NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Norwegian resistance movement

Norwegian resistance to the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1945 took several forms: Starting with the invasion of April 9, 1940, Norway was under military occupation of German forces and civil rule of a German commissioner in collaboration with a Pro-german puppet government. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...

See also Weserübung and Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany Operation WeserÃ¼bung was the German codename for Nazi Germanys assault on Denmark and Norway during World War II and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. ... Starting with the invasion of April 9, 1940, Norway was under military occupation of German forces and civil rule of a German commissioner in collaboration with a Pro-german puppet government. ...

Asserting legitimacy of exiled Norwegian government

The Norwegian government of Prime Minister Johan Nygaardsvold, with the exception of foreign minister Halvdan Koht and minister of defense Birger Ljungberg, was largely caught by surprise when it became apparent in the early hours of April 9, 1940 that Nazi Germany had launched an invasion of Norway. Although some of the country's gold reserve had already been removed from Oslo, there were few contingency plans for such an invasion. Campaign poster of Johan Nygaardsvold Johan Nygaardsvold (September 6, 1879 - March 13, 1952) was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. ... Halvdan Koht (b. ... Birger Ljungberg (1884-1967) was the Norwegian Minister of Defense 1939-1942. ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

Unprepared though it may have been, the Norwegian government was unwilling to capitulate to the ultimatum timed to coincide with the arrival of German troops and delivered by Curt Bräuer, the German minister in Oslo. The German demand that Norway accept the "protection of the Reich" was rebuffed by Koht and the Norwegian government before dawn had even broken on the morning of invasion. "Vi gir oss ikke frivillig, kampen er allerede i gang," replied Koht. "We will not submit voluntarily; the struggle is already under way." Curt BrÃ¤uer (1889â€“1969) was a German career diplomat. ...

Anticipating German efforts to capture the government, the entire Norwegian parliament, the royal family, and cabinet hastily evacuated Oslo by train and car to Hamar and then on to Elverum, where an extraordinary session of parliament was called. In large part because of the presence of mind of the parliament's president Carl Johan Hambro, the Storting managed to pass an emergency measure (known as the Elverum Authorization) that gave full authority to the king and his cabinet until the Storting could convene again. This article is part of the Politics of Norway series. ... King Haakon VII King Haakon VII of Norway, Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel (August 3, 1872 - September 21, 1957) was the first King of Norway after the dissolution of the personal union with Sweden in 1905. ... County Hedmark Landscape Hedemarken Municipality NO-0403 Administrative centre Hamar Mayor (2004) Einar Busterud (By- og bygdelista - The City and Rural areas Party) Official language form Neutral Area - Total - Land - Percentage Ranked 257 351 kmÂ² 338 kmÂ² 0. ... County Hedmark District Ã˜sterdalen Municipality NO-1101 Administrative centre Elverum Mayor (2003) Terje RÃ¸e (Ap) Official language form Neutral Area - Total - Land - Percentage Ranked 80 1,229 kmÂ² 1,209 kmÂ² 0. ... The Elverum Authorization (Elverumsfullmakten) was approved unanimously by the Norwegian Parliament on April 9, 1940 in the town of Elverum in Norway after the Norwegian royal family, executive branch, and parliament had evacuated Oslo to evade capture by German troops in the course of Operation WeserÃ¼bung during World War...

This gave the king and cabinet constitutional authority to reject the German emissary Curt Bräuer's ultimatums to accept the German invasion. Although there were several German attempts to capture or kill King Haakon and the Norwegian government, they managed to evade these attempts and traveled through Norway's remote interior until leaving the country for London in early June. Curt BrÃ¤uer (1889â€“1969) was a German career diplomat. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England and is the most populous city in the European Union. ...

Reserving the constitutional legitimacy of the Norwegian government also undermined Vidkun Quisling's attempts at claiming the Norwegian government for himself. After Quisling had proclaimed his assumption of the government of Norway, several individuals on the Supreme Court took the initiative to establish an Administrative Council (Administrasjonsrådet) in an effort to stop him. This became a controversial initiative, in that both the legitimate Norwegian government refused to give the council any legal backing, and the German authorities ended up disbanding it. Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz JonssÃ¸n Quisling (July 18, 1887â€“October 24, 1945) was a Norwegian fascist politician and officer. ...

Initial defense

After a longstanding policy of disarmament after World War I, the Norwegian military was largely underfunded and undertrained by the late 1930s, though some politicians across the political spectrum had advocated strengthening the country's defense capabilities. As a result, forces in Southern Norway were largely unprepared for the invasion, and the German invading army met little initial resistance landing in Norway. Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead: 5 million Civilian deaths: 3 million Total of dead: 8 million Military dead: 4 million Civilian deaths: 3 million Total dead: 7 million The First... Operation WeserÃ¼bung was the German codename for Nazi Germanys assault on Denmark and Norway during World War II and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. ...

One notable exception was the sinking of the German cruiser Blücher by the Oscarsborg fortress at the sound at Drøbak, which delayed the capture of Oslo long enough for the government to escape the capital. The German heavy cruiser BlÃ¼cher Â¹ was the German Kriegsmarines newest ship at the outbreak of World War II. The BlÃ¼cher is most notable for being sunk on April 9, 1940, less than three years after her launch, on the first day of the invasion of Norway (Operation... Oscarsborg festning is a coastal fortress in the Oslofjord, close to the small city of DrÃ¸bak. ... DrÃ¸bak in Norway is the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Akershus county. ... County Oslo NO-03 District Viken Municipality NO-0301 Administrative centre Oslo Mayor (2004) Per Ditlev-Simonsen (H) Official language form Neutral Area - Total - Land - Percentage Ranked 224 454 kmÂ² 426 kmÂ² 0. ...

There was also spirited defense at other locations, including Midtskogen, but these were largely the result of improvised missions by isolated military units and irregular volunteers. The battles slowed down the German advance by several days, allowing the Norwegian government to evade capture and conduct critical constitutional business. Midtskogen farm is situated approximately 5 kilometers west of the town Elverum at the mouth of the Ã˜sterdalen valley in southern Norway. ...

Counter-attacks

Several Norwegian military units that had mobilized as a precautionary measure in Northern Norway during the Winter War, in cooperation with Polish and British forces launched several counterattacks with moderate success. Allied forces had several successes in Northern Norway, but were redirected for the futile defense of France. While Northern Norway ultimately fell, efforts there allowed the Norwegian government, including the royal family, to escape and maintain the legitimate government in exile, as part of the Allies. In norwegian: Nord-Norge meaning Northern Norway. ... Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov, later Semyon Timoshenko Strength 200,000 men, 32 tanks, 119 aircraft (In the beginning), 250,000 men, 30 tanks, 130 aircraft (At the end) 460,000 men, 1,500 tanks, 1,000 aircraft (In the beginning), 1,000,000...

While stationed in London, the government contributed Norwegian forces to the Allied effort and ordered the Norwegian Merchant Fleet to assist in transportation, to facilitate this the ships were operated under the Nortraship organisation; at that time the worlds largest shipping company. It also created apprehension in the Nazi leadership that Allied forces might try to recapture Norway to deny German naval units access to the North Atlantic, tying up several hundred thousand forces that otherwise would have been deployed to other fronts. London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... The Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship) was established in London in April 1940 to administrate the Norwegian merchant fleet outside German controlled areas. ... For other uses, see Atlantic (disambiguation) The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of its surface. ...

Armed resistance

Although Norway did not see major battles beyond those in Narvik, a number of military operations served to subvert the Nazi authorities and contribute to the larger war effort. Milorg started out as a small sabotage unit and ended up building a full military force in time for the liberation. Company Linge was a special operations unit that specialized in coastal insertions and combat. Milorg was a secret military organization under World War II in Norway. ... Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1, also Norisen) was a SOE group formed in March of 1941 for the purpose of perfoming commando raids in occupied Norway. ...

There were repeated raids in Lofoten, Måløy, and other coastal areas. Reine, Lofoten, seen from top of Reinebringen (June, 2003). ... MÃ¥lÃ¸y is a town, and the administrative centre of the municipality of VÃ¥gsÃ¸y in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. ...

Norwegian spotters aided in the destruction of numerous German warships, such as the Bismarck and the Tirpitz. The Norwegian resistance also smuggled people in and out of Norway during the war, through Sweden or by fishing boats to Shetland (referred to as the "Shetland bus"). A number of saboteurs (most notably Max Manus and Gunnar Sønsteby) destroyed ships and supplies. Perhaps its most famous achievements were a series of operations to destroy Norsk Hydro's heavy water plant and stockpile of heavy water at Vemork, crippling the German nuclear program (see: Norwegian heavy water sabotage). The Germans attempted to stifle Resistance activities and executed several innocent Norwegian men, women and children in retaliation after any Resistance act. Probably the worst act of reprisal was the assault on the fishing village of Telavåg in the spring of 1942. Diagrams of first and third rate warships, England, 1728 Cyclopaedia. ... The German battleship Bismarck is one of the most famous warships of the Second World War. ... German battleship Tirpitz underway for her trials, 1941 Tirpitz was a battleship of the German Kriegsmarine, a sister ship to the German battleship Bismarck, and named for Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. ... See Shetland (disambiguation) for other meanings. ... The Shetland bus was the popular name of the escape route and supply route established between occupied Norway and the Shetland Islands (Scotland), operated initially by a large number of small fishing boats and later by three US made submarinechasers; HNoMS Vigra, HNoMS Hitra and HNoMS Hessa. ... Max Manus was a famous Norwegian World War II resistance fighter. ... Gunnar SÃ¸nsteby (born 11 January 1918) is known as a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II. Known also as Kjakan and , he participated in the resistance effort from 1940. ... Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian oil and energy and integrated aluminium company, headquartered in Oslo. ... Heavy water is dideuterium oxide, or D2O or 2H2O. It is chemically the same as normal water, H2O, but the hydrogen atoms are of the heavy isotope deuterium, in which the nucleus contains a neutron in addition to the proton found in the nucleus of any hydrogen atom. ... The Vemork hydroelectric plant, site of the heavy water production Vemork, a small community in Norway, close to the city Rjukan and within the Tinn municipality, in the county of Telemark. ... The Norwegian heavy water sabotage was a series of actions taken by Norwegian saboteurs during World War II to prevent the Germans from acquiring heavy water which could be used to produce nuclear weapons. ... TelavÃ¥g is a small village in the municipality of Sund, located 39 km south west of Bergen, Norway, with a population of about 600. ...

In the mid 1980s it was revealed that Sweden aided the Norwegian resistance movement with training and equipment in a series of camps along the Norwegian border. To avoid suspicion they were camoflaged as police training camps.

Intelligence gathering within occupied Norway was very much needed for the allied forces, and several organisations were established for this, the largest and most efficient was called XU. Established by Arvid Storsveen, its basis were students from the University of Oslo. One interesting fact was that two of its four leaders were young women, among them Anne-Sofie Østvedt. Xu can be a pinyin transliteration of one of several Chinese surnames: å¾ (pinyin XÃº, also spelled HsÃ¼ or Tsui) è¨± (traditional) or è®¸ (simplified), (pinyin XÇ”, also spelled Hui or Hii) In this context it is pronounced somewhat like Shoo or simply Shh. ... Arvid Storsveen (1915-1943), was the Norwegian organizer of XU, the main intelligence gathering organisation within occupied Norway during WWII. Storsveen participated in the fight against the German invasion forces in the spring of 1940. ... Anne-Sofie Ã˜stvedt (1920-) was one of the leaders of the Norwegian intelligence organisation XU. She started her resistance work by publishing underground newspapers, and in December 1941 XU recruited her. ...

Civil disobedience

Of lesser military importance was the distribution of illegal newspapers (often with news items culled from Allied news broadcasts; possession of radios was illegal). The purpose of this was twofold: it counteracted German propaganda, and it maintained nationalistic, anti-German feelings in the population at large. It has been suggested that combating the illegal press expended German resources out of proportion to the illegal media's actual effects.

Finally, there was the attempt at maintaining an "Ice Front" against the German soldiers. This involved, among other things, never speaking to a German if it could be avoided (many pretended to speak no German, though German skills were then almost as prevalent as English now) and refusing to sit beside a German on public transportation. The latter was so annoying to the occupying German authorities that it became illegal to stand on a bus if seats were available.

Towards the end of the war, the resistance become more open, with rudimentary military organizations set up in the forests around the larger cities. A number of Nazi collaborators and officials were killed, and those collaborating with the German or Quisling authorities were ostracized, both during and after the war. In modern parlance, to ostracize means to exclude someone from society or from a community, by not communicating with or even noticing them, similar to shunning. ...

A symbol of the Norwegian resistance was wearing a paper clip on a lapel; an innocuous item, the paper clip was assumed to be a Norwegian invention, and represented uniting against the occupation. Metal paperclip A paperclip is a device which holds several sheets of paper together by means of pressure: it leaves the paper intact and can be easily removed. ...

The Norwegian Resistance museum, at Akershus fortress, Oslo, gives a good impression of the activities of the Norwegian resistance movement. Akershus Fortress (Akershus Festning) is the old castle built to protect Oslo, the capital of Norway. ... County Oslo NO-03 District Viken Municipality NO-0301 Administrative centre Oslo Mayor (2004) Per Ditlev-Simonsen (H) Official language form Neutral Area - Total - Land - Percentage Ranked 224 454 kmÂ² 426 kmÂ² 0. ...

Germany invaded Norway on May 9th, 1940. Hitler sent seventeen divisions to occupy Norway, a large number for such a small, sparsely populated country. Norway brought this upon themselves intentionally. They figured if there are more troops in Norway, there would be fewer elsewhere and as a result the troops would be more spread out. While occupied, the Norwegians retained a positive attitude by maintaining their senses of humor and keeping their core Norwegian values in mind. The Norwegians knew they would not be able to defeat Hitler strictly by military force, but they could at least make Hitler believe their resistance forces were strong, occupy as many military divisions as possible, and win many victories due to their resistance to German rule. The prominent resistance methods were boycotting, humor, printing resistance newspapers, disrespecting Germans and, surprisingly enough, humor. The Norwegians also had symbols (such as wearing a paper clip on the lapel, or the nisselue, a traditional, red, Norwegian hat) promoting national unity.

Boycotting provided an opportunity for Norwegians to blatantly disrespect the Germans and prevent Germans from fully infiltrating Norwegian lifestyles. Anything German run was soon void of all Norwegian business or attendance. The Church of Norway was responsible for a great deal of the boycotting. Quisling demanded bishops and clergy to fall under Nazi rule. He passed laws demanding the church to teach Nazi principles at weekly services. Nazis took control of Norwegian broadcast programs in order to advertise their doctrines instead of the Norwegian Church’s. Bishops and priests who refused to obey Quislings orders had their paychecks withheld. Despite the ridiculous demands made on the church, they still resisted. On April 5th, 1942, the Norwegian Church made their standing clear to the nation. One hundred fifty one of 155 ordained priests and 645 of 699 clergy resigned. This did not mean that they dropped their mission however; they continued to preach outside the church and hold their own services beyond the reach of Nazi ears. Resistance humor was present in the church also. A popular, true story is as follows:

The Nazis replaced Pastor Smith of the Ullern congregation with the Nazi minister Blessing-Dahle, but almost no one went to his services. Ullern church organist Geburg Aasland was blind and had no choice but to keep his job at the church. They say that when he played the prelude, however, he’d include the song: “If I had wings, I would fly away…”

Teachers were also active in the resistance efforts. In February 1942, Quisling passed laws demanding teachers to join the Nazi Teacher’s Association, an association that established a youth organization modeled after Hitler’s youth groups. Teachers instantly refused membership and 12,000-14,000 teachers protested. In March, 1,300 teachers were arrested, tortured, and even sent to concentration camps for their resistance, but the teachers still refused and prevailed. On April 25th, the ministry of education declared the new laws a complete misunderstanding and retracted their demand for teachers to join the association.

Not only were the teachers and youth affected at school, but Nazis attempted to control extra-curricular activities also. Terboven (Hitler’s replacement for Quisling when he felt Quisling was not adequate) appointed a Councillor of Sport who was responsible for the dissolution of the Amalgamation Committee. Terboven appointed a central association under Nazi control which all clubs were forced to join. Norwegians responded by boycotting sporting events with German involvement. They continued to host their own events, but boycotted public, German run events until the liberation of Norway.

Despite all of the hardships, frustrations, and even dangers Norwegian’s faced, they kept their spirits high by maintaining their senses of humor. Nazis could repress other resistance efforts, such as forbidding wearing paper clips or nisseluer, but humor was intangible and more easily overlooked by German soldiers. As Norman N. Holland wrote, “Jokes help break down the isolation o the individual. The dread of standing alone was one of Nazism’s most powerful weapons. By proving that-in Holland’s words-‘somebody else sees what I see,’ jokes could allay that fear.” Einar Rose, one of Norway’s most popular revue artists, was blatant in his disapproval of the German occupation and mocked them in all of his performances until he was arrested for comparing the Germans to dogs. He was lucky and was not sent to a death camp; however, just as soon as he was released from prison he continued his parody of the German soldiers. Einar Rose and other popular resistance jokes showed public officials engaging in illegal resistance tactics, thereby placing their loyalty to an independent Norway above all else, including their jobs. Despite the absence of their king, Norway remained unified and did everything in their power to resist.

Whether fictional or non, once told, it did not take long for a resistance joke to spread. The Nazi Union meetings were the brunt of many jokes. One evening, no one came to hear an NS (Nazi Union) lecture. When the NS members left the meeting hall, they found a manure trailer attached to their car. On the trailer was a sign saying “We’ve done this so you’d have at least on tillhenger”. Tillhenger has two meanings in Norwegian: 1. trailer and 2. Political follower. At the next meeting, two people showed up. The speaker sarcastically remarked “I suppose everyone’s listening to London”. One person looked at his watch and said “By God you’re right! It’s time for the BBC broadcast!” and with that took off. This meeting was later described in the NS newsletter as a great success because all but one of the attending citizens joined the NS.

Not only were the Nazis having a hard time getting NS attendees, they were also having a hard time getting military recruits. The soldiers were so desperate for recruits, they extended the age limit to include all men between the ages of sixteen and sixty. At the young end of this spectrum, the Hird (young men who joined as soon as they were able) inspired much humor. The following were printed in resistance newspapers: “Notice: Down (peach fuzz) will no longer be rationed; the Hird is now old enough to shave.”; “Quisling doesn’t have to go out in the morning because the Hird is still in school.” At the opposite end of the spectrum, men who were beyond retirement age were still expected to be fighting, despite physical limitations. One 74 year old farmer was continually causing problems for the Germans. He would walk through the countryside with his old fashioned gun and look for Germans to harass. The third time they caught him, they threatened him with imprisonment if he refused to quit harassing them. He replied by saying “I will not rest until, not only are the Germans out of Norway, but we’ve conquered Germany too”.

Situations like this and all of the resistance efforts in general greatly displeased the Germans the Norwegians succeeded in disillusioning the Germans into believing Norway was stronger than they actually were, with the result of Hitler maintaining seventeen German divisions in Norway. This unfortunately caused the destruction of communications, transport and industries. The Germans tried to prohibit Norwegian radio shows and tried to control all methods of communication. They infiltrated the public transportation systems, (the Norwegians sent out a message over the radio to make everyone agree not to sit by a German on trains), and took over sporting (mentioned above) and consumer industries (by implementing food rations). Norwegians even found ways around the rations however. Individual store owners were prone to placing a more expensive item that was not included on the ration list into the container of an item that was on the ration list. Once discovered, Norwegians would make sure to tell all their friends, but closely monitor whose ears this news reached because the store owner could get into trouble if caught.

In the end, the Norwegian civilian resistance was very successful. Henry Oliver Rinnan admitted “the spirit of the Norwegian resistance could not be broken.” Herman Bochm stated that “The Norwegian people would rather leave their home country than live under German rule.” They convinced the Germans that the resistance was strong, and so many German military divisions were sent to Norway. The Norwegian Church, teachers, sports organizations, individuals, and all resistors fought for their rights until the end and demonstrated their pride in Norway to the entire world.

Works Cited , The Norwegian Resistance Movement. Aug 2004. Online. May 2005. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/norwegian_resistance.htm>. , Henry Oliver Rinnan. Online. May 2005. <http://encycl.opentopia.com/term/Henry_Oliver_Rinnan>. Johnson, Kim M. An Analysis of the Norwegian Resistance During the Second World War. Mar 1997. Online. May 2005. <http://research.airuniv.edu/papers/ay1997/acsc/97-0146C.pdf>. Stokker, Kathleen. Folklore Fights the Nazis. Madison: Associated University Press, 1995.

Contents

Initial defense

Counter-attacks

Armed resistance

Civil disobedience

See also