Operation Weserübung

Operation Weserübung
Part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War
Clockwise from top: German forces advancing near Bagn in Valdres, King Haakon VII of Norway and his son Crown Prince Olav during a German air raid on Molde, German bombing of the coastal fortress Oscarsborg, German Gebirgsjäger troops near Narvik, and Norwegian artillery in action near Narvik.
Date 9 April – 10 June 1940 (2 months, and 1 day) Location Denmark, Norway Result German victory Occupation of Denmark and Norway
Belligerents
Germany	Norway  Denmark   United Kingdom France Polish government-in-exile
Commanders and leaders
Nikolaus von Falkenhorst Leonhard Kaupisch Gerd von Rundstedt Eduard Dietl Hans Ferdinand Geisler Alfred Saalwächter	Kristian Laake Otto Ruge Carl Gustav Fleischer William Wain Prior Adrian Carton de Wiart Charles Tolver Paget Pierse Joseph Mackesy
Strength
9 divisions 1 artillery battalion 1 motorized rifle brigade Total: 120,000	Norway: 6 divisions: ~60,000 Denmark: 2 divisions: ~14,500 Allies ~35,000 Total: ~109,500
Casualties and losses
Heer: Kriegsmarine: 1 heavy cruiser 2 light cruisers 10 destroyers various U-boats, transports and smaller warships Luftwaffe: 1,130 air crew 341 KIA 448 MIA Total: 5,636 KIA or MIA 341 WIA	Royal Norwegian Navy & Army: 1,335 KIA  ? MIA Denmark: 26 KIA and 23 WIA Allies: 4,765 KIA Total: 6,116 KIA

German victory

Operation Weserübung (German: [ˈveːsɐˌʔyːbʊŋ]) was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. The name comes from the German for Operation Weser-Exercise (Unternehmen Weserübung), the Weser being a German river.

In the early morning of 9 April 1940 (Wesertag; "Weser Day"), Germany invaded Denmark and Norway, ostensibly as a preventive manoeuvre against a planned, and openly discussed, Franco-British occupation of Norway. After the invasions, envoys of the Germans informed the governments of Denmark and Norway that the Wehrmacht had come to protect the countries' neutrality against Franco-British aggression. Significant differences in geography, location and climate between the two countries made the actual military operations very dissimilar.

The invasion fleet's nominal landing time—Weserzeit ("Weser Time")—was set to 05:15 German time, equivalent to 04:15 Norwegian time.

Starting in the spring of 1939, the British Admiralty began to view Scandinavia as a potential theatre of war in a future conflict with Germany. The British government was reluctant to engage in another land conflict on the continent that they believed would be a repetition of the First World War. So they began considering a blockade strategy in an attempt to weaken Germany indirectly. German industry was heavily dependent on the import of iron ore from the northern Swedish mining district, and much of this ore was shipped through the northern Norwegian port of Narvik during the winter months. Control of the Norwegian coast would also serve to tighten a blockade against Germany.

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