Operation Weserubung was the German invasion of Denmark and Norway, launched by sea and air on the same morning. Denmark, a small and flat country, surrendered within hours. In Norway, German forces seized the main ports, including Oslo, Bergen and Narvik, though they lost a heavy cruiser, the Blucher, in the Oslofjord, which gave the Norwegian government time to escape. Britain, France and Poland sent forces to help, but they were hampered by German air superiority, and after the attack on France in May they withdrew. King Haakon VII and his government went into exile in London, and Norway remained under German occupation until 1945, with a puppet government under Vidkun Quisling.
Before and after
- 10 March 1940Birth of Chuck Norris
- 12 March 1940Moscow Peace Treaty
- 16 March 1940Death of Selma Lagerlöf
- 1 April 1940Birth of Wangari Muta Maathai
- from 9 April 1940 to 10 June 1940Operation Weserübung
- 13 April 1940Birth of Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
- 16 April 1940Birth of Margrethe II of Denmark
- 25 April 1940Birth of Al Pacino
- from 10 May 1940 to 25 June 1940Battle of France
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918World War I
- 1917Russian Revolution
- 28 June 1919Treaty of Versailles
- from 1933 to 1945The Holocaust
- 30 January 1933Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
- from 18 July 1936 to 1 April 1939Spanish Civil War
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.