Brussels Occupied: Nazi Expansion Sweeps Belgium
German forces occupied Brussels without resistance on May 17, 1940, after the Belgian army retreated toward the coast. King Leopold III remained with his troops rather than following the government into exile, a decision that caused a constitutional crisis after the war. The German occupation lasted four years and transformed Belgium's political landscape. The military administration imposed forced labor, deported 25,000 Belgian Jews to Auschwitz (of whom fewer than 1,200 survived), and exploited Belgian industry for the German war effort. Belgian resistance groups conducted sabotage operations and intelligence gathering, but collaboration was also widespread. The occupation exacerbated linguistic tensions between French-speaking Walloons and Dutch-speaking Flemish that continue to shape Belgian politics today.
May 17, 1940
86 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Germany
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World War II
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Belgium
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Brussels
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World War II
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German invasion of Belgium (1940)
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Cristo Rei (Almada)
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Almada
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Gelübde
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Bruxelles
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Battle of France
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4e division cuirassée
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Charles de Gaulle
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Montcornet (Aisne)
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Nazi Germany
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Brussels
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Belgium
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