Occupation and Resistance

As German forces swept across Europe in 1940-41, the Nazis established new governments. Since the conquered were not German-speaking and thus not racially "pure," they could not be part of the new Germany. Instead, they would be governed by regimes supportive of Germany's war goals and Nazi policies of a totalitarian state and racial segregation. In the countries that the Nazis considered more likely to oppose their policies (such as northern France, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Greece and Serbia), the German Army became the new government. In other conquered lands (southern France, Norway, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia), new civilian governments were established to collaborate with Nazi Germany. These governments were made up of leaders from each country's own fascist movement.