German occupation of Norway

Overview

The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the capitulation of German forces in Europe on 8 May 1945. Throughout this period, a pro-German government named Den nasjonale regjering ruled Norway, while the Norwegian king Haakon VII and the prewar government escaped to London, where they formed a government in exile. Civil rule was effectively assumed by the Reichskommissariat Norwegen, which acted in collaboration with the pro-German puppet government. This period of military occupation is, in Norway, referred to as the "war years", "occupation period" or simply "the war".

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The German occupation of Norway, initiated on 9 April 1940 under Operation Weserübung, secured Nazi control over the country for nearly five years, until the capitulation of German forces in Europe on 8 May 1945. Conventional Norwegian armed resistance collapsed by 10 June 1940, after which civil authority passed to the Reichskommissariat Norwegen operating alongside the pro-German puppet government Den nasjonale regjering. The Norwegian king Haakon VII and the prewar government fled to London, where they maintained a government in exile that preserved Norwegian sovereignty in a legal and diplomatic sense throughout the occupation. The episode illustrates how rapid military conquest could be consolidated through parallel political structures — a collaborationist domestic administration and direct German imperial administration — while legitimate national authority was sustained abroad, a pattern repeated across occupied Europe during the war.