Brussels Occupied: Nazi Expansion Sweeps Belgium
German forces roll into Brussels, driving the Belgian government to flee and handing control of the capital over to Nazi occupation authorities. This seizure severs a critical Allied supply line and signals the rapid collapse of Western European resistance just weeks after the invasion of France begins.
May 17, 1940
86 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Germany
Wikipedia
World War II
Wikipedia
Belgium
Wikipedia
Brussels
Wikipedia
World War II
Wikipedia
German invasion of Belgium (1940)
Wikipedia
Cristo Rei (Almada)
Wikipedia
Almada
Wikipedia
Gelübde
Wikipedia
Bruxelles
Wikipedia
Battle of France
Wikipedia
4e division cuirassée
Wikipedia
Charles de Gaulle
Wikipedia
Montcornet (Aisne)
Wikipedia
Nazi Germany
Wikipedia
Brussels
Wikipedia
Belgium
Wikipedia
What Else Happened on May 17
Mircea the Elder’s Wallachian forces ambushed the Ottoman army at the Battle of Rovine, repelling Sultan Bayezid I’s superior numbers through clever use of terr…
Napoleon Bonaparte formally annexed the Papal States into his French Empire, stripping the Pope of his temporal power and secular lands. This aggressive move tr…
The axe fell on England's richest nobleman because he owned a surveyor's map. Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, kept detailed charts of his Welsh estates…
Four men walked out of the Florida wilderness in 1536. They'd started as 600 under Pánfilo de Narváez nine years earlier, sailing from Spain with armor, horses,…
George Boleyn and four associates met the executioner’s blade on Tower Hill after being convicted of treason and adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn. This brutal pu…
The marriage that broke England from Rome lasted just three years before Henry annulled it on the same grounds he'd used against Catherine: he'd sinned by marry…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.