In the early morning of April 9, 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway, under the pretext of a preemptive measure against the planned and freely discussed Franco-British occupation of these countries. During the attack, German diplomatic envoys informed the governments of both countries that the Wehrmacht was coming to defend their neutrality against Franco-British aggression.
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Nazi Germany's attack on Denmark and Norway during World War II and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign.
Hitler ordered the German high command to begin drawing up preliminary plans for an attack on Norway on December 14, 1939.
Between January 14 and 19, the navy developed an expanded version of this plan. They reached two conclusions. Surprise was crucial to reduce the risk of resistance from Norway. The second was to use the faster German warships, rather than the slower merchant ships or air transport, for troop transport. This would allow all targets to be attacked simultaneously, since merchant ships, as well as aircraft, had limited range. The targets set for this corps, if captured simultaneously, would weaken Norway militarily and politically, and would achieve Hitler's strategic objectives of the Norwegian capital Oslo, the more densely populated southern coastline, Bergen, Trondheim, Narvik, Tromsø, and Finnmark. The plan also called for the rapid capture of the kings of Denmark and Norway in the hope that this would prompt their rapid surrender. On February 21, 1940 The operation was commanded by General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst. He had fought in Finland during World War I and was familiar with polar combat. He was only in command of the ground forces, despite Hitler's desire for a unified command.
The final version of the plan was given the code name Operation Weserübung on January 27, 1940.
The original plan called for an attack on Norway and the occupation of Danish airfields through diplomatic means. However, Hitler issued a new directive on March 1, calling for an attack on Norway and Denmark. This was dictated by the Luftwaffe's desire to capture fighter bases and air-warning sites.
After a thousand German infantrymen landed
in the early morning in Copenhagen harbor, units of the Royal Guard engaged them. After a few shots were exchanged, several formations of Heinkel He 111 and Dornier Do 17 bombers flew over the city. Faced with the danger of the Luftwaffe bombing the civilian population of Copenhagen, the Danish government capitulated in exchange for maintaining political independence in terms of domestic policy. This led to a remarkably light occupation of Denmark, especially until the summer of 1943, and also to the postponement of the arrest and deportation of Danish Jews until almost all of them had been warned and were on their way to Sweden. Of the estimated 8,000 before the war, fewer than 500 Danish Jews were eventually deported, and 52 of them lost their lives.
Of strategic importance
Denmark was of relatively little importance to Germany,
except as a staging area for operations in Norway and, of course, as a neighboring country that had to be controlled in some way. As a country, it was small and relatively flat, ideal territory for German operations, and Denmark's small army had little hope of success in armed resistance. However, in the early morning hours, several military units engaged the German army, suffering losses of several dozen soldiers. Denmark had a certain degree of economic importance. The lack of military importance is illustrated by the fact that the Germans initially planned to capture only Jutland on their way to Norway.
Norway was important to Germany for two main reasons: first, as a base for naval forces, including submarines, for attacks on Allied merchant shipping in the North Atlantic, and as a guard for the supply of iron ore from Sweden through the port of Narvik. The long northern coastline was an ideal location for launching operations in the North Atlantic to attack the British merchant fleet. Germany was heavily dependent on iron ore supplies from Sweden and was rightly concerned that the Allies would attempt to cut off these supplies, 90 percent of which passed through Narvik.
The Battle of Narvik was one of the most strategic for Germany.
The situation of the German troops in Narvik was the worst. The bad weather in this area severely limited the possibility of support from the Luftwaffe, which played a key role in the Battle of Trondheim. In addition, the loss of control of the sea in the area did not allow the sending of reinforcements. The 3rd Mountain Division under the command of General Eduard Dietl found itself cut off from the rest of the country. Days after the capture of Narvik, Dietl could count on 2,000 mountain infantrymen and 2,600 sailors from the crews of the destroyed destroyers.
On April 24, serious Allied operations began in the north. 4 Norwegian battalions attacked Dietl's forward posts at Grattangen, supported by a French brigade that landed four days later. In early May, another French and a Polish brigade arrived. With the English units, the Allies had 24,500 soldiers. In addition, they could count on naval support.
Despite the lack of reinforcements, artillery and air support continued to resist, trying to maintain a presence in Narvik and control of the railway line leading to Sweden. Meanwhile, the 2nd Mountain Division moved north in an attempt to support Dietl's units (in a period of four days they covered 90 miles through terrain considered impassable by British intelligence).
On 13 May, the high command was informed via the 21st Army that the situation was critical. He planned to leave the city to the Allies and hold an outpost on the railway if reinforcements were sent. On May 14, the first reinforcements arrived, and over the next three weeks he received a parachute battalion and two companies of mountain infantry.
On May 28, Narvik fell to the Allies.
This was the first tactical victory over the Wehrmacht in World War II. The remnants of the 3rd Mountain Division continued fighting along the railway line. On June 8, the Allies secretly withdrew from Narvik.
With the evacuation of the King and Parliament from Molde and Tromsø on April 29 and the evacuation of Allied forces from Åndalsnes on May 1, resistance in southern Norway ceased.
The last battles were fought at the fortress of Hegra (Fort Ingstadkleiven), which withstood the siege until May 5 – like Narvik, it was important to the Allied propaganda machine.
King Haakon and the parliament left Tromsø on 7 June (aboard the British cruiser "Devenshire" en route to England to represent Norway in exile. The king returned to Oslo on the same date five years later. Crown Princess Märtha Lois and her children were refused asylum in their native Sweden. Later, from Petsamo, Finland, she went to the United States, where she lived in exile.
Norway surrendered on 10 July 1940, two months after the start of the invasion. This made Norway the longest-held stronghold of the occupied countries by German forces.
To the north, Norwegian, French and Polish troops, supported by the Royal Navy and Air Force, fought the Germans for control of the Norwegian port of Narvik, important for its year-round export of iron ore. The Germans were driven out of Narvik on 28 May, but due to the deteriorating situation on the continent, Allied troops were withdrawn in Operation Alphabet – and the Germans retook Narvik on 9 June, already deserted by civilians due to heavy bombing by the Luftwaffe.
Operation Weserübung did not involve a military attack on neutral Sweden – this was not necessary. Having held Norway, the Danish Straits and most of the Baltic Sea coast, the Third Reich surrounded Sweden to the north, west and south, and to the east was the Soviet Union.
The trade of Sweden and Finland was completely controlled by the German Navy. As a consequence, the passage of military cargo and soldiers through Swedish territory was permitted. Signed on 18 June 1940 it allowed the passage of soldiers as long as they were unarmed and not part of the movement of military units. By the time this agreement was terminated on August 20, 1943, 2.14 million German soldiers and over 100,000 German railway cars had passed through it.
In August 1940, Finland agreed to grant the Wehrmacht access to its territories. Initially as a permit for the passage of troops and military cargo to and from northern Norway, and later as small bases near the transit route, with the possibility of expansion as part of the preparation for Operation Barbarossa.