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Operation Weserübung was the German codename for Nazi Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during World War II and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. (The term means Weser Exercise or Operation Weser, the Weser being a German river.) In the early morning of April 9, 1940 — Wesertag ("Weser Day") — Germany invaded Denmark and Norway, ostensibly as a preventive maneuver against a planned (and openly discussed) Franco-British occupation of both these countries; upon arrival envoys of the invading Germans informed both countries' governments that the Wehrmacht had come to "protect the countries' neutrality" against Franco-British aggression. Significant differences in geography, location and climate between the two countries made the actual invasions very dissimilar. The invasion fleet's nominal landing time — Weserzeit ("Weser Hour") — was set to 05:15 AM German time, equivalent to 04:15 Norwegian time.
Political and military background Starting in the spring of 1939, the British Admiralty began to view Scandinavia as a potential theater of war in a future conflict with Germany. The British government was reluctant to engage in another land conflict on the continent that they believed would be a repeat of World War I. So they began considering a blockade strategy in an attempt to weaken Germany indirectly. German industry was heavily dependent on the import of iron ore from the northern Swedish mining district, and much of this ore was shipped through the northern Norwegian port of Narvik. Control of the Norwegian coast would also serve to tighten a blockade against Germany. In October of 1939 the chief of the German Kriegsmarine, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, discussed with Hitler the danger posed by eventual British bases in Norway and the possibility of Germany seizing these bases before the United Kingdom could. The navy argued that possession of Norway would allow control of the nearby seas and serve as a staging base for future operations against the United Kingdom. However, at this time the other branches of the Wehrmacht were not interested, and Hitler had just issued a directive stating that the main effort would be a land offensive through the Low Countries. Toward the end of November, Winston Churchill, as a new member of the British War Cabinet, proposed the mining of Norwegian waters. This would force the ore transports to travel through the open waters of the North Sea, where the Royal Navy could interdict them. However this proposal was turned down by the dovish Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax, due to fear of an adverse reaction among neutral nations such as the United States. After the start of the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland in November 1939 had changed the diplomatic situation, Churchill again proposed his mining scheme, but was once more denied. In December, the United Kingdom and France began serious planning for sending aid to Finland. Their plan called for a force to land at Narvik in northern Norway, the main port for Swedish iron ore exports, and to advance across Sweden into Finland. Conveniently, this plan would also allow the allied forces to occupy the Swedish iron ore mining district. The plan received the support of both Chamberlain and Halifax. They were counting on the cooperation of Norway, which would alleviate some of the legal issues. However, stern warnings issued to both Norway and Sweden resulted in strongly negative reactions in both countries. Planning for the expedition continued, but the justification for it was removed when Finland sued for peace in March. Planning Convinced of the threat posed by the allies to the iron ore supply, Hitler ordered the German high command (OKW) to begin preliminary planning for an invasion of Norway on 14 December 1939. The preliminary plan was named Studie Nord and only called for one army division. Between 14 and 19 January the Kriegsmarine developed an expanded version of this plan. They decided upon two key factors. The first was that surprise was essential to reduce the threat of Norwegian resistance (and British intervention). The second was to use the faster German warships, rather than comparatively slow merchant ships, as troop transports. This would allow all targets to be occupied simultaneously, as the transport ships only had limited range. This new plan called for a full army corps, including a mountain division, an airborne division, a motorized rifle brigade, and two infantry divisions. The target objectives of this force were: On 21 February 1940, command of the operation was given to General von Falkenhorst. He had fought in Finland during World War I and therefore was familiar with arctic warfare. However, he was only to have command of the ground forces, despite Hitler's desire to have a unified command. The final plan was code-named Operation Weserübung ("Exercise on the Weser") on 27 January, 1940. It would be under the command of the XXI Army Group and include the 3rd Mountain Division and five infantry divisions, none of the latter having yet been tested in battle. The initial echelon would consist of three divisions for the assault, with the remainder to follow in the next wave. Three companies of paratroopers would be used to seize airfields. The decision to send also the 2nd Mountain Division was made later. Initially the plan was to invade Norway and to gain control of Danish airfields by diplomatic means. However, Hitler issued a new directive on 1 March that called for the invasion of both Norway and Denmark. This came at the insistence by the Luftwaffe regarding the need to capture fighter bases and sites for air-warning stations. The XXXI Corps was formed for the invasion of Denmark, consisting of two infantry divisions and the 11th motorized brigade. The entire operation would be supported by the X Air Corps, consisting of some 1,000 aircraft of various types. Preliminaries In February the British destroyer ''Cossack'' boarded the German transport ship ''Altmark'' while in Norwegian waters, thereby violating Norwegian neutrality, freeing 300 captive British sailors held also in violation of Norwegian neutrality (the Altmark was obliged to release them as soon as she entered neutral territory). Hitler regarded this as a clear sign that the United Kingdom was willing to violate Norwegian neutrality, and so became even more strongly committed to the invasion plan. On 12 March, the United Kingdom decided to send an expeditionary force to Norway just as the Winter War was winding down. The expeditionary force began boarding on 13 March, but was recalled and the operation cancelled with the end of the Winter War. Instead the British cabinet voted to proceed with the mining operation in Norwegian waters, followed by troop landings. The first German ships set sail for the invasion on 3 April, and on 8 April a British destroyer began laying the first mines in Norwegian waters. On 9 April the German invasion was underway. Invasion of Denmark Strategically, Denmark was relatively unimportant to Germany, except as a staging area for operations in Norway, and of course as a border nation to Germany which would have to be controlled in some way. The country is small and relatively flat, ideal territory for German army operations, and Denmark's small army had little hope of success in armed resistance. Nevertheless, in the early morning hours a few Danish troops engaged the German army, suffering a few dozen dead. After 1,000 German infantry landed from Copenhagen harbor, a detachment of troops from the King's royal guard began to engage them. Just as the first few shots were being fired, several formations of Heinkel 111 and Dornier 17 bombers roared over the city. Faced with the explicit threat of the Luftwaffe bombing the civilian population of Copenhagen, the elderly King capitulated almost instantly in exchange for retaining political independence in domestic matters. This resulted in the uniquely lenient Occupation of Denmark, particularly until the summer of 1943, and also in postponing the arrest and deportation of Danish Jews until nearly all of them were warned and on their way to refuge in Sweden. In the end, fewer than 500 Danish Jews were deported, and fewer than 50 of them lost their lives, out of a pre-war total estimated at 8,000. Though Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia generally had little military significance, they had strategic, economic and ideological importance. As Dr. Werner Best, the second German plenipotentiary, said: Denmark provided significant economic assistance through its agriculture. It was also an important link to Sweden. Motivation; Order of Battle Main article: Operation Weserübung Order of Battle Norway was important to Germany for two primary reasons: as a base for naval units, including U-boats, to harass Allied shipping in the North Atlantic, and to secure shipments of iron-ore from Sweden through the port of Narvik. The long northern coastline was an excellent place to launch U-boat operations into the North Atlantic in order to attack British commerce. Germany was dependent on iron ore from Sweden and was worried, with justification, that the Allies would attempt to disrupt those shipments, 90% of which originated from Narvik. The invasion of Norway was given to the Army Corps XXI under General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst and consisted of the following main units: The initial invasion force was transported in several groups by ships of the Kriegsmarine: Concise timeline In the far north, Norwegian, French and Polish troops, supported by the Royal Navy and the RAF, fought against the Germans over the control of the Norwegian harbour Narvik, important for the all-year export of Swedish iron ore (The Swedish harbour of Luleå is blocked by ice in the winter months). The Germans were driven out of Narvik on May 28, but due to the deteriorating situation on the European continent, the allied troops were withdrawn in Operation Alphabet — and the Germans recaptured Narvik on June 9, by then deserted also by the civilians due to massive Luftwaffe bombing.. The Encircling of Sweden and Finland
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