Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France

Reichskommissariat Belgien-Nordfrankreich
Reichskommissariat of Germany
← 1944 →   →
Flag Emblem
Capital		Brussels
Languages		German (administration) Dutch French
Government		Civil administration
Reichskommissar
•	1944	Josef Grohé
Historical era		World War II
•	Führer Decree	12 July 1944
•	Allied liberation	September 1944~
•	Annexation to Germany	December 1944
Currency		Belgian franc

The Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France was a German civil administration (Zivilverwaltung) which governed German-occupied Belgium during World War II. The Reichskommissariat replaced an earlier military government, the Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France, established in the same territory in 1940. On 18 July 1944, the first Gauleiter, Josef Grohé, was named the first Reichskommissar of the territory, known as the Reichskommissariat Belgien und Nordfrankreich or Reichskommissariat für die besetzten Gebiete von Belgien und Nordfrankreich.^[1][2]

The territory was mostly liberated by the Allies in September 1944, in the aftermath of the Normandy landings, so the existence of the territory was short. Following the liberation, the territory was retrospectively annexed directly into Germany (although no longer under de facto German control) as three separate Reichsgaue: Reichsgau Flandern, Wallonien and the Brussels district

References

1. Rolf Jehke. "Reichskommissariat Belgien und Nordfrankreisch". Territorial.de. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
2. Kroener, Müller & Umbreit (2003) Germany and the Second World War V/II, p. 29