An Analysis Of The Norwegian Resistance During The Second World War

Major Kim M. Johnson

• Publisher: Lucknow Books
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781786250537
• Topic: Historia
• Subtopic: Historia militar y marítima

The Norwegian Resistance during the Second World War (April 1940-June 1945) was basically a peaceful set of events conducted by the civilian population as well as underground military organizations. While sabotage and other hostile resistance acts did occur, they were not great in number. It should not be overlooked the Norwegian Armed Forces did fight for 63 days before admitting defeat to Germany.This paper will answer the question "Was the Norwegian Resistance successful against the German Nazis once their country was taken over by them during the Second World War?" The Warden theory of the organization of a system is used to categorize the Resistance movement, dissecting it and placing it in categories. Centers of gravity are noted and discussed. While the Norwegians did not have the military strength to beat the Germans, they did win many battles via their Resistance to the German Rule. These victories along with German acknowledgment prove the Norwegian Resistance was successful against the German Army and its rule over Norway.

Chapter 1 — Introduction

“The purpose of Norway’s Resistance Museum is “contributing to the presentation of a true and authentic picture of the occupation by means of objects, pictures, printed matter, etc., collected, preserved and exhibited with a view to giving the young people of today and coming generations a true-to-life impression of the evil represented by occupation and foreign rule, in this way helping to strengthen the sense of unity and defense of our national liberties.”“—Norway’s Resistance Museum

While it is expected readers of this paper will have a general knowledge of World War Two and of Col John Warden’s Five Ring model of analyzing systems, a brief discussion of both is furnished within Chapter Two. A short list of historical events leading up to the German invasion of Norway and the basic points of the Warden analysis model provide a common baseline for the reader.

In Chapter Three, Warden’s five ring model will be used to analyze the system of the Norwegians. The analysis will include a discussion of how Norway views itself and what measures it would have to take as a nation to protect its centers of gravity. This will reflect how the Norwegians saw themselves and what measures they took in order to protect themselves from the German Nazis. Chapter Three also presents in detail Norway’s view of the Germans and Norway’s predicament of occupation. While the Norwegian’s had little military strength, they analyzed the situation and conducted missions within their ability to execute while fighting the German regime. Their actions, or lack thereof, were carefully thought out to ensure the safety of the Norwegian general public. Public safety and the safety of those in concentration camps was a continuous consideration of whether to conduct operations against the Nazis.

Chapter Four presents major triumphs of the Norwegian Resistance. Due to the limited scope of this project, not all victories can be mentioned. Statements describing the German reactions to the Resistance movement will also be included. This chapter will prove the success of the Norwegian Resistance.

Chapter Five consists of concluding remarks and will highlight several main points presented in earlier chapters. This chapter will also provide a closure to this project.

Chapter 2 — Baseline of Understanding

“The military part of the invasion plan was brilliantly conceived, and, on the whole, brilliantly executed.”—William Warbey, Look to Norway

History

While it is expected the reader has a basic knowledge of the events leading up to World War Two, a short background is provided as a reference point. See Appendix A for a map of Scandinavia in 1939. Events leading to the invasion of Norway are outlined below:

• September 29-30, 1938. Britain’s Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain meets Adolf Hitler in Munich to discuss “Peace in our time.”
• March 1939. Hitler’s troops occupy Czechoslovakia.
• April 1939. Mussolini marches into Albania.
• August 24, 1939. German/Soviet Russian non-aggression pact signed in Moscow.
• September 1, 1939. Hitler invades Poland.
• September 3, 1939. Britain and France declare war on Germany.
• October 18, 1939. Scandinavian heads of state meet to confirm their neutrality.
• November 30, 1939. Russia invades Finland.
• February 16, 1940. The Altmark/Cossack episode.
• April 8, 1940. Britain mines Norwegian territorial waters.
• April 8, 1940. A German troop transport is torpedoed off Kristiansand.{1}

Warden’s Five Ring Model

Col John Warden’s Five Ring Model provides a chart in which you can organize the parts of various systems. The five rings, or categories, are briefly described in descending order of criticality. The most important, or critical, is the leadership. This is this brain, government, security, or central control of a facility. Second is the system essentials, described as vital organs, energy, money, or input/output. The infrastructure is next which is linked with vessels, bones, roads, factories, or transmission lines of a system. The fourth ring or category is the population. This describes the cells, people, or workers. Finally, the fielded forces includes items such as leukocytes, military, police, firemen, or repairmen.{2}

In strategic analysis, the systems approach can be used in understanding the enemy, as well as ourselves. This description can be visualized in two ways. The first way to visualize this theory is with the use of five concentric rings, with the most important category in the center. The rest of the categories flow around each other. This shows the system is an interdependent system, giving relative importance of each entity contained within a given ring.{3} The second way is to use a chart with the headings across the top and the items or parts listed beneath each heading. This paper will use the chart format.

Chapter 3 — System Analysis of Norway and Germany

“Care had to be taken of the gold of the Bank of Norway, the reserves so vitally important to the future of the Kingdom of Norway. Loaded on trucks, drawn on sledges where the condition of the road was bad, unguarded but protected by the instincts of a whole nation, the gold came all the way through the Gudbransdal and across to the fjords. How it was taken out of Oslo, how all those many tons of bullion worth more than a hundred million dollars, were carried along with the Army, in front of the Army, is a fantastic modern romance.” —Mr. Carl J. Hambro, President of the Norwegian Storting, 1940 Pimpernel Gold

Using Col Warden’s five ring analysis model, people, places, and things are categorized under the five headings of leadership, system essentials, infrastructure, population, and fielded forces. Under each of these headings, identification of major centers of gravity for Norwegian survival and the German war machine becomes clear. An explanation of the main entries for Norway and Germany, to include Norwegian Resistance actions, follows the table.

Table 1. Norwegian and German Systems

Leadership

After 125 years of peaceful existence on the outskirts of world events, the Norwegian nation had, in a span of 60 days, experienced invasion, treason, war, and defeat.{4} In spite of this fact, before the war really began for Norway, the Norwegians knew what was important for their nation to survive a major crisis.

On the early morning of April 9, 1940, the Germans began their famous blitzkrieg attacks against Norway. Fortunately fo...