(2 of 2)
On their radios the Danes soon learned the reason: martial law was on; the time of German forbearance with Danish "stubbornness" was over; German military courts would deal summarily with offenders. General Hermann von Hanneken, Commander in Chief of German troops in Denmark, made the rules. He announced: 1) gatherings of more than five were prohibited; 2) curfew would begin at sundown; 3) use of telephones, telegraphs and mails were prohibited; 4) strikes were prohibited; 5) troops would fire on offenders without further warning.
After that the fog closed in, obscuring events. German sentries paced outside Sorgenfri Castle, Christian X's summer residence, near Copenhagen. Within, the Danes were told, sat an old man with time to think of the last three years and wonder. The King had said he would step down if the Cabinet yielded to German demands. The members stood firm, were now, like their King, in "protective custody." The military was in full command. Denmark, like the rest of the Festung, was occupied territory.