The Phony War ended on the night of April 8, 1940, when British warships have undermined the fjords of Norway to prevent Norwegian copper was sent to Germany. The Norwegian ambassador in London protested, but after a few hours, the Allies witnessed a strong offensive of Nazi Germany invaded Denmark and Norway reached. The surrender of Denmark for Germany was proclaimed on that day, with the aim of saving, thus, losing only a few soldiers.
What appeared as a response to British control over the Norwegian ores, was not more than the culmination of months of study. The German paratroopers secured the aviation field, allowing air and the German navy destroyers covered with ski troops. The arrival of the Germans to Oslo was performed when the cruise Blücher was sunk in the harbor which was parked, delaying thus the end of the Norwegian government. But the German merchant ships loaded with raw materials it possible to support the rapid advance of German troops from the south of the country.
French and British troops have been widely collected and sent to Norway. Almost the moment they arrived in Norway were forced to retreat and surrender, as the advancing Nazi forces within the country. King Haakon VII of Norway left the country and installed a government in exile in London, funded by the Norwegian royal gold.
During the war, the Kriegsmarine lost half of the German destroyers and some cruisers. The German fleet was no longer able to cope with the Royal Navy. Despite these significant casualties, the number of German ships were sent to Norway in order to be repaired. However, these would not be ready in time to prevent the invasion of England, it is not possible to proceed with Operation Sealion (the vessels needed were stationed at the port of Narvik).
The english version of this article will be available soon. In the meanwhile, the text above was the result of a Google translation from portuguese version to english.
