Editing Norwegian resistance movement

{{Short description|Resistance to German occupation in WWII}}
{{distinguish|Nordic Resistance Movement}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Norwegian resistance
| place             = Norway
| combatant1        = {{flag|Norway}}<br>{{flagdeco|Norway}} Norwegian resistance groups<br>{{flag|United Kingdom}}<br>{{flag|United States|1912}} (from 1941)<br>{{flag|Soviet Union|1936}} (from 1944)<br>{{flagcountry|Polish government-in-exile}} <br> Training and Material Support: {{flag|Sweden}}
| combatant2        = {{flag|Nazi Germany}}
* {{flagdeco|Norway}} [[Quisling regime]]
* {{flagdeco|Nazi Germany}} [[Reichskommissariat Norwegen]]
| image             = Frigjøringen av Finnmark (16768601503).jpg
| caption           = Soviets meet Norwegians sheltering in a mine in [[Finnmark]]
| date              = 10 June 1940 – 7 May 1945; 4 years, 10 months, 3 weeks, and 6 days
| result            = German forces surrender in Norway<br>[[Liberation of Norway]]
| commander1        = {{flagicon|Norway}} [[Haakon VII]]<br>{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Winston Churchill]]
| commander2        = {{flagicon|Norway}} [[Vidkun Quisling]]<br>{{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} [[Josef Terboven]]<br>{{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} [[Franz Böhme]]
| partof            = [[European theatre of World War II]]
}}
{{Righteous Among the Nations}}

The '''Norwegian resistance''' ([[Norwegian language|Norwegian]]: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the [[German occupation of Norway|occupation of Norway]] by [[Nazi Germany]] began after [[Operation Weserübung]] in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:

*Asserting the [[Legitimacy (political science)|legitimacy]] of the [[Government in exile|exiled government]], and by implication the lack of legitimacy of [[Vidkun Quisling]]'s [[Quisling regime|pro-Nazi regime]] and [[Josef Terboven]]'s [[Reichskommissariat Norwegen|military administration]]
*The initial defence in [[Southern Norway]], which was largely disorganised, but succeeded in allowing the government to escape capture
*The more organised military defence and counter-attacks in parts of [[Western Norway|Western]] and [[Northern Norway]], aimed at securing strategic positions and the evacuation of the government
*[[Armed resistance]], in the form of [[sabotage]], [[commando]] raids, assassinations and other special operations during the occupation
*[[Civil disobedience]] and [[unarmed resistance]]

==Asserting legitimacy of exiled Norwegian government==
The Norwegian government of Prime Minister [[Johan Nygaardsvold]], with the exception of foreign minister [[Halvdan Koht]] and minister of defence [[Birger Ljungberg]], was largely caught by surprise when it became apparent in the early hours of 9 April 1940 that [[Nazi Germany]] had launched an invasion of Norway. Although some of the country's gold reserve had already been removed from Oslo, there were few contingency plans for such an invasion.

The Norwegian government was unprepared and unwilling to capitulate to the ultimatum timed to coincide with the arrival of German troops and delivered by [[Curt Bräuer]], the German representative in Oslo. The German demand that Norway accept the "protection of the Reich" was rebuffed by Koht and the Norwegian government before dawn had broken on the morning of invasion. "''Vi gir oss ikke frivillig, kampen er allerede i gang''", replied Koht. "We will not submit voluntarily; the struggle is already underway."{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}

Anticipating German efforts to capture the government, the entire Norwegian parliament (the ''[[Storting]]''), the [[Haakon VII|royal family]], and cabinet hastily evacuated Oslo by train and car to [[Hamar]] and then on to [[Elverum]], where an extraordinary session of parliament was called. In large part because of the presence of mind of the parliament's president [[Carl Joachim Hambro (1885-1964)|C. J. Hambro]], the ''Storting'' managed to pass an emergency measure (known as the [[Elverum Authorization]]) that gave full authority to the king and his cabinet until the Storting could convene again.

This gave [[Haakon VII|King Haakon VII]] and the cabinet constitutional authority to reject the German emissary's ultimatum to accept the German invasion. Although there were several German attempts to capture or kill the King and the Norwegian government, they managed to evade these attempts and travelled through Norway's remote interior until leaving the country for [[London]] on the British [[heavy cruiser]] {{HMS|Devonshire|39|6}} on 7 June.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://royalnavymemories.co.uk/war-memories-of-devonshire/|title=War Memories of Devonshire|date=2009-07-02|newspaper=Royal Navy Memories|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-01-15}}</ref>{{Norway during World War II}}
{{Scandinavia in World War II}}

Reserving the constitutional legitimacy of the Norwegian government also undermined [[Vidkun Quisling]]'s attempts at claiming the Norwegian government for himself. After Quisling had proclaimed his assumption of the government, several individuals on the Supreme Court took the initiative to establish an Administrative Council (''Administrasjonsrådet'') in an effort to stop him. This became a controversial initiative, in that the legitimate Norwegian government refused to give the council any legal backing, and the German authorities ended up disbanding it.

==Initial defence==
Although some politicians across the political spectrum had advocated strengthening the country's defence capabilities, a longstanding policy of [[disarmament]] following [[World War I]] had left the Norwegian military underfunded and undertrained by the late 1930s. As a result, forces in Southern Norway were largely unprepared for the [[Operation Weserübung|German invasion]], and the invading German army met little initial resistance.

There was also spirited defence seen at other locations, including [[Battle of Midtskogen|Midtskogen]], [[Battle of Hegra Fortress|Hegra]] and [[Battles of Narvik|Narvik]] but these were largely the result of improvised missions by isolated military units and irregular volunteers. The battles slowed the German advance by several days, allowing the Norwegian government to evade capture and conduct critical constitutional business.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC - History - World Wars: The Norway Campaign in World War Two |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/norway_campaign_01.shtml |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref>

The British and French began landing on Norwegian soil within a week of the German invasion.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-14 |title=World War II - Invasion, Norway, Allies {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II/The-invasion-of-Norway |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Counter-attacks==
[[6th Division (Norway)|Several Norwegian military units]] that had mobilised as a precautionary measure in [[Nord-Norge|Northern Norway]] during the [[Winter War]], in cooperation with Polish, French and British forces, launched several counterattacks with moderate success. Allied forces had several successes in Northern Norway, but were redirected for the futile [[Battle of France|defense of France]]. While Northern Norway ultimately fell, efforts there allowed the Norwegian government, including the [[Norwegian royal family]], to escape and maintain the legitimate government in exile, as part of the Allies.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Schlesinger |first=Joe |date=August 5, 2011 |title=Breivik, Quisling and the Norwegian spirit |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/breivik-quisling-and-the-norwegian-spirit-1.1064817 |access-date=January 14, 2025 |website=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]}}</ref>

While on station in [[London]], the government contributed to Norwegian forces with the Allied effort and ordered the Norwegian Merchant Fleet to assist in troop transportation. To expedite this ships operated under the [[Nortraship]] organisation, which at that time was the world's largest shipping company. It created apprehension among the Nazi leadership that Allied forces might try to recapture Norway with the intention of denying German naval units access to the [[Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic]], tying up several hundred thousand troops that otherwise might have been deployed to other fronts.

==Armed resistance==
[[File:NorskPolitistyrkeSwedenWW2.jpg|300px|thumb|Norwegian refugees undergoing military training in Sweden]][[File:German surrender of Akershus Fortress.jpg|thumb|200px|The German surrender of [[Akershus Fortress]] to [[Terje Rollem]] on 11 May 1945.]]

Although Norway did not have any major battles beyond those of the [[Norwegian Campaign]], a number of military operations served to subvert the Nazi authorities and contribute to the larger war effort. [[Milorg]] started out as a small sabotage unit and ended up building a full military force in time for the liberation. [[Norwegian Independent Company 1|Company Linge]] was a special operations unit that specialised in coastal insertions and combat. There were [[British Commandos#Some World War II operations|repeated raids]] in [[Lofoten]], [[Måløy]], and other coastal areas.

Norwegian spotters aided in the destruction of numerous German [[warship]]s, such as the battleships {{Ship|German battleship|Bismarck||2}}{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} and {{Ship|German battleship|Tirpitz||2}}.<ref>Forsgren, Jan. "Sinking the Beast: The RAF 1944 Lancaster Raids Against Tirpitz" Fonthill Media, 2017.</ref><ref>Kristian Ottosen: ''Theta theta'' (s. 39–41), Universitetsforlaget, Oslo 1983, {{ISBN|82-00-06823-4}}</ref> The Norwegian resistance also smuggled people in and out of Norway during the war, through Sweden or by fishing boats to [[Shetland]], nicknamed the "[[Shetland bus]]". A number of saboteurs, most notably [[Max Manus]] and [[Gunnar Sønsteby]], destroyed ships and supplies. Perhaps its most famous achievements were a [[Norwegian heavy water sabotage|series of operations]] to destroy [[Norsk Hydro]]'s [[heavy water]] plant and stockpile of heavy water at [[Vemork]], crippling the [[German nuclear weapon project|German nuclear programme]].<ref name=":0" /> The Germans attempted to stifle Resistance activities and executed several innocent Norwegian men, women, and children in retaliation after any Resistance act.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}} Probably the worst act of [[reprisal]] was the assault on the fishing village of [[Telavåg]] in the spring of 1942.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.bt.no/nyheter/lokalt/Sondagen-dei-aldri-gloymer-44499b.html |title=Søndagen dei aldri gløymer|publisher= [[Bergens Tidende]] |language=no |date=26 April 2002|access-date=14 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.bt.no/nyheter/lokalt/Telavag-barnas-grufulle-minner-44500b.html |title=Telavåg-barnas grufulle minner |author=Oddleiv Lygre|publisher= [[Bergens Tidende]] |language=no |date=26 April 2002|access-date=14 March 2017}}</ref>

To assist with the sabotage campaign, the United States sent [[Office of Strategic Services|OSS]] forces, including future CIA director [[William Colby]], into Norway to support resistance.<ref name="TMNK">{{cite video |people=Carl Colby (director) |date=September 2011 |title=The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby |url=http://firstrunfeatures.com/themannobodyknew/ |medium=Motion picture |publisher=Act 4 Entertainment |location=New York City |access-date= October 12, 2011 |ref=15 September 2011}}</ref> In the mid-1980s, it was revealed that [[Sweden]] aided the Norwegian resistance movement with training and equipment in a series of camps along the Norwegian border. To avoid suspicion, they were camouflaged as [[Norwegian police troops in Sweden during World War II|police training camps]]. By 1944, some 7,000–8,000 men had been secretly trained in Sweden.<ref>Monsen, Kurt. [http://www.nuav.net/police.html Police units in Sweden: Norwegian resistance Page 1]. Accessed April 3, 2010.</ref>

During the [[Liberation of Finnmark]] from 1944 to 1945, 1,442 police troops from Sweden would be flown in to assist the Soviets and [[Free Norwegian Forces]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} In addition to forces brought in from abroad, local troops were also recruited.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Intelligence gathering within occupied Norway was very much needed for the Allied forces, and several organizations were established for this, the largest and most efficient of which was called [[XU]]. Established by [[Arvid Storsveen]], its members were students from the [[University of Oslo]]. One interesting fact was that two of its four leaders were young women, among them [[Anne-Sofie Østvedt]].

One of the leading sabotage organisations in Norway during most of World War II was the communist [[Osvald Group]] led by [[Asbjørn Sunde]].<ref name=kl-osvald>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Borgersrud | first=Lars |author-link=Lars Borgersrud |editor=Hans Fredrik Dahl |encyclopedia=[[Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45]] |title= Osvald-gruppen |language=no |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2010113005006 |access-date=15 September 2008 |year=1995 |publisher=Cappelen |location=Oslo |isbn= 82-02-14138-9 }}</ref>

During the war years, the resistance movement in occupied Norway had 1,433 members killed, of whom 255 were women.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor=Dahl, Hans Fredrik |encyclopedia=[[Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45]] |title=tap |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2010113005006 |access-date=6 June 2015 |year=1995 |publisher=Cappelen |location=Oslo |isbn=8202141389 |pages=414–415 |language=no |editor-link=Hans Fredrik Dahl }}</ref>

==Civil disobedience==
[[File:Norway 1 Krone 1940 obverse H7 monogram.jpg|200px|thumb|The obverse of a 1940 [[Norwegian krone]]. Coins with the H7 monogram were worn by Norwegian nationalists as jewellery during the occupation, and subsequently confiscated by German authorities.]]

The first mass outbreak of civil disobedience occurred in the autumn of 1940, when students of [[Oslo University]] began to wear [[paper clips]] on their lapels to demonstrate their resistance to the German occupiers and their Norwegian collaborators. A seemingly innocuous item, the paper clip was a symbol of solidarity and unity ("we are bound together"), implying resistance.<ref name=":0" /> The wearing of paper clips, the popular [[H7 (monogram)|H7 monogram]] and similar symbols (red garments, [[Bobble hat]]s) was outlawed and could lead to arrest and punishment.

Of lesser military importance was the distribution of [[Underground media in German-occupied Europe|illegal newspapers]] (often with news items culled from [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] news broadcasts; possession of radios was illegal). The purpose of this was twofold: it counteracted [[Nazi propaganda]], and it maintained nationalistic, anti-German feelings in the population at large. It has been suggested that combating the illegal press expended German resources out of proportion to the illegal media's actual effects.

Finally, there was the attempt at maintaining an "ice front" against the German soldiers. This involved, among other things, never speaking to a German if it could be avoided (many pretended to speak no [[German language|German]], though it was then almost as prevalent as [[English language|English]] is now) and refusing to sit beside a German on [[public transport]]. The latter was so annoying to the occupying German authorities that it became illegal to stand on a bus if seats were available.

Nazi authorities (both German and Norwegian) attempted to pressure school teachers into supporting the regime and its propaganda. Wages were withheld, and on 20 March 1942, <!--[[no:wiki/Læreraksjonen i 1942]]-->1100 male teachers were arrested, of which 642 were sent to Arctic Norway doing forced labour.<ref name="Kolseth">{{cite web |last1=Kolseth |first1=Hans Ivar Moss |title=Krigen frå kateteret |url=https://www.nrk.no/norge/krigen-fra-kateteret-1.14991514 |website=NRK |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200510010623/https://www.nrk.no/norge/krigen-fra-kateteret-1.14991514 |archive-date=10 May 2020 |language=nn-NO |date=8 May 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Birkemo |first1=Asbjørn |title=Kampen om kateteret : skolepolitikk og pedagogikk i Norge 1940-1945 |date=2000 |publisher=Unipub |location=Oslo |isbn=8274770439}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Norge i krig : fremmedåk og frihetskamp 1940-1945 |date=1984–1987 |publisher=Aschehoug |location=Oslo |isbn=8203111440}}</ref>

Towards the end of the war, the resistance became more open, with rudimentary military organizations set up in the forests around the larger cities. A number of Nazi [[Collaborationism|collaborator]]s and officials were killed, and those collaborating with the German or Quisling authorities were [[Shunning|ostracized]], both during and after the war.

The [[Norway's Resistance Museum|Norwegian Resistance Museum]], at [[Akershus Fortress]], [[Oslo]], gives a good account of the activities of the Norwegian resistance movement.

==See also==<!-- Please respect alphabetical order -->
{{div col}}
*[[Allied campaign in Norway]]
*[[Flight of the Norwegian National Treasury]]
*[[Free Norwegian Forces]]
*[[H7 (monogram)]]
*[[Milorg]]
*[[No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando]]
*[[Norway's Resistance Museum]]
*[[Norwegian heavy water sabotage]]
*[[Norwegian Independent Company 1]]
*[[Operation Archery]]
*[[Oslo Gang]]
*[[Tarnschriften]]
*[[They Raid by Night]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{More footnotes|date=June 2011}}

===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite web|url=http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/hod/dok/NOUer/1998/NOU-1998-12/26/6/2.html?id=375562|title=NOU 1998.12: Alta bataljon (aka "The Eitinger Report") – section 11.6.2: Sivorg|author=Norwegian government| year=1998|work=Norges offentlige utredninger|language=no}}

==Further reading==
* Baard Herman Borge & Lars-Erik Vaale (2020) "[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03468755.2020.1762724 Stretching the Rule of Law: How the Norwegian resistance movement influenced the provisional treason decrees of the exile government, 1944–1945]." ''Scandinavian Journal of History''.
* Herrington, Ian. ''Special Operations in Norway: SOE and Resistance in World War II'' (Bloomsbury Academic, 2019) [https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=54122 online book review]
* Lovell, Stanley P. (1963), ''Of Spies and Stratagems'', New York:  Prentice Hall.

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Resistance in Norway during World War II}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100803034610/http://www.mil.no/felles/nhm/start/eng/ Norway's Resistance Museum]
*[https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/christian-bay-fonds Archival papers] of Dr. [[Christian Bay]] and his involvement in the Norwegian resistance movement in WWII held at the [https://utarms.library.utoronto.ca/ University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services]

{{World War II}}
{{Resistance in World War II by country}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norwegian Resistance Movement}}
[[Category:Norwegian resistance movement| ]]
[[Category:Resistance against Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:World War II resistance movements]]