Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten

Central Europe Germany Italy Spain (Spanish Civil War) Albania Austria Baltic states Belgium Bulgaria Burma China Czechia Denmark France Germany Greece Italy Japan Jewish Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Poland Romania Slovakia Spain Soviet Union Yugoslavia Germany Italy Netherlands Portugal Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom United States The Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten (BS; English: 'Domestic Armed Forces'), fully the Nederlandse Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten (NBS), was a government-sanctioned union of Dutch resistance groups during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II, which had hardly cooperated until then.

Until 1944 the resistance groups, insofar as they were in contact, worked independently under the supervision of the Bureau Bijzondere Opdrachten (BBO, 'Office of Special Assignments') of the Dutch government-in-exile in London.

When they were merged into the Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten, Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld was appointed commander of this new organization, although he remained in London.

The short form of the name was preferred, however, not least because the full abbreviation resembled that of the collaborationist National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands, the NSB.

The BS was created in the image of the French Forces of the Interior and enjoyed great support from Queen Wilhelmina.

The Allies then forbade members of the organization from appearing armed in public, because they feared chaos would break out and BS men would lynch Germans.

The organization did not comply with this ban, which, according to researchers, has led, among other things, to violence such as the 7 May shooting on Dam Square in Amsterdam.

The Herinneringsinsigne Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten 1944-1945 (English: 'Domestic Armed Forces Remembrance Badge 1944-1945') was instituted after the war by Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld.