A Force More Powerful 04, Denmark

This is the fourth of a 6-part series about the implementation of non-violent struggle against oppression in various countries throughout the world. The fourth episode looks at a little known episode from WWII. After the war had started Denmark declared it’s non-alignment, and even reduced its soldiery by half.

The country thought itself safe, as it was obviously no threat to others. But that didn’t stop the Germans invading, and demanding cooperation from its workers, factories and shipyards. For some time there was an uneasy peace whereby the Danes were allowed to run their own country.

But after the Danish government lost legitimisation in the eyes of the people, owing to its endorsement of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Republic, the underground resistance started organising strikes, and rounds of non-cooperation with the German authorities.

One of the most successful resistances was after race laws were introduced by the Germans, and they started to round up Jews. The common people opposed this, and helped organise for Jews to be protected, and eventually evacuated to Sweden.

There was quite a lot of violent bombings, and other sabotage during the course of the resistance, but it does seem the most powerful forces were those of strikes and civil disobedience which eventually made the country ungovernable for the Germans, until they were defeated at the end of the war.