80 years ago, on April 9, 1940, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway began (Danish-Norwegian operation, or Operation Weserubung; Exercises on the Weser, or Weser maneuvers). The Wehrmacht occupied Denmark and Norway, strengthening the strategic position of the Third Reich in Northern Europe.
General situation
After the defeat and occupation of Poland, the Third Reich began preparations for an invasion of the West. Hitler was not about to repeat the Kaiser's mistakes. Before the war with Russia, he was going to defeat France and England, to take revenge on the French. England and France at that time pursued a "strange war" policy, refusing to take active actions against Germany, although its combat and economic potential was relatively weak and the allies had a good chance of defeating the Germans. London and Paris still hoped that Hitler would go to war with the Russians first.
As a result, the situation was favorable for Germany. The Reich leadership was given time to prepare a new aggression and choose the start of a new offensive. The strategic initiative by the Anglo-French leadership was calmly transferred to Hitler. Already in late September - early October 1939, Hitler ordered to begin preparations for an offensive against France with the inclusion of Holland and Belgium in the combat zone. The Fuhrer formulated the goal of the war: "To bring England to her knees, to crush France."
The stake in the war was made on the massive use of tanks and aircraft. For a lightning war. The Reich could not wage a protracted war, since it had a limited raw material and food base. Moreover, the war in the West was only a stage in the development of world aggression. On November 23, 1939, speaking at a meeting with the military leadership, Hitler noted: "We will be able to oppose Russia only after we free ourselves in the West." The concentration and deployment of troops in the western strategic direction begins.
Target - Northern Europe
In preparation for an offensive on the French front, the Reich forces first invaded Denmark and Norway. Starting a war against militarily weak states, the military-political leadership of the Reich sought to solve several important tasks. Scandinavia was an important military base. Berlin had to get ahead of England and France, who planned to land troops in Scandinavia during the Soviet-Finnish war. After the defeat of Finland, the Anglo-French military-political leadership did not abandon plans to use the strategic points of Scandinavia. That is, Hitler wanted to get ahead of the Anglo-French forces.
The capture of Denmark and Norway closed the sea passage to the Baltic for England. The capture of these two countries brought the German armed forces, primarily the navy and air force, to a flanking position in relation to the British Isles. Now German ships and aircraft received good conditions for striking important sea lanes in the North Atlantic. The Reich received important ports and airfields, a strategic foothold for pressure on England and a future war with Russia. The Norwegian bridgehead could be used to attack the Soviet Arctic and blockade the sea routes to the Barents Sea. Germany also provided itself with important types of strategic raw materials, strengthening its military-economic potential.
In addition, it was important for Berlin to divert the Anglo-French command from the impending offensive in France, Belgium and Holland by fighting in northern Europe.
Teachings on the Weser
Operation development began in January 1940. In February, 21st Corps headquarters under the command of General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst began a detailed study of the operation. It was Falkenhorst who carried out the Danish-Norwegian operation. The directive for the operation against Denmark and Norway was signed on March 1, 1940. She received the code name "Weserubung" (German Fall Weserübung), "Teachings on the Weser" (Weser is a river in Germany, flowing northward and emptied into the North Sea). In order to achieve surprise, the attack on Denmark and Norway was simultaneous with the extensive use of amphibious and airborne assault forces. At a military conference on April 2, Hitler set the day for the invasion to start - April 9.
For the operation, limited forces were allocated - 9 divisions and a brigade. They united in 21 army groups. Falkenhorst's 21st corps operated in Germany, General Kaupisch's 31st corps in Denmark. The German high command could not weaken the forces in the main western direction. Almost all the forces of the German military and merchant fleet were supposed to participate in the operation: about 100 combat and transport ships, 35 submarines. The 10th Aviation Corps also took part in the operation: 500 combat and 300 transport aircraft. Aviation transported paratroopers and infantry, supported the fleet and ground units in Denmark and Norway.
The stake was placed on the surprise of the attack, the weakness of the Danish and Norwegian forces and the widespread use of the "fifth column", especially in Norway, where the Nazis, led by Quisling, were strong. Denmark had only 2 incomplete divisions, about 90 aircraft and a small fleet: 2 coastal defense battleships, 9 minesweepers, 3 minelayers, 6 destroyers, 7 submarines. Norway had 6 small divisions, after partial mobilization they were brought to 55 thousand people, the Air Force - 190 aircraft, the weak Navy - 2 coastal defense battleships, about 30 destroyers, 8 minesweepers, 10 minelayers, 9 submarines.
In preparing for the operation, the German command attached decisive importance to the surprise factor. This was due to the fact that the lightning-fast capture of Denmark and the success of the landing and consolidation of amphibious detachments at numerous points on the coast of Norway in conditions of complete superiority of the British fleet at sea could only be achieved in case of surprise. If the German ships and transports on the way to Norway were intercepted by the British, who have an overwhelming superiority at sea, then the fate of the German Navy and the entire operation would not have been decided in favor of the Reich. The risk was enormous.
The preparation for the operation was surrounded by strict secrecy. Hitler's commander E. Manstein noted: "None of the outsiders knew anything about the plan for the occupation of Norway." All events were supposed to be unexpected for the northern states and western opponents. Preparations for loading onto transports were kept in strict secrecy, commanders and troops were given false destinations. The troops learned about the true destination only after going to sea. The ships left the places of loading in small groups and with such a time difference that the landing of the troops, despite the different distances to their destinations in Norway, took place everywhere at the same time. That is, everywhere the Germans had to attack suddenly. All military transports were disguised as merchant ships.
In order to break the resistance of Copenhagen and Oslo, the Reich leadership gave the operation the appearance of a "peaceful invasion". False assurances have been sent to the Governments of Denmark and Norway that Germany wants to provide the Scandinavian countries with armed protection of their neutrality. The Danish and Norwegian governments had some information about the growing threat of a German invasion, but did not give them much attention. The countries were not ready for an enemy invasion. A few days before the start of the war, the Danish envoy in Berlin informed Danish Foreign Minister Munch of this. However, the Danish government believed that it was unprofitable for Germany to start a war in Scandinavia in the context of a war with England and France. It was the same in Norway. As a result, no advance measures were taken to repel the attack. Denmark and Norway were not ready to repel the aggression of a very limited group of the Wehrmacht. The British and French also missed the start of the operation. German ships and transports calmly reached the landing sites.
Capture of Denmark and Norway
The Germans made extensive use of subversive and sabotage actions. So, during the attack on Denmark, the Abwehr (military intelligence and counterintelligence) on April 9, 1940 carried out Operation Sanssouci. German saboteurs penetrated the Danish border and seized a strategic object - the bridge over the Little Belt. On the eve of the invasion of Norway, several German reconnaissance and sabotage detachments occupied important points on the coast and thereby ensured the landing of the main landing forces. At the same time, the “fifth column” carried out subversive actions in the country.
At dawn on April 9, 1940, the Wehrmacht invaded Denmark without declaring war. Only two divisions and a brigade took part in the attack. Small amphibious assault forces were landed. The Nazis did not meet resistance. Denmark fell under Hitler. The authorities themselves asked the population to refrain from any resistance to the Germans. The scale of the "hostilities" is evidenced by the fact that during the capture of Denmark, German troops lost 2 people killed and 10 wounded. The losses of the Danes were 13 people. It was an easy walk for the Wehrmacht. The Danish leadership de facto surrendered the country to the Nazis. Already in the evening of April 9, the Nazis could freely use communications, airfields and ports of Denmark to conduct an operation in Norway.
On April 9, the operation began in Norway. Ships and transports with landings left on April 3. The sudden landings of sea and air assault forces, the activity of the Quislings broke the resistance of the Norwegian armed forces. The Germans very easily occupied the key port of Narvik. In the morning, a German landing party led by the destroyer Wilhelm Heidkamp entered the port and drowned the Norwegian coast guard battleships Eidswold and Norge. Then the German mountain riflemen forced the Norwegian garrison to lay down their arms. The second German detachment, led by the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, successfully captured Trondheim. The third detachment captured Bergen. Stavanger was captured by paratroopers, who were reinforced by airborne infantry and anti-aircraft gunners. Soon the infantry arrived at the ports. In the same way, the German air force, navy and infantry captured other cities and important points.
As a result, on the very first day of the operation, German troops captured a number of important ports and cities, including the Norwegian capital, Oslo. On this day, the German fleet suffered the greatest loss - while trying to break through to the Norwegian capital through the Oslofjord, the heavy cruiser Blucher was sunk by artillery fire and torpedoes (125 crew members and 122 landing participants were killed). In the same battle, the German heavy cruiser "Luttsov" was damaged. The Norwegian government did not surrender. Separate units of the Norwegian troops, using the rugged terrain, put up stubborn resistance. There was a threat of dragging out hostilities and the arrival of allies to help the Norwegians. However, the resistance of the Norwegians helped to break the local "fifth column" and the extremely sluggish and indecisive actions of the Anglo-French command, which was slow to provide real assistance to Norway.
In fact, London and Paris were only imitating Norway's aid. It was handed over, as before Poland. Soon, France will be surrendered in the same way. The ruling circles of "Western democracies" deliberately gave Hitler a large part of Europe. They showed him that there would be no "second front". That the Germans can safely end the Russians. Therefore, the British fleet "slept through" the movement of the German amphibious assault forces. And then the Allies did everything to provide "effective assistance" to Norway.
True, the British showed superiority at sea - on April 10 and 13, they defeated the German Navy in the Narvik area. Thus, the British cut off the units of two German mountain infantry divisions located in Narvik, so the Germans could not develop an offensive in the north of the country at the beginning of the operation. By April 20, 1940, the Nazis occupied most of southern Norway. At the same time, some cities where the Norwegian units resisted were subjected to strong air strikes.
In mid-April, the Anglo-French command sent up to four divisions (British, French and Polish units) to Norway. However, their attempts to develop, together with the remaining Norwegian troops, an offensive in central Norway ended in failure. The Allies were also unsuccessful in Northern Norway. So, the allies launched an offensive on Narvik in mid-April, but they were able to take it only on May 28, and this could no longer change the general situation. The allies acted inconsistently, ineptly, hesitantly and slowly. British intelligence made one mistake after another.
The battle for Norway lasted for about two months. The final outcome of the Norwegian campaign was predetermined by the offensive of the Wehrmacht in the French theater. Anglo-French troops began to suffer defeat in Holland, Belgium and France. On June 6-10, 1940, the Allies evacuated from Norway in the Narvik area. The royal family, King Haakon VII and the Norwegian government were evacuated from Tromsø on 7 June. On June 8, 1940, in the Norwegian Sea, the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sank the British aircraft carrier Glories and its escort (destroyers Akasta and Ardent). More than 1,500 British sailors were killed. The remnants of the Norwegian troops, left without the support of the allies, surrendered on June 10. The Nazis occupied all of Norway.
The Germans captured a strategic foothold in Northern Europe, secured themselves from the northern direction. Germany has strengthened its military and economic potential. The victory in Norway went to the Wehrmacht at a relatively low price: 1317 people killed, 1604 wounded, 2375 missing. 127 aircraft, about 30 ships and vessels were lost. The Norwegian army lost 1,335 people killed and missing, up to 60 thousand prisoners; the British - 4,400 people, the French and Poles - 530 killed.
