The spirit of April 9th
In Danish politics, a common phrase in the post war years is "Never again an April 9th" (Aldrig igen en 9. April), which - among other things - was used a rally cry to join NATO, join various conflicts (Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan etc) and provide training to the Baltic militaries - the point being that Denmark as a nation should never again put itself in such a position as it did on April 9th 1940, when it was invaded by a superior foreign power, and the only real option is to stand down.
Now, what if… the prelude to the invasion had been different and the Danish military had actually fought against the invasion? Perhaps then the phrase would be "never forget the spirit of April 9th"?
The PoD here comes in September 1939. OTL, the Danish prime minister appointed a national unity cabinet with representation from the different parties as a response to the outbreak of world war II. ITTL, a unity cabinet is still appointed, but with a couple of noticeable differences.
---
April 8th 1940, Copenhagen, Denmark
It was a warm spring evening in Copehagen as the sun was setting. When spring finally brought warm weather to Copenhagen, most of the citizens viewed this as the perfect excuse to sit down and have a beer with their friends and neighbors, and today was no exception. Of course, at some of the more upscale cafes, the main topic was the war.
But what a strange war it had been. After the initial declaration of war and the invasion of Poland, there had no fighting on the ground. A limited war on the high seas and in the air had followed. A British bomber had hit the coastal town of Esbjerg and killed a women, but surely that had been a mistake, and the British ambassador had gone to great lengths to apologize for this incident. The main concern was on the effect on the merchant fleet and if further rationing was needed.
However, in the parliament building of Christiansborg, a small room was densely packed with people, who had a much greater concern than deciding on further rationing. At the center of it in a large wooden chair sat old Thorvald Stauning, the prime minister. With 66 years of age, he was by far the oldest person in the room, but he was also the loudest, clearly still showing that boyish charisma that had earned him the title “Father of the nation” and transformed the social democratic party from a party for the working class to a party that spoke to all parts of the country coming close to gaining an absolute majority in parliament.
Standing next to him was Generalløjtnant William Prior, the commander of the army, who almost seemed to be standing at attention. In a corner a table had been placed, seemingly at random and the foreign minister, Peter Munch, who was also the leader of the social-liberal party, the junior partner in government, was engaged in heated whispers with the minister of the interior, Alsing Andersen, who seemed bloated and almost overwhelmed by the dry heat in the room.
The two last men to enter the room by one of the many doors, was Oluf Krag, the leader of the liberal party fraction in the parliament, and John Christmas-Møller, the leader of the conservative party, who exchanged worried looks with each other.
In the end, it was John, who broke the silence. “Hr. Stauning, I am sure, no, in fact, I am quite positive that you did not summon the leaders of the four main parties in the cabinet this fine evening in order to have a drink and exchange pleasantries.”
Stauning tried to smile, but he spoke with a tired voice, that none of the other had ever heard him use before: “No, Mr. Christmas-Møller, you are correct. If I had, for one I would have made sure that there was schnaps standing ready on the table.” It was a joke, but no one laughed. The prime minister looked up at the general next to him, “General Prior, will you tell these gentlemen what you have just told me.”
“Of course, Hr. Statsminister”, the General replied, his eyes fixated on the two newcomers, “Gentlemen, Sir, German troop movement are underway to strike a target in Scandinavia. Reliable intelligence has confirmed that a German infantry division and a number of armored brigades are massing directly south of our border and we have several sightings of German warships leaving their harbors. This supports the report from our military attachee in the Netherlands, which we received a week ago, to the effect that an operation in Scandinavia will commence tomorrow.”
Silence covered the room again, interrupted only by the nervous coughing of Alsing. It was Peter Munch, who was next to speak. “General Prior, when you say ‘a target in Scandinavia’ – would you perhaps care to be more precise on that matter?”
Prior turned his head slightly towards the left and slowly said “Yes, I would, Sir, but unfortunately I can’t,” and was turning his head back to look forward, as Stauning interrupted him with a slight slap on his leg. “What the foreign minister means, General Prior, is if you could state the possible scenarios.”
“Yes Sir, Hr. Statsminister, there are five scenarios of which we consider two to be likely and three to be unlikely. The unlikely ones, which I give no further detail to, is an invasion of Denmark, Sweden and Norway in combination and a sole invasion of Sweden and Denmark, respectively. The first likely scenario is an invasion of Norway, possibly with the use of the north of Jutland as a transit base. The second likely scenario is an invasion of Denmark and Norway. The strategic reasoning behind these two scenarios is more or less identical: the German are depended on the iron ore from Sweden, which is shipped via the Norwegian port of Narvik and they fear that the UK and France will violate the neutrality of Norway.”
Oluf Krag put both his arms both out: “So, basically, what you are saying is that German troops are coming, but we don’t know if they are staying.” The foreign minister, Peter Munch, shock his head: “But our treaty of non-aggression with Herr Hitler…”, “…is not worth the damn crap piece of paper it is printed on,” countered John Christmas-Møller, “It was a pointless and naïve notion to begin with, and if only you had listened to me, when I asked to order a full mobilization a week ago, then…”, “then the German would be massing two infantry divisions instead of one,” replied Peter Munch with an ice-stare.
The foreign minister leaned forward: “You misunderstand me, Hr. Chistmas-Møller, if you ever think that I like it one bit, but these are the facts: the German will always have the resource to best us in war. Always. Twice our country has paid a high price in blood to learn this, and that was not even against a Germany of the size and ferocity, which we face now. When we received the news of a possible attack, I gave my support to a partial mobilization, but the Germans have called our bluff. Would you have us pay that price a third time to satisfy your folly?”
Christmas-Møller took a step forward. “And you, Sir, misunderstand me dearly if you believe that I do not know this in every detail. My reasoning for maintaining the army was never to win a war, but to avoid one by making it too costly for the Germans to win over us.” Munch kept a calm face: “Well, Hr. Christmas-Møller, that strategy worked just wonderful for Finland, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Gentlemen,” Stauning slapped his hand down on the armchair, “this is little or no point in wasting time on considering what we should or should not have done a year ago. A time of decision has come upon us, where we are called to make a choice that will potentially shape the course of this country for years to come. I have called you there tonight, because I consider this decision to be so important, that I shouldn’t nor couldn’t make it alone. Our response to this matter requires nothing less than national unity, and as it may be, we have limited time to achieve this.”
This caused the two men to both take a step back, and Stauning continued: “Hr. Krag, what is your opinion?” The leader of the liberal party folded his hands: “Well, it is a delicate situation, and I believe we should avoid steps that would further provoke the Germans. We should reminder ourselves that our border with Germany is more or less the only one, where the National Socialists in Germany have yet to clamor for a return to the old borders before the Great War. I – for one – hope very much to see it remain so.”
A strong cough from Alsing Andersen made the others look at him. “Well, erhm.. sorry, but…”, he tried, “erhm, yes, I think we, erhm, bear in mind, that this, well, this war could, erhm, also be won by, well, I mean, the Germans might be victorious, and erhm…”
“Nonsense,” said Christmas-Møller with a stern stare at Alsing, “Germany couldn’t prevail against France and Great Britain in the Great War and they won’t prevail in this, and when it is over, the allies will not look kindly on us if we gave up without a fight, well, we could might as well say goodbye to our merchant fleet. I for one say we remind the Germans, that Denmark is a country, not a road towards the rest of Scandinavia. In the best case, this will make your socialist friends back down, and in the worst case, we can claim afterwards that we fought as well as we could. General Prior, do you agree with this assessment?”
The general looked down at Stauning, “Do you wish me to answer this, Hr. statsminister?” and following a nod, he continued: “As I was instructed a week ago, I have taken all steps shy of a full mobilization. All leave has been cancelled, ships have been sent to the seas and reserve units have been called up, on the pretext of training. All units have been moved into defensive positions at the border and other critical functions. Our strength stands at some 25.000 men. Given that we have no more than 7 or 8 hours before the assault starts, these are the forces that will face the initial assault. In southern Jutland, we have three regiments of each a thousand men. They are to fight a delaying battle and inflict casualties on the enemy. Copenhagen, however, is a much different matter. Given the coastal fortifications and our navy, we should be able to hold the city as well as Zealand against the initial attack and quite possibly indefinitely, if we receive proper support from the UK and France. While this is not a decision for me to make, then as a soldier, I would prefer to fight.”
Stauning looked to the foreign minister, “Hr. Munch, can such agreements with UK and France be made?” Peter Munch shrugged, “Well, yes, we could ally with the Brits and the French, and we could fight their war but at what cost? Should German bombers make another Warsaw out of Copenhagen? Our embassy there reported over 40.000 dead and half the city burned to the ground by the German Luftwaffe. It is true, that we can fight. But in the end, we have to ask ourselves: What is the use of it all?”
Munch turned to the prime minister, “Hr. Statsminister, I urge you instead to consider a different option than a futile fight, an option which is much more favorable: please allow me to contact the German ambassador Von Renthe-Fink and suggest an accommodation, yes, a treaty if you will. The German are – and so our general here tells us – not interested in fighting us. We are simply in the way. Let’s allow them to pass and even to stay, and why would they not allow us to keep our independence?”
“Well,” said Oluf Krag, “I can’t say that I disagree with that, but I would be worried if his majesty, Kong Christian X. would approve of us making such a deal.” “Then,” Munch countered, “as the responsible men of the realm, we shall make one without him; or if you worry about public opinion, perhaps keep it a secret, or if you, as Hr. Christmas-Møller here, worry about the opinion of the UK and France, let’s have our army in the south fight a little, I see no reason for the Germans not to understand such a position.”
“and erhm, well,” tried an ever more sweating Alsing Andersen, “if we find, erhm, in the end, that, well, the Germans and their Russian allies, they, you know, win, then, well, such a treaty would, say, not be the worst situation, well, in fact, erhm, it might be the best.”
John Christmas-Møller put his hand on his head and closed his eyes, “I am not sure, I even want to hear more of this. We are seriously considering offering an invading and murderous enemy a treaty of alliance? The general has spoken quite clearly: we can hold the capital and this should be our priority. I am sure that the king will approve of nothing less.”
Munch stared at him: “Indeed, Hr. Christmas-Møller, the general spoke quite clearly: if proper support happens, we might be able to hold but a single city in the entire kingdom. If. And as Hr. Andersen has pointed out in his own way, we do at the present point not know which side of this conflict will emerge victorious. It should be clear to any reasonable man that a treaty with the Germans is the least unfavorable way for us to go.”
Stauning stroked his long white beard, and spoke again, but this time with a calm and determined voice: “All my life, I have had but one desire: to better the average man. Thru the grace of fate, I have been granted the opportunity to move our nation into a new age of wondrous promises and golden opportunities, and I am humbled by this and all that, which we have, all of us together, achieved over the past decades. Where other nations have stumbled on internal differences, we have held together, and this has been our strength. However, now a plague of war has been forced upon us and all of Europe, and I fear that we stand to lose all that we have gained, if we do not stand united again. On this, we should all agree.”
Stauning smiled at Munch and Christmas-Møller. “General Prior, will you help an old man up, for Gentlemen, I believe we are ready to make a decision.”
In Danish politics, a common phrase in the post war years is "Never again an April 9th" (Aldrig igen en 9. April), which - among other things - was used a rally cry to join NATO, join various conflicts (Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan etc) and provide training to the Baltic militaries - the point being that Denmark as a nation should never again put itself in such a position as it did on April 9th 1940, when it was invaded by a superior foreign power, and the only real option is to stand down.
Now, what if… the prelude to the invasion had been different and the Danish military had actually fought against the invasion? Perhaps then the phrase would be "never forget the spirit of April 9th"?
The PoD here comes in September 1939. OTL, the Danish prime minister appointed a national unity cabinet with representation from the different parties as a response to the outbreak of world war II. ITTL, a unity cabinet is still appointed, but with a couple of noticeable differences.
---
April 8th 1940, Copenhagen, Denmark
It was a warm spring evening in Copehagen as the sun was setting. When spring finally brought warm weather to Copenhagen, most of the citizens viewed this as the perfect excuse to sit down and have a beer with their friends and neighbors, and today was no exception. Of course, at some of the more upscale cafes, the main topic was the war.
But what a strange war it had been. After the initial declaration of war and the invasion of Poland, there had no fighting on the ground. A limited war on the high seas and in the air had followed. A British bomber had hit the coastal town of Esbjerg and killed a women, but surely that had been a mistake, and the British ambassador had gone to great lengths to apologize for this incident. The main concern was on the effect on the merchant fleet and if further rationing was needed.
However, in the parliament building of Christiansborg, a small room was densely packed with people, who had a much greater concern than deciding on further rationing. At the center of it in a large wooden chair sat old Thorvald Stauning, the prime minister. With 66 years of age, he was by far the oldest person in the room, but he was also the loudest, clearly still showing that boyish charisma that had earned him the title “Father of the nation” and transformed the social democratic party from a party for the working class to a party that spoke to all parts of the country coming close to gaining an absolute majority in parliament.
Standing next to him was Generalløjtnant William Prior, the commander of the army, who almost seemed to be standing at attention. In a corner a table had been placed, seemingly at random and the foreign minister, Peter Munch, who was also the leader of the social-liberal party, the junior partner in government, was engaged in heated whispers with the minister of the interior, Alsing Andersen, who seemed bloated and almost overwhelmed by the dry heat in the room.
The two last men to enter the room by one of the many doors, was Oluf Krag, the leader of the liberal party fraction in the parliament, and John Christmas-Møller, the leader of the conservative party, who exchanged worried looks with each other.
In the end, it was John, who broke the silence. “Hr. Stauning, I am sure, no, in fact, I am quite positive that you did not summon the leaders of the four main parties in the cabinet this fine evening in order to have a drink and exchange pleasantries.”
Stauning tried to smile, but he spoke with a tired voice, that none of the other had ever heard him use before: “No, Mr. Christmas-Møller, you are correct. If I had, for one I would have made sure that there was schnaps standing ready on the table.” It was a joke, but no one laughed. The prime minister looked up at the general next to him, “General Prior, will you tell these gentlemen what you have just told me.”
“Of course, Hr. Statsminister”, the General replied, his eyes fixated on the two newcomers, “Gentlemen, Sir, German troop movement are underway to strike a target in Scandinavia. Reliable intelligence has confirmed that a German infantry division and a number of armored brigades are massing directly south of our border and we have several sightings of German warships leaving their harbors. This supports the report from our military attachee in the Netherlands, which we received a week ago, to the effect that an operation in Scandinavia will commence tomorrow.”
Silence covered the room again, interrupted only by the nervous coughing of Alsing. It was Peter Munch, who was next to speak. “General Prior, when you say ‘a target in Scandinavia’ – would you perhaps care to be more precise on that matter?”
Prior turned his head slightly towards the left and slowly said “Yes, I would, Sir, but unfortunately I can’t,” and was turning his head back to look forward, as Stauning interrupted him with a slight slap on his leg. “What the foreign minister means, General Prior, is if you could state the possible scenarios.”
“Yes Sir, Hr. Statsminister, there are five scenarios of which we consider two to be likely and three to be unlikely. The unlikely ones, which I give no further detail to, is an invasion of Denmark, Sweden and Norway in combination and a sole invasion of Sweden and Denmark, respectively. The first likely scenario is an invasion of Norway, possibly with the use of the north of Jutland as a transit base. The second likely scenario is an invasion of Denmark and Norway. The strategic reasoning behind these two scenarios is more or less identical: the German are depended on the iron ore from Sweden, which is shipped via the Norwegian port of Narvik and they fear that the UK and France will violate the neutrality of Norway.”
Oluf Krag put both his arms both out: “So, basically, what you are saying is that German troops are coming, but we don’t know if they are staying.” The foreign minister, Peter Munch, shock his head: “But our treaty of non-aggression with Herr Hitler…”, “…is not worth the damn crap piece of paper it is printed on,” countered John Christmas-Møller, “It was a pointless and naïve notion to begin with, and if only you had listened to me, when I asked to order a full mobilization a week ago, then…”, “then the German would be massing two infantry divisions instead of one,” replied Peter Munch with an ice-stare.
The foreign minister leaned forward: “You misunderstand me, Hr. Chistmas-Møller, if you ever think that I like it one bit, but these are the facts: the German will always have the resource to best us in war. Always. Twice our country has paid a high price in blood to learn this, and that was not even against a Germany of the size and ferocity, which we face now. When we received the news of a possible attack, I gave my support to a partial mobilization, but the Germans have called our bluff. Would you have us pay that price a third time to satisfy your folly?”
Christmas-Møller took a step forward. “And you, Sir, misunderstand me dearly if you believe that I do not know this in every detail. My reasoning for maintaining the army was never to win a war, but to avoid one by making it too costly for the Germans to win over us.” Munch kept a calm face: “Well, Hr. Christmas-Møller, that strategy worked just wonderful for Finland, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Gentlemen,” Stauning slapped his hand down on the armchair, “this is little or no point in wasting time on considering what we should or should not have done a year ago. A time of decision has come upon us, where we are called to make a choice that will potentially shape the course of this country for years to come. I have called you there tonight, because I consider this decision to be so important, that I shouldn’t nor couldn’t make it alone. Our response to this matter requires nothing less than national unity, and as it may be, we have limited time to achieve this.”
This caused the two men to both take a step back, and Stauning continued: “Hr. Krag, what is your opinion?” The leader of the liberal party folded his hands: “Well, it is a delicate situation, and I believe we should avoid steps that would further provoke the Germans. We should reminder ourselves that our border with Germany is more or less the only one, where the National Socialists in Germany have yet to clamor for a return to the old borders before the Great War. I – for one – hope very much to see it remain so.”
A strong cough from Alsing Andersen made the others look at him. “Well, erhm.. sorry, but…”, he tried, “erhm, yes, I think we, erhm, bear in mind, that this, well, this war could, erhm, also be won by, well, I mean, the Germans might be victorious, and erhm…”
“Nonsense,” said Christmas-Møller with a stern stare at Alsing, “Germany couldn’t prevail against France and Great Britain in the Great War and they won’t prevail in this, and when it is over, the allies will not look kindly on us if we gave up without a fight, well, we could might as well say goodbye to our merchant fleet. I for one say we remind the Germans, that Denmark is a country, not a road towards the rest of Scandinavia. In the best case, this will make your socialist friends back down, and in the worst case, we can claim afterwards that we fought as well as we could. General Prior, do you agree with this assessment?”
The general looked down at Stauning, “Do you wish me to answer this, Hr. statsminister?” and following a nod, he continued: “As I was instructed a week ago, I have taken all steps shy of a full mobilization. All leave has been cancelled, ships have been sent to the seas and reserve units have been called up, on the pretext of training. All units have been moved into defensive positions at the border and other critical functions. Our strength stands at some 25.000 men. Given that we have no more than 7 or 8 hours before the assault starts, these are the forces that will face the initial assault. In southern Jutland, we have three regiments of each a thousand men. They are to fight a delaying battle and inflict casualties on the enemy. Copenhagen, however, is a much different matter. Given the coastal fortifications and our navy, we should be able to hold the city as well as Zealand against the initial attack and quite possibly indefinitely, if we receive proper support from the UK and France. While this is not a decision for me to make, then as a soldier, I would prefer to fight.”
Stauning looked to the foreign minister, “Hr. Munch, can such agreements with UK and France be made?” Peter Munch shrugged, “Well, yes, we could ally with the Brits and the French, and we could fight their war but at what cost? Should German bombers make another Warsaw out of Copenhagen? Our embassy there reported over 40.000 dead and half the city burned to the ground by the German Luftwaffe. It is true, that we can fight. But in the end, we have to ask ourselves: What is the use of it all?”
Munch turned to the prime minister, “Hr. Statsminister, I urge you instead to consider a different option than a futile fight, an option which is much more favorable: please allow me to contact the German ambassador Von Renthe-Fink and suggest an accommodation, yes, a treaty if you will. The German are – and so our general here tells us – not interested in fighting us. We are simply in the way. Let’s allow them to pass and even to stay, and why would they not allow us to keep our independence?”
“Well,” said Oluf Krag, “I can’t say that I disagree with that, but I would be worried if his majesty, Kong Christian X. would approve of us making such a deal.” “Then,” Munch countered, “as the responsible men of the realm, we shall make one without him; or if you worry about public opinion, perhaps keep it a secret, or if you, as Hr. Christmas-Møller here, worry about the opinion of the UK and France, let’s have our army in the south fight a little, I see no reason for the Germans not to understand such a position.”
“and erhm, well,” tried an ever more sweating Alsing Andersen, “if we find, erhm, in the end, that, well, the Germans and their Russian allies, they, you know, win, then, well, such a treaty would, say, not be the worst situation, well, in fact, erhm, it might be the best.”
John Christmas-Møller put his hand on his head and closed his eyes, “I am not sure, I even want to hear more of this. We are seriously considering offering an invading and murderous enemy a treaty of alliance? The general has spoken quite clearly: we can hold the capital and this should be our priority. I am sure that the king will approve of nothing less.”
Munch stared at him: “Indeed, Hr. Christmas-Møller, the general spoke quite clearly: if proper support happens, we might be able to hold but a single city in the entire kingdom. If. And as Hr. Andersen has pointed out in his own way, we do at the present point not know which side of this conflict will emerge victorious. It should be clear to any reasonable man that a treaty with the Germans is the least unfavorable way for us to go.”
Stauning stroked his long white beard, and spoke again, but this time with a calm and determined voice: “All my life, I have had but one desire: to better the average man. Thru the grace of fate, I have been granted the opportunity to move our nation into a new age of wondrous promises and golden opportunities, and I am humbled by this and all that, which we have, all of us together, achieved over the past decades. Where other nations have stumbled on internal differences, we have held together, and this has been our strength. However, now a plague of war has been forced upon us and all of Europe, and I fear that we stand to lose all that we have gained, if we do not stand united again. On this, we should all agree.”
Stauning smiled at Munch and Christmas-Møller. “General Prior, will you help an old man up, for Gentlemen, I believe we are ready to make a decision.”
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