European countries occupied by the military forces of Nazi Germany
German-occupied Europe (or Nazi-occupied Europe) refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet governments, by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 and 1945, during World War II, administered by the Nazi regime under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler.
The German Wehrmacht occupied European territory:
In 1941, around 280 million people in Europe, more than half the population, were governed by Germany or their allies and puppet states.
Outside of Europe, German forces controlled areas of North Africa, including Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia between 1940 and 1945. German military scientists established the Schatzgraber Weather Station as far north as Alexandra Land in Francis Joseph Land. Manned German weather stations also operated in North America included three in Greenland, Holzauge, Bassgeiger, and Edelweiss. German Kriegsmarine ships also operated in all oceans of the world throughout World War II.
History
Several German-occupied countries initially entered World War II as Allies of the United Kingdom or the Soviet Union. Some were forced to surrender before the outbreak of the war such as Czechoslovakia; others like Poland (invaded on 1 September 1939) were conquered in battle and then occupied. In some cases, the legitimate governments went into exile, in other cases the governments-in-exile were formed by their citizens in other Allied countries. Some countries occupied by Nazi Germany were officially neutral. Others were former members of the Axis powers that were subsequently occupied by German forces, such as Finland and Hungary.
Concentration camps
Germany operated thousands of concentration camps in German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Following the 1934 purge of the SA, the concentration camps were run exclusively by the SS via the Concentration Camps Inspectorate and later the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Initially, most prisoners were members of the Communist Party of Germany, but as time went on different groups were arrested, including "habitual criminals", "asocials", and Jews.
After the beginning of World War II, people from German-occupied Europe were imprisoned in the concentration camps.
About 1.65 million people were registered prisoners in the camps, of whom about a million died during their imprisonment. Most of the fatalities occurred during the second half of World War II, including at least 4.7 million Soviet prisoners who were registered as of January 1945.
Following Allied military victories, the camps were gradually liberated in 1944 and 1945, although hundreds of thousands of prisoners died in the death marches.
After the expansion of Nazi Germany, people from countries occupied by the Wehrmacht were targeted and detained in concentration camps. In Western Europe, arrests focused on resistance fighters and saboteurs, but in Eastern Europe arrests included mass roundups aimed at the implementation of Nazi population policy and the forced recruitment of workers. This led to a predominance of Eastern Europeans, especially Poles, who made up the majority of the population of some camps. The ethnicities of captured people were various other groups from other different nationalities were transferred to Auschwitz or sent to local concentration camps.
Occupied countries
The countries occupied included all, or most, of the following nations or territories:
Country or territory of occupation
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Puppet state(s) or military administration(s)
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Timeline of occupation(s)
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German annexed or occupied territory
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Resistance movement(s)
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Albanian Kingdom
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Albanian Kingdom
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8 September 1943 – 29 November 1944
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None
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Albanian resistance
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Bailiwick of Guernsey
Bailiwick of Jersey
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German Occupied Channel Islands (Part of the Military Administration in France)
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30 June 1940 – 9 May 1945 (Bailiwick of Guernsey)
1 July 1940 – 9 May 1945 (Bailiwick of Jersey)
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None
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Channel Islands resistance
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First Czechoslovak Republic
Second Czechoslovak Republic
Third Czechoslovak Republic
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Slovak Republic
German Zone of Protection in Slovakia
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1 October 1938 – 11 May 1945
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Gau Bayreuth Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Reichsgau Niederdonau Reichsgau Oberdonau Reichsgau Sudetenland
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Czechoslovakian resistance
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Federal State of Austria
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None. Although there was substantial popular support in Austria for some type of (re)unification with Germany, Chancellors Engelbert Dollfuss and his successor Kurt Schuschnigg wanted to maintain at least some type of independence. Dollfuss had implemented an authoritarian regime now termed Austrofascism, continued by Schussnigg, which imprisoned many members of the Austrian Nazi Party and the Social Democratic Party which both favored unification. Violence by Austrian Nazi Party members including the assassination of Dollfuss, along with German propaganda and ultimately threats of invasion by Adolf Hitler, eventually led Schuschnigg to capitulate and resign. Hitler, however, did not wait for his hand-picked successor, Austrian Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart, to be sworn in and ordered German troops to invade Austria at dawn on 12 March 1938, where they were met with cheering crowds and an Austrian army previously ordered not to resist.
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12 March 1938 – 9 May 1945
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Reichsgau Kärnten Reichsgau Niederdonau Reichsgau Oberdonau Reichsgau Salzburg Reichsgau Steiermark Reichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg Reichsgau Wien
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Austrian resistance
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Free City of Danzig
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None. Upon request of its Nazi-dominated senate, the city was directly annexed to Germany along with the surrounding Polish Pomeranian Voivodeship.
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1 September 1939 – 9 May 1945
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Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia
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Danzigian resistance
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French Republic
Free France
Provisional Government of the French Republic
French Tunisia
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Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France
Military Administration in France
Realm Commissariat of Belgium and Northern France
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10 May 1940 – 9 May 1945
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Gau Baden Gau Westmark Reichsgau Wallonien
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French resistance
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Luxembourg
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Military Administration of Luxembourg
Civil Administration Area of Luxembourg
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10 May 1940 – February 1945
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Gau Moselland
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Luxembourg resistance
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Italian Islands of the Aegean
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Italian Islands of the Aegean
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8 September 1943 – 8 May 1945
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None
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Belgium
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Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France
Realm Commissariat of Belgium and Northern France
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10 May 1940 – 4 February 1945
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Gau Cologne-Aachen
Reichsgau Wallonien
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Belgian resistance
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Denmark
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protectorate state
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9 April 1940 – 5 May 1945
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None
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Danish resistance
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Kingdom of Greece
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Military Administration in Greece
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6 April 1941 – 8 May 1945
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None
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Greek resistance
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Kingdom of Hungary
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Kingdom of Hungary
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19 March 1944 – May 1945
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None
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Hungarian resistance
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Kingdom of Italy
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Italian Social Republic
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8 September 1943 – 2 May 1945
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None
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Italian resistance
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Norway
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Realm Commissariat for the Occupied Norwegian Territories
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9 April 1940 – 8 May 1945
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None
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Norwegian resistance
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Netherlands
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Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Dutch Territories
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10 May 1940 – 20 May 1945
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None
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Dutch resistance
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Kingdom of Yugoslavia
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Albanian Kingdom
German occupied territory of Montenegro
Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Macedonia
Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia
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6 April 1941 – 15 May 1945
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Reichsgau Kärnten Reichsgau Steiermark
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Yugoslav resistance
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Monaco
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None
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8 September 1943 – 3 September 1944
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None
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Finland
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None
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September 15, 1944 – April 25, 1945
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None
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Finnish resistance
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Republic of Lithuania
Provisional Government of Lithuania
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Reich Commissariat East
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22 March 1939 – 21 July 1940
23 June 1941 – 5 August 1941
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Gau East Prussia
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Lithuanian resistance
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Republic of Poland
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Military Administration in Poland
General Government administration
Reich Commissariat East
Reich Commissariat Ukraine
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1 September 1939 – 9 May 1945
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Bezirk Bialystok Gau East Prussia Gau Schlesien Gau Oberschlesien General Government Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia Reichsgau Wartheland
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Polish resistance
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San Marino
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None (military trespassing)
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17 – 20 September 1944
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None
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Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia
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Commissioner Government
Government of National Salvation
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April 30, 1941 – January 1945
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None
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Serbian resistance
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Slovak Republic
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German Zone of Protection in Slovakia
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23 March 1939 – May 1945
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None
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Slovakian resistance
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Territory of the Saar Basin
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None. In a referendum in 1935, over 90% of residents supported reunification with Germany over remaining a League of Nations protectorate of France and the United Kingdom or joining France.
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1 March 1935 – April 1945
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Gau Palatinate-Saar
Gau Saar-Palatinate
Gau Westmark
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Saar Basinian resistance
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Ukrainian National Government
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Reich Commissariat Ukraine
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30 June 1941 – September 1941
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General Government
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Ukrainian resistance
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Parts of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
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Lepel Republic
Military Administration in the Soviet Union
Reich Commissariat East
Reich Commissariat Ukraine
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22 June 1941 – 10 May 1945
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Bezirk Bialystok General Government
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Soviet resistance
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Governments in exile
Allied governments in exile
Government in exile
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Capital in exile
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Timeline of exile
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Occupier(s)
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Austrian Democratic Union
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London
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1941–1945
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German Reich/Greater German Reich
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Free France
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London (1940–1941)
Algiers, French Algeria (1942 – August 31, 1944)
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1940 – August 31, 1944
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French State
German Reich/Greater German Reich
Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France
Reich Commissariat of Belgium and Northern France
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Government of the Republic of Poland in exile
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Paris (September 29/30, 1939 – 1940) Angers, French Republic (1940 – June 12, 1940)
London (June 12, 1940 – 1990)
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September 29/30, 1939 – December 22, 1990
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German Reich/Greater German Reich
Reich Commissariat East
Reich Commissariat Ukraine
Slovak Republic
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
People's Republic of Poland
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Belgium
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London (October 22, 1940 – September 8, 1944)
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October 22, 1940 – September 8, 1944
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German Reich/Greater German Reich
Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France
Reich Commissariat of Belgium and Northern France
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Denmark
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None
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1943–1945
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German Reich/Greater German Reich
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Luxembourg
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London
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1940–1944
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German Reich/Greater German Reich
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Kingdom of Greece
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Cairo, Egypt
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April 29, 1941 – October 12, 1944
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German Reich/Greater German Reich
Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Bulgaria
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Norway
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London
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June 7, 1940 – May 31, 1945
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Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Norwegian Territories
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Kingdom of Yugoslavia
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London
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June 7, 1941 – March 7, 1945
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Albanian Kingdom
Commissioner Government
German occupied territory of Montenegro
German Reich/Greater German Reich
Government of National Salvation
Independent State of Croatia
Independent Macedonia
Kingdom of Bulgaria
Kingdom of Hungary
Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia
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Netherlands
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London
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1940–1945
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Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Dutch Territories
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Provisional Government of Czechoslovakia
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Paris (October 2, 1939 – 1940)
London (1940–1941)
Aston Abbotts, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1941–1945)
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October 2, 1939 – April 2, 1945
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German Reich/Greater German Reich
Kingdom of Hungary
Slovak Republic
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Axis governments in exile
Government in exile
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Capital in exile
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Timeline of exile
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Occupier(s)
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Kingdom of Bulgaria
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Vienna, Greater German Reich
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September 16, 1944 – May 10, 1945
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Kingdom of Bulgaria
Kingdom of Greece
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
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French State
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Sigmaringen, Greater German Reich
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1944 – April 22, 1945
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Provisional Government of the French Republic
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Kingdom of Hungary
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Vienna, Greater German Reich
Munich, Greater German Reich
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March 28/29, 1945 – May 7, 1945
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Czechoslovak Republic
Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
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Kingdom of Romania
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Vienna, Greater German Reich
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1944–1945
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Kingdom of Romania
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Montenegrin State Council
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Zagreb, Independent State of Croatia
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Summer of 1944 – May 8, 1945
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Kingdom of Yugoslavia
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Slovak Republic
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Kremsmünster, Great-German Reich
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April 4, 1945 – 8 May 1945
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Czechoslovak Republic
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Government of National Salvation
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Kitzbühel, Great-German Reich
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October 7, 1944 - 8 May 1945
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Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
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Neutral governments in exile
Government in exile
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Capital in exile
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Timeline of exile
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Occupier(s)
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Belarusian Democratic Republic
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Prague, Czechoslovak Republic (1923–1938)
Prague, Czecho-Slovak Republic (1938–1939)
Prague, German Reich/Greater German Reich (1939–1945)
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1919 – present
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German Reich/Greater German Reich
Realm Commissariat East
Realm Commissariat Ukraine
Republic of Poland
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
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Republic of Estonia
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Stockholm, Kingdom of Sweden (1944 – August 20, 1991)
New York City, United States of America
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June 17, 1940 – August 20, 1991
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Realm Commissariat East
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
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Ukrainian People's Republic
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Warsaw, Republic of Poland (1920–1939)
Prague, German Reich/Greater German Reich (1939–1944)
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1920 – August 22, 1992
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German Reich/Greater German Reich
Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Romania
Realm Commissariat Ukraine
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
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See also
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