Editing Svalbard (section)

==== Second World War ====
[[File:Demolition of wireless station at Spitzbergen, Operation Gauntlet, 1941 (22418716705).jpg|thumb|Demolition of the wireless station during [[Operation Gauntlet]] in 1941]]

Svalbard, known to both British and Germans as Spitsbergen, was little affected by the [[German invasion of Norway]] in April 1940. The settlements continued to operate as before, mining coal and monitoring the weather.<ref>Dege (2004): 289-296</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=World War II: The Weather War |url=https://svalbardmuseum.no/en/world-war-ii |access-date=26 March 2024 |website=Svalbard Museum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=World War II - Svalbard Museum |url=https://svalbardmuseum.no/en/world-war-ii#:~:text=The%20settlements%20in%20Svalbard%20were%20not%20directly%20affected,1940,%20the%20fighting%20that%20ensued,%20or%20the%20capitulation. |access-date=10 May 2024 |website=svalbardmuseum.no}}</ref>

In July 1941, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the [[Royal Navy]] reconnoitered the islands with a view to using them as a base of operations to send supplies to north Russia, but the idea was rejected as impractical.<ref>Roskill Vol I: 388</ref> Instead, with the agreement of the Soviets and the Norwegian government in exile, in August 1941 the Norwegian and Soviet settlements on Svalbard were evacuated, and facilities there destroyed, in [[Operation Gauntlet]].<ref>Arlov (1996): 397</ref><ref>Roskill Vol I:  389</ref>
However, the Norwegian government in exile decided it would be important politically to establish a garrison in the islands, which was done in May 1942 during [[Operation Fritham]].<ref>Roskill Vol II: 132–133</ref>

Meanwhile, the Germans responded to the destruction of the weather station by establishing a reporting station of their own, codenamed [[Operation Bansö|"Banso"]], in October 1941.<ref>Arlov (1996): 400</ref> They were chased away in October by a visit from what the Germans mistook to be four British warships, but later returned.<ref>Dege (2004): XI</ref> A second station, "Knospe", was established at [[Ny-Ålesund]] in 1941, remaining until 1942. In May 1942, after the arrival of the Fritham force, the German unit at Banso was evacuated.<ref>Dege (2004): XI-XIII</ref>

In September 1943 in [[Operation Zitronella]] a German task force, which included the battleship [[German battleship Tirpitz|''Tirpitz'']], was sent to attack the garrison and destroy the settlements at Longyearbyen and Barentsburg.<ref>Arlov (1996): 402–403</ref> This was achieved, but had little long-term effect: after their departure the Norwegians returned and re-established their presence.<ref>Roskill Vol III:  62</ref>

In September 1944, the Germans set up their last weather station, [[Operation Haudegen]] in [[Nordaustlandet]]; it functioned until after the German surrender.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Selinger |first=Franz |date=1 April 1986 |title=Forsvarsmuseet's Svalbard expeditions 1984 and 1985 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00175022 |journal=GeoJournal |language=en |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=337–340 |doi=10.1007/BF00175022 |issn=1572-9893}}</ref> On 4 September 1945, the soldiers were picked up by a Norwegian seal hunting vessel and surrendered to its captain. This group of men were the last German troops to surrender after the Second World War.<ref>Dege (2004): 258</ref>

After the war, the Soviet Union proposed common Norwegian and Soviet administration and military defence of Svalbard. This was rejected in 1947 by Norway, which two years later joined [[NATO]]. The Soviet Union retained high civilian activity on Svalbard, in part to ensure that the archipelago was not used by NATO.<ref>Arlov (1996): 407–408</ref>