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The Low
Countries maintained their neutrality and hoped to avoid the fate
that befell Norway and Denmark. However, at approx. 3:00 a.m. on May
10, 1940, the Germans launched a Blitzkrieg on the Belgian frontier
and, on the pretext that Britain and France were planning to invade
Germany via Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, invaded the
Low Countries. Belgium presented Germany with a fiercely worded
protest: “All facts in the possession of the Belgian government
indicate that the offensive was planned in advance.” The
Netherlands were attacked mainly by air. As negotiations for the
surrender of the Dutch were under way, Hitler had Rotterdam
bombed—not for any military reason but to express the doctrine of
intimidation: Terror impairs the will to resist. The bombardments
leveled the center of Rotterdam and killed more than 800 people. The
Germans’ main intention in this invasion was to enhance their
ability to threaten France.
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