Occupied Europe
The German occupation ranged from brutal to merely repressive depending on the ethnic nature of the population
Poland and Russia suffered the worst
Scandinavia and the Low Countries were the "best" treated
In some of the occupied areas pro-Nazi collaborationist governments arose
- Vichy France under Petain
- Norway under Vidkun Quisling (he actually betrayed his own government)
- Slovakia
- Croatia
In many of the occupied countries there was a sense that the Germans were "saving" Europe from communism - thousands volunteered for service in the SS
most Europeans considered the Germans to be invincible and thought that resistance was futile
as the war continued, especially after the attack on the Soviet Union resistance movements began to spring up all over Europe
- dominated by communist groups
- the best example was in Yugoslavia where Josef Broz ("Tito") led d. 1980 he led a highly effective communist "partisan army"
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