European Events Leading up to World War II 1938–1939

Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler with GenMaj Erwin Rommel - Sept 1939

German and Soviet Pavilions oppose each other - Paris Exposition 1937

Annexation of Austria - March 1938

Annexation of Sudetenland - October 1938

Poland campaign - September 1939

Invasion and partitioning of Poland - September 1939

By 1937 Europe was beset by political crises and the Paris International Exposition is recalled for its political connotations. Two of the most notable pavilions were those of the National Socialist Germany and the Stalinist Soviet Union. The organization of the world exhibition had placed the German and the Soviet pavilions directly across from each other. Nothing in any previous universal exhibition had ever matched this dramatic architectural confrontation. Adolf Hitler's chief architect Albert Speer later revealed that he had designed the German pavilion to represent a bulwark against Communism. The conquering exhibitors of forty-four nations politely applauded each other during the closing ceremonies on Nov. 2 1937. The ritual of Peace and Progress was over and the ultimate confrontation was at hand. Image: Credit: Olga Shirnina. PD. Annexation of Austria: Following the end of World War I, the newly formed Republic of German-Austria attempted to form a union with Germany, but the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain explicitly prohibited the political inclusion of Austria in the German state, both treaties signed in 1919. Prior to the Anschluss, there had been strong support from people of all backgrounds – not just Nazis – in both Austria and Germany for a union of the two countries and to bring ethnic Germans outside Germany into Greater Germany. On the morning of March 12 1938, the German Wehrmacht crossed the border into Austria. The troops were greeted by cheering Austrians with Nazi salutes, Nazi flags, and flowers. That afternoon, Adolf Hitler crossed the border at his birthplace, Braunau am Inn. In the evening, he arrived at Linz and was given an enthusiastic almost hysterical welcome. Two days later Hitler gave a speech at the Vienna Hofburg in front of a jubilant crowd of 250,000 people. For decades after the war Austria regarded itself as the first victim of Nazism, despite its complicity in war crimes and the jubilation with which Hitler was received some 80 years ago. Image: Austrians welcoming German troops during Anschluss Österreichs. Photo by Hitler's personal color photog. Hugo Jäger. LIFE photo archive. Annexation of Sudetenland: The German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the annexation of Sudetenland on Oct. 1 1938 as outlined by the Munich Agreement. This region had long been settled by ethnic Germans. These Sudeten Germans lived as their German neighbors across the border and spoke German. Hitler said in his speech at the NSDAP Congress 1938: I am asking neither that Germany be allowed to oppress three and a half million Frenchmen, nor am I asking that three and a half million Englishmen be placed at our mercy. Rather I am simply demanding that the oppression of three and a half million Germans in Czechoslovakia cease and that the inalienable right to self-determination take its place. In early Nov. 1938, under the First Vienna Award, which was a result of the Munich agreement, Czechoslovakia was forced by Germany and Italy to cede southern Slovakia to Hungary, while Poland invaded Zaolzie territory shortly after. As a result, Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia lost about 38 percent of their combined area to Germany, with some 3.2 million German and 750,000 Czech inhabitants. Image: German staff cars entering Sudetenland to receive an enthusiastic reception on Oct. 9 1938. People of the Sudetenland saw the German forces as liberators. LIFE photo archive. Invasion and partitioning of Poland: The creation of the Polish Corridor after World War I aroused great resentment in Germany, and all post-war German Weimar governments refused to recognize the eastern borders agreed at Versailles with respect to its eastern borders. Institutions in Weimar Germany supported and encouraged German minority organizations in Poland, in part radicalized by the Polish policy towards them. Poland in 1931 declared her commitment to peace, but pointed out that any attempt to revise its borders would mean war. Polish delegate Tytus Filipowicz noted that any continued provocations by Germany could tempt the Polish side to invade, in order to settle the issue once and for all. By 1937, Germany began to increase its demands for the primarily German-speaking seaport of Danzig, while proposing that an extraterritorial roadway, part of the Reichsautobahn system, be built in order to connect East Prussia with Germany proper, running through the Polish Corridor. Poland rejected this proposal. In 1939, Germany made another attempt to renegotiate the status of Danzig; Poland was to retain a permanent right to use the seaport if the route through the Polish Corridor was to be constructed. During this period, the Germans learned that France and Britain had failed to secure an alliance with the Soviet Union against Germany, and that Soviet was interested in an alliance with Germany against Poland. On Sept. 1 1939, one week after Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, German troops along with 50,000 Slovakian soldiers invaded Poland. Two weeks later, Russian troops attacked Poland from the east. After years of vague rumblings and explicit threats in Europe, the World War II had begun. Credit: Wikipedia inter alia. Bottom image: German and Soviet soldiers fraternizing east of Brześć Litewski after a visit by Soviet Commander Semyon Krivoshein to German Commander Heinz Guderian during the joint invasion of Poland. Photo by German press photog. Max Ehlert on Sept. 22 1939. Credit: Mikołaj Kaczmarek and Mirek Szponar. c. Bundesarchiv.

Declaration of War on Germany by France and the United Kingdom

Schnellbomber Junker Ju-88 escorted by Jäger Messerschmitt Me-109's

Gen.Maj. Erwin Rommel's troops crossing the River Meuse in Belgium

Dutch civilians cheer arrival of SS troops at Dam Square in Amsterdam

Volunteers of SS-Standarte Der Führer in front of the Haarlem Stadhuis

September 3 of 1939 was a lovely Sunday. It was the day that France and Britain declared war on the German Reich. They created world tension from a central European quarrel into which they drew forces from their colonies. On September 7 1939, France began the Saar Offensive with an advance from the Maginot Line 5 km into the Saar. France had mobilised 98 divisions and 2,500 tanks against a German force consisting of 43 divisions and no tanks. The French advanced until they met the then thin and undermanned Siegfried Line. Following the Saar Offensive, a period of inaction called the Phoney War, or the German Sitzkrieg, sitting war set in between the belligerents. Holland fought for their official neutrality, in hope of being spared this war, and at the same time played with fire. The Dutch General Staff sought military contact with the Allies and foreign Secret Service agents romped around Holland. This did not escape Germany's notice and they objected. They declared that France and Britain intended a military thrust to the Ruhr, using reconnoitered positions, not only in “neutral” Belgium, but in Holland as well. Not only that, French regiments had already received provisional operation orders, in April 1940, for their advance through Belgium and Holland. The open flank at the Siegfried Line offered itself as the area of concentration for the Allied Armed Forces. It was Duff Cooper, later Minister for information in Winston Churchill's cabinet, who said: We take any step necessary, and without consideration of the neutrality of the land. Neville Chamberlain declared: We British can distribute our attacks as and when we wish. Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler decided not to give his enemies the chance of any initiative. Top image: Luftwaffe's Junker Ju-88 heading towards its target escorted by fighter aircraft Messerschmitt Me-109's. The twin-engined multirole combat aircraft Ju 88 was the most modern of Germany's bombers in 1940. Credit: Alan Lathan. Propaganda-Postkarte of Carl Werner Reichenbach. Second image: Generalmajor and commander of the 7.Panzer-Division Erwin Rommel paddles across the river Meuse in Belgium on May 13 1940. The 7th Panzer Division would become known as the Ghost Division because its whereabouts sometimes remained unknown to friend and foe alike during the Western campaign. Credit: Rui Manuel Candeias. c. Bundesarchiv. Third image: Waffen-SS troops have arrived in the Netherlands as the result of the French and British war declarations against the German Reich. Hitler's personal photog. Hugo Jäger photographed the first German troops arriving in Amsterdam in May 1940. The people of Amsterdam poured out into the streets to welcome the victors. The troops belongs to the German-Austrian SS-Standarte Der Führer. Tens of thousands of men from the Low Countries would soon volunteer to become Waffen-SS soldiers themselves, while many more of its citizens would support the occupation and volunteer to serve the Nazi cause. c. Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: units of Der Führer in front of the Haarlem Stadhuis after the capitulation of Dutch forces on May 15 1940. Photo by the Amsterdamer Adrianus Peperkamp. Credit: Richard James Molloy. Noord-Hollands Archief.

German Response to the War-Declarations: Blitzkrieg in Western Europe

Heinkel He 111 bombers of the German Luftwaffe in flight

Paras of Sturmabteilung Koch after the assault on fortress Eben-Emael

Rotterdam Blitz mistakenly carried out by the Luftwaffe

Sd.Kfz.231 of Der Führer in front of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam

In October 1939 the SS-Standarte Der Führer, Deutschland and Germania were organized into the SS-Verfügungs-Division. Both the SS-V-Division and the full independent motorized infantry regiment Leibstandarte SS would take part in the upcoming Western campaign. On Friday May 10 1940, Nazi Germany launched its offensive into the Netherlands and Belgium. The breaking of Rights of Neutrality were not considered by Germany, in the view of the far from neutral behavior, not only of Belgium, of Holland as well. The German offensive took its course from the North Sea to the southern border of Luxembourg. The Leibstandarte SS formed the vanguard of the ground advance into the Netherlands and the SS-V-Division saw action in the main drive for the Dutch central front and Rotterdam. Germany's Blitzkrieg conducted with great speed and force by massed mechanized ground forces and air forces in close cooperation rapidly overpowered the defences of the Netherlands and Belgium. After the surrender of the Netherlands on May 15 1940, the Waffen-SS was transferred to France. At the end of the campaign, the SS-V-Division had advanced all the way to the Spanish frontier. Top image: a squadron of German Heinkel He 111 bombers in flight in 1940. Photo by Kriegsberichter Dahm. Credit: Richard James Molloy. c. Bundesarchiv. Second image: German Fallschirmjägers of the Luftlande-Sturm-Regiment 1 known as Sturmabteilung Koch shown here after the extraordinary success in the capture of the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael on the Belgian-Dutch border between May 10 and May 11 1940. Photo taken at the Luftwaffe barracks in Köln-Dellbrück by KB Oberleutnant Büttner. Credit: Julius Backman. c. Bundesarchiv. Third image: German soldiers examine damage after the Rotterdam Blitz on May 14 1940. The air attack on Rotterdam, mistakenly carried out by the German Luftwaffe because tragically, for reasons of communication, it could not be halted. Wehrmacht General Rudolf Schmidt used the threat of bombing Rotterdam to attempt to force the Dutch Colonel P. W. Scharroo to surrender the city. Rotterdam was the largest industrial centre in the Netherlands and of major strategic importance to the Germans. Scharroo refused and stretched out negotiations. The start of the air raid had been set for 13:20. Schmidt relented and issued a second ultimatum of 16:20 and radioed to postpone the planned attack. However, it was already too late and three aircraft of the southern formation did not receive the order to abort, the remaining 24 bombers of the southern bomber formation aborted their attack. The north-east formation were unable to spot the red flares launched by the Germans from the southern area of the city and proceeded with their attack. Schmidt sent a conciliatory message to the Dutch commander General Henri Winkelman, who surrendered shortly afterwards. Although the exact number of casualties is not known, nearly 1,000 people were killed. Credit: Wikipedia i.a. Photo by Adolf Hitler's personal colour photog. Hugo Jäger. Fair use. Bottom image: tankers of the German-Austrian SS-Standarte Der Führer have parked their Sd.Kfz.231 s.Panzerspähwagen on the Dam Square in front of the famous Royal Palace in Amsterdam on May 15 1940. Credit: Jakob Lagerweij. Fair use.

Ludwig Kepplinger, the first Waffen-SS NCO Knight's Cross Winner

IJssel bridge at Westervoort seen from the east side

SS-Gruppenführer Papa Hausser and SS-Untersturmführer Kepplinger

Kepplinger as SS-Hauptsturmführer at SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz

Kepplinger as SS-Sturmbannführer and commander in Normandy

The Austrian SS-Hauptscharführer Ludwig Kepplinger was the first NCO in the Waffen-SS to be awarded the Knight's Cross. On May 10 1940 Kepplinger was part of a 18 man unit of SS-Standarte Der Führer that was given the task of capturing the Dutch fort of Westervoort and an important rail and road bridge across the IJssel river near Arnhem. Finding the bridge that was his primary objective blown, he and his men stormed over the tangled remains and attacked the enemy positions on the opposite bank. Kepplinger and two other SS men managed to reach the other side of the bridge and attacked the enemy bunker with machine pistols and hand grenades. Part of Kepplinger's Knight's Cross recommendation reads as follows…“With only two men Kepplinger clambered over the destroyed Ijssel bridge with the aim of taking possession of the village of Westervoort, which was bristling with MGs... During the crossing of the river Kepplinger and his two men came under strong fire. Even though the probability of this operation's success was considerably small, maybe impossible, Kepplinger was able to enter the village in a terrific charge by using every bit of available cover. Then a tough battle began between the 90-man garrison and the three German troops. Kepplinger was able to force the surrender of one part of Westervoort after another. This was only possible by a ruthless disregard of his own life... At 10:00 the village of Westervoort was in the hands of the three SS men. The soldiers of the village, heavily fortified with MGs, had previously held a position that rendered a crossing of the 100 metre wide Ijssel essentially impossible. Now they laid down their arms before a force that was laughably inferior in numbers and equipment. It should be noted that the German artillery had neither conducted a preparatory barrage nor supported the attack of the three SS men... An attack of the Bataillon across the Ijssel without control of Westervoort would likely have resulted in a great many soldiers losing their lives... In the following battles, which saw the Grebbe position reached, Kepplinger once again distinguished himself in an outstanding way as a Zugführer. Wounded several times, Kepplinger made the choice to remain on the battlefield and once again stormed at the head of his Zug...“ Kepplinger was shot once in the hand, twice in the upper thigh and twice in the lower abdomen during the attacks on Dutch bunkers and fortified positions. After recovering from his wounds he was given command of the 10th Company of SS-Regiment Westland of the SS-Division Wiking. Kepplinger subsequently rose to the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer and commanded SS-Panzer-Abteilung 17 of the 17.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Götz von Berlichingen during the Normandy Invasion in 1944. On August 6 1944 the Knight's Cross holder Kepplinger was ambushed and murdered by French partisans in Villiers-Charlemagne in Normandy. His body was found 35 years later. Top image: SS medics and grenadiers of Der Führer at the IJssel bridge at Westervoort. Photo taken just after Kepplinger's capture of Westervoort on May 10 1940. The German ambulance to the right is a Phänomen Granit 25 H (Kfz.31). Credit: Stadtarchiv Emmerich am Rhein. Second image: SS-Commander Paul Hausser presenting the Knight's Cross to the then SS-Untersturmführer Kepplinger on Sept. 4 1940. Credit: OTL Marwan. c. Bundesarchiv. Third still: Kepplinger as SS-Hauptsturmführer at SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz. Bottom still: Kepplinger as SS-Sturmbannführer and commander of SS-Panzer-Abteilung 17 of the Götz von Berlichingen on a Sd.Kfz. 251 in Normandy in June 1944. Die Deutsche Wochenschau.

German Panzers and Infantry during the Blitzkrieg against France

Pz.Gen. Heinz Guderian during the Blitzkrieg against France

SS-Standarte Germania during the Blitzkrieg against France

Generalleutnant Heinz Wilhelm Guderian's Panzer Corps spearheaded the drive through the Ardennes and over the Meuse River. He led the attack that broke the French lines at the Battle of Sedan ending with the British Expeditionary Force and French forces trapped at Dunkirk. The priority placed on the Panzer Divisions facilitated the speed and aggression of the German advance. The advance throug the Low Countries and France was so rapid that German units were often in danger of overstretching their supply lines. This Race-to-the-Channel took its toll on the troops. The military genius of Heinz Guderian remains admirable even today, for it was his tactics that brought the German Reich its swift victory over Europe in the first years of the war. He became one of the principal architects of armored warfare and the Blitzkrieg. Left image: Heinz Guderian in his Sd.Kfz. 251 mobile command half-track during the Battle of France in May 1940 - note the legendary Enigma code machine. A failure of operational security (OPSEC) explains the fact that Kriegsberichter Leutnant Eric Borchert was able to take this incredible photo. The author and photographer Borchert was later KIA on October 10 1941 during the Axis Siege of Tobruk in Libya. c. Bundesarchiv. Right image: men of SS-Standarte Germania during the Blitzkrieg against France. The soldier on the left carries the legs of a mortar over his shoulder and is armed with the old 9mm P 08 Luger automatic pistol. Although withdrawn from service the Luger remained a popular possession among German (and Allied) troops. During the Polish and French campaigns the tabs were ordered to be removed, however the cuff titles remained. Photo by South Tyrol-born photographer SS-KB Friedrich Zschäckel, holder of the Iron Cross First Class, and promoted to SS-Obersturmführer on April 20 1943. This makes him one of the highest-ranking SS combat photographers, as well as one of the most well-traveled. He served with Reich in 1941, Nord and Leibstandarte in 1942, Totenkopf and Das Reich in 1943 and Hitlerjugend in 1944. Before the war, Zschäckel taught photography in München with Adolf Hitler's official photographer Heinrich Hoffmann. Fritzel Zschäckel is believed to have died in October 1944, but reliable sources claims that he died aged 62 on July 23 1973 in Buenos Aires in Argentina. Credit: Mateusz Pietruszkiewicz. c. Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Grenadiers during the Battle of France

Tip of the Spear: BMW R75 of Germania

Waffen-SS im Westen

The BMW R75 was the powerful and highly reliable motorcycle, which equipped the Aufklärungsabteilung (lit. reconnaissance detachment). The Aufklärungsabteilung was a heavily armed unit that advanced well to the fore of the main body and was capable of fighting for tactical intelligence if necessary. The addition of the sidecar meant that three men could be transported on each machine, which gave the unit the advantage of mobility with added firepower. Images: Kradschützen of the SS-Standarte Germania in an effort to keep up the pressure on enemy forces falling back. After the British counterattack at Arras, the SS-Verfügungs-Division, along with the Infanterie-Regiment Leibstandarte SS, were moved to hold the perimeter around Dunkirk and reduce the size of the pocket containing the encircled British Expeditionary Force and French forces. Right image: volunteers of the Waffen-SS walking the roads of Northern France while sweat trickling down their dusty faces. Originally published in the wartime photograthic journal Waffen-SS im Westen - Ein Bericht in Bildern in the spring of 1941. Both images taken by SS-Kriegsberichter Friedrich Zschäckel. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Gruppenführer der Waffen-SS Hausser and the Miracle of Dunkirk

SS-Gruppenführer Paul Hausser

SS-Standarte Germania

On May 24 1940, German divisions would squeeze both the surrounded British and French forces at Dunkirk. There is no doupt that they could have either destroyed, or haven taken, the whole of the British Expeditionary Force and three French field armies prisoner. Almost 400,000 British, Belgian, and French troops lined up in the water and on the beaches of Dunkirk. Their fate seemed to be sealed, but something extraordinary happened, what is known as the Miracle of Dunkirk. It was for friend or foe, an unexpected and fateful turn of events, as Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler himself giving the British the chance to escape. All that was wished for from Britain, was that they recognized Germany's place on the Continent. The target of coming up to peace with Britain, in all honor, had motivated Hitler to spare the British. The English military historian Liddell Hart wrote after 1945, that the German Reich had absolutely no plans for war against Britain. Germany had imagined itself as a very important partner for Britain. Together they could oppose the Kremlin's global machinations. The halt order has been the subject of much discussion by historians. Left image: an interesting picture of the excellent divisional commander Paul Hausser writing orders with staff from SS-Standarte Germania. The presence of captured British soldiers suggests that this photograph was taken as the Waffen-SS pushed northward. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Right image: armed with a 9mm MP38, often called Schmeisser, plus stick-grenadiers in his belt, this SS-Oberscharführer of SS-Standarte Germania leads his men along a roadside during the Western Campaign. This photo appears on the cover of the book Voices of the Waffen SS by Gerry Villani. Both photos by SS-Kriegsberichter Friedrich Zschäckel in 1940. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Standarte „Totenkopf“ and the Le Paradis Massacre

SS-Standarte Totenkopf

SS-Totenkopf-Aufklärungs-Abteilung

Leichter Panzerspähwagen Sd.kfz.222 of the Totenkopf

The only documented example of war crimes against the Totenkopf were committed over a span of a few weeks during May-June 1940. The Le Paradis massacre committed by a company of SS-Standarte Totenkopf took place on May 27 1940 during the Battle of France, at a time when the British Expeditionary Force was attempting to retreat through the Pas-de-Calais region during the Battle of Dunkirk. The 14.Kompanie under the command of SS-Hauptsturmführer Fritz Knöchlein executed 97 British prisoners of the Royal Norfolk Regiment at the town of Le Paradis. News of the massacre spread to neighbouring German divisions and General Erich Höpner, commander of the German forces in France, was determined to have Fritz Knöchlein dismissed if charges of mistreatment or killing of prisoners could be brought. However none of these investigations were ever successful, possibly because Fritz Knöchlein stated that the British had been using dumdum bullets, thus violating the Hague Convention of 1899. In that case, the British soldiers no longer had any rights as prisoners of war, but were illegal combatants who could be treated accordingly. Regardless, many Waffen-SS officers were appalled by the massacre; some reportedly challenged Fritz Knöchlein to a duel, although none were ever fought. After World War II, Fritz Knöchlein was located, tried and convicted by a war crimes court. Knöchlein was executed by the British in 1949 in Hamelin at the age of 37. Following the campaign in France, the Totenkopf would be refitted with new personnel, who served with distinction on the Eastern Front. Top clip showing the tactical marking of the Totenkopf. Bottom images: an SS-Untersturmführer and his driver in a light armoured reconnaissance vehicle wearing early Panzer uniforms. The men belonged to the SS-Totenkopf-Aufklärungs-Abteilung, later redesigned as SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 3 Totenkopf. Note pink Waffenfarbe and collar patches. Collection of David Williams. Fair use.

ϟϟ-Regiment „Leibstandarte ϟϟ“ and the Wormhoudt Massacre

Adolf Hitler's entourage drive through Brussels shortly after the invasion

Soldiers of French 158th IR taken POWs in Walloon Region

Senegalese of French Colonial Army taken POWs in Northern France

After the expulsion of the British Expeditionary Forces from the continental mainland and the Belgian capitulation at the end of May 1940, the second phase of the Western Offensive began, the Battle for France. Men from the 2nd battalion of the Leibstandarte SS under the command of the then SS-Hauptsturmführer Wilhelm Mohnke are believed to have been involved in the Wormhoudt massacre in France on May 28 1940, where 80 something British and French POWs were killed. For several years, the massacre remained unknown, until some of the British survivors told of what they had lived through. Although no reputable historian denies that a massacre took place, no one has ever been formally charged in this case. It proved impossible in 1947 to construct a sufficiently strong case to bring prosecutions. In 1988, the case was reopened but a German prosecutor came to the conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to bring charges. Top image: on the morning of June 1 1940, while the battle for France was still unfolding, German dictator Adolf Hitler and his entourage took a short flight to Brussels. His six-wheeled Mercedes-Benz W31 type G4 was guarded by men of the Leibstandarte SS during his surprise visit to Flanders. It was here that Hitler had won the Iron Cross 2nd Class for bravery back in 1914, an event which he described as the happiest day of his life. In this photo, the column can be seen near Le Palais de Justice in Brussels. At the time this photo was taken the nearest unit of the British Expeditionary Force was only 20 km distant. Credit: Erenow. Photo by Hitler's official photog. Heinrich Hoffmann. Originally publ. in the Illustreiter Beobachter on June 13 1940. Middle image: soldiers of the French 158th Infantry Regiment taken POWs by Oberst Rudolf von Tschudi's Infanterie-Regiment 469. Photo taken in Thulin on May 23 1940 by Kriegsberichter Leutnant Eric Borchert, and publ. in 1941 in his book Entscheidende Stunden. This particular photo was taken at the end of Place du Calvarie, today Place des Français. His negatives were later captured by the French Army when they entered Strasbourg in 1945, and are now retained by the ECPAd. Lt. Borchert himself was KIA in Libya on Oct. 10 1941 accompanying GenLt. Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. Credit: Rui Manuel Candeias. Bottom image: German Signal Corps with French colonial POWs in June 1940. Unlike their white compatriots, the colonial prisoners were imprisoned in Frontstalags in France rather than being brought to Germany. Although no precise estimates exist, the number of French soldiers captured during the Battle of France is generally recognised around 1.8 million. Credit: Julius Backman Jääskeläinen. c. Bundesarchiv. Note: The photos are not related to the context of the article.

Waffen-SS Regiments After the Conclusion of the Western Campaign 1940

SS-Strm. poses in Panzer uniform after the Westfeldzug

SS-Hstuf. Joachim Peiper after the Westfeldzug

The Waffen-SS did not played the same important role in the 1940 battles as they did in the battles to come. Nonetheless, the Infanterie-Regiment Leibstandarte SS and the SS-Verfügungs-Division had demonstrated their combat ability and readiness to fight during the Western Campaign. The three SS-Standarten of the SS-Verfügungs-Division were to be the nucleus of the Waffen-SS in its subsequent rapid expansion. After the campaign had ended the SS-V-Division spend some time guarding the border with Vichy France. The unoccupied Free Zone in the southern part of metropolitan France, often called Régime de Vichy, remained responsible for the civil administration of all France as well as the French colonial empire. The Leibstandarte SS spent six months in Metz in northeast France and was expanded to brigade size. Initially, it was going to be given a partial lead role in the planned invasion of England. To prepare for the upcoming invasion, the regiment trained extensively in amphibious warfare. Left image: a studio portrait of an SS-Sturmmann taken after returning home from the Blitzkrieg in the West. He is supposed to have served in the SS-Panzerspähzug of the Leibstandarte SS during the campaign. The Panzerman is wearing the black Panzerschutzmütze. This headgear consisted of the soft padded crash helmet. By order dated January 15 1941, the black Panzer beret was abolished and replaced by black Panzer field caps. Priv.coll. Right image: a photo of Joachim Peiper at Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's famous mountain retreat Berghof following France's defeat. For his deeds during the Western Campaign, Peiper was promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer on June 6 1940. He also received both classes of the Iron Cross for his excellent leadership in the fightings south of Valenciennes and near Torcy in France. The ambitious and ideologically committed officer Jochen Peiper would rise to become one of the most well-known young officers in the Leibstandarte SS with a reputation as a skilled commander. Photo by photog. OLt. Walter Frentz. FU.

Cease-fire, signed on June 22 1940, went into effect on June 25 1940

Waffen-SS distributing food to the needy in June 1940

The men of the Leibstandarte SS enjoyed the beauty of Paris in 1940

Men of the Leibstandarte SS strolling through occupied Paris in 1940

On June 22 1940 the last combat effective French army still in the field was encircled and 500,000 men marched into captivity. The order to cease-fire came at 01:35 hours on June 25 1940. The battle for France was finally over for the men of the Waffen-SS. But some were left behind. In the campaign which had taken no less than seven weeks, three countries had been defeated by the German Armed Forces. The German concept of Blitzkrieg had been perfected in the western theatre of war. Members of the SS-Regiment Leibstandarte SS experiencing the very best of occupied Paris following the Battle of France. The German soldier in 1940 felt on top of the world and firmly believed at this stage that final victory was in sight. They had outflanked the Maginot Lina and arrived in an undefended Paris on June 14 1940. They continued their drive south through Champaign, Dijon, Burgundy, by the 25th June the ceasefire came into effect and the Waffen-SS were near Bordeaux. Accolades of praise for their bravery and sacrifice poured in, they had proved themselves ferocious and fearless on the battlefields. In 1940 the Waffen-SS began to recruit volunteers in the conquered territories from the ethnic German and Germanic populations. A sufficient number of volunteers came forward requiring the Waffen-SS to open a new training camp just for foreign volunteers at Sennheim in Alsace-Lorraine. Non-Germanic volunteers were not considered to be part of the SS directly, which still maintained its strict racial criteria; instead they were considered to be foreign nationals serving under the command of the SS. German casualties in the Western Campaign are hard to determine but commonly accepted figures are: 27,000 killed, 18,000 missing and 111,000 wounded. Western Allied casualties were almost 73,000 killed, 15,000 missing and 240,000 wounded. Top image: members of the Waffen-SS distributing foods to Belgian or French refugees in June 1940. c. Bundesarchiv. Bottom clips: Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Fair use.

The Brits and the Franco-German Armistice Negotiations at Compiégne

Soldiers of Leibstandarte SS in occupied Paris after the victory in France

SS Volunteers enjoy their leave at Berlin's Strandbad Wannsee

Waffen-SS in Occupied Paris

On July 19 1940, Adolf Hitler tried once more for conciliatory negotiations with the British opponents. But Churchill remained resolute. The war moved into the next round. The Blitz, i.e. the air raids on London, began only after Britain had continuously bombarded German cities for three month. Pointless restraint was at an end. On July 21 1940, Hitler and his high command, waited to receive the French Peace Delegation in Compiégne. The negotiations took place and were sealed in the same railway salon-wagon as had been used on November 8 1918 for the Surrender Treaty of the German Empire. However, it was certainly no repeat performance of humiliation as had happened on that autumn day. Then, the German envoys were treated with abuse, and already as prisoners of war, by the French Marshal Ferdinand Foch. However, in July 1940, Germany's opponents were treated with military honor, the negotiations were handled correctly. For the Parisians, the occupation was a series of frustrations and shortages.  A curfew was in effect from nine in the evening until five in the morning; at night, the city went dark. Rationing of food, tobacco, coal and clothing was imposed from September 1940. Most French citizens fell firmly in neither of the two camps, collaborator or resistor, and instead sought simply to navigate through a changing society, and outlast the occupation in peace. Top image: men of SS-Regiment Leibstandarte SS at an outdoor café in occupied Paris in July 1940. The many relationships between German soldiers and French women produced tens of thousands of children born during the occupation. Photo taken by the war correspondent SS-Kriegsberichter Johannes Bergmann. Fair use. Middle image: two Waffen-SS volunteers enjoy their leave from France at Berlin's most popular beach on the Wannsee in late June 1940. Photo from the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Fair use. Bottom image: Waffen-SS men photographed in July 1940 at Palais de Chaillot in Paris with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Süddeutsche Zeitung.

After the French Campaign: Expansion of the Waffen-SS

German-Austrian SS-Standarte Der Führer in the Netherlands

Swearing-in ceremony of Dutch SS Volunteers

Up to 20,000 Dutch joined the Waffen-SS to fight the Bolshevik Russia

After the French campaign, the SS-Verfügungstruppe was officially renamed the Waffen-SS. It was reorganized and received its own high command in August 1940. SS-Standarte Germania was given the responsibility of acting as the core for an entirely new division, the multi-national SS-Division Wiking, comprising troops from Scandinavia and the Low Countries as well from Germany. This process had already started in April 1940 with the formation of SS-Standarte Nordland (using Danish, Norwegian and Swedish volunteers), and in June 1940 with the formation of SS-Standarte Westland (using mainly Dutch and Flemish volunteers). These regiments were incorporated into the Wiking. In 1941, the Estonian SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Batallion Narwa was also added to Westland. The SS-Standarte Deutschland together with the Austrian Der Führer were formed into the SS-Division Reich and the SS-Regiment Leibstandarte SS was redesignated SS-Division Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler in 1941. By the following spring, the new structure created six Waffen-SS divisions: Leibstandarte SS, Reich, Totenkopf, Polizei, Wiking and Kampfgruppe (later Division) Nord. These were at first no larger than reinforced brigades, and would not be fully manned and equipped till late in 1941. Top image: volunteers of the German-Austrian SS-Standarte Der Führer in cooperation with the Dutch police force of Amsterdam on May 15 1940. Police authorities in German-occupied countries and regions collaborated closely with the German occupation authorities. Nazi ideology became central to police training and police practice. Nationaal Archief. Fair use. Middle and bottom clips showing a swearing-in ceremony of Dutch SS volunteers on May 17 1942. The event took place at the Hague Zoo. As the Nederlandsche SS was supposed to be an elite corps, not everybody was allowed to become a member. There were selections based on race, attitude to life, personality and physical condition. French documentary Dans la tête des SS.