departments Nord and Pas-de-Calais to the military administration in Brussels was initially made on military considerations, and was supposedly done in preparation for the planned invasion of Britain.^[7] Ultimately, the attachment was based on Hitler's intention to move the Reich's border westward, and was also used to maintain pressure on the Vichy regime - which protested the curtailment of its authority in what was still de jure national French territory - to ensure its good behavior.^[8]

Command structure

The Military Administration formed the core of a wider command structure which allowed the governance of occupied Belgium. It could rely on both military and civilian components:

Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France Militärverwaltung in Belgien und Nordfrankreich Part of the Wehrmacht Militärbefehlshaber: Alexander von Falkenhausen

Sipo-SD Part of the Sicherheitspolizei-Sicherheitsdienst Independent of the Military Administration and directed from Berlin.

Military Administrative Staff Militärverwaltungsstab Militärverwaltungschef: Eggert Reeder

Command Staff Kommandostab

Committee of Secretaries-General Representatives of the Belgian civil administration

Economic Department Wirtschaftsabteilung

Feldgendarmerie

Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo) Part of the SS

Belgian civil service: Burgomasters and local government; Belgian police and state security

Regional and district headquarters: Oberfeld-, Feld- or Kreiskommandanten

Belgian collaborationist groups Principally the Vlaams Nationaal Verbond (VNV) or Rex; Each with internal command structure.

Based on description in Van den Wijngaert, Mark; Dujardin, Vincent (2006). La Belgique sans Roi, 1940-1950. Nouvelle Historie de Belgique. 2: 1905-1950 (Brussels: Éd. Complexe). pp. 19–20. ISBN 2-8048-0078-4. 

See also

• Battle of Belgium
• Belgium in World War II
• Reichsgau Flandern
• Reichsgau Wallonien
• District of Brussels

References

Further reading

External links

• (German) Militärbefehlshaber Belgien/Nordfrankreich: Gliederung (administrative structure) at Lexikon der Wehrmacht

German administrative territories 1939–1945 Subdivisions of the Third Reich Areas annexed by Nazi Germany Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia General Government Adriatic Littoral Alpine Foothills Military Administrations France (1940/42–1944) Belgium and Northern France (1940–1944) Serbia (1941–1944) Greece (1941–1945) Poland (1939) Soviet Union (1941–1944) Reichskommissariat Founded Norwegen (1940–1945) Niederlande (1940–1945) Ostland (1941–1945) Ukraine (1941–1944) Belgien-Nordfrankreich (1944) Planned Burgund Don-Wolga Moskowien Kaukasus Turkestan Ural Administrations within or including Soviet territory shown in italics.

Countries occupied by Germany during World War II Albania Austria (Anschluss) Belarus Belgium Channel Islands Czechoslovakia Denmark Estonia France Greece Hungary Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Monaco Netherlands Norway Poland San Marino Ukraine Yugoslavia Serbia See also: Areas annexed by Nazi Germany • Reichskommissariat • Military administrations •