ABSTRACT
Hitler's vision of a German-dominated Europe went far beyond any previous notions of power politics and hegemony. In Belgium the mining areas of Eupen, Malmedy and Moresnet were annexed in May 1940. Hitler proclaimed Wallonia in the south to be ancient German land and that the Flemish areas were an integral part of the 'Greater Germanic Reich'. German occupation policy was dictated by three main considerations: military security, economic exploitation and racial domination. In the summer of 1940 the British Government set up the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to co-ordinate subversion and sabotage in occupied Europe. Churchill was much taken by what he called the 'Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare', and hoped that Germany could be defeated with a combination of bomber offensive, blockade and subversion. The systematic deportation and murder of the European Jews which now began met with some resistance among those who were reluctant to hand over their fellow citizens to Nazi murderers.
