Battle of the Netherlands

The Battle of Netherlands was part of a German

military operation dubbed Fall Gelb through which
Hitler conquered the Netherlands, Belgium, and
Luxembourg. During World War II, seizing these
lands ensured that Germany would have a buffer
zone against Britain and France. Historical records
state that it took the German defense forces a period
of about seven days (from May 10 to May 17, 1940)
to occupy all key cities of the Netherlands.
Dutch Neutrality
The Netherlands under the leadership of Hendrikus
Colijin maintained a neutral stance. It viewed
Germany as one of its strategic trade partners and
did not want to destroy its mutual trade through
war.
Germany wanted to protect one of its vital regions,
the Ruhr Area, against attacks by the Allied forces and the only way to minimize
threats of unanticipated attacks was to invade the Lower countries, Netherlands
included.
The Low Countries Targeted
The three countries known as the Low Countries were strategically located between
France and Germany, making them a logical route for either of the two enemies to
launch an offensive. In a radio speech, Winston Churchill addressed their
governments, urging them to secure their borders against imminent attacks by the
Germans. However, they ignored this advice, choosing to retain their middle ground
stance in the conflict as they had done in the past.
The Dutch Army
The Dutch army had not expanded much since the First
World War. Its lack of a sufficiently trained manpower base
meant that they were ill prepared for any form of attack.
There were just eight infantry divisions and just enough
artillery equipment for the larger units. In total, the Dutch
forces consisted of 22 infantry battalions and 48 regiments
for strategic border defense. Its fellow middle-ground ally,
Belgium, had only 22 regiments and 30 infantry battalions.
In late 1939, efforts were made to strengthen the force but
due to delays on the supplier side very little progress was
made. On the 10th of May in 1940, the force was clearly in
shortage of armor and had poor telecommunication devices
despite Netherlands being the seat of Phillips.

The Air Division

The Air Force division of the Dutch force was a department of the larger army and it
only had 155 aircrafts. Another forty aircrafts served the naval force. It is argued that
the full potential of the Dutch air military power was under-exploited due to budget
limitations.
Some historical accounts claim that the Dutch defense force was not only
underequipped but also undertrained. Individual soldiers lacked many of the
necessary war skills. By 1940 only 1,206 professional military officers were present in
the army.
It is said that Hitler and his tacticians had a low opinion of the Netherlands military
and expected to take over the core areas of the country in no more than 5 days.
The Battle
The battle started on the early hours of May 10,
1940 when the Germans commenced operation
Fall Gelb taking the Lower Countries by
surprise. German military choppers made their
way into the Dutch airspace engaging in
numerous bombardments before landing in
various airfields. A scheduled attack of The
Hague at first seemed to end in failure when
the forces failed to capture strategic areas of the
city. Meanwhile, by the evening of the same day,
the French forces had started arriving on the
Dutch border in readiness for battle.
Days after the invasion of the Netherlands by the Germans, the Dutch forces
surrendered, leaving the Germans with control of all the key areas of the country.
Defeated
The Battle ended soon after devastating bombings by the German Luftwaffe in
Rotterdam, paralyzing all military and economic reins held by the Dutch
Government. Subsequent threats to bomb more cities in the Netherlands might have
led to the surrender of the Dutch forces. Following this invasion, the Dutch
government established a government-in-exile in Britain.