Glorifications and Simplifications in Case Studies of Danish WWII Nonviolent Resistance

Danish resistance to Nazi occupation during WWII is frequently used in literature on civil resistance as an example of how nonviolent resistance has been improvised. Considering the newest historical research, this study has analyzed six English-language texts about Danish resistance written with the explicit purpose of investigating it as nonviolent resistance. Although some of the texts are relatively accurate, others include mistakes and myths, and there is a tendency to glorify the Danes. The majority of the texts are found to simplify a complex reality, especially when it comes to the interactions between sabotage and nonviolence, as well as internal Danish differences. The craving to tell the story of the good Danes against the evil Nazis apparently makes it difficult for the authors to find room for the contradictions, internal power struggles, and less flattering aspects of the resistance. These findings are problematic for the applied field of civil resistance, which aspires to provide research that can be useful for present and future struggles.