Germany dissolved the Danish government and placed King Christian X and Prime Minister Erik Scavenius under arrest, with the German military in the Danish protectorate going into action to affect an occupation in Operation Safari.
The Danes, who had a bizarre status as an occupied nation up until then, still being allowed to maintain their government and military, scuttled 32 warships. The armored cruiser Niels luel was sunk by German aircraft after Danes attempted to flee with it to Sweden. Four Danish ships, all minor, in fact made it to Sweden.
Effectively, Danish quasi independence ended, although it had been held in a precarious state up until that time since 1940 in the first place.
Notably, within the past week the Germans had taken steps to occupy their ally, Italy, and now were formalizing control of quasi independent Denmark. As its position on the battlefield deteriorated, its military commitments were growing.
The Red Army captured Liubotyn in Ukraine.
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