The Invasion Of Denmark And Norway
[Page 27]
The aggressive war against Poland was but the beginning. The
aggression of Nazi Germany quickly spread from country to
country. In point of time the first two countries to suffer
were Denmark and Norway.
On the 31st May, 1939, a Treaty of Non-Aggression was made
between Germany and Denmark, and signed by the Defendant
Ribbentrop. It was there solemnly stated that the parties to
the Treaty were "firmly resolved to maintain peace between
Denmark and Germany under all circumstances." Nevertheless,
Germany invaded Denmark on the 9th April, 1940.
On the 2nd September, 1939, after the outbreak of war with
Poland, Germany sent a solemn assurance to Norway in these
terms:
On the 9th April, 1940, in pursuance of her plan of
campaign, Norway was invaded by Germany.
The idea of attacking Norway originated, it appears, with
the Defendants Raeder and Rosenberg. On the 3rd October,
1939 Raeder prepared a memorandum on the subject of "gaining
bases in Norway" and amongst the questions discussed was
the question: "Can bases be gained by military force against
Norway's will, if it is impossible to carry this out without
fighting?" Despite this fact, three days later, further
assurances were given to Norway by Germany, which stated:
Three days later again, the Defendant Doenitz prepared a
memorandum on the same subject of bases in Norway, and
suggested the establishment of a base in Trondheim with an
alternative of supplying fuel in Narvik. At the same time
the Defendant Raeder was in correspondence with Admiral
Karls, who pointed out to him the importance of an
occupation of the
[Page 28]
Norwegian coast by Germany. On the 10th October, Raeder
reported to Hitler the disadvantages to Germany which an
occupation by the British would have. In the months of
October and November Raeder continued to work on the possible
occupation of Norway, in conjunction with the "Rosenberg
Organisation." The "Rosenberg Organisation"
was the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the NSDAP, and Rosenberg
as Reichsleiter was in charge of it. Early in December,
Quisling, the notorious Norwegian traitor, visited Berlin
and was seen by the Defendants Rosenberg and Raeder. He put
forward a plan for a coup d'etat in Norway. On the 12th
December, the Defendant Raeder and the naval staff, together
with the Defendants Keitel and Jodl, had a conference with
Hitler, when Raeder reported on his interview with Quisling,
and set out Quisling's views. On the 16th December, Hitler
himself interviewed Quisling on all these matters. In the
report of the activities of the Foreign Affairs Bureau of
the NSDAP for the years 1933 to 1943, under the heading of
"Political Preparations for the Military Occupation of
Norway" it is stated that at the interview with Quisling
Hitler said that he would prefer a neutral attitude on the
part of Norway as well as the whole of Scandinavia, as he
did not desire to extend the theater of war, or to draw
other nations into the conflict. If the enemy attempted to
extend the war he would be compelled to guard himself
against that undertaking. He promised Quisling financial
support, and assigned to a special military staff the
examination of the military questions involved.
On The 27th January, 1940, a memorandum was prepared by the
Defendant Keitel regarding the plans for the invasion of
Norway. On 28th February, 1940 the Defendant Jodl entered in
his diary:
On the 1st March Hitler issued a directive regarding the
Weser Exercise which contained the words:
On the 24th March, the naval operation orders for the Weser
Exercise were issued, and on 30 March the Defendant Doenitz
as Commander-in-Chief of U-boats issued his operational
order for the occupation of Denmark and Norway. On the 9th
April, 1940, the German forces invaded Norway and Denmark.
From this narrative it is clear that as early as October,
1939, the question of invading Norway was under
consideration. The defense that has been made here is that
Germany was compelled to attack Norway to forestall an
Allied invasion, and her action was therefore preventive.
It must be remembered that preventive action in foreign
territory is justified only in case of "an instant and
overwhelming necessity for self-defense, leaving no choice
of means, and no moment of deliberation" (The Caroline
[Page 29]
Case, 1808.6.C.Rob.461). How widely the view was held in
influential German circles that the Allies intended to
occupy Norway cannot be determined with exactitude. Quisling
asserted that the Allies would intervene in Norway with the
tacit consent of the Norwegian Government. The German
Legation at Oslo disagreed with this view although the Naval
Attache at that Legation shared it.
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(Part
1 of 2)
"The German Reich Government is determined in
view of the friendly relations which exist between
Norway and Germany under no circumstance to prejudice
the inviolability and integrity of Norway, and to
respect the territory of the Norwegian State. In
making this declaration the Reich Government naturally
expects, on its side, that Norway will observe an
unimpeachable neutrality towards the Reich and will
not tolerate any breaches of Norwegian neutrality by
any third party which might occur. Should the attitude
of the Royal Norwegian Government differ from this so
that any such breach of neutrality by a third party
occurs, the Reich Government would then obviously be
compelled to safeguard the interests of the Reich in
such a way as the resulting situation might dictate."
"Germany has never had any conflicts of interest
or even points of controversy with the Northern States
and neither has she any today."
"I proposed first to the Chief of OKW and then to
the Fuehrer that Case Yellow (that is the
operation against the Netherlands) and Weser
Exercise (that is the operation against Norway and
Denmark) must be prepared in such a way that they
will be independent of one another as regards both
time and forces employed."
"The development of the situation in Scandinavia
requires the making of all preparations for the
occupation of Denmark and Norway by a part of the
German Armed Forces. This operation should prevent
British encroachment on Scandinavia and the
Baltic; further, it should guarantee our ore base
in Sweden and give our Navy and Air Force a wider
start line against Britain .. The crossing of the
Danish border and the landings in Norway must take
place simultaneously .. It is most important that
the Scandinavian States as well as the Western
opponents should be taken by surprise by our
measures."
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