Operation Weserübung Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Operation Weserübung was the German codename for Nazi Germany's assault on Scandinavia during World War II. The name translates as "Weser Exercise", the Weser being a German river.On the early morning of 9 April, 1940 —Wesertag ("Weser Day") — Germany invaded Denmark and Norway, ostensibly as a defensive maneuver against a planned (and openly discussed) Franco-British occupation of those countries; upon arrival envoys of the invading Germans informed the countries' governments that the Wehrmacht came to "protect the countries' neutrality" against Franco-British aggression. Big 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 local Norwegian time.
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2 Invasion of Norway 3 Encirclement of Sweden and Finland 4 See also 5 External links |
Strategically speaking, 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, so Denmark's tiny army had little hope of success in armed resistance. Nevertheless, in the early hours of the morning some Danish regiments engaged the German army, suffering a couple dozen or so dead.
The Danish government capitulated almost instantly in exchange for retained political independence in domestic matters, which resulted in a uniquely lenient occupation, particularly until the summer of 1943, and also 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.
Norway was important to Germany for two primary reasons: as a base for U-boats and to secure shipments of iron-ore from Sweden. The long northern coastline was an excellent place to launch U-boat operations into the North Atlantic in order to strangle 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 Norway.
The invasion of Norway was given to Group XXI under General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst and consisted of the following units:
Main article: Operation Weserübung Order of Battle
Operation Weserübung did not include a military assault on (likewise neutral) Sweden — there was no need. Through holding Norway, the Danish straits, and most of the shores of the Baltic Sea, the Third Reich fathomed Sweden from the North, the West and the South – and in the East, there was the Soviet Union, the successor of Sweden's and Finland's arch-enemy Russia, on friendly terms with Hitler through the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
Sweden's and Finland's trade was totally controlled by the Kriegsmarine. As a consequence, Germany put pressure on neutral Sweden to permit transit of military goods and soldiers on leave. On June 18 an agreement was reached: soldiers were to travel unarmed and not be part of unit movements. A total of 2,140,000 German soldiers, and over 100,000 German military railway carriages, crossed Sweden until the traffic was officially suspended on August 20, 1943.
In August, 1940, Finland agreed to give access to her territory for the Wehrmacht. Initially for transit of troops and military equipment to and from northernmost Norway, but soon also for minor bases along the transit road, that eventually would grow in preparation of Operation Barbarossa.
This is an Article on Operation Weserübung. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Operation Weserübung Invasion of Denmark
Invasion of Norway
The initial invasion force was transported in several groups, by Deutsche Kriegsmarine ships:
A reasonably complete concise description of the invasion of Norway would entail the following (yet to be fleshed out from the outline):
In the far north, Norwegian, French, Polish and British troops fought against the Germans over the control of the Norwegian winter harbour Narvik, important for the export of Swedish iron ore. The Germans evacuated on May 28, but due to the detoriating situation on the European continent, the allied troops were evacuated in Operation Alphabet – and the Germans recaptured Narvik on June 9, by then deserted also by the civilians.Encirclement of Sweden and Finland
See also
External links