Compromise and Confrontation: Danish Sport under the Swastika

On 9 April 1940 Denmark was invaded and occupied. ¹ Thus began one of the strangest occupations in modern history. Unlike other German- occupied peoples such as the Dutch, the Belgians and the Norwegians, the Danes were subjected to a ‘peace occupation’ which made it possible to a great extent to go on as if nothing had happened. The most absurd expression of this situation was that in March 1943 parliamentary elections were held in Denmark. Many of the institutions of society could continue almost as before, which was just what the Danish politicians’ cooperation policy intended; it meant not least that the parliamentary system which they themselves admired and shared was as far as possible preserved intact.