The Stage Is Set: Europe on the Brink of War

As the 1930s drew to a close, Europe stood at the precipice of another catastrophic war. Adolf Hitler’s Germany, having already absorbed Austria and dismembered Czechoslovakia, turned its gaze northward toward Scandinavia. The region’s strategic importance couldn’t be overstated – control of Norwegian ports would provide Germany with vital naval bases and secure access to Swedish iron ore shipments through Narvik, while Denmark offered a convenient land bridge to Norway and control over the Baltic approaches.

Denmark, a small nation of just 4.3 million people (excluding Greenland and the Faroe Islands), maintained only modest defensive forces: two army divisions and a small navy totaling 20,000 tons. The country’s flat terrain in southern Jutland, which bordered Germany, made it particularly vulnerable to armored assault. Despite mounting evidence of German aggression across Europe, Danish leaders clung to the hope that their 1935 non-aggression pact with Germany would protect them from invasion. This false sense of security led to disastrous complacency in military preparedness.

Operation Weserübung: Germany’s Scandinavian Gamble

In the early hours of April 9, 1940, the quiet of a Scandinavian spring morning was shattered by the roar of German engines. At 4:20 AM, the German envoy in Copenhagen delivered an ultimatum to the Danish government: surrender immediately or face brutal suppression. The Danes were given just one hour to respond.

Five minutes before the deadline expired at 5:15 AM, German forces crossed the border into Jutland. The 11th Motorized Rifle Brigade spearheaded the assault, while paratroopers simultaneously seized airfields near Copenhagen. Three German transport ships, protected by aircraft, docked in Danish harbors and unloaded troops who met no resistance. The German navy deployed submarines to prevent British intervention, effectively controlling Danish waters.

The elderly King Christian X, facing overwhelming force, convened an emergency cabinet meeting. By 6:00 AM, Denmark had capitulated. The king ordered his royal guards to cease fire and informed German envoy Cecil von Renthe-Fink that Denmark would accept German “protection.” By 8:00 AM, stunned Danes heard over the radio that their country had fallen – all in just four hours.

Norway’s Desperate Stand Against the Blitzkrieg

While Denmark fell with barely a shot fired, Norway presented a more complex challenge. With a population similar to Denmark’s but spread across a much larger territory (excluding Svalbard), Norway’s defenses consisted of six infantry divisions (about 15,000 men), 190 outdated aircraft, and 64 obsolete naval vessels. The Norwegian government had only begun mobilization on April 7 as tensions mounted.

At 5:20 AM on April 9 – one hour after delivering Denmark’s ultimatum – Germany presented Norway with nearly identical demands. Unlike their Danish neighbors, the Norwegians defiantly refused. German forces had already launched simultaneous attacks on Oslo, Narvik, Stavanger, Trondheim, Bergen, and Kristiansand.

The assault on Narvik proved particularly dramatic. As Germany’s primary target for securing Swedish iron ore shipments, ten destroyers entered the fjord. When the Norwegian coastal defense ships Eidsvold and Norge attempted to resist, they were quickly sunk by German torpedoes, with 300 Norwegian sailors perishing. By 8:00 AM, Narvik had fallen, aided by the treasonous actions of local commander Colonel Konrad Sundlo.

Trondheim fell almost as easily, with German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper leading a naval group into the fjord before coastal batteries could react. The strategically vital port, capable of supporting large ships and submarines while connecting to Sweden’s rail network, gave Germany a crucial resupply point even if Britain controlled sea approaches.

Bergen witnessed stiffer resistance. The German light cruiser Königsberg and an auxiliary ship suffered heavy damage from Norwegian coastal guns before being sunk later by British bombers. Ironically, a powerful British naval force nearby could have intervened decisively but withdrew due to exaggerated fears of mines and air attacks.

The Battle for Oslo: Norway’s Moment of Heroism

Norway’s capital provided the invasion’s most dramatic moment. As the heavy cruiser Blücher led a German flotilla into Oslo Fjord, it encountered fierce resistance. Norwegian torpedoes sank the Blücher, drowning 1,600 German troops, Gestapo agents, and administrative personnel meant to seize the government. This delay allowed King Haakon VII and his cabinet to escape northward, maintaining legitimate Norwegian resistance.

Undeterred, the Germans improvised. Paratroopers captured Oslo’s Fornebu Airport, and by afternoon, a token force marched triumphantly into the capital. Though militarily insignificant, this psychological victory demonstrated the power of Germany’s new airborne tactics.

Allied Reactions: Shock and Failed Counterstrokes

The speed of Germany’s Scandinavian operations stunned Allied leaders. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain initially dismissed reports of landings at Narvik as improbable, while Winston Churchill – then First Lord of the Admiralty – famously misjudged the situation: “Hitler has committed a grave strategic error…He must now fight throughout the summer facing superior naval forces.”

Allied countermoves proved disastrously slow and poorly coordinated. British naval superiority failed to intercept German transports due to excessive caution about air power – a striking reversal from prewar dismissals of aviation’s impact on sea control. When British and French troops finally landed at Namsos and Åndalsnes on April 14 to form a pincer movement against Trondheim, they found themselves outmaneuvered by numerically inferior but more mobile German forces. By early May, both bridgeheads had been evacuated.

The campaign’s final act played out at Narvik, where Allied forces achieved their only success. After methodical preparations, they recaptured the town on May 27 – but by then, Germany’s western offensive had overrun France, forcing a complete Allied withdrawal from Norway by June 7.

Strategic Consequences and Historical Legacy

Germany’s Scandinavian blitzkrieg achieved stunning success at minimal cost. Denmark became a model occupation, providing agricultural products and a secure flank for German naval operations. Norway’s fall gave the Kriegsmarine precious Atlantic bases while securing vital iron ore shipments – though at the cost of maintaining a 300,000-man garrison against potential Allied return.

The campaign revolutionized modern warfare by demonstrating:
– The decisive potential of combined air-sea-land operations
– The effectiveness of paratroopers in seizing key objectives
– How air power could neutralize traditional naval superiority

For the Allies, the fiasco discredited Chamberlain’s government, paving the way for Churchill’s ascension to prime minister on May 10. The failed intervention also revealed critical weaknesses in Allied intelligence, decision-making, and interservice coordination that would plague operations until 1943.

Perhaps most significantly, Norway’s occupation provided Germany with advanced bases for the Battle of the Atlantic, extending U-boat reach and complicating Allied convoy routes for years to come. The Scandinavian campaign, often overshadowed by France’s subsequent fall, fundamentally altered the war’s strategic geometry while offering ominous previews of the blitzkrieg tactics that would soon overwhelm Western Europe.