The Netherlands was occupied by the German army. On Wednesday, 29 May 1940, the army transferred civilian authority to Arthur Seyss-Inquart, and military authority to General Friedrich Christiansen. Seyss-Inquart was a Nazi from Austria. He had played an important role in Austria’s Anschluss to Germany in 1938. Now he became the highest authority in the Netherlands: Reich Commissioner for the Occupied Dutch Territories. He only answered to Adolf Hitler.
In his speech, he emphasised the friendship between Germany and the Netherlands. The German invasion, he said, was necessary to protect Germany. He paid his respects to the fallen Dutch military and population. He claimed not to want to deprive the Netherlands of its freedom or impose political convictions.
To obtain their cooperation, he sweet-talked the Dutch, but his tone was to become increasingly harsh over the course of the occupation.