Military history of the Netherlands during World War II

The Dutch military attaché there, Major Bert Sas, had established good relations with Colonel Hans Oster, who occupied a high position in the Abwehr.The government in the Netherlands, however, did not take them seriously, as the offensive was postponed several times, even though Oster did eventually offer the correct date of May 10, 1940.Reasons cited for the weakness of the Netherlands military include decay during the long lapse of time since its last active participation in a war, the 1873–1903 Aceh War; the effects of widespread pacifism during the 1920s and 1930s; budget cuts, particularly during the Great Depression; and the unrealistic belief by Dutch politicians that the League of Nations would offer sufficient protection from aggression.Meanwhile, potential human capital was allowed to dissipate; compulsory service was cut back from 24 months to six, barely enough for the most basic of training.Not until 1936 did the Dutch government recognize the growing threat of Nazi Germany, but the resultant budget increases were too small and too late to establish an effective defense of the country.One factor was decisive: by that time, many European countries were rearming and had already placed orders taxing the available capacity of munitions plants, hindering Dutch efforts at procurement.Modernization of the Grebbeline, however, would not be complete or effective by the time of the invasion, in part because the government balked at the expense of clearing forests and houses blocking lines of sight from many of the fortifications.Germany's main worry was the route through Limburg, to eliminate the delay caused by the Liege corridor, that had hindered German forces during World War I.The 18th Army was to attack the Netherlands above Roermond, most notably breaking through the eastern defences of Fortress Holland (after having forced the Grebbeline) and crossing the Afsluitdijk.In the first days of May 1940, the Dutch government received several indications of German activity near the border, and on May 7 all leave was cancelled and the army was put on alert.The German advance was further hindered by a line of pillboxes along both rivers, but despite heavy resistance they succeeded in crossing both IJssel and Maas by midday.Because of miscommunications between the Dutch and the French, and also because the Moerdijk Bridge, the only link between the eastern and southern parts of the Netherlands, was still in German hands, their effectiveness was limited.The Dutch tried to organize a counter-attack during the night, as they thought there were only some hundred German troops opposing them (the real number was probably somewhere around two thousand), but this met with little success.As there were no reserve troops, it was clear that defeat was imminent: there was nothing between the Germans and the North Sea but the famous Waterlinie (Water Line) was only very sketchily prepared.Under the threat that other major cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht would share the fate of Rotterdam in which over 900 civilians were killed, the Dutch decided to surrender in the midday of 14 May.The Royal Netherlands Navy, which had not capitulated as such, had managed to get most of its ships to England (one, the light cruiser Jacob van Heemskerk was towed since its construction was incomplete).In fact, the only military action in the area occurred in February 1942 when the Defense Force's Fokker together with a US aircraft attacked two U-boats off Aruba which had sunk a number of allied oilers.During Operation Market Garden, the Americans and British established a corridor to Nijmegen, but they failed to secure a Rhine crossing at Arnhem.During the rest of 1944, the Canadian First Army liberated Zeeland in the Schelde Campaign, in order to free access to the harbour of Antwerp.However, the Germans, having agreed to a truce, did allow the staging of an Allied relief effort, Operations Manna (RAF) and Chowhound (USAAF).