M.A. University of Kansas, History 1964 ; This thesis deals with the Reichskommissariat instituted by the Germans in the Netherlands in May of 1940. The objective of this study is to sketch in large outlines the development and organization of this Reichskommissariat, to define its objectives and reasons for its existence, to arrive at some conclusions concerning its authority and influence both on the Dutch governmental administration and on the highest Nazi authorities in Germany, and to make some judgments about the success or failure of the Reichskornmissariat. Above all, however, this study aims at giving a description and an analysis of the relationships of the highest officials in the Reichskommissariat. Consequently, this study deals with the individual authority, ambitions, and activities of these German officials, as related to the Reichskommissariat. This is no chronological study or analysis of the nature of the German occupation in the broadest sense of the word. Space and time do not even permit the author to dwell on the details and the sub-departments of the Reichskornmissariat. Instead, after a general description of the organization of the Reichskommissariat, only the most important trends and events will be selected to adequately provide answers to the questions under consideration. Most studies dealing with the German occupation of the Netherlands emphasize the suffering inflicted on the Dutch by the Germans and the heroic resistance offered by most loyal Dutchmen. Little attention is paid to the German leaders, unless their activities were of immediate consequence to the circumstances just mentioned. The average Dutchman hardly knew his rulers, except perhaps their names. Disagreements among the German rulers were suppressed by stringent censorship. When the war ended, the Dutch would rather remember their unjust suffering and their heroic struggle than their unwanted German masters. Most historical studies in this topic have a tendency to cater to this sentiment. This thesis is divided into ...