THE INVASION OF NORWAY NORTH AFRICA AND USSR

THE INVASION OF NORWAY, NORTH AFRICA, AND USSR

NORWAY, NORTH AFRICA, USSR • Invasion of Norway lasts from April 9 -June 10 1940 Norway was officially neutral • Germany decided to invade Norway for a number of reasons • To gain more access to iron ore in the region • Block off Baltic Sea from Allies • To back up propaganda claiming a “German empire” • Little resistance to Germans, although King Haakon and his family were able to flee to Britain • Norwegian military ill prepared, no military resistance other than in and around Oslo • British and French evacuate their small forces at the end of April • After June 10 th, Hitler stations about 300, 000 men there to occupy the country. Norway is occupied militarily up to May 9 th 1945 •

NORWAY, NORTH AFRICA, USSR • Norwegian Nazi Party and Vidkun Quisling was the leader of the Nazi Party in Norway • Attempted to negotiate with Hitler in Dec 1939. • • • Wanted to convince Hitler that he should head a puppet state after invasion On April 9 1940, Hitler decided to back this plan, but by April 15, it became clear Quisling had zero support in the country Leading Nazi party member, Josef Terboven, becomes Reichkommisar of Norway on April 24 • Quisling eventually becomes head of state in 1942, but Terboven is the only one able to use military force and violence •

NORWAY, NORTH AFRICA, USSR • Diversification of the SS • Himmler splits the SS into three general groups by the outbreak of WWII Waffen-SS (Armed SS)- Elite military SS members • Allgemeine-SS (General SS) – Administrative department of the SS • SS-Totenkopfverbande (SS Death’s Head) – SS in charge of concentration camps (and eventually death camps) • • Occupied Europe and the SS • SS established foreign SS offices in occupied territories, made up of locals At first foreign offices include only the Allgemeine-SS, but eventually the Waffen-SS hires foreigners (who meet certain racial or ideological qualifications) • SS Death’s Head never does •

NORWAY, NORTH AFRICA, USSR • Diversification of the SS (continued) These local groups were collectively called the Germanic. SS • These groups were usually responsible for local policing units and act as local Gestapo • Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Belgium all have Germanic-SS units • The most notorious of these is the Dutch Germanic SS (Germaansche SS in Nederland) • Ordered to locate and arrest Dutch Jews, who would then be sent to concentration camps • Of the 140, 000 Dutch Jews prior to the war, 24, 000 survive by hiding, the rest were arrested or denounced by their own countrymen and die in the Holocaust •

NORWAY, NORTH AFRICA, USSR • Invasion and success in the North African Campaign (June 10 1940 -May 13 1943) • Immediate context for North Africa is colonial interests since the 1800 s • Italy’s empire included Libya, Tunisia, and parts of Egypt June 10, Italy allies itself with Germany against Britain and remaining free French forces • North African campaign begins with a British invasion of Italian controlled Libya from Egypt • • • Attacks and counter attacks end with British destroying Italian forces in Libya Germans send in General Erwin Rommell, will become known as the “Desert Fox” • Will eventually betray Hitler in the 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler

NORWAY, NORTH AFRICA, USSR • German plans for North Africa Point was to cut off Allies oil supply and gain oil for themselves • Oil is a constant issue with German military machine • • For allies, N. A. was meant to open up new front after disastrous defeat in Western Europe The British empire was well equipped and prepared for this theatre of the war • Nearly unlimited resources through colonies in both men and material • Also to relieve USSR after Germany invades in 1941 • • Starting in Nov 8 1942, British and United States invade through western North Africa Germans (and especially flailing Italians) cannot hold out against fresh Allied troops • Germany’s first operational loss of the war. Showed possibility to defeat Germany •

NORWAY, NORTH AFRICA, USSR • Operation Barbarossa Codename for the invasion of the USSR, begins on June 22 1941 • Breaks older Non-Aggression pact between two countries • Hitler and the Nazis became anxious with Soviet success in eastern Europe • Especially close proximity to eastern European oil fields, which Hitler controlled • • Invasion was scheduled to begin in early May 1941, but was forced to postpone for 5 weeks Germans were forced to invade Greece and Balkans due to Italian mismanagement • Extra five weeks proved fatal to German success in Russia • • Dangerously close to winter

NORWAY, NORTH AFRICA, USSR • Operation Barbarossa (continued) • Germans brought about 3 million men, 3, 000 tanks, 7, 000 artillery pieces, and 2, 500 aircraft • Plus 30 extra Romanian divisions (about 500, 000 men) Soviets are taken completely by surprise • • Soviets have 2 -3 times as many aircraft and tanks, but the planes are obsolete. • • Heinz Guderian, likely the greatest German general, raced 50 miles into Soviet territory in a single day • • Soviets leave thousands of tanks and planes unguarded Made it to Minsk by June 27 th, more than 200 miles away from original invasion Germans had advanced over 400 miles by mid-July

NORWAY, NORTH AFRICA, USSR • Operation Barbarossa (Continued) Nazis believed USSR would fall apart internally due to heavy losses • Initial invasion stalled by early August, window of attack before winter closes • • Couldn’t agree where to attack next Generals of the High Command wanted to focus on Moscow, believed country would collapse if capital collapsed. • Hitler wanted to focus on Moscow, Stalingrad in the north, and the Caucasus in the south • Hitler wins out, ends up being a military catastrophe •