Editing History of Denmark (section)

=== Second World War ===
{{main|Occupation of Denmark}}
[[Image:Christian X.jpg|left|thumb|During the German occupation, King [[Christian X]] became a powerful symbol of national sovereignty. This image dates from the King's birthday, 26 September 1940. Note the lack of a guard.]]

In 1939, Hitler offered non-aggression pacts to the Scandinavian nations. While Sweden and Norway refused, Denmark readily accepted. When WWII began that fall, Copenhagen declared its neutrality. Nevertheless, Germany (so as to secure communications for its invasion of Norway) invaded and subsequently occupied Denmark on 9 April 1940, meeting limited resistance. British forces, however, [[British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II|occupied]] the [[Faroe Islands]] (12 April 1940) and [[Invasion of Iceland|invaded]] Iceland (10 May 1940) in pre-emptive moves to prevent German occupation. Following a [[1944 Icelandic referendum|plebiscite]], Iceland declared its independence on 17 June 1944 and became a republic, dissolving its union with Denmark.

The Nazi occupation of Denmark unfolded in a unique manner. The Monarchy remained. The conditions of occupation started off very leniently (although the authorities banned [[Communist Party of Denmark|Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti]] (the Communist party) when the Wehrmacht [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union]] in June 1941), and Denmark retained its own government. The new coalition government tried to protect the population from Nazi rule through compromise. The Germans allowed the Folketing to remain in session. Despite [[Deportation of the Danish police|deportations of nearly 2,000 of its members]], the police remained largely under Danish control, and the German authorities stayed one step removed from the population. However, the Nazi demands eventually became intolerable for the Danish government, so, in 1943, it resigned and Germany assumed full control of Denmark. From that point, an armed resistance movement grew against the occupying forces. Towards the end of the war, Denmark grew increasingly difficult for Germany to control, but the country remained under occupation until near the end of the war. On 4 May 1945, German forces in Denmark, North West Germany, and the Netherlands surrendered to the Allies. On 5 May 1945, British troops liberated Copenhagen. Three days later, the war ended.

Denmark succeeded in smuggling most of its Jewish population to Sweden, in 1943, when the Nazis threatened deportation; see [[Rescue of the Danish Jews]]. Danish doctors refused to treat German citizens fleeing from Germany. More than 13,000 died in 1945 from various causes, among them some 7,000 children under five.<ref>Manfred Ertel. [http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,355772,00.html A Legacy of Dead German Children] Spiegel Online, 16 May 2005</ref>