Serbs and Greeks also were very brave. BTW, for USA the 20% of population would be 65 millions today.
"...Serbs and Greeks also were very brave..."
Yep!
Serbs and Greeks also were very brave
It seems that bravery is a quality that must be periodically nourished in a nation. Too long a period of peace and comfort brings about the atrophy of such a quality.
Not too many decades before World War II, the Greeks and the Serbs were successfully fighting the Turks for their freedom.
After World War One, the Poles were successfully fighting the Soviets for their freedom.
By contrast, the Norwegians, the dreaded Norsemen of ages past, rolled over without much of a fight in World War II.
I recently read an account of the capture the Oslo airfield during the German invasion of Norway that illustrated German bravery and Norwegian decadence at the time.
It may be Politically Incorrect to praise a German World War II operation but this operation showed great courage on the German side and a definite lack of backbone on the Norwegian side.
The German planned to capture the Oslo airfield by a parachute drop of 200 paratroopers. Once the Oslo airfield was captured, Junker 52 transport aircraft would then land with airborne infantry. The troops would them march into Oslo.
As in all the best laid plans of mice and men, something went astray. The flight of paratroopers ran into pea soup fog and was forced to abort their mission.
The commander of the paratroopers radioed that their mission was aborted and the commanding General ordered the entire operation be aborted. However, the commander of the follow up airborne infantry, a Capt. Wagner, believed that the radio traffic was an enemy ruse and ordered the airborne infantry to proceed with the mission.
Meanwhile, a flight of eight Messerschmidt 110 two-seaters commanded by a Lt. Hansen had been tasked with strafing the Oslo airfield. After fighting off a flight of Norwegian Gladiator fighters, with the loss of three aircraft, the Me 110's watched the Junker 52's with airborne infantry come in and attempt to land before the Oslo airfield had been secured by any German paratroopers.
The first Junker 52 that attempted a landing, Capt. Wagner's aircraft, was riddled by Norwegian gunners and Wagner was killed. The Junker 52 performed a "touch and go" and was airborne again.
Lt. Hansen, his Me 110 flight running low on fuel, then made a decision before any more defenseless Junker 52's filled with airborne infantry attempted to land. He decided that his Me 110 fighter crews had to capture the Norwegian airfield themselves.
Each Me 110 made a fast crash-landing and the Me 110 crews took their machine guns off the aircraft to act as infantry.
The Norwegian gunners fled and the remaining Junker 52's landed without opposition.
The German airborne infantry later marched on Oslo and secured the Norwegian capital.
As I said at the start, the spirit of national courage requires periodic nourishment in a nation. The current generation of Continental Europe, including Germany, would most likely act as the Norwegians did on that day in April of 1940.