German occupation of Norway

The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the capitulation of German forces in Europe on 8 May 1945. Throughout this period, a pro-German government named Den nasjonale regjering ruled Norway, while the Norwegian king Haakon VII and the prewar government escaped to London, where they formed a government in exile. Civil rule was effectively assumed by the Reichskommissariat Norwegen, which acted in collaboration with the pro-German puppet government. This period of military occupation is, in Norway, referred to as the "war years", "occupation period" or simply "the war".

Background

Having maintained its neutrality during the First World War, Norwegian foreign and military policy since 1933 was largely influenced by three factors:

Fiscal austerity promoted by fiscally conservative parties;
Pacifism promoted by the Norwegian Labour Party;
A doctrine of neutrality, on the assumption that there would be no need to bring Norway into a war if it remained neutral.

These three factors encountered resistance as tensions escalated in Europe during the 1930s, initially from Norwegian military personnel and right-wing political groups, but increasingly also from individuals within the mainstream political establishment, and, as it has since come to light, from the monarch, King Haakon VII, who was involved behind the scenes. By the late 1930s, the Norwegian parliament had accepted the need for a strengthened military and expanded the budget accordingly, even by assuming national debt. As it turned out, most of the plans enabled by the budgetary expansion were not completed in time.

Pre-war relations with Britain

Although neutrality remained the highest priority, it was known throughout the government that Norway, above all, did not want to be at war with Britain. On 28 April 1939, Nazi Germany offered Norway and several other Nordic countries non-aggression pacts. To maintain its neutrality, Norway turned down the German offer, as did Sweden and Finland. By the autumn of 1939, there was an increasing sense of urgency because of its long western coastline facing access routes into the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, as Norway had to prepare, not only to protect its neutrality, but indeed to fight for its freedom and independence. Efforts to improve military readiness and capability and to sustain an extended blockade were intensified between September 1939 and April 1940. Several incidents in Norwegian maritime waters, notably the Altmark incident in Jøssingfjord, put great strains on Norway's ability to assert its neutrality. Norway managed to negotiate favorable trade treaties both with the United Kingdom and Germany under these conditions, but it became increasingly clear that both countries had a strategic interest in denying the other warring power access to Norway and its coastline.
The government was also increasingly pressured by Britain to direct ever larger parts of its massive merchant fleet to transport British goods at low rates as well as to join the trade blockade against Germany. In March and April 1940, British plans for an invasion of Norway were prepared, mainly in order to reach and disable the Swedish iron ore mines in Gällivare. It was hoped that this would divert German forces away from France and open a war front in south Sweden.
The plan involved the placement of naval mines in Norwegian waters and was to be followed by the landing of troops at four Norwegian ports: Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger. It was hoped that the mining would trigger German agitation, thereby necessitating an immediate response from the Allies. However, because of Anglo-French arguments, the date of the mining was postponed from 5 April to 8 April. However, on 1 April Adolf Hitler ordered the German invasion of Norway to begin on 9 April; on 8 April, while the Norwegian government was preoccupied with earnest protest about the Allied mine-laying, the German expeditions were already mobilizing.

German invasion

Soon after the British and French mined the Norwegian coast to disrupt iron shipments, Germany invaded Norway for several reasons:

strategically, to secure ice-free harbors from which its naval forces could seek to control the North Atlantic;
to secure the availability of iron ore from mines in Sweden;
to pre-empt a British and French invasion with the same purpose; and
to reinforce the propaganda of a "Germanic empire".

Through neglect both on the part of the Norwegian foreign minister Halvdan Koht and Minister of Defence Birger Ljungberg, Norway was largely unprepared for the German military invasion when it came on the night of 8–9 April 1940. A major storm on 7 April resulted in the British Navy failing to make material contact with the German invasion fleet. Consistent with Blitzkrieg warfare, German forces attacked Norway by sea and air as Operation Weserübung was put into action. The first wave of German attackers counted only about 10,000 men. German ships came into the Oslofjord, but were stopped when the Krupp-built artillery and torpedoes of Oscarsborg Fortress sank the German flagship Blücher and sank or damaged the other ships in the German task force. Blücher transported the forces that would ensure control of the political apparatus in Norway, and the sinking and death of over 1,000 soldiers and crew delayed the Germans, so that the King and government had the chance to escape from Oslo. In the other cities that were attacked, the Germans faced only weak or no resistance. The surprise and the lack of preparedness of Norway for a large-scale invasion of this kind gave the German forces their initial success.
The major Norwegian ports from Oslo northward to Narvik were occupied by advance detachments of German troops, transported on destroyers. At the same time, a single parachute battalion took the Oslo and Stavanger airfields, and 800 operational aircraft overwhelmed the Norwegian population. Norwegian resistance at Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen, Stavanger, and Kristiansand was overcome very quickly, and Oslo's effective resistance to the seaborne forces was nullified when German troops from the airfield entered the city. The first troops to occupy Oslo entered the city brazenly, marching behind a German military brass band. Just 1,500 paratroopers were involved in taking over the Norwegian capital.
On establishing footholds in Oslo and Trondheim, the Germans launched a ground offensive against scattered resistance inland in Norway. Allied forces attempted several counterattacks, but all failed. While resistance in Norway had little military success, it had the significant political effect of allowing the Norwegian government, including the royal family, to escape. The Blücher, which carried the main forces to occupy the capital, was sunk in the Oslofjord on the first day of the invasion. An improvised defence at Midtskogen also prevented a German raid from capturing the king and government.
Norwegian mobilisation was hampered by the loss of much of the best equipment to the Germans in the first 24 hours of the invasion, the unclear mobilisation order by the government, and the general confusion caused by the tremendous psychological shock of the German surprise attack. The Norwegian Army rallied after the initial confusion and on several occasions managed to put up a stiff fight, delaying the German advance. However, the Germans, quickly reinforced by Panzer and motorised machine gun battalions, proved unstoppable due to their superior numbers, training, and equipment. The Norwegian Army therefore planned its campaign as a tactical retreat while awaiting reinforcements from Britain.
The British Navy cleared the way to Narvik on 13 April, sinking one submarine and eight destroyers in the fjord. British and French troops began to land at Narvik on 14 April. Shortly afterward, British troops landed at Namsos and Åndalsnes, to attack Trondheim from the north and from the south, respectively. The Germans, however, landed fresh troops in the rear of the British at Namsos and advanced up the Gudbrandsdal from Oslo against the force at Åndalsnes. By this time, the Germans had about 25,000 men in Norway.
By 23 April, there was open discussion about evacuating Allied troops, and on 24 April Norwegian troops, supported by French soldiers, failed to stop a Panzer advance. On 26 April the British decided to evacuate Norway.
By 2 May, both Namsos and Åndalsnes were evacuated by the British. On 5 May, the last Norwegian resistance pockets remaining in South and Central Norway were defeated at Vinjesvingen and Hegra Fortress.
In the north, German troops engaged in a bitter fight at the Battle of Narvik. Holding out against five times as many British and French troops, they were close to surrender before finally slipping out from Narvik on 28 May. Moving east, the Germans were surprised when the British started to abandon Narvik on 3 June. By that time the German offensive in France had progressed to such an extent that the British could no longer afford any commitment in Norway, and the 25,000 Britons and Frenchmen were evacuated from Narvik only 10 days after their victory. King Haakon VII and part of his government left for England on the British cruiser to establish the Norwegian government-in-exile.
Fighting continued in Northern Norway until 10 June, when the Norwegian 6th Division surrendered shortly after Allied forces had been evacuated against the background of looming defeat in France. Among German-occupied territories in Western Europe, this made Norway the country to withstand the German invasion for the longest period of time – approximately two months.
About 300,000 Germans were garrisoned in Norway for the rest of the war. By occupying Norway, Hitler had ensured the protection of Germany's supply of iron ore from Sweden and had obtained naval and air bases with which to strike at Britain.