North-West Europe
North-West Europe is not a well defined term. It is clearly some subdivision of
Western Europe, but the exact subdivision implied depends on context.
Geographically it is almost always used to include the
United Kingdom and
Ireland; the northern and western parts of
France and
Germany; the
Benelux countries; and
Scandinavia (though possibly not
Finland). It would normally exclude the
Iberian peninsula,
Italy;
Switzerland, and southern and western parts of France and Germany, might be included, but
Austria would not be. This usage is helpful when discussing issues of
climate or
biology. Broadly speaking, it represents the area whose climate and biogeography is significantly modified by the
Gulf Stream.
Socially, "North-West Europe" is sometimes used to refer to the group of nations that are felt to share some cultural traits (for example, a history of
Protestantism) that differentiate them from their
Mediterranean or
Slav fellow-Europeans. This leads to much the same definition as the geographical one above, but would more definitely exclude France (and, less certainly,
Belgium or at least
Wallonia).
Politically, some
europhobic British commentators exclude the UK and Ireland from the definition from any part of Europe. However, most Irish commentators include Ireland as a part of Europe.
In British and Canadian
military history, North-West Europe has been used to refer to the land campaigns in that approximate area during
World War II. Two separate battle honours were awarded to regiments who took part in these campaigns "North-West Europe Campaign of 1940" and "North-West Europe Campaign of 1944-1945". The North-West Europe Campaign of 1940, during the
Battle of France, was restricted to the Belgium and the
French Channel ports. The North-West Europe Campaign of 1944-1945 started with the
landings in
Normandy and ended with Field Marshal Montgomery taking the German military surrender of all German forces in Holland, Northwest Germany and Denmark on
Lüneburg Heath in Northwest Germany was fought by the
British 21st Army Group. In the First campaign the French Army was responsible for the rest of the
Western Front from Luxembourg to Switzerland, as were the American
12th Army and
6th Army groups during the second campaign.
Units of the
First Canadian Army fought in five major campaigns in North-West Europe, including the
Battle of Normandy, the battles for the Channel Ports, the
Battle of the Scheldt, the Rhineland fighting in February and March of 1945, and the final operations east of the River Rhine. A period of static warfare existed from 1 November 1944 to 8 February 1945 during which time the First Canadian Army manned positions in the Nijmegen Salient.
