The German Invasion of the Netherlands - May 1940
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- How did the Germans conquer the Netherlands in May 1940? On the 10th of May 1940 the German invasion of the Netherlands started. Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands via land and via air. Within one day they crushed through the IJssel Line and then made their way to the main Dutch line of defence: the Grebbe Line (Grebbelinie). The area in front of the Grebbe Line was flooded. The only place that wasn't was the Grebbeberg. Meanwhile German troops landed in the Dutch hinterland. Around The Hague German paratroopers (Fallshirmjäger) and airlanding troops attacked the air fields of Ypenburg, Ockenburg en Valkenburg (a.k.a. de Slag om de Residentie). The Dutch defenders were overwhelmed but got themselves together and fought back. The German attackers took the air fields but were driven off by a counterattack of the Dutch soldiers. The German plan to take The Hague and capture the Dutch queen, army high command and government failed completely. The Battle of the Grebbeberg was in full swing now. There the defenders fought hard but were driven back. On one occasion Dutch officer, major Jacometti, drew his klewang and stormed forward to lead a counterattack. He was killed in action. Another Dutch counterattack failed as well. The Battle of Rotterdam went on for some days now and the resistance needed to be broken in order to resume the German advance in the Netherlands. Rotterdam army commander colonel Scharroo received an unsigned German letter that demanded the city to be surrendered or face demolition by bombing. After some discussion they requested for a signed message. Yet, the planes were on their way and Rotterdam was bombed. One place the Germans did not managed to take was in the north. The Battle of the Afsluitdijk was won by the Dutch troops, yet they had to surrender. Learn more about the start of WW II in the Netherlands. History Hustle presents: the Battle of the Netherlands (1940). Learn about the German invasion of Holland also known as the Battle of the Netherlands.
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How Effective Was Germany When Invading Holland in WWII?
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Footage and still photos are of the short film “Mei 1940” which I graduated with from the Utrecht School of Arts. Check out the facebook page for more information:
/ mei1940
Other images from commons.wikimedia.org or flickr.com.
"Crusade" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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"Evil March" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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"Five Armies" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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"Exciting Trailer" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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I also made a video specifically about the Grebbeberg Battle. Check here:
ruclips.net/video/WJqfCVoiqbQ/видео.html
Do YOU want to learn how the Dutch remember World War II? Click here:
ruclips.net/video/U2WyTZ8_M64/видео.html
My grandfather fought at the Grebbeberg. Going to check the video out.
Wat ben jij allemaal van plan om voor elke Nederlander het woord te voeren ? Ben je al wel een jaar of 80 ,en dan nog type maar lekker voor jezelf
@@ariari4133 hey lullo zei ik dat ik een mening erover zou geven? En trouwens jou mening is ongevraagd en blijkbaar van het niveau amoebe dus hou ff snel je bek als volwassenen praten.
@@ariari4133 🤣😂
@@ariari4133 je hebt net toch wel mooi voor de 2de keer gereageerd 🤔
My grandfather was a drafted soldier stationed in Rotterdam when the bombardement came. He and three of his brothers in arms seized two trucks filled with explosives wich the Germans wanted to detonate in front of city hall. They took the trucks and drove them to a safe area outside of Rotterdam and detonated them over there. He got a medal for that after the war. Still very proud if him!
Never heard of that Maarten, thanks for pointing this out. What did your grandfather said to you about his war experiences? What was the fighting in Rotterdam like?
@@HistoryHustle As a child I was curious and asked my grandfather about the war many times. Usually he just left the room and didn't give me an awnser. Once he said that he saw things and had to do things he wasn't able to forget and that I as a young boy certainly didn't need to know. He had big difficulties talking about his wartime experiences and I think he had PTSD.
@@MaartenVrijman I'm sorry to hear that Maarten. Thanks for sharing.
@ZionHillCalling What an crazy fact. Thanks for sharing.
@Junkrat Please expain.
My mother in law said she saw German paratroopers cry when they had seen the result of the bombing of Rotterdam. They said that they were told they were going to be dropped England, not to the neutral Netherlands.
Interesting detail, thanks for sharing!
Rudolf Rednose Well, i highly doubt any German wanted civilians to be burned/bombed to death, especially considering how close the relations of Germans and Dutch people had been in the border regions.
Of course there’s those who didn’t feel any remorse whatsoever, and certainly there were those bastards who‘d consider other human beings „inferior“, but none of the ordinary soldiers would like to see innocents killed.
F
@@violentscorl697 that inferior thing.. is history propaganda,, . watch the last battle of europe on bitchute.
The bombing of Rotterdam was a shame. And good for nothing.
I am still proud that my country tried to fought back with small gear and supplies.
Yes, indeed.
Grolloër films daar heb ik diepe respect voor je, de Nederlanders kregen na hun schrik een
Afschuwelijke vechtlust na de inval.. maar generaal Reinders zag dat er geen materieel,materiaal,manschappen,zeevloot hadden. En schoven Reynders aan de kant.
Ze hebben de prijs ervoor betaald door fouten regering.
If there now war we repaerd
if the British and French where more compitant the germans wouldn't have taken holland and belgium but well we all know what happened
But doomed
Despite public opinion, the Dutch fought quite well. The German army had a lot of experience gained in the First World War and therefor had an excellent cooperation between the different army units.
A very couragous fight was about the airfield Valkenburg near The Hague where the Germans suffered heavy losses.
A general misconception is that the Germans had modern weapons.
Dutch people often laugh about the artillery dating back to WW1. Truth is, that the German had canons from WW1. In that time it didnt really matter if you had artillery from 1938 or 1916.
And there are other things you should take in consideration.
That's correct. Indeed much more things can be taken in consideration. As a re-enactor of Dutch 1940 people often laugh about the puttees. Yet, puttees were far more comfortable in battle than jackboots IMO.
"Despite public opinion, the Dutch fought quite well." Goes on to describe how the Netherlands doesn't even defend half of the country and some idiotic major killed while charging with a sword with even Dutch soldiers shooting at his charge....
Perspectives vary on this. You have to place things in perspective. Half the country was undefendable so the first proper line of defence was at the Yssel with the Grebbe Line as its main line. The Dutch hoped to hold off the Germans long enough to drive them out with massive allied help.
big bang cannons still have a big bang, no matter how old they are
@@steyn1775 Yes, the do. Especially for the 'untrained' ear.
Excellent educational presentation. So little is known about the Dutch army engagements. I learned much from this presentation. This is a fascinating and somewhat obscure event of WW2 not normally taught in schools. Honor to the fallen Dutch defenders. Also, I find the Dutch designed helmet quite good. The extended rear "fire fighter" flange design seemed to provided better protection from debris and shrapnel. And BTW: Finland is grateful for the D-XXI Fokker. Thank you. Take care and be safe.
Thanks for your reply. In case you're interested, I have a video about the Dutch army of 1940:
ruclips.net/video/-esy4KKhpdo/видео.html
My mother-in-law lived in Rotterdam when it was bombed. Her brother was sadly killed then. My father-in-law hid in barns for the duration of the war. I can't imagine how I would have handled the horrors of war.
Thanks for sharing this.
and today the Netherlands would'nt be ready either..
Luckily this day we don't need te be ready...
I don't think the Belgians dare to invade...
@@HistoryHustle Oh yes we do! Indeed against invaders who're allready here! 'Our' government has allowed for the enemy of the next Dutch war, to stockpile weapons. These weaponcaches are far more numerous then most people know or are willing to acknowledge.
Don't forget how easy it is to bring in illegal weapons into this open border country.
Nonsense you say? Don't forget that research journalist Arthur van Amerongen, when he went underground to do research for his book 'Brussel: Eurabia', over a decade ago, allready estimated there to be some 4000(!) AK-47's in Brussel alone...
@@GTfour01 lol its 2020 mate. serious wars are not going to be waged with Ak47s... a true war between superpowers would end in mutual destruction. That's why we need diplomacy, not weapons.
@@Siliciouss Sure, go tell that to the people in, for instance, Allepo, Syria. There, an army of proxy soldiers, mostly armed with AK's and RPG's, managed to occupy this big city for many months, slaughtering and terrorising many of it's occupants. All the 'superpowers' did, was dropping ordnance from above, basically destroying the place and killing even more of its civilians. Diplomacy didn't quite work out so well for them, or do you think it did? 🙄
I'm staggered by the fact you use 'LOL' here. In my eyes, there's absolutely nothing funny about the clear and present danger of 'our' government willingly importing the very same killing machines from Syria, into our peacefull and naïeve country.
Where did you get this smuggness from? I simply can't fathom you dare to pull the condescending card here. That kind of behaviour send our guys into war with Germany with obsolete WW1 weaponry!
My grandma told me how amazed she was, by the sound of the German war planes flying over at the 10th of May 1940..
I can image. Thanks for sharing.
Het wordt tijd dat hierover een goede film gemaakt wordt.
We shot a record number of german planes out off the sky in those days.
Yes, I adress that in the follow-up video. See here if you haven't:
ruclips.net/video/o-dBkEqdq-o/видео.html
You guys had planes?
@@pxu_190 yea 1 or 2 out of the iceage period
@@Robin-mn5zo I didnt knew that, my grandpa fought 1944 in netherlands
@@Robin-mn5zo But as german
So many Dutch in the Dutch East Indies thought they were lucky they were not in Europe. Dutch Navy fighting against the Japanese is a good story to dig into. I always wondered if the Dutch stationed any BF109 airplanes in the Dutch East Indies. I never found out.
Well... only for a while when end 1941 the Japanese came for them. More on that here:
ruclips.net/video/CtzJufbfz-E/видео.html
Excellent thank you.
I am an Australian history teacher with Dutch ancestry, and this is very interesting.
Very nice to read. Thanks! Your surname is indeed Dutch. Like the painter!
"Did the have any Dutch chance?"
An interesting way of reading it.
@@HistoryHustle It very much looks like the 'Don't dead, open inside' thing from The Walking Dead. ;)
Leuk en interessant filmpje, Stefan!
Kun je ook een item maken over de luchtslag?
Bedankt. Luchtslag zal wellicht in de toekomst behandeld worden.
Goeie video! Misschien een idee om de slag om de afsluitdijk nog wat uit te lichten?
Zeker, wil daar sowieso nog een keer op locatie filmen!
Thanks for the informative video, I lived in Breda for a few years, but never got to meet older Dutch who could tell me about the reality of the war!
You're welcome. Breda is a very nice city. My family is from there.
In my opinion the Western Europeans should have taken a clue from the Polish people in 1939. The Poles were no roll over because they have fought against the Soviets 20 years earlier in combat and survived their independence. The Polish Military were just as prepared and tough as the French Military who went on all out modernization of their armed forces. I think the problem was it didn't have a NATO style of agreement of mutual defense on mainland Europe. Only the British, French, and Belgians had agreed in alliance but a lot of countries chose to become neutral to avoid war with Germany like the Norway, Denmark, and Holland but not totally be prepared for war. Only Switzerland and Sweden had a fully armed neutrality status since the beginning of the 20th century. Both countries were prepared for combat if the Germans decided to invade them. German intelligence developed a picture of all European countries of who were not prepared before combat started with Poland. The Germans had perfected their idea and concept of offensive operations during the 1930s with new technology and incorporating combined arms tactics and planning. This was a wealth of information for all the European nations to how the Germans were going to fight through open sources and secret intelligence sources. I think the fault goes to the politicians of appeasement ignored the fact that they would be attacked without proper preparation for war. "Vis Sic Pacem Parabellum", if you want peace, prepare for war.
Thanks for sharing your insights on this.
@@HistoryHustle Thank you Sir! Your topics gets me thinking. 👍👍👍👍
I was taught that the Netherlands fought well in my U.S. Army ROTC Military History course. The stopped the Germans from seizing the Queen and government, the bridges and dykes. They were only conquered in five days, because the government had failed to properly fund the Army.
Could you comment on this? --> --> I once read somewhere, that when the German air attack began, the Dutch failed to respond properly to the incursion of the airspace, had the Dutch airforce immediately attacked the German planes then the Dutch airforce would have been a factor for longer which would have extended the war well beyond 5 days. Secondly, the Dutch refused a common defense line with Belgium and France, had they worked with them then the time required before allied reïnforcements could come had been significantly shorter, and it might have been worth it to hold on longer.
About the first point I can't tell because I have no great knowledge on it. Anyone?
Secondly, don't forget the Dutch were neutral. Putting up a combined defensive perimeter would bring neutrality in danger. We have the benefit of hindsight of course.
@@HistoryHustle Er werd in het geheim wel degelijk onderhandeld over een gezamenlijke verdediging met de Belgen. Namenlijk de Peel Raamstelling zou perfect aansluiten op het Albertkanaal.
Helaas wilden de Belgen niet meewerken en wilden hun verdediging verder oostelijk te België organiseren met het gevolg dat de Peel Raamstelling makkelijk zuidelijk te omzeilen was voor de Duitse pantsereenheden die zich haastten naar Rotterdam en Den Haag om via Moerdijk en Dordrecht hun omsingelde kameraden te kunnen ontzetten.
The first aircraft shot down by the Dutch airforce in WW2 was ironically a RAF wellington bomber. On 10th May 1940 the Luftwaffe flew north over the north sea as if heading for England before turning east to attack dutch airfields and other strategic targets from the West a direction the defenders where not expecting the attack to come from, hence the dutch airforce was caught by surprise.
A video about operation Market Garden would be nice!
Something for the future 👍
@@HistoryHustle I live near Nijmegen in a village called Beek that played a key role in the battle. We have a couple of monuments here and a nice forest called the Duivelsberg that was heavily fought over. Feel free to drop by if you ever feel like making a video about it and I can show you around.
May 1940 the Dutch government and royal house volontary ceased to exist according to a law they removed in 1980. Under nu circumstance the government of the Netherlands and ruling royalty was allowed to leave their possition. WW2 showed both the best and worst of the Dutch, a lot of brave people, resistance fighters, people hiding other people but also a lot if traitors to humanity, the Netherlands even had it's own dedicated division known as NSB.
Yes, indeed. I wasnt aware of this law removed in 1980.
Im proud of my country that they have fought this long against the almost most strongest military
Fair point. Learn more about the Dutch successes in May 1940:
ruclips.net/video/lGLmxN8hx7o/видео.html
Damn...I had no idea the Dutch put up such a fierce resistance.
They did yes.
Soooo, there was no battle plan for the borders and any towns in the eastern part of the netherlands?
The battle plan was to retreat from these areas as soon as the Germans invaded.
@@HistoryHustle but I'm assuming just the military which was retreating. Leaving their citicens to their own?
As far as I know there were no evacuation plans for them. With help of the British and French the lost ground would be retaken. That was the plan.
I thought the Germans lost a lot of airplanes against the Dutch defence
crashing into the soft fields and they never found any capacity to replace them,
which actually caused them to lose the battle of Britain.
Check out my latest video, where I talk about that:
ruclips.net/video/o-dBkEqdq-o/видео.html
"the dutch army suffered severe budget restrains"
my how times have changed lol
Yes, although now there is no direct threat of invasion.
@@HistoryHustle Oh you just wait until Verhofstadt decides the "United States of Europe" project needs a bit of German efficiency from the upcomming Eu army :P
Funny indeed
Well well how the turntables
jet flaque. restraint, restraints.
always learned, that Netherlands forces were taken by surprise and speed of the German troops. just didn't know how brave they fought against a overwhelning invader without having a chance.
This Wednesday a follow-up episode about morale and strategies of the Battle of the Netherlands will be released!
Its dutch forces (no hate btw)
I like to believe the germans would have had a hell of a time capturing the netherlands if the government never surrendered after the bombings.
@@sven200gaming Do you know that when speaking of the Dutch colonial army it is translated as: Royal Netherlands East Indies Army.
We surrendered far before the most of our soldiers fired a bullet.
Fun fact: hitler found that the invasion took too long for such an small country *5 days* were according to hitler too long for an invasion of the netherlands
Yes, the nazis had planned Netherlands to be taken in just one day.
@@HistoryHustle We Dutch just kept resisting, we are good in delaying the enemies. :3
thats what the title implies
Look up how long it took the nazi's to conquer Denmark and ask yourself wether or not those expectations of just 1 day were THAT unrealistic. We used every bit of force multiplier that the Dutch terrain could offer us and it was unsuitable for blitzkrieg where we decided to hold the line.
does anyone know if there is any thruth to the urban myth that the german officers made reservations in Hotel on the coast the day before the invasion?
so Rotterdam was bombed because of a clerical error. Never knew that.
Indeed, that's where it came down to.
Christian S exactly! This is something which he forgets to mention in the video. Also the main reason that the bombing of Rotterdam is seen as unnecessary, they had already signed the document. If I remember correctly, historians also highly doubt if they actually did or did not see the flares.
The dutch are the only people that are willing to lose a city because of an unsigned document
@ja nee is there a difference between some explosives dropped around the harbour, and incendiary bombs destroying half the city? If not, you are totaly right.....
@@HistoryHustle quite dissapointing from Polish perspective
Germans belike: *Hippity hoppity your country is now our property*
I should used this in the kids version of this video.
Xd
roasted
So you're a man of culture I see
Meh,...i can handle it. we at least lasted 4days and 12hours longer then the Danish.
this was the only time we were G E K O L O N I S E E R D
What can I say...
@@HistoryHustle not that much I guess
Hahahs
What about the Spanish..?
@@misterkami2 Back then it was just holland, utrecht, zeeland, brabant, etc. as part of the holy roman empire. Our identity just wasn't a thing.
I am English and myself and my wife visited Amsterdam last year, I love the Dutch people!
Cheers!
David Viner finally i have someone that loves me
@@mayday4599 Hahahahhaha same:)
I am German, and I love them too. Very likable people 👍
Haha thank you, I am dutch but live in a different part of the netherlands.
Actually a lot of people don’t like other parts of the Netherlands here and are very informal.
But we are much more “gezellig” so fun basically fun to be around and have a good time with, ( if a place is gezellig it has a inviting fun atmosphere)
I don’t think the Netherlands gets credit for all we do, but that’s ok.
It’s about what you do, not about doing it to get praised.
Being German, I find your content highly interesting. Would like to see more of it. And may our countries never be involved anymore in any violent conflicts with each other. Best greets to the Netherlands from Cologne. ✌️
greetings back from Rotterdam, and may we stay friends.
Germanic brothers till the end!
All is forgiven you guys were bombed way harder and lost allot more we got off easy in ww2
It's interesting and a quick way to get to France.
Thije Van Koningsveld This is my hope and the only reasonable thing to do. I have very fond memories every time I travel to your beautiful country and meet cool people.
I can’t fathom it differently.
I am german and i love the netherlands (i live 20km from dutch border in limburg). The dutch are so super friendly and kind even towards us. That shows how smart they are (compared to other countries especially) and know that past is past. The netherlands always are so underrated in the world - you can see that when you see their education system. It's so superb
Thank you for these kind words:)
We love Germany, too.
We just rly didn’t like WWII.
We’ve left our past rivalry behind and became the 1st and 2nd best country to live in, love from the Netherlands! 🇳🇱🇩🇪
Most Dutch and German people didn't experience World War II because they were born after it had ended.
The only reason we like to say nasty things to each other from time to time "Mijn fiets terug!" is because of the heat of the moment during football matches etc.
How ppl still hold today German's responsible things happened 80 years ago? It is not like any German can do anything about the past.
Short answer: No
Fair enough.
Long answer: noooo
Yeah We were fucked
Longer answer: NEINNEINNEINNEINNEIN!
Defending flat, featureless farmland is a tall order .
Hmm, how the dutch hard-countered the German airplanes by having special maneouvrable ones, which easily got the Germans.
Something to dive into for a future video.
That was the Fokker G1. Unfortunately not enough of them.
@@Mii378 and not enough is still a problem for the Dutch Army
@@Mii378 21 or 23 of them. and half where lost at Bergen when air force specialists kept saying it was a few english fighters and bombers flying over us. They kept saying they positively identified spitfires and Blenheims untill the bombs dropped and broke connection with the AA commander. In Waalhaven 11 were stationed. They too were taken by surprise, but bombs destroyed only 3 of them, the others took off. Makes me wonder, along with the AA commander, if there was some form of treason at Schiphol....
Of the 8 that took off, one was shot down, by a Ju52 transport plane... the pilot probably ran out of ammo, decided to force the slower german plane to land by flying almost on top of him (people on the ground have seen this) and then the German tailgunner could not miss anymore.
3 more G1's ran out of ammo, landed to reload, then the paratroopers and landing aircraft (and the defenders shooting all planes at the field) prevented them from taking off again.
Three other G1's, seeing all Dutch airfields sprinkeled with german planes or burning, landed on the Dutch beach. Bad luck, it was Oostvoorne, very hard to reach with fighting everywhere and only a few bridges leading there. By the time pilots made it there (4 days later) with gas, ammo and a starting crew, they were destroyed by German bombers.
Yes, you counted correct, there was one left... he flew all the way north to airfield De Kooi at Den Helder, but ended his landing with his propellers stuck in barb wire. Like: all around twisted and stuck. Dont know if he flew again.
Two more G1's were almost ready when war broke out, they were hastily finished and flew some missions. At least one was lost during the desperate attempt to destroy the Moerdijk bridge.
Dutch, Danes, Swedes, Finns, Hungarians, Austrians, Ukranians... yep. Are those who shouldnt be allowed to speak about WW2.
Beside Germans.
If the rest of us, holds some worth to memory of our grandads.
Budget cuts? How surprising! Exactly the same happened in Norway before the Germans came for us too... 😖
I guess. I don't know much about the invasion of Norway.
@@HistoryHustle Should definitely look it up. Very interesting stuff happened in Norway: from the german invasion, to the british invasion, to the heavy water found there, to the battleships hiding in the fjords using smokescreens.
But from every land which was conquered by the germans, Norway hold the longest time.
1929, remember??
Can't help reading the thumbnail as:
"Did the have any Dutch chance?"
Understandable.
Don't dead open inside
Did the have Dutch any chance?
Never
No they didn't
1:00 in addition to this, In WW1The German soldiers literally went to the border house of the Netherlands in the early morning to ask if they could pass through the province of Limburg. After an emergency message to the Dutch government, the government said no because the Netherlands wanted to be neutral.
After the Dutch border patrol said no to the Germans, it was a question if they would accept the neutrality. But the Germans did, and moved all the way around Limburg and didn’t enter Dutch territory.
Interesting, I didn't know this. I do know that after WW1 was over, German units requested to pass through Limburg in order to get back to Germany quicker. This passage was granted, yet, the Germans had to leave their weaponry behind in the Netherlands. Some of these weapons were used against the Germans by the Dutch in May 1940.
@@HistoryHustle I've seen photos of that. WW1 German troops being disarmed and crossing the Maas bridge at Maaseik to go from Belgium into the Netherlands. Lots of horses still during that time. Soldiers camping in the Maaseik city center until they're cleared to cross the bridge.
Geweldig,
Loved this!
Im dutch, this is what is missed at school. There is so much about after the occupation, but before that, we get so few info.
Thanks
Thanks you, Wim. More about NL in WOII will follow soon.
Ik ben ook nl maar als een Engelsman een Nederlandse naam zegt moet ik altijd lachen
@@larsvandergeest2360 je weet dat hij een heel duidelijk nederlands accent heeft niet te vergeten hij zegt namen juist en een zeer nederlandse naam
@@larsvandergeest2360 Dit is een Nederlander met een zwaar nederlands accent, hoe kom je erbij dat het om een engelsman gaat?
I would definitely like to see more videos on the invasion of the Netherlands! Also, where could I be able to watch the featured short fim? (Awesome video by the way!)
Thank you! Keep an eye on this channel for information about the short film. For now you can check some photos on the Facebook page: facebook.com/Mei1940/
IT’S THE NETHERLANDS. NOT HOL… Oh wait. You did it right. Sorry 😐
Haha, thanks!
My late father and with him a lot of Dutch soldiers could hardly believe that high command did order them to lay down their arms and surrender to the Germans so soon. Most of the soldiers didn't even fire one shot at the enemy and the bulk of the Dutch army was still intact and morale was still good. Needless to say these guys were very disappointed, because they really wanted to fight for their country. Brave and good men, who would have given the nazi's a stiff run for their money. Something like the Fins did with the Sowjets.
But this would only have meant pursponing the inavitable defeat, the West of the country in ruins and tenthousands of extra casualties. So high command, realising that any help by the French and the British BEF was out of the question (the only change to stop the German onlsaught), made the right decision, all be it with a very heavy heart.
Well said. Many Dutch soldiers was indeed surprised and even
disillusioned upon hearing the news of the Dutch capitulation.
@@HistoryHustle He was only 20 at the time, but already a corporal and part of a sharpshooters/sniper unit, ecquipped with telescope rifles. Some staff officers did find out, that many boys from Drenthe were excellent shots, due to their experience in poaching. He was very proud of the crossed rifle badge on his right shoulder, pointing out that he was an expert rifleman. Dad (1919-2004) was ''Gereformeerd'' (orthodox protestant), so he never swore. But that day he did, while smashing his special sniper rifle against a tree, so that the Germans couldn't use it anymore.
Thanks for sharing, very interesting to read.
@TheWeeaboo Millions of casualties in the Netherlands is a stretch. That would only happen if the Germans started shooting everything that moved or cruel orders by Hitler but he didn't have any antisemitic reasons to that to the Netherlands. There is no way we could've won except in fantasy scenarios.
The dutch could of been the next "300" story.. but they just arent spartans. Not for nothing goes the saying dutch cowardness. And this saying goed way back
"Pantserwagen" = armored car or armored personnel carrier. For the benefit of the English speaking viewers :)
Yes indeed, next video I Will do it right!
Lol I’m Dutch and even though we say tank both words in pantser wagen can be dutch too 😂
*panzerwagen
Well I believe the correct spelling and pronunciation is Panzerspähwagen!
@@stupadussidk4768 panzer is german
12:36 these are words of a true commander, awesome. It's great how far our military advanced in 80 years. Pretty proud of our little country!
👍
Yeah, today we don't have any tanks and hardly any army, and the few soldiers we have are equipped with junk and have to buy their own boots and bullet-proof vests. Really something to be proud of.
@@gustavthemagicianLigt allemaal veel genuanceerder :)
My grandfather lived in Ameland (one of the five inhibited islands of the Netherlands) during the war. He was thirteen when the war started and during the war he didn't got drafted because he made a deal that he would provide the entirety of Ameland with fish, instead of fighting for the Wehrmacht. So he was the one together with his fishing partner responsible for the total fish supply of an entire island. He got to live 88 years. I wished that I could ask him more about the war. I would always ask my mom beforehand whether my questions would be appropriate for him or not because I didn't want to hurt his feelings. I remember how my mom eventually pressured me to ask him things before it was ''too late''. ❤21-01-2015❤
Thanks for sharing this.
@Großösterreichisches Reich True, thanks for sharing.
I know this story from my wife's grandfather, he is from Ameland and knew your grandfather :)
@@patrickvandriel5350wait what? Piet Veltman is zijn naam. Meen je dit???
@@gaatjeniksaan336 Kwam hij uit Nes toevallig? Mijn vrouw haar opa komt uit Hollum.
Eeee...I do not know
For smaler country...with such a big impact ...contributione
In history..economy...inventiones...tolerance...
...even imperial influence
Then Netherlands
Good yob Dutch people
You can be realy proud on your history and all
And in the same time...I got impressione...that you are not realy impressed with all that
Simply...
You seams to be...all about
Is it practical....is there good sence....and where it will put you
All respects from Croatia
Be a Dutch
We all neads your atitude
😊👍🍀🔝🍺🙌🎉
Cheers!
Both my grandfathers never fought in the Dutch army because they were too young when the war started, but I am so proud of them because they both refused to do labor for the Germans. One of my grandpa's eventually got captured, and sent to a German base, but escaped by dressing up as a girl, and walking halfway across the country. ❤
What a story. Respect! Thanks for sharing.
Dear Dutch from France, you guys fought bravely and should be remembered even more than you guys are. It sucks that our troops did not reach you guys in time to give you support but if we did we would probably have stood a fair chance against the Germans with the Belgians and British. God bless all of you!
Thank you.
No problem!
Europe ☕️
Great article-- I was born in Sept. 1942, in COEVORDEN DREHTHE, close to what is now LAAR Germany.
My father Harm (Harry) Raue' owned a large tractor for threshing. Dutch army had asked him, to prepare to pull the largest cannon available to the Defense line in an 800 year old town.
Expecting to remain neutral, it was a waiting game !!! Dad had his big tractor on standby. As far as I know that was late April 28 or so, 1939. Once German bullets started bouncing off his stractor
as civilians, Dad , said time to go home boys, as he was used to ordering his threshing crew.
Once in the town with double moat and a harbour to canals, the Germans attacked there, against Dutch defenders downtown at the harbour. They were all surprised as to who had the upper hand?
The Hotels fearing destruction of their building and business? One of the Hotel owners, raised White sheets behind the Dutch defenders shooting at the German attackers ! Mixed signals?
Both sides may have frequented the border hotels, the commanders reached a truce. Til as in the video here, Holland as a nation surrendered. May 10 1940 as you say. As far as I know Dad
encountered the first shots of WWII in HOLLAND, bouncing off his tractor. He later got his crew to wrap it in oiled tarps, and bury it. NO evidence ! I was his 5th child in 1942. Older 1932, 1934, 1936. My brother Harry 1941, and I John, 1942, were born under -' GERMAN- OCCUPIED HOLLAND. The German command was in the school behind our house. In their occupation they had idle evenings as commanders. While soldiers looted, and kept control. These commanders had NO TV, and NO Internet, they found Dad had a piano, one would play it, while they sang hymns.
They would bring confiscated food for Mom to cook, 'home cooked meals for them' while my sisters stored surplus foods. While Mom had 5 children and care for her mother. LIFE for RAUE' family
More to add, contact JOHNRAUE@GMAIL.COM - Vancouver Canada, where an 80% copy of the COEVORDEN castle is from EXPO 86, Vancouver 100 years old.
April 10, 1945, 3 CANADIAN soldiers arrived in an International Carrier to set us free from German occupation. The driver and next to him were killed by a German sniper in the GROOTE KERK steeple.
The rear gunner, blasted with his gun, a hole in the steeple, and the German was no more. # Canadian soldiers still honoured in Quelph, Ont. Cnd. Town of COEVORDEN, has honoured them many visits later by the commander,and has named 3 street in their honour. VANCOUVER, is dutch English history. When rescued in a shipwreck, the question from English resuers was "where are you from? Dutch answer, "Ik been VAN COEFORDEN"... anglozised to... "CAPTAIN GEORGE VANCOEVER". My city now and my birth city then. 800 years apart.
Interesting, thanks for posting John.
As a fellow citizen of Coevorden this is very interesting to read! Thanks John for posting this
Kind of redundant to mention they had no internet. I bet they had no Iphones and computers either.
@@Imaculata pay me one cent for every kid not realising this and i will say you are correct
Please try to write a more coherent message.
Ik kreeg spontaan Lepra toen ik het probeerde te lezen.
Hallo collega, dit is echt heel erg goed - ga zo door! Opbouwende kritiek: als kijker wil ik graag even een korte uitleg over de omgeving waarin je rond loopt, over de loopgraven en de begraafplaats.
Goed idee, wellicht iets voor een volgende video! Bedankt.
Ja idd, ik weet waar het is... geweldig gekozen.
Had je idd even over kunnen praten.
Echt goede kwaliteit👌🏻
Grebbenberg en de daar aanwezige begraafplaats. 2 jaar terug daar geweest
My grandparents were babies when the war was life (Born in 1944) they were born in Delfzijl, de dad of my grandpa saved him, when a German Soldier threw a grenade in their house, he lay his whole body on the grenade and died😮, I was so amazed when my grandpa told this to me, I was thinking about if he didn't do that, I wouldn't even be here😳
Me Nice m’n opa was de nazi die een granaat naar jou gooie hahahahha
@@Socialhustle. jezus man hahaha
Nou nou...
Indeed, crazy right?!
@@HistoryHustle yeah its amazing, btw your video is amazing to
No, we didn’t had a chance. But the army gave their best with a badly organised and under equipped nineteenth century army, until the Germans bombed Rotterdam. After that the Dutch capitulated.
Thanks for the additional information.
History Hustle we capitulated before rotterdam was bombed. the bombers werent able to be told that we did indeed capitulate and dropped their bombs anyways
I'd say they did a relatively good job with what recources were at their disposal
0rang3 Capitulation was on the 14th of May, the bombing of Rotterdam was on the 14th of May. Some of the Dutch army in Zeeland continued to fight until the 17th of May. So no, you are wrong.
Jesse No tanks, some machineguns, rifles, but were starkly short on ammo, that was actually one of their main problems. They had radio communication, but that was badly organised. While radio communication was the core of the Germans.
As a Canadian, I love your series. It provides unique introspection from a Dutch perspective. My Dad who fought through the Shelt and on to Apeledorne always had fond memories of the Dutch people.
Many thanks for your reply!
🇳🇱❤️🇨🇦Forever!!!!!
5:46 Leeroy Jenkins!
Could be...
LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEROY JEEENIKSS
very apt to that situation lol
I thank you sir. I've read much WW2 history but it's mainly from the British, Canadian and American point of view.
Since my family came from Hilversum and my father fought in the underground, I find your shows fascinating. I do recall my father saying some of the Dutch army fought like lions but the were ilequiped to deal with the Germans. Am looking forward to finding more of your content.
Great. Actually I have a playlist you might find interesting:
ruclips.net/p/PL_bcNuRxKtpFqVkDAwQwskFibTbzaZ0sq
What happen with simple the Dutch we’re going to resist this illegal invasion and they fought the best they could we’re all grateful to them if it wasn’t for people like the Dutch we would enjoy the freedoms we have today.
I understand.
Maybe unknown for most viewers, The French 7th army came from France in Some 30 hours to the south-west of Brabant and Zeeland. In my small town they had Some skirmishes and lost 11 soldiers in heavy fighting with the first Germans, also 1 maybe 2 Germans were killed. Unfortunately they didn’t advance to Moerdijk with their light tanks and armoured cars but stayed around Breda. Then they left afraid of Being cut off. That could be a small chance to block the Germans to enter Rotterdam. But because oud airforce was annihilated, it wouldn’t prevent defeat.
Thanks for the additional comment, Harco. Indeed, some French forces came across into the Netherlands and had some fighting with the Germans. Also some British disembarked from Hoek van Holland, but like the French they quickly retreated. Cheers for your comment!
@@HistoryHustle There were more French tanks in france than German tanks during the invasion. (French troops violated Belgium neutrality by doing that).
@@MaximusDerpynes dit was tijdens geheime onderhandelingen al afgesproken met de Belgen. Bij een Duitse inval zouden de Fransen en het BEF de Dijle beweging maken om de Duitsers op te vangen en terug te slaan. Laat dit nou precies zijn wat de Duitsers wilden en verwachtten. Om daarna de geallieerden in de tang te nemen.
@@fouad1663 Je weet veel van het onderwerp, dank voor het delen van de informatie!
@@HistoryHustle Ik heb me er al sinds mijn 12e in verdiept.
Ik ben momenteel 44, een opa van mijn moederskant en enkele oudooms van zowel vaders als moederskant hebben gediend in het Franse leger tijdens mei juni 1940 en ook 1943, 1944 en 1945. Uiteindelijk ook nog vanaf 1946 te Indochina
Thank you for this, my grandfather was a little boy in Holland during the war and my great grandmother was in the resistance and they would have loved to see this.🇳🇱
You're welcome, thanks for your message!
That was very interesting. I am not clear on why the Germans invaded the Netherlands. I know they used Belgium to get to France, but did they also need to subdue the Netherlands?
Absolutely loved this video as a fellow Dutchman! I'm trying to get into this bit of our History a bit more and I've been trying to find a good uniform for reenactment purposes recently but no-one seems to be selling those, might you have any clue as to where to get one?😅
Thank you. Nice to read. For uniforms go to:
www.re-enactmentshop.com/webshop/world-war-ii-allies/dutch-army
@@HistoryHustle Thank you so much! Really sorry for the late reply, this should provide me with most of what I need! Is there still an active 1939-40 Dutch reenactment group in existence?
@@dutchlancer2562 Kijk op www.livinghistory.nl bij Nederland Paraat (onder de living historygroepen).
@@HistoryHustle misschien interessant mocht je het niet weten. In Mill, Noord Brabant heb je de asperge-versperring die Nederlandse soldaten hebben geplaatst op een treinrails zodat een Duitse pantsertrein zou ontsporen, dit is ook gebeurd. De Nederlandse soldaten namen plaats in hun bunkers tegenover het spoor om vanuit daar op de Duitsers te kunnen schieten. De asperge-versperring is nagemaakt met replicas. Het ligt een beetje achteraf, wel erg bijzonder! In Mill staat trouwens ook nog een tank uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog in het dorp. Een bezoekje waard zou ik zeggen! rijksmonumenten.nl/monument/509273/peel-raamstelling:-asperge-versperring/mill/
Great video! Gave me more insights in the "Battle of Holland". My grandfather was a pilot when the war broke out. He was stationed at the Mok (Texel). After the surrender of the Netherlands he found some fellow officers and fled to England by boat. He flew missions for the 320 squadron of the RAF and was awarded the Vliegerkruis. He survived and became a pilot for KLM. He did not speak much about the war because it made such an impact on him. Sadly he died when I was young, so I never spoke to him about it.
May he rest in peace. Thanks for your reply.
You mentioned the battles in the air but didn’t mention the most important, air to air fighting. Some historians say that if the dutch didn’t perform as well as they did in the air with the dxxi and g1 for example, the battle of britain would have ended differently and less in favor of britain.
I just received some sources on that. Perhaps that's gonna be in a future video. Thanks for the comment.
This is an important aspect. The AA guns did most of the damage to the german transports. One unique aspect of the Dutch air defence was that a big part of the 20mm guns were privately funded by corporations, and manned by volunteer crews. The planes were sorely missed in the battle of Britain for sure.
Indeed an incredibly important detail (as long as these suspicions are true). If I remember correctly, it was said that the Germans lost so many of their transport planes in The Netherlands that they would never have been able to provide enough paratroopers for Operation Sea Lion (the German invasion of Great Britain), which was supposedly one of the reasons that forced them to postpone/cancel this invasion, which ultimately saved Britain from defeat.
Read the story of Bram (Bob) van der Stok “Oorlogsvlieger van Oranje” which pales the “Sodaat van Oranje” story. He fought during the airbattle over Holland, fled to Britain, joined the RAF ánd was part in the famous “Great Escape” from a POW camp.
Why his story was never made into a movie still puzzles me.
@Sander
To be fair, Operation Sea Lion was never more than a fantasy for a number of reasons. It was far to ambitious, Germany never had the means to carry it out.
A cousin of my father died defending the Grebbenberg.
May he rest in peace.
Come on Hollanders...u can invaded Indonesia for 350 years. But surrendered to German in 5 days??!!?!!!!
😂😂😂😂😂
See video.
If you look at the statistics of the big battles we definitely put up a real good fight with our late 1800's Swiss Mannlicher rifles, and soldiers the equivalent of farmer boys in shorts. Given more modern weaponry at the time it could've gone differently.
Anyway, we pissed the Germans off for long enough for them to resort to the extreme measures of completely devastating a city instead of duking it out longer.
Actually our Mannlicher rifles were Austrian by origin.
@@HistoryHustle Right! Switched them up!
@@HistoryHustle During the defense of The Hague, my grandfather killed a German paratrooper in the air with his Mannlicher.
They didn't have time, the Benelux had to be conquered to conquer France, before Britain and France had fully mobilized everything from their colonies. That's why they were in such a rush, they had to or it would be WW1 all over again.
Could you do a video on the fighting in Zeeland post the government's surrender?
I have sources on that so I will look into that in the future.
@@oddballsok I sure will dive into that once making a video about the Zeeland fighting.
@@HistoryHustle Probably want too look at terneuzen, the city was pillaged by french troops in day one. Also you want to look at te retreat of the french army at the sloedam. The french left two or three soldiers behind to cover the retreat. I have heard It took the germans day's to get past those guy's.
@@HistoryHustle Was that not technicly illegal ? Continuing after fotmal surrender ?
I just found your video. You explain history so well. My father was in the resistance during the war and supplied baled straw for defense purposes before the war. Do you have any idea what the straw was used for? This question has been puzzling me for a while.
Thanks for your reply. Dunno anout a straw. Did make a video on the Dutch resistance:
ruclips.net/video/u9DWNOhHK_g/видео.htmlsi=SDvvpvxFeZK8ODOB
The only conclusion I can draw from this is that the Dutch didn't do such a bad job after all, considering they weren't organised that well and had out dated equipment... and bad training
Fair enough. Actually, Rob, tomorrow I will talk more about this subject in a new video. Cheers!
Well, outdated is a bit too steep. The Mannlicher rifle was designed in 1895, but the German Mauser in 1898. The artillery was not bad either, especially the PAG 47mm guns were very manoeuvrable, easy to hide and very effective against the German armour that was deployed in the Netherlands.
About organization of the army. it was a drafted army, and the units were made up from the various drafts. The soldiers (almost) never were trained as a unit. So, they didn't "know" eachother. And at the end of the day, soldiers do not fight for their country, so much as they fight for eachother, as buddies. (No disrespect intended!)
Really the main problems were: lack of communication (there were alomost no radios, and the ones thate were used ran out of power very quickly), and lack of training. Not only for the troops, but also for officers. (there had never been any manouvres beyond company scale). And last, but not least, the politics of the time. The broken rifle ("Gebroken geweertje") movement had had quite an influence, and military budget cuts had been severe.
Politicians, apparantly, were blind for what was about to happen, untill it was too late.
"Did the have any Dutch chance?"
What?
Try again;)
The Dutch fought as best as they could. The Dutch Army High Command was hindered for decades by its civilian government. Had the Hague fully prepared its armed forces for the invasion, they would have held off the Germans for a lot longer and given the Allied armies in Belgium and France some much needed breathing room. The state of the Dutch Army in May 1940 meant at most they would have had a further 2-3 days left before the inevitable surrender.
Thanks for sharing your insights on this. Hope you're doing well in Minsk. I actually recently released a video about Belarus in WW2!
@@HistoryHustle Thanks, all is well. I have actually made a number of videos about the inter war period of Western Belarus during the Second Polish Republic (1921-39), Operation Barbarossa June '41 and the liberation of Belarus July' 44 (Battle of Bobruisk) where I visited a German Army cemetery.
Gonna check 'em as soon as I can 👌
What are the odds that the same Dutch troops who fought to defend the Netherlands escaped with the army in exile then ended up getting reposted to the east Indies facing another invasion to only get captured by the Japanese.
Small but possible. The Japanese gave prisoners to the Germans to fight for the Germans.
From what I believe that did only happen in the case that on the moment of the German invasion the last boot that left for Indonesia contained some colonial troops that could have ended up fighting the Japanese, although many KNIL troops saw the first Japanese soldier after their surrender.
Most Dutch troops were either killed or ended up in POW camps.
My grandfather was one of them, fought on the Grebbe in May 1940, spent the next 3 years as a POW and forced labourer in Germany, then after being sent back to the Netherlands spent the next 2 years in hiding in fear of being arrested and sent back to Germany.
He WAS sent to the East Indies in 1946 to fight the separatists during the Indonesian uprising, after that to New Guinnea to fight the separatists there, and was once again called up for deployment to Korea in 1951 but the armistice was signed 2 days before he was scheduled to ship out (he already had his marching papers), saving him from being sent into war FOUR times.
Good concise history, thank you. I understand that the bombing of Rotterdam was due to the Dutch surrender message not being received by the bombers. Aircraft en route to the target had wound back in their trailing radio aerials, so never heard the abort command. Sadly the destruction was magnified by an enormous fire in a margarine factory near the waterfront. This spread rapidly to houses nearby. German ground troops were powerless to stop the bombing.
Thank you for watching and commenting 👍
On May 10, 1940 my grandfather on my mother's side and a friend of his tried to enlist in the Dutch army to fight the Germans. "Give us guns, we'll shoot them!", they pronounced.
The sleepy looking guy at Oranje-Nassau kazerne in Amsterdam looked confused, and told them to go home. "Uhuh, this will take months, and months. And we're fine", he said. "We'll probably call up some boys in two weeks, or so". As we all know, five days later, The Netherlands had surrendered.
My uncle on my father's side never had to serve. His family had lived in Germany until 1938, and had returned to The Netherlands after decades in Germany. Clearly, the Dutch army had absolutely no need of a highly motivated person who was fluent in German.
In 1985, I went to the same place, aged 18. Boys had to be inspected for conscription. I had phoned them because my Gymnasium exam was on the original inspection date. "Uhuh, like, maybe just come a month later?" a guy had told me over the phone. So, there I was, a month later.
"But!, but but, uh, like, we already have everyone we need from your month?!", a sleepy looking guy at Oranje-Nassau kazerne with hair up to his belly button told me. Being a true Amsterdam boy, I tried "Helemaal geen probleem dan gaan ik gewoon toch lekker weer naar huis" ("No problem I'll just go home then"), but that didn't work. He asked some other guy, who rolled his eyes, looked overworked and confused and without taking his cigarette out of his mouth gestured to just put me in the line of boys anyway.
Two weeks later, I received a letter, pronouncing I was "buitengewoon dienstplichtig", meaning I did not have to serve in the Dutch army. That concluded my family's dealings with this glorious institution, the Dutch army.
The only possible conclusion is that the fact that The Netherlands is still an independent country is truly remarkable, and can only be explained by the fact that other nations have never been interested in owning it.
Interesting to read, thanks for sharing this.
I visited Hoek Van Holland a few years ago. I fell in love with the country and have learned much about its wonderful history from you. Please keep up the great work!
🇳🇱👍
Fellow dutch history teacher here. lovely video, would love to see more of this.
Would it be possible to cite your sources in the video or in the credits next time? That would make it perfect.
Sure. Most prominent source for this video was:
"Mei 1940. De strijd op Nederlands grondgebied (Herman Amersfoort en Piet Kamphuis)"
Furthermore the books of E.H. Brongers were used.
These are also the sources of my follow-up videos that will appear soon. One is already out, check:
ruclips.net/video/o-dBkEqdq-o/видео.html
@@HistoryHustle thank you, very cool. Are you aware dutch archives just recently released all the archives concerning the meidagen and the day before and after the crisis? www.archieven.nl/nl/zoeken?miview=inv2&mivast=0&mizig=210&miadt=2231&micode=409&milang=nl
Nice video! A video on the battle of the kapelsche veer would be interesting! Because it was a useless battle , fought only because generals wanted to eliminate the german bridgehead on the island . This battle is misunderstood in a lot of ways.
Thanks for replying! I'm gonna look in to it, very interesting.
I am a long subscriber who really likes the videos! Were would I be able to find the shortfilm?
I will get back on that question in a few months. For now keep An eye on the Facebook page: facebook.com/mei1940
Great video. Love hearing about all the countries struggle and show bravery in such crazy times. I’m a Brit, and it’s great to see such good connections between us, and that far more binds us (as people) than divides us. So many decent men on all sides gave their lives because of orders from men who largely wouldn’t have done what they ordered others to do.
Thanks for replying!
Goed verhaal! Wat mij fascineerd is het aantal troepen tijdens mobilisatie 1914 en 1939.Ik zie substantionele verschillen.Het is bijzonder dat we maar 400.000 militairen onder de wapenen hadden wat nog minder is dan bv Belgie.(bron wo2 in demographics)
Tevens vroeg de burgemeester van Rotterdam om een bijdrage te leveren aan een luchtverdediging van de stad(bron NL in 2e wo deel1)Hoe kan het dat er niets van gekomen is?Als we dit afzetten tegen de werkelekijke gebeurtenissen is het wel heel bijzonder.Weet u hier mischien iets van?
Mijn idee is dat het al fout ging bij dag 1.Het veroveren van de Moerdijk en het laat ontruimen van de Peellinie heeft ervoor gezorgd dat we toch redelijk snel moesten capituleren.Hoe ziet u dit?
Dank voor het bericht! Denk inderdaad dat de zaken die je noemt de Nederlandse overgave hebben versneld. Over Rotterdam weet ik het niet. Sorry!
Concerning the battle of the Netherlands, it wasn't much of a contest, the Dutch tried to resist the best they could but they had serious inferiority across the board.
For starters they had pretty much no armor/tanks, nor many anti tank weapons, or much heavy equipment for that matter, plus their army wasn't even fully mobilized when the Germans invaded. The Dutch army was also poorly trained and I'll equipped, and most of what equipment they did have was outdated
The Dutch did have some positive elements in terms of defense, they had an armaments industry, a wealthy educated population. They also had a geography that favored the defender, with their New Holland water line, Peel Raam and Grebbe defense lines, the idea was to coordinate with Belgium in a joint defense until the French and British forces arrived to support them, but the speed of the German blitzkrieg and almost total air superiority from the Luftwaffe virtually rendered the allied defense strategy obsolete.
Thanks for the additional information.
As being dutch I think a few factors you mention and leave out seriously hampered and still hamper the defence of the country. The endless bickering of ministers and army staff about the budget and if the country was facing such peril. The lack of materials which is also due to orders standing out in Germany, that will obviously never be delivered and were delayed for obvious reasons, as well as orders placed for example in Sweden, which were at the end of the line of orders by all countries that were arming. The Netherlands realized too late that we were underprepared. The biggest and most elusive thing might actually be that wealthy educated population. People here tend to think that through reason we might avoid conflict/ solve a conflict. But when dealing with an unreasonable foe like Nazi Germany was, and today certain powers are too, is not always the correct way. You sometimes need to show teeth. And that is a thing we as dutch more often lack.
@@dgray3771 Thanks for the additional information. Yet, the quick Dutch defeat spared damage. If the Dutch had a better defense it could've lead to more destruction. On the flip side, it could've hindered the Blitzkrieg. All what-if scenarios.
@Chuck Thunder What do you mean?
@Chuck Thunder stay of LSD please
99% of the viewers is dutch!🤣
Just checked my analytics, it is the numbers turned around: 66% of the viewers is Dutch.
History Hustle always videos about the netherlands are watched most by dutch!🤣
2 procent van de opmerkingen is in het engels
i dont like it how alot of people think that after we lost the netherlands and surrendered we never truly surrendered we fought on all fronts of all the allies we helped the usa we helped the france we fought in the liberation of what is now known as indonesia we fought everywhere and i get really annoyed when people say that the netherlands didnt do alot against germany we did extreme amounts of damage to germany when you think of how small our army was and how we had 50years old outdated weapons a decent amount of our army didnt have weapons and we still did a incredible amount of damage to germany overall we did immense damage there was one submarine that destroyed around 56 japanese ships in the naval battle of java which is more than the france and british forces destroyed in total in a weeks time we were spread around europe fighting in all fronts there was also one of our ships that escaped the battle of java by disguising themselves as an island and continued fighting on other fronts we had extreme contribution in liberating multiple countries and keeping countries save from germany and dont forget that we had outdated weaponry also we only surrendered cuz they threatened to bomb more of our cities so we surrendered if they didnt do that we would have survived or fought for alot longer
The fighting surely wasn't over. Thanks for sharing your insights on this.
Do one on the Dutch East indies
Check my latest about Dutch East Indies:
ruclips.net/video/RlSXajHiPUU/видео.html
I heard that Dutch soldiers made shooting sounds, with their mouth, instead of actually shooting, when training to save bullets.
They still do
My dad did that during his service in the 1970s.
Good video. But it seems to me you did not explicitly answer the question... "did the Dutch stand a chance?" (I guess not)
Maybe with effective help of the French and British. Alone, no.
Geen schijn van kans. Tegen de paratroepen en op de Grebbe is er keihard en goed gevochten, maar de achterdeur bij Moerdijk stond open. Rotterdam kon herhaald worden omdat er geen luchtafweer was. Die stonden bij de vliegvelden en hebben de Luftwaffe zware verliezen toegebracht. Maar dit kon men nooit winnen, de Duitsers konden zoveel in de strijd gooien.
Tbh the marines fought like hell and were called the black devils because of it.
Yes, thanks for the additional information, Gijs!
Nederlandse trots
Gijs Hagenaars alleeen beetje jammer dat de marechaussee onze mariniers stond af te schieten
@@HistoryHustle There is a monument of a marine in front of the former marine base at Oostplein in Rotterdam. The garrison succesfully defended the Willemsbrug against the Germans.
@@Janco1803 wat is er gebeurd dan?
My grandfather fought at the battle of ypenburg, well for him it wasnt really a battle. He was marching with his comrades at the airport he was holding a gun with a non functional barrel and only a few bullets. When the paratroopers of the wehrmacht arrived one guy behind him got shot immediatly in his head. All of the boys layed down their rifles and surrendered to the german soldiers. Later in the war my grandfather was drafted for labour in german factories. When he arrived at the factory which was in Hamburg i believe he just left with his friends and they took the train back to the netherlands. He survived the war and passed away when I was about 2 years old.
Thanks for sharing this.
@@HistoryHustle no problem! My father told me about this for the first time when we were visiting the NMM (nationaal militair museum) and since I saw this video I asked for more information about the story of my grandfather.
Well, I say: *’Cheese’*
I don't eat cheese.
@@HistoryHustle *K A A S*
As fast as the Blitzkrieg steamrolled much larger Poland and France I don't think the Dutch had much of a chance. At least the Dutch Navy mostly sailed for Britain and didn't end up out of the war like much of the French navy.
I love Holland.. and I’m really sorry about what happend to Rotterdam..
Nice words. Rotterdam has a modern look now. At first I did not like it. Now I appreciate it.
I'm dutch. But it's a modern city now.
@@minecraftdecocraftdingen6438 I still don't get the gekoloniseerd stuff...
@@HistoryHustle its like the dutch have colonized alot and its just a dutch meme and its netherlands.. holland is just the tourism part
History is full of cunts from all countries, all skin colors, all religions. I would not worry about it. All the people responsible are long dead and the sons do not inherit the fathers crimes.
At some point we all have to move past this and focus on the crimes happening today.
Thanks very much for this video. I know you have been making videos about the German perspective as well. I remember my grandparents talking about the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands. They lived in a small German town very close to the Dutch border all their lives (Vreden). They actually saw some of the troops passing through their town at the time of the invasion.They were absolutely horrified. For them, their Dutch neighbours were far closer to them than most other parts of Germany. They even spoke the same language because the German dialect in that area is almost exactly the same as the Dutch dialect in the Achterhoek.
After the war there was much talk about straightening the border and the Netherlands annexed some small areas of Germany. For some reason they abandoned the plan to annex Vreden back in the 1950s. Locally, people always thought that some money was paid to the Dutch government but nobody really knew. In anyway, if the Dutch had annexed this small town I would’ve been welcomed abroad as a cool Dutch dude rather than considered a Nazi when I grew up.
Thanks for your reply!
The brother of my grandpa was six when we were invaded. His parents put him in a closet when nazis invaded his home, he pissed his pants. Idk why I told this😂
Perhaps I would've done the same...
i live in The Hague Netherlands
Me too! :)
Are there any signs in Den Haag commemorating the battles of 1940?
@@HistoryHustle yes in the china town is a jewish singh That says :Look wat they have done to you
@@____-gu1pv I see. And also about the 1940 battle?
Nee niet echt
Hygenspart staat iets
Wel er om heen delf rijswijk net buiten scheveningen op oude defentie tereinen enz..
What about the Dutch resistance? Would be pretty interesting to hear more about that they often did bomb attacks and shizzle like that on German offices during the occupation
Soon more about Netherlands during WWII, also about the Dutch resistance.
What resistance? We allready know everything about the few dozens of actual resistance members. Most were Frisian anyway.
But off course- ALL Dutch collaborators were 'resisting' the Germans- after the war.
It were Dutch policemen, collecting my family for the Nazi's. Dutch reailway personnel brought them to Germany-and Dutch politicians who looked away- but all were 'resistance' after the war.
Cowards.
@@furorfrisii7679 If you say so naming other poeple cowards while you weren't even there says enough about the kind of person you are the dutch poeple had enough patriots who didn''t accept the occupation but if you come here with some statements without proper arguments then you're not even worth the time of starting an discussion with
Furor Frisii your incradibly naive and don’t know much about our history pleaser read more about it and educate yourself
@@furorfrisii7679 Who says those men and women were part of the resistance...? I've never heard anyone claim that.
The pain of being colonized by other nation. Colonialism 😑
I one way you can say the Dutch were being colonized by the Germans. Yet, if I compare it with European colonization in Africa or Asia I think it has some differences.
Sakitnya di jajah oleh bangsa lain. Kolonialisme 😑
arguably the Indonesian former colonies were more a conquest than colonisation. Cape town in SA was colonized as there were no souls living there and if it weren't for the Dutch, that land might still be uninhabited. Right now it's one of the richer areas of Africa south of the equator, but with the impending genocide of white farmers, because they're white, the region might pull another Zimbabwe and starve.
The individual battles videos would be a totally good idea
Thanks, I might covere that next May!
*laughs in afsluitdijk*
Yes, that was a victory for the Dutch. A short-lived one however.
@@HistoryHustle would love to see a video about the battle of the afsluitdijk, as I did my PWS on the attack on the netherlands and didi myself investigate a lot about the battle by the afsluitdijk
Gonna have to say No! not many other countries at that time stood a chance aswell
Fair point.
It only takes 2 hours to get on the other side of the Netherlands so 5 days is way too long
Fair enough.
In 1940 we didnt have asphalt roads it was developed by the germans to move ammunition and equipment faster also vehicles were not that fast