In World War II, Norway was under the occupation of German troops. The invasion took place in April 1940. The country was liberated only in May 1945 after the general surrender of all German troops in Europe. In the article we will talk about this difficult period in the history of the Scandinavian country.
On the eve of the invasion
Presumably, Norway planned not to participate at all in the Second World War, having escaped from this confrontation. It is noteworthy that the Scandinavians already managed to do this in 1914 - in the First World War, the country remained neutral.
A similar situation developed in the 30s. This was facilitated by several factors. Conservative parties advocated tight financial policies, so spending on the defense sector was reduced.
In 1933, the Norwegian Workers Party came to power, which supported the idea of pacifism. Finally, the government adopted the doctrine of neutrality. She implied that the country would not have to participate in the war.
Defense Enhancement
However, the situation in Europe in the late 1930s was tense. As a result, parliament increased the military budget, even though public debt has grown substantially because of this.
The Norwegians adhered to the principle of neutrality until the invasion of German troops. Moreover, all of Europe knew that the Scandinavians did not want to be in a state of confrontation with Great Britain and generally preferred peace to war.
In the fall of 1939 it was believed that the country was not only not ready to uphold neutrality, but even to fight for its own independence. The Norwegian army became active only after the Germans captured Poland.
Invasion
On the night of April 9, 1940, Germany invaded Norway. Under the formal pretext that she needs protection from the military aggression of France and Great Britain. So the Danish-Norwegian operation was carried out.
It is believed that as a result, the Germans solved several problems at once. They gained access to the ice-free Norwegian ports, from where it was possible to enter the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean, warned of a possible invasion of the French and the British, and intensified the propaganda of the Third Reich. Also in their hands was Swedish iron ore, which was exported from the Norwegian port of Narvik.
The Germans instantly launched a ground offensive operation in order to gain a foothold with Trondheim and Oslo. Along the way, they overcame the scattered internal resistance. The Norwegians launched several counterattacks, but they failed.
Military resistance in Norway had an exclusively political effect. It allowed the royal family and ministers to leave the country to form a government in exile. It was also possible to do this due to the death of the Nazi cruiser Blucher on the first day of the invasion and a successful skirmish near Midtskugen, when the army managed to defend its king from captivity.
However, most of the Norwegian weapons were lost on the first day after the start of the operation. This reduced their effectiveness to a minimum. On May 2, resistance stopped completely.
An occupation
When the hostilities ended, the Reich Commissariat of Norway was created. He was led by Obergruppenführer Josef Terboven.
By the summer of 1940, seven Wehrmacht infantry divisions were deployed on the territory of this Scandinavian country. By the end of 1943, the total number of German troops in the country was already about 380 thousand people.
In the ports were the battleships Tirpitz and Scharnhorst, destroyers, destroyers, patrol ships, mine barriers, minesweepers, submarines and even a flotilla of torpedo boats. About two hundred German aircraft were based at airfields.
Under the command of William Radis, about six thousand SS soldiers and officers were stationed.
Resistance movement
As in most European countries, Norway had a local Resistance in World War II. The vast majority of residents opposed the occupation. Resistance was supported by the exile government, which was located in London. Underground newspapers regularly came from there, sabotage against the occupying forces was coordinated.
Resistance took various forms. Some participated in the armed struggle against the occupation of Norway by Germany, while others committed acts of civil disobedience.
After the creation of a centralized armed Resistance, they began to differentiate between external and rear operations. Norwegian troops and navy continued to participate in World War II under the flag of Great Britain. This unity in command played a decisive role in the transfer of power in May 1945.
A few months after the occupation, the Norwegian Communist Party called for a move against the occupiers. Anti-Nazi demonstrations took place in Trondheim, Bergen and Sarpsborg.
Unrest and strikes
In September 1941, a large-scale strike took place in Oslo, which was attended by about 25 thousand workers of factories. The rebels were dispersed by German troops. Dozens of people were arrested, two union activists were shot.
A month later, students went on strike. Unrest erupted in different cities of the country.
The resonant sabotage was carried out at the beginning of 1943, when a group of Norwegians who had been trained by the British special services blew up the workshop of a metallurgical company. It produced heavy water.
Two months later, a German ship was blown up. The occupation government began to get the situation out of control.
One of the largest events took place in March 1945, when the only railway that connected Northern Norway with the southern part of the country was blown up in more than a thousand places.
Collaborationism
Norway in the Second World War was marked by the fact that among the locals there were relatively few collaborators. Only about 10% supported the occupation.
Among the supporters was the far-right National Unity party, which included businessmen and government officials.
The owners of large enterprises actively cooperated with Germany. They carried out German orders.
Nazi propaganda was attended by some print media and famous journalists. The most famous collaborator is the writer Knut Gamsun, who in 1920 received the Nobel Prize in literature. However, faced with the crimes of the Nazi regime and its cruelty, he became disillusioned with his ideals. In 1943, during a meeting with Hitler, he demanded that the Führer release Norway, which infuriated him.
After the war, Gamsun was put on trial. He managed to avoid imprisonment only because of his advanced age - the writer was 86 years old.
National government
After the occupation of the borders of Norway with the permission of the German authorities, a national government was created. This happened in February 1942. He was led by Vidkun Quisling.
Quisling was a Norwegian politician, a National Socialist. In late summer 1943, the government declared war on the USSR. In January 1944, mobilization began in military units, which were supposed to go to the Eastern Front. However, these plans were frustrated. Of the planned 70 thousand people, only 300 came to mobilization points.
The day after the surrender of Germany, Quisling was arrested. He denied all allegations, claiming he worked for the prosperity of Norway. He was found guilty of conspiracy with Hitler, "the final solution of the Jewish question in Norway," murders and other crimes.
October 24, the politician was shot. He was 58 years old.
German fertility program
These were black pages in the history of Norway. During the years of occupation, several thousand Norwegian women gave birth to children from German soldiers as part of a special Nazi program.
After the war, they were humiliated and ostracized, calling them "German whores." On suspicion of collaboration and cooperation with the enemy, 14,000 women were arrested. Many were sent to labor camps, and children were sent to shelters. Women were shaved, beaten and raped.
The children themselves were humiliated. They were forced to march around the city, while passers-by were allowed to beat and spat on them. The discussion about the rehabilitation of such children began only in 1981. But only recently have they begun to feel relatively calm.
In total, after the war, almost 29 thousand suspected collaborators were arrested. About half were soon released without any charges.
For war crimes 37 people were shot (only 25 of them are Norwegians, the rest are Germans). Another 77 Scandinavians were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Exemption
Since 1943, the exiled government sought permission to create military units in Sweden that would consist of Norwegian refugees.
As a result, police forces of 12 thousand people appeared. Moreover, the term "police" was conditional; in reality, these were military units.
Individual units took part in the liberation of Finnmark in northern Norway in the winter of 1945. The rest saved the rest of the country from occupation. However, active liberation began only after the complete surrender of Germany in May 1945.
The decisive role in the liberation of Northern Norway was played by the offensive operations of the Northern Fleet of the Navy of the Soviet Union and the Karelian Front. During the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation, military operations were conducted on the territory of Finland and Northern Norway against German troops.
The result was a victory for the Red Army. It was possible to liberate the Pechenegi area, to eliminate threats to the Soviet northern sea routes and the port of Murmansk.
The Germans suffered heavy losses: about 30 thousand dead. On the part of the Red Army, the death toll was five times less.