Reichskommissariat Niederlande The Reichskommissariat Niederlande was the civilian occupation regime set up by Germany in the German - occupied Netherlands during World War II . Its full title was the Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Dutch Territories ( ) . The administration was headed by Arthur Seyss - Inquart , formerly the last chancellor of Austria before initiating its annexation by Germany ( the " Anschluss " ) . Introduction . The German domination of the Netherlands began with the German invasion . On the day of the capitulation ( 14 May 1940 ) the entire ministerial staff fled to London to form a Dutch government in exile . Queen Wilhelmina had already preceded them the previous day . This had " de facto " left government authority in the hands of general Henri Winkelman as the senior - most military commander in the Netherlands . On 20 May 1940 a military administration was initially implemented , led by " Militärsbefehlshaber " Alexander Freiherr von Falkenhausen . This was quickly disbanded however to be replaced by a civil administration under the authority of the newly appointed Arthur Seyss - Inquart , who was named " Reichskommissar für die besetzten niederländische Gebiete " . The new form of government was therefore not a German military government ( " Militärverwaltung " ) but a civil government ( " Zivilverwaltung " ) . Hitler chose this option on mainly ideological grounds : the Dutch were considered a " racially related kindred - people " and therefore had to be won over for National Socialism . This move was technically justified on legal grounds according to the provisions of the Hague Conventions on the laws of war . The wholly unconstitutional evacuation of the monarch and her government before the advancing German forces meant that there was no longer any functioning civil authority left in the area . Article 43 of " The Laws and Customs of War on Land " stipulate that in this scenario the occupying power is accorded responsibility for maintaining order in the territories that it has occupied in lieu of the native government exercising this authority . On the longer term ( ' longer term ' not being defined any further by the Germans other than " " nach Kriegsende " " , meaning after the war ' s conclusion ) , the German authorities anticipated the direct integration of the Netherlands into the expanding Third Reich . Structure . The German government in the Netherlands was headed by Seyss - Inquart as Reichskommissar . Beneath him were four " Generalkommissare " . These were : Despite his nominal government subordination to Seys - Inquart , Rauter as an SS officer was actually only responsible to Heinrich Himmler as Reichsführer - SS . His own deputies in turn were the " Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD " ( commander of the criminal police and the SD ) Wilhelm Harster , the " Aussenstelle " ( deputy ) in Amsterdam ( headed by Willy Lages ) , and the " Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung " ( Central Office for Jewish " Emigration " ) led by Ferdinand aus der Fünften . No new ministers were appointed ; the secretaries - general maintained control over their respective departments , but were now operating under the authority of Seyss - Inquart . The existing lower - level governments remained completely intact as well , although these were gradually being replaced by NSB members as the war progressed . Strategy and policy . Upon the German occupation of the Netherlands in 1940 , Nazi Germany ' s position on the Dutch people initially looked favourable . Adolf Hitler , Heinrich Himmler , and other senior Nazis regarded the Dutch as part of the Aryan " Herrenvolk " ( Master Race ) . Seyss - Inquart ' s policies were to gradually prepare the state structure and Dutch population for National Socialist ideology , the notion of creating a " new Europe " ( meaning one led by Germany ) , and ultimately assimilation into Greater Germany after its victory in the war . He was conscious however of the very limited support that the Netherlands ' future as a German province would necessarily receive , and adjusted his style of rule accordingly so as not to raise any unwanted disturbances that the Dutch people might create . He was also aware that the local Fascist and Nazi movements in the Netherlands , particularly the Nationaal - Socialistische Beweging ( NSB ) led by Anton Mussert were nothing more than minority groups generally despised by the vast majority of the Dutch . Mussert was also an advocate for creating Dietsland , a type of Greater Netherlands to be formed out of the Dutch - speaking Netherlands and Flanders , rather than a Greater Germanic one as desired by Adolf Hitler . For these reasons Seyss - Inquart allowed the NSB only limited authorities , and was generally non - receptive to appointing its members to strategically significant positions . In the initial stage of the German occupation , the Nazis planned to support the NSB rival National Socialist Dutch Workers Party ( NSNAP ) , which openly called for the annexation of the Netherlands into Nazi Germany . The party received wide coverage in Nazi newspapers and the organization was expanded with the establishment of the Dutch Hitlerjugend . However , the NSNAP was an extremely minor fringe party ( it had received less than 1000 votes in the Dutch general election of 1937 and was ultimately deemed to be politically useless by the Germans . Mussert attempted to convince Hitler that he should be the leader of an independent Dutch state , a request which Hitler denied , leaving Reichskommissar Seyss - Inquart as the absolute ruler of the Netherlands . He was however allowed to take on the title of " Leader of the Dutch People " and the NSB was permitted to continue its political activities . The NSB declared that the monarchy was abolished and that the Netherlands should support Germany in the war . 20 , 000 to 25 , 000 Dutchmen served in the German Army and Waffen SS . All institutions and organizations not deemed acceptable by Nazi Germany were abolished . These measures were opposed especially by Dutch Roman Catholics and socialists . Despite being considered Herrenvolk , Germany ' s requirements for war production resulted in the introduction of forced labour ( Arbeitseinsatz ) on Dutch men of the ages between 18 and 45 as well as extracting Dutch natural resources to use for Germany ' s war machine . Annexation plans . After its invasion , the Netherlands was temporarily placed under the authority of a German civilian governor ( a Reichskommissar ) until a final decision would be made on the next form of government to " facilitate " the Dutch nation for its intended assimilation into Germany . However , on several occasions , the German regime seriously considered implementing a concrete plan to change the territorial composition of Reichskommissariat Niederlande . Its then - eleven provinces were to be replaced by five new " gewesten " ( historical Dutch term for a sub - national state polity ) and Reichskommissar Seyss - Inquart appointed as " Reichsstatthalter und Gauleiter " for the entire country as the first step in this process . This proposal originated from a document created by the Hanns Albin Rauter , the Higher SS and Police Leader in the Netherlands ) , who subsequently submitted it to Nazi Party Secretary Martin Bormann in November 1942 . In it he put forward his suggestions on the future political organization of the Netherlands when it would be a component of the Third Reich . It called for its effective division into five new " Reichsgaue " , preferably to be led by Dutch Waffen - SS veterans from the eastern front . These Gaue were entirely coterminous with the five police and judicial districts that the Germans had established earlier , based on the regional " standards " of the Dutch SS . Fearing the resulting further Nazification of the Netherlands the key Dutch government officials strongly advised Seyss - Inquart not to carry out these steps on account of the administrative chaos that it would inevitably cause , causing them to be shelved for the time being . When Germany was subsequently forced on the defensive after 1942 , they were abandoned indefinitely . February strike . In February 1941 , opposition to the anti - Semitic policies of the Nazis and the collaborationists caused major strikes to break out across the Netherlands . This started after the NSB and its stormtroopers , the " Weerbaarheidsafdeling " ( Defence Section ) or WA began a series of provocations against Jewish neighbourhoods in Amsterdam . Fighting broke out in which members of the WA were injured , the collaborationists then called in the support of the German Army which assisted in turning the neighbourhood into a ghetto surrounded by barbed wire and armed positions , non - Jews were not allowed to enter the area . Days later German Ordnungspolizei entered the neighbourhood but a number of police were injured , the Germans then responded by raiding the neighbourhood and capturing 425 Jews who were then deported to concentration camps . On the 24th , the Communist Party of the Netherlands ( made illegal by the Nazis ) called for the people of Amsterdam to go on strike . Afterwards , tram trivers , schools , and some companies joined the strike . After three days , German police put down the strike . Liberation . From 1944 to 1945 , the Reichskommissariat came under attack from Allied forces . The first attempt to liberate the Netherlands by the Allies was during Operation Market Garden in 1944 , involving the use of paratrooper divisions to take over key bridges in the Netherlands to allow Allied tanks positioned in Belgium to quickly go through the Netherlands and reach Arnhem , which held a bridge over the river Rhine . This would put the Allies in a strategic advantage to invade Germany and quickly end the war . However intelligence failures and poor organization led to Market Garden falling apart and German forces taking back lost areas in Belgium . After Market Garden , the Canadian army was given the initiative to liberate the Netherlands , the Canadian armed forces managed to push the German forces to the upper part of the Netherlands by 1945 in which Germany surrendered , abdicating its claim to the Netherlands and all other occupied territories .