Unsicherheiten und Repressalien: Zur Dynamik und Radikalisierung der deutschen Politik in Dänemark 1943-1945

Due to its special status and peaceful occupation policy, Denmark was long regarded as a “model protectorate” of the Nazi regime during World War II. This did not change until the end of 1943, when a wave of sabotage and strikes led to the resignation of the Danish government and the German occupying power responded to the ongoing attacks by the Danish resistance with a new security policy. Assassinations and acts of sabotage were now retaliated against in the same way. Given this context, the article examines the background and the establishment of the so-called „counter-terrorism“. At the same time, the article discusses the central consequences of this special policy of retaliation and examines the political consequences associated with the dynamics of security and insecurity.