Luxembourg In World War II
   HOME



picture info

Luxembourg In World War II
The involvement of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in World War II began with its invasion by German forces on 10 May 1940 and lasted beyond its liberation by Allied forces in late 1944 and early 1945. Luxembourg was placed under occupation in 1940 and was annexed into Germany in 1942. During the occupation, the German authorities orchestrated a programme of "Germanisation" of the country, suppressing non-German languages and customs and conscripting Luxembourgers into the ''Wehrmacht'', which led to extensive resistance, culminating in a general strike in August 1942 against conscription. The Germanisation was facilitated by a collaborationist political group, the '' Volksdeutsche Bewegung'', founded shortly after the occupation. Shortly before the surrender, the government had fled the country along with Grand Duchess Charlotte, eventually arriving in London, where a Government-in-exile was formed. Luxembourgish soldiers also fought in Allied units until liberation. Background ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming Chancellor of Germany#Nazi Germany (1933–1945), the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of in 1934. His invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 marked the start of the Second World War. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of Holocaust victims, about six million Jews and millions of other victims. Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and moved to German Empire, Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in the First World War, receiving the Iron Cross. In 1919 he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and in 1921 was app ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Brandenburgers
The Brandenburgers () were members of Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht special forces unit during World War II. Originally, the unit was formed by and operated as an extension of the military's intelligence and counter-espionage organ, the ''Abwehr''. Members of this unit took part in seizing operationally important targets by way of sabotage and infiltration. Consisting of foreign German nationals working on behalf of the Third Reich, the unit's members often lived abroad, were proficient in foreign languages, and were familiar with the local culture and customs of the areas where they were deployed. The Brandenburg Division was generally subordinated to the army groups in individual commands and operated throughout Eastern Europe, in northern Africa, Afghanistan, the Middle East, and in the Caucasus. In the later course of the war, parts of the special unit were used in ''Bandenbekämpfung'' operations against partisans in Yugoslavia before the division was reclassified and merged i ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Battle Of The Netherlands
The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Battle of France, Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and French Third Republic, France during World War II. The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until the surrender of the main Dutch forces on 14 May. Dutch troops in the province of Zeeland, Zealand continued to resist the Wehrmacht until 17 May, when Germany completed its occupation of the whole country. The invasion of the Netherlands saw some of the earliest mass paratroop drops, to occupy tactical points and assist the advance of ground troops. The German Luftwaffe used paratroopers in the capture of several airfields in the vicinity of Rotterdam and The Hague, helping to quickly overrun the country and immobilise Dutch forces. After the devastating German bombing of Rotterdam, Nazi bombing of Rotterdam by the Luftwaffe on 14 May ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Battle Of Belgium
The invasion of Belgium or Belgian campaign (10–28 May 1940), often referred to within Belgium as the 18 Days' Campaign (; ), formed part of the larger Battle of France, an Military offensive, offensive campaign by Nazi Germany, Germany during the World War II, Second World War. It took place over 18 days in May 1940 and ended with the German occupation of Belgium following the surrender of the Belgian Land Component, Belgian Army. On 10 May 1940, Germany Invasion of Luxembourg, invaded Luxembourg, Battle of the Netherlands, the Netherlands, and Belgium under the operational plan ''Manstein Plan, Fall Gelb'' (Case Yellow). The Allied armies Dyle Plan, attempted to halt the German Army in Belgium, believing it to be the main German thrust. After the French had fully committed the best of the Allies of World War II, Allied armies to Belgium between 10 and 12 May, the Germans enacted the second phase of their operation, a break-through, or sickle cut, through the Ardennes, and adv ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

SdKfz232-8rad-ardennes-france-1940
''Sonderkraftfahrzeug'' (abbreviated ''Sd.Kfz.'', German for "special purpose vehicle") was the ordnance inventory designation used by Nazi Germany before and during World War II for military vehicles; for example ''Sd.Kfz.'' 101 for the Panzer I, and ''Sd.Kfz.'' 251 for the armored personnel carrier made by Hanomag. The Reichswehr and its successor, the Wehrmacht began systematically allocating numbers to its vehicles from around 1930, including horse-drawn vehicles, cars and trucks, combat vehicles, and trailers. Sd.Kfz. numbers were assigned to armored, tracked, and half-tracked vehicles. Cars and trucks were allocated Kfz. numbers and trailers were designated with Anh. () and Sd.Anh. numbers. Sd.Kfz. numbering system Allocation of the numbered series was as follows: *Sd.Kfz. 1 to 99: Unarmoured half-tracked vehicles *Sd.Kfz. 100 to 199: Tanks and tank variants, including tank destroyers and self-propelled artillery ** Sd.Kfz. 101 to 120: Panzer I and variants ** Sd.Kfz. 1 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Schuster Line
The Schuster Line (, ) was a line of barriers and barricades erected by the Luxembourg government along its borders with Germany and France shortly before World War II. The line was named after Joseph Schuster, Luxembourg's chief engineer of bridges and highways, who was responsible for its construction. The Schuster Line consisted of 41 sets of concrete blocks and iron gates, 18 bridgeblocks on the German border and five roadblocks on the French border. The roadblocks were set up a mile inland in a zigzag pattern, covered by barbed wire entanglements on either side. Nine radio outposts were erected along the German border, with a central receiving station in the St Espirit barracks in the capital. The line failed significantly to slow the German advance during the invasion of Luxembourg on 10 May 1940. The iron gates were knocked down and ramps were built over the concrete blockades to drive over them; some were blown up.Jean Milmeister: ''Sturm auf die "Schusterlinie.".'' In: ' ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Blackout (wartime)
A blackout during war, or in preparation for an expected war, is the practice of collectively minimizing outdoor light, including upwardly directed (or reflected) light. This was done in the 20th century to prevent crews of enemy aircraft from being able to identify their targets by sight, such as during the London Blitz of 1940. In coastal regions, a shoreside blackout of city lights also helped protect ships from being seen silhouetted against the artificial light by enemy submarines further out at sea. World War I United Kingdom Plans to black out British coastal towns in the event of war were drawn up in 1913 by Winston Churchill in his role as First Lord of the Admiralty; these plans were implemented on 12 August 1914, eight days after the United Kingdom had entered the war. On 1 October 1914, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police ordered that bright exterior lights were to be extinguished or dimmed in the London area and street lamps be partially painted out with b ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Phoney War
The Phoney War (; ; ) was an eight-month period at the outset of World War II during which there were virtually no Allied military land operations on the Western Front from roughly September 1939 to May 1940. World War II began on 3 September 1939 with declarations of war by the United Kingdom and France against Germany, but with little actual warfare occurring. Thus began the "Phoney" period. Although the Western Allies did not conduct major military actions during the Phoney War, they did implement economic warfare, especially a naval blockade of Germany, and they shut down German surface raiders. They meanwhile formulated elaborate plans for large-scale operations designed to cripple the German war effort. The plans included opening an Anglo-French front in the Balkans, invading Norway to seize control of Germany's main source of iron ore, and imposing an embargo against the Soviet Union which was Germany's primary oil supplier. By April 1940, the execution of the No ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Radio Luxembourg (English)
Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earliest commercial radio stations broadcasting to both the UK and Ireland. The station provided a way to circumvent British legislation which until 1973 gave the BBC a monopoly of radio broadcasting on UK territory and prohibited all forms of advertising over the domestic radio spectrum. It boasted the most powerful privately owned transmitter in Europe (200 kW, broadcasting on long wave). In the late 1930s, and again in the 1950s and 1960s, it had large audiences across Britain and Ireland with its programmes of popular entertainment, and was an important forerunner of pirate radio and modern commercial radio in Britain. Radio Luxembourg's parent company, RTL Group, continued its involvement in broadcasts to a UK audience with the Britis ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalitarianism, totalitarian dictatorship. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", referred to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945, after 12 years, when the Allies of World War II, Allies defeated Germany and entered the capital, Berlin, End of World War II in Europe, ending World War II in Europe. After Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi Party began to eliminate political opposition and consolidate power. A 1934 German referendum confirmed Hitler as sole ''Führer'' (leader). Power was centralised in Hitler's person, an ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]