Changes

===International units===

===International units===

The Waffen SS recruited soldiers, whether of German background or not, from many different ethnic groups across Europe.  About 6,000 [[Norwegian]]s volunteered; most of them were assigned to divisions that included both Germans and volunteers from other countries, about 2,300 served under the Waffen-SS in a separate national unit, the Norwegian Legion; there were also [[Danish]], [[Flemish]] and [[Dutch]] units. Some 10,000 [[French]]men served in units the Légion des Volontaires Français (LVF, French Volunteer Legion) and Charlemagne Division of the Waffen-SS. Most volunteered in 1944 and had been members of the Milice Française and other collaborationist groups; they left [[France]] with the Germans to avoid reprisals by the Resistance. Knowledge of their fate if they were captured and sent home made them more fanatic.  5500 men served in the Danish Frikorps (Danish Legion), on the Eastern Front.<ref>Smith et al (1999)</ref>

The Waffen-SS recruited soldiers, whether of German background or not, from many different ethnic groups across Europe.  The first units were made up of men who were ethic Germans from Western Europe. About 6,000 [[Norwegian]]s volunteered; most of them were assigned to divisions that included both Germans and volunteers from other countries; there were also men who were [[Danish]] (6,000), [[Flemish]] (20,000), [[Dutch]] (50,000), from Norway (6,000), and Finland (3,000); later recruits came from Hungary (20,000), Italy (15,000), Albania (7,000), Estonia (20,000), Latvia (80,000), Romania (50,000), and a number of Spanish and Soviet Union countrymen, as well.<ref>Stein (1984); McNab (2009)</ref>

 

One example of foreign soldiers were the 10,000 to 11,000 [[French]]men who served in units the Légion des Volontaires Français (LVF, French Volunteer Legion) and Charlemagne Division of the Waffen-SS. Most volunteered in 1944 and had been members of the Milice Française and other collaborationist groups; they left [[France]] with the Germans to avoid reprisals by the Resistance. Knowledge of their fate if they were captured and sent home made them more fanatic as they fought on the Eastern Front.<ref>Smith et al (1999); Stein (1984)</ref>

Bowen (2001) describes volunteers in Waffen-SS units late in the war. Under Allied pressure, [[Francisco Franco]] withdrew his earlier support of Nazi Germany to a position of neutrality. He ordered the repatriation of the Blue Division to [[Spain]], a unit that lost 22,000 of 47,000 men in the [[Stalingrad]] campaign. However, thousands of Spaniards committed to the Nazis' [[New World Order]] remained illegally in Germany, joining Norwegians, Danes, Dutch, and others who chose to fight alongside the Germans to the bitter end. Franco proved unable to persuade these Spaniards to quit a lost cause.<ref>Wayne H. Bowen, "The Ghost Battalion: Spaniards in the Waffen-SS, 1944-1945." ''Historian'' 2001 63(2): 373-385. Issn: 0018-2370 Fulltext: in Ebsco</ref>

Bowen (2001) describes volunteers in Waffen-SS units late in the war. Under Allied pressure, [[Francisco Franco]] withdrew his earlier support of Nazi Germany to a position of neutrality. He ordered the repatriation of the Blue Division to [[Spain]], a unit that lost 22,000 of 47,000 men in the [[Stalingrad]] campaign. However, thousands of Spaniards committed to the Nazis' [[New World Order]] remained illegally in Germany, joining Norwegians, Danes, Dutch, and others who chose to fight alongside the Germans to the bitter end. Franco proved unable to persuade these Spaniards to quit a lost cause.<ref>Wayne H. Bowen, "The Ghost Battalion: Spaniards in the Waffen-SS, 1944-1945." ''Historian'' 2001 63(2): 373-385. Issn: 0018-2370 Fulltext: in Ebsco</ref>