What was the main purpose of Germany's occupation of Norway at the beginning of World War II? Did Germany use its navy or army to occupy Norway?

The purpose of occupying Norway

1. Focus on water resources.

Heavy water is an indispensable raw material for making atomic bombs. It was extracted from ordinary water containing special minerals.

At that time, the only factory in the world that could extract heavy water was the Norsk Electrical Plant in Norway.

In 1940, Germany conducted research experiments on nuclear fission and ordered heavy water from the Norsk Electrification Plant in Norway. The plant's annual production of heavy water increased from 300 pounds to 10,000 pounds. After the German army occupied Norway, Hitler ordered the factory to produce heavy water in large quantities and ship it to Germany, thereby accelerating the experiment of atomic fission.

2. Protecting Iron Ore Transport Roads

Germany is a resource-poor country. The main sources of iron ore are the Ruhr Industrial Area and Sweden. Domestic poor iron

ores cannot meet production needs even if they are fully exploited. The iron ore imported from Sweden accounts for more than one-third of production every year. Therefore, Swedish iron ore is crucial to Germany. Without Swedish iron ore, there would be no German armored forces.

Swedish iron ore is shipped from the Norwegian port of Narvik to Germany. The entire route happens to be within the territorial waters of Norway.

Since the outbreak of the war, German ships have been sailing freely in Norwegian territorial waters. This is of course something the Allies do not want to see. Churchill publicly called for and secretly tried to prevent this situation. Later, Britain and France It was agreed that Narvik would be mined first to prevent German ships from moving, and then troops would be sent to capture Narvik. And attempts to further use this as a base to seize Lulea Port, another channel for German iron ore transportation.

3. Blockade of British and American support to the Soviet Union

At that time, British and American aid to the Soviet Union started from the United States and Canada, passed through Iceland, the United Kingdom, and then to the northern Soviet Union

< p>The ice-free port of Murmansk, and after Germany occupied Norway, some routes were within the combat radius of German fighter planes

The German Air Force could easily attack transport ships and warships. It is much more cost-effective than the German Navy sending warships and submarines to intercept.

4. Putting pressure on Britain

After occupying Norway, Scapa Flow, an important military port in northern Britain and all seaports in eastern Britain, were far away from Germany

Within the bombing radius of range bombers (but no fighter can escort the whole journey. After giving up Operation Sea Lion, the German Air Force did not use the air force stationed in Norway to bomb the UK)

5. Open the sea port

On the eve of the war, the German navy was ordered to go out to sea to patrol in order to prevent the German navy

from being blocked in the Baltic Sea during World War I. But warships always have to come back to rest. If you go to France, it's too close to the UK and it won't be worth it being bombed. (During the entire war, except for submarines, Germany did not have a major warship that regarded France as its home port.) Taking the North Sea, they were pursued by the British navy the whole time, and seizing Norway, the warships could at least accept it. Germany

Protection by the Air Force.

In addition, during the war, many German merchant ships risked their lives to transport resources and recruit volunteers for Germany (in

In "Band of Brothers", there was a German war criminal who was an American , followed Hitler’s call to recall Germany to join the army.)

6. Weather forecast

Accurate weather forecast is crucial, especially before the Normandy landing.

Under the influence of the monsoon climate, the weather in Norway today will be like the weather in Germany and France in a week or two. (Germany

German meteorological experts failed to predict good weather on June 6, which is why Germany lost the Battle of Normandy)

7. "Westerwald" The incident

was also the reason that led to Hitler's direct decision to invade Norway.

The most important naval action affecting Norwegian neutrality at this stage of the war was taken by the British Navy on February 16, 1940, when the destroyer "Cossack" sailed into the Jessing Fjord and Forcibly approached the German naval ship "Altmark" (it was the auxiliary ship of the "Graf Spee"). A team led by Captain (later Lord Marshal) Philip Vian boarded the enemy ship, defeated the German crew, and rescued the prisoners captured by the "Graf Spee" and hidden on the "Altmark" Two hundred and ninety-nine British prisoners of war. Several shots were fired during the battle, killing four Germans.

It is a very serious international incident for one country to engage in military conflict against a third country in another country, and the two countries are still warring countries. But Norway only gave a mild protest. Based on this, Churchill believed that Norway was weak and could be bullied, and ordered the British Navy to start laying mines in Norwegian waters to threaten the German iron ore transportation lines. Hitler believed that Norway had turned to the British and ordered the start of "Wesser Exercise"

Sweden and Finland did not send troops

Finland has already formed an alliance with Germany, and although Sweden is a neutral country, it has already tilted towards Germany, so there is no attack.

When Germany attacked Norway, it was already a three-dimensional war, and all three armies of the sea, land and air were mobilized.

The Air Force first seizes air superiority and bombs ground targets, and then the Air Force paratroopers seize the airport. After the airport was occupied, Air Force transport aircraft continued to transport subsequent paratroopers and ground troops.

The navy seizes sea control, bombards coastal targets, and then covers the army to forcibly seize the beach.

Due to the unfavorable progress of Operation Sea Lion, the German Marine Corps was unable to cross the English Channel, which was heavily defended by the British Navy and Air Force.

Therefore, they tried to use the North Sea ice shelf to enter the UK directly from the north of the UK. North?

In addition, when Germany invaded Norway, the Sea Lion plan had not yet been proposed. Germany has no marines. The North Sea ice shelf is not as big as it is.

It was only after Germany occupied southern Norway that it began to attack France and occupy France. After France surrendered, Germany began

its plan to attack Britain. At this time, the "Sea Lion Plan" was launched. Start bringing it up. And Norway has fallen for a long time.

Because Germany had no experience in beach landings before, this was the first time for a large-scale airborne operation, and it was ill-prepared for such an operation.

The German army lost more than 5,000 men, 3 cruisers and 10 destroyers. The British, French and Norwegian troops suffered more than 5,000 casualties. The British lost one aircraft carrier, two cruisers, and seven destroyers, and the French lost one destroyer.

Such a loss was only trivial to Britain and France, but it was a considerable loss to Germany. Although German Navy Marshal Raeder and Hitler both thought it was worth it, the German Navy never had a large-scale attack. Operations (except Operation Hellhound). It was completely reduced to a hunting fleet, only dispersed to hunt merchant ships, and did not engage in a head-on battle with the British fleet.