The Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France (german: Reichskommissariat Belgien-Nordfrankreich) was a

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

civil administration (''Zivilverwaltung'') which governed most of occupied Belgium and northern parts of

occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

in the second half of 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The ''Reichskommissariat'' was established on 13 July 1944 by Hitler's ''"Erlaß des Führers über die Errichtung einer Zivilverwaltung in den besetzten Gebieten von Belgien und Nordfrankreich vom 13. Juli 1944"''. The ''

Reichskommissariat ''Reichskommissariat'' ( en, Imperial Commissariat) is a German word for a type of administrative entity headed by a government official known as a ''Reichskommissar'' ( en, Imperial Commissioner). Although many offices existed, primarily throug ...

'' replaced an earlier military government, the

Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France The Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France (german: Militärverwaltung in Belgien und Nordfrankreich) was an interim occupation authority established during the Second World War by Nazi Germany that included present-day Belgiu ...

, established in the same territory in 1940.

History

Establishment

After its invasion by Germany in May 1940,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

was initially placed under a "temporary" military government, in spite of more radical factions within the German government, such as the SS, urging for the installation of another Nazi civil government, as had been done in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. on June 15, it was joined with the two French

départements A department (, ) is an administrative or political division in several countries. Departments are the first-level divisions of 11 countries, nine in the Americas and two in Africa. An additional 10 countries use departments as second-level div ...

of ''

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

'' and ''

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...

'' (included on the grounds that part of this territory belonged to Germanic

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, as well as the fact that the entire region formed an integral economic unit) as the

Military Administration in Belgium and North France The Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France (german: Militärverwaltung in Belgien und Nordfrankreich) was an interim occupation authority established during the Second World War by Nazi Germany that included present-day Belgiu ...

(''Militärverwaltung in Belgien und Nordfrankreich''). In spite of this uncompromising attitude at the time, it was decided that the entire area should someday be assimilated into the Third Reich and divided into three new Reichsgaue of a

Greater Germanic Reich The Greater Germanic Reich (german: Großgermanisches Reich), fully styled the Greater Germanic Reich of the German Nation (german: Großgermanisches Reich deutscher Nation), was the official state name of the political entity that Nazi Germany ...

: ''Flandern'' and ''Brabant'' for the Flemish territories, and ''Wallonien'' for the Walloon parts. Reichsgau Brabant was to be headed by Gauleiter U. van Brusselen. On 13 July 1944, a

Reichskommissariat Belgien-Nordfrankreich ''Reichskommissariat'' ( en, Imperial Commissariat) is a German word for a type of administrative entity headed by a government official known as a ''Reichskommissar'' ( en, Imperial Commissioner). Although many offices existed, primarily through ...

was established to accomplish precisely this goal, derived from the previous military administration. On 13 July 1944, the ''

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...

'' of

Gau Cologne-Aachen The Gau Cologne-Aachen (German: ''Gau Köln-Aachen'') was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 in the north-central part of the Prussian Rhine Province. Before that, from 1931 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of th ...

Josef Grohé Josef Grohé (6 November 1902 – 27 December 1987) was a German Nazi Party official. He was the long-serving ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Cologne-Aachen and ''Reichskommissar'' for Belgium and Northern France toward the end of the Second World Wa ...

, was named ''

Reichskommissar (, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official gubernatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany. Germa ...

'' of the territory, known as the ''Reichskommissariat Belgien und Nordfrankreich'' or ''Reichskommissariat für die besetzte Gebiete von Belgien und Nordfrankreich''. It covered the

Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Cala ...

region of France, as well as Belgium except for

Eupen-Malmedy Eupen-Malmedy is a small, predominantly German-speaking region in eastern Belgium. It consists of three administrative cantons around the towns of Eupen, Malmedy, and Sankt Vith which encompass some . Elsewhere in Belgium, the region is commonly ...

which were incorporated directly into the German Reich. The Wehrmacht troops in the area were commanded by ''

Wehrmachtbefehlshaber The () was the German chief military position, in countries occupied by the Wehrmacht which were headed by a civilian administration. The main objective was military security in the area, and command the defense in case of attack or invasion. Th ...

Belgien-Nordfrankreich''

Martin Grase __NOTOC__ Martin Grase (3 May 1891 – 3 August 1963) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. Awards and decorations * Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (2 ...

(13 July 1944 – 16 September 1944). The territory was mostly liberated by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

in September 1944, in the aftermath of the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, so the existence of the territory was short.

Plans for the future

Although most of Belgium and Northern France were no longer under ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' German control by the end of September 1944, the Nazi German leadership and its Flemish and Walloon collaborators continued making plans for the future political division and administration of the territories. Most versions of these plans included the future establishment of three separate territories: a ''Reichsgau Flandern'', a ''Reichsgau Wallonien'', and a ''District'' or ''Free City'' of Brussels, which were supposed to be annexed by the German Reich.Lipgens, Walter. ''Documents on the History of European integration: Volume 1 – Continental Plans for European Integration 1939–1945'', p. 45. Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1974. On 8 December 1944, German Foreign Minister

Joachim Von Ribbentrop Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. Ribbentrop first came to Adolf Hitler's not ...

appointed

Léon Degrelle Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle (; 15 June 1906 – 31 March 1994) was a Belgian Walloon politician and Nazi collaborator. He rose to prominence in Belgium in the 1930s as the leader of the Rexist Party (Rex). During the German occupatio ...

as the "Head of the Walloon Liberation Committee", followed by the appointment of

Jef van de Wiele Fredegardus Jacobus Josephus (Jef) van de Wiele (Deurne, Belgium, 20 July 1903 – Bruges, 4 September 1979) was a Belgian Flemish Nazi politician. During the Nazi occupation of Belgium he became notorious as the leader of the most virulently pro-Na ...

on 15 December 1944 to "Head of the Flemish Liberation Committee". When the German military launched the

Ardennes Offensive The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

on 16 December 1944, the Nazi collaborators had renewed hopes of carrying out their ideals. In a 20 December 1944 interview with a pro-Nazi newspaper, Degrelle said no decision had yet been taken about the future of Belgium: 'The issue of the transformation of the States of the West is not current. The war must be won first...' Degrelle's "Walloon Liberation Committee" was based in Bonn. Meanwhile, van de Wiele's ''Vlaamsche Landsleiding'', a self-proclaimed Flemish collaborator government-in-exile which had fled to

Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem (, , ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of its eponymous region and district. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway ju ...

(German: ''Aussig'') in November 1944 and had been designing statutes for a future ''Reichsland Flandern'', in late December 1944 moved to Wahn near

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

to prepare for the 'liberation' of Flanders as it was building a combat group of Flemish collaborators to join the Ardennes Offensive. In January 1945, Van de Wiele was negotiating with Foreign Ministry representative Diehl about the future establishment of separate subdivisions for Flanders and Wallonia; he did not care whether Flanders was to be called a ''Reichsgau'' or ''Reichsmark'', as long as the 'artificial' Belgian state was split, and the 'unnatural union' of Flemings and Walloons was brought to an end. The Ardennes Offensive was a disaster, and after the German troops were ordered to retreat on 13 January 1945, any further talks on the political future of Belgium were discontinued, as the German leadership was no longer interested in discussing plans with Van de Wiele.

History

Establishment

Plans for the future

See also

References

Further reading