German occupation of Brunant



On May 20, 1941, Nazi Germany invaded Brunant, as part of their invasion of Europe. This would signal the start of a 3-year long occupation. Brunant had declared its neutrality following German aggression in the late 1930s but public opinion was mostly against that.

Background
In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to secure shipments of iron ore from Sweden, which the Allies were about to disrupt. Denmark immediately capitulated, and despite Allied support, Norway was conquered within two months. Germany invaded France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg on 10 May 1940, the same day Neville Chamberlain resigned as British Prime Minister. The Netherlands and Belgium were overrun using blitzkrieg tactics in a few days and weeks, respectively. The French fortified Maginot Line was circumvented by a flanking movement through the thickly wooded Ardennes region. With Italy and Germany already taking much of the Mediterranean region, it would only be a matter of time befor they would take Brunant.

Defenses
On May 20, 1941, Germany invaded Crete using paratroopers. Brunant's military commanders gave the order for troops to be put on full alert. Antiaircraft weapons were placed in Koningstad in order to defend against airborne attacks.

The invasion
At 16:00 on 20 May, 2000 German paratroopers jumping out of dozens of Junkers Ju 52 aircraft, were landed near Cape Cross. There was little fighting there, as the 500 soldier garrison surrendered. The Germans took Cross Castle and the tiny airfield there, allowing for a quick landing of they then marched on to Koningstad. A few hours after, More paratroopers were landed at Chester Parish, sent to take control of Grijzestad. As in 1784 (and 1758), the people of Grijzestad put up significant resistance. People young and old took up arms, using what little they had (women were known to carry kitchen knives and pans).

May 21
On the morning of the 21st, German planes were able to land unopposed in Cape Cross airfield, bringing in armored vehicles, supplies and more soldiers. These were marched towards Koningstad, to take the capital. The King and the Royal family had already been evacuated by then and were safe, although President Darnant was not so lucky and was arrested by the Nazis trying to flee (he would remain in prison until March 1944 when freed by the UR). At Koningstad, the Germans met serious resistance by 800 members of the Royal Guard. They used various field artillery to remove defenders from their positions, which proved effective over the antiaircraft defenses.

May 22
On the 22nd German troops moved to take control of Grijzestad. The surrounding countryside fell easily and the town was reached by early morning. The Germans began a massive artillery barrage which raged on for 20 minutes. Afterwards, German armored units easily entered the town. Soldiers stationed in the citadel attempted to fire back with 19th century cannons, but the guns could not stop the Germans. Later, paratroopers were parachuted onto the fort and were in control. Over 100 Brunanter soldiers died in the battle and countless more civilians perished. After this, the rest of the army capitulated and the island was under Nazi rule.

Occupation
Germany quickly set forth to implement their laws and policies following their occupation. The local authorities set about creating laws limiting the rights of Jews. In late June 200 Jews were shipped out to prison camps in continental Europe. The roundup of communists began that month with many being arrested an as many as 60 being killed by July. Anyone who had links to the Dolmatoff government were considered dangerous and most were arrested.

By early 1943 over 90% of the country's communists had been deported or killed. Curfews were set up and any violation of the rules was severely punished. In October 1941 the Nazis arrested two resistance fighters; they were hanged in public as an example. Dozens more would be captured and put to death over the years.

Autonomous Government
After a period of military rule, a civilian government was set up by Heinrich Schneider. Though retaining much of the real power, in name collaborator Cristian Everard wasgiven the title of "Minister-President". When he was killed in 1943 he was replaced with Andreas Borst, who would later be captured by US forces.

In Brunant
Shortly after the Germans started their occupation, Brunanters began to form resistance groups. The largest one was the Underground Revolution, which was based in Grijzestad (this inspired the classic movie Grijzestad, made in the 1950). The UR was involved in sabotaging German troop convoys, destroying their planes in Cape Cross and capturing Nazi collaborators. They included such members as Elise Hagen and Gerard Donner. Paula Schmitz was a very important UR member, who infiltrated the German ranks and was able to pass on valuable information to the resistance.

Many resistance members harbored Jews in their homes, often risking their lives or that of their family. Surprisingly the mafia, led by the Montesini family began to join the resistance movement, in order to prevent them from shutting down their operations. When the US liberation began, UR members began to rise up in arms. Following that, collaborators were rounded up and many were shot. Politicians and militarymen who had worked in the "collaborator's government" were often killed for their actions.

Government-in-exile
In 1941 a Government-in-exile was set up in Lovia by the King and various other politicians. Staunch anti-Nazi Hans van Loos was the provisional acting president (as Darnant was in prison). The government collected funds to assist the resistance and were able to send weapons to the "rebels". Over 1000 Brunanter troops which had fled had set up headquarters in Egypt and tens of soldiers infiltrated into Brunant to assist the UR.

Collaborators
Despite being such a small country, Brunant had a high amount of collaborators. They included musician Hugo Barbens (who later joined the UR) and actors Victoria Fleming and Oscar Karmann. Dozens of youth participated in the roundup of Jews (though there were very few) and apparently collaborators were behind the killing of painter Caroman. Following liberation many collaborators were killed, including Fleming and some high-profile politicians.

July 10 and 11
On July 10, 1944 US airborne troops landed on Brunant Island. The city of Brunant was the first town to be liberated, followed by little Martensdorp. That night 20 US planes destroyed over 60 German airplanes at Cape Cross airbase, increasing their vulnerability to air attack. On the 11th US and Brunanter marines began a large naval landing on Brunant's southern and eastern coasts. The landings went mostly unopposed, except for a small group of soldiers that vainly tried to resist. The coastal towns of Donderstad and Sint-Willemstad were occupied with very little resistance, as most of the German troops retreated northwards to better defensible positions. Middleton Island was taken that same evening and US soldiers marched triumphantly through the town, capturing 188 German soldiers and a tank.

July 12
The 2200 US soldiers and 900 Brunanter troops that participated in the landings were quickly marched towards the interior of the country with the intent of liberating Koningstad and the Cape Cross region. On July 12 Nieuw Helmond was the scene of some fighting; the Nazi troops were holed out in the fort and US troops bombarded it to oblivion. By noon Boguestown (by Brunanters) and Berganz (by US troops) were liberated and by nightfall they were nearing Carrington. Up to that point there was very little resistance; over 700 German troops had been captured and there were only 33 Allied casulties.

July 13
On the morning of July 13, German armored vehicles launched an attack against Allied positions near Carrington. They were pushed back 30 miles before slowly coming on the offensive and heading northwards. The King of Brunant returned to the country that day, following another landing on Cape Cross. Cape Cross and Brezonde were liberated that day and another thousand troops were marching towards Koningstad.

July 14 and 15
Carrington was taking after a shock attack in the morning and the day's objective was to take the capital. There was little resistance on the road to Koningstad but there was heavy resistance in the city. In Dortmund there was really heavy fighting, with lost of civilians dying in the crossfight. By the next morning there were only small pockets of resistance, with the last defenders being cleared from the Adriankastel by late morning.

Also on the 14th, US paratroopers were landed outside of Grijzestad. The town was largely deserted, but the German defenders put up staunch resistance. The Underground Revolution participated by sabotaging German communications and by taking out targets, including snipers. Allied troops killed 550 Germans and took another 380 prisoner.

Aftermath
By July 15 the country was declared free. Allied troops marched triumphant through Koningstad's boulevards, cheered on by the thousands.