The Success of Collaboration: Denmark's Self-Assessment of its Economic Position after Five Years of Nazi Occupation

Abstract

Although it is known that Germany exploited the countries it occupied during the second world war, Denmark was an exception. The low level of German exploitation in Denmark was acknowledged by the Danish government and leaders of industry, whose concerns during the last half of the occupation and immediately after lay not in overcoming any after-effects of German exploitation but rather in returning Denmark to the fold of world trade, traditionally very important to the Danish economy. It can be said that, in comparison to its experience during the first world war, when the country was not occupied but was blockaded by the western Allies, Denmark fared better economically in the second world war when it was more prepared for the hardships it faced.