1940 Norway Campaign Part 1 of 5: Introduction

The Altmark incident shows how neutral Norway could satisfy neither Britain's demand to free captured sailors nor Germany's demand that the support ship continue through Norwegian waters.

Vian's signals reveal a substantial British interception and boarding force assembled outside Jøssingfjord while a Norwegian gunboat tried to enforce Altmark's authorized passage.

The bridge negotiations show British and Norwegian officers searching for a lawful route through the crisis, while their later disagreements reveal how diplomacy shaped their recollections.

The flawed Anglo-German Naval Agreement paired negotiated limits with intelligence gathering while Britain also sought room to rearm against Japan.

Frequent changes in the defence ministry and a cabinet divided over security left Norway without coherent preparation as the European crisis deepened.

Koht's peace activism and his willingness during the Spanish Civil War to protect Norwegian shipping frame an argument that neutrality depended on credible defensive strength.

The choice of gracious, passive Ljungberg over the sharper Ruge allowed the government to answer criticism of Labour's defence record without changing that policy.

Norway's cabinet chose a gradual, unannounced reserve mobilization that assumed time, one landing area, and the chance to seek aid from the invader's enemy.

Norway's theoretical manpower advantage mattered only if reserves mobilized before Germany's smaller first wave seized the places needed to organize resistance.

Six German naval groups carried troops toward Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen, Kristiansand and Arendal, Oslo, and Egersund, creating several distant crises at once.

Norway's senior army leadership shared responsibility for weak readiness because Commander-in-Chief Kristian Laake had supported defence cuts since his 1931 appointment.

Germany attacked Denmark and Norway almost simultaneously; Denmark helped sustain later echelons while Norway's leaders still hoped for time to mobilize quietly.

The introduction closes by previewing the German warship losses and the Royal Navy's destroyer, battleship, and air attacks around Narvik.