Originally published at: http://timeghost.tv/the-scramble-for-norway-ww2-034-april-20-1940/
The German Invasion of Norway is still very much in full swing. The German Wehrmacht is moving north from Oslo, where a Norwegian force is trying to halt them in anticipation of Allied reinforcements. The British do land in Norway, but don’t necessarily rush to relief the Norwegian army. Meanwhile, Norwegian ‘traitor’ and ‘failure’ Vidkun…
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Sides at present:
World War Two
Allies: Australia+, Bahrain-, Canada, Czechoslovakia^, Danish resistance, France+, Nepal, New Zealand+, Norway, Oman-, Poland^, South Africa, United Kingdom+
Axis: Germany, Slovakia~, USSR*
3rd Parties: Denmark**
Insurgencies in the Italian Empire’
Italian: Italy+
Rebels: Albanian resistance, Ethiopian Arbegnoch
2nd Sino-Japanese War’
Sino: China***
Japanese: Japan+, Manchukuo~, Mengkukuo~, Ngolok Tibetans****, Reorganized ROC~
~puppet
^occupied with resistance movement.
+Includes the country’s colonies or overseas territories
-self-governing protectorate or territory
‘SPOILER WARNING: The Insurgencies in the Italian Empire & the 2nd Sino-Japanese War remain unconnected to World War II until June 1940(When Italy declares war on the Allies) & September 1940 (When Japan invades French Indochina & joins the Tripartite Pact). After these points, I’ll roll them into World War II.
*I have the USSR on the Axis side because both Germany & them are currently at war with Poland(The Soviets invaded on September 17, 1939), divided Poland between themselves pre-invasion, are working together to end the Polish resistance, & are trading war materials. This is all detailed in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty, the German–Soviet Credit Agreement, & the German–Soviet Commercial Agreement. SPOILER WARNING: After Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, I will move them to the 3rd parties list(See my policy on country placement below) & then move them to the Allies after the signing of the Sikorski–Mayski agreement in July 1941 between the Polish government-in-exile & the USSR.
**In the 2nd week of April, both Germany & the United Kingdom invaded & occupied parts of Danish territory(Germany occupied Denmark proper & the United Kingdom occupied the Faroe Islands) to “guarantee their independence and neutrality.” Everyday life went on mostly as before with Local authorities in both areas cooperating with the occupiers. Hitler hoped that Denmark would be “a model protectorate” that would aide his larger goals. Despite this, the Danish national government resisted calls by Germany for legal discrimination against Jewish Danes, the death penalty, & German military courts to have jurisdiction over Danish citizens. The Danish colony of Greenland(being de facto independent at the time) asked the neutral USA to protect them from invasion by the warring powers. Throughout this time, Denmark remained officially neutral despite having Axis & Allied forces on its soil. SPOILER WARNING: On August 29, 1943, after refusing to submit to any further German demands, the Danish government was dissolved & the German military took direct control of the country. At that point, I’ll take Denmark off the 3rd parties list & replace the Danish resistance with Denmark(with an occupied disclaimer).
***The Kuomintang & Communist Parties have signed a truce to fight the Japanese as part of the Second United Front lead by Chiang Kai-shek, but coordination is minimal & both deeply mistrust the other.
****The Ngolok rebellions were a brutal ethnic conflict fought in Qinghai/Amdo between Ngolok Tibetans & the Hui dominated Ma clique who were loyal to the Kuomintang government of China. Despite having a common enemy in the Kuomintang, the Ngolok Tibetans & Japan were only co-belligerents as they didn’t have a formal alliance & didn’t coordinate in military planning.
MY POLICY ON COUNTRY PLACEMENT: If a country declares war on or attacks another country & at least one of them is already involved in World War II, I’ll list the other as a part of the opposing faction. That is why the events of the Winter War are included in the main World War II list & the events of the War of ‘41(Ecuador vs. Peru) will not be. The countries listed in the factions above are comprised of both official members & co-belligerents. The terms “Allies” & “Axis” are used for both kinds of belligerents as a convenient way to distill the world war & it’s adjoining conflicts, with disclaimers used to elaborate on some of the more complicated situations. If a country or resistance movement is at war with at least one country form both factions, I’ll add them to the 3rd parties list with a disclaimer. I have to consolidate factions along co-belligerency or else the number of factions will balloon out of control. Finally, each post only represents the factions as they were 79 years ago to the day. Many countries will join, leave, or switch sides before the war ends for various reasons & I strongly encourage you to look into the situation of each country for yourself.
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It seems that some German veterans still believe Nazi radios and newspapers…
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Well that was illuminating. I don’t want to get too personal, but after watching that video I feel as though a great weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. For years I’ve been harboring this fear that my experiences in Iraq bore any resemblance to that of a Wehrmacht soldier occupying Poland or France. Watching them still try to justify what they did all of those decades later has killed that idea thoroughly. I can at least admit that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake. While I’d still take a bullet for the guys that I deployed with, I’m not going to spend the waning years of my life trying to defend the Haditha massacre or what happened at Abu Ghraib prison. How delusional can you get?
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I’d never heard of the Haditha massacre before. While I still have a great respect for the men & women of the US armed forces(my cousin & her husband were also in Iraq), I’m completely shocked & appalled that some have done something like this in my lifetime.
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Oh my goodness. I remember feeling unsettled when the scandal was made public. The pictures still haunt me to this day. After the incident, I went from supporting the war to questioning its conduct (though I never went full Michael Moore; I still hate him).
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Great video, thanks for sharing @avalantis Shows how these people try to justify their actions and the cause they and their friends fought and died for. I imagine it must be hard to fully commit to accepting that you were wrong… It’s heartbreaking how many nazi-supporters can be found in the comments of this video. That really does show why we need to continue busting myths and addressing the wrongdoings of all sides, including the Wehrmacht…
The Razzia of Putten, the event that the reporter is talking about, is still used here in the Netherlands as a prime example of the Nazi wrongdoings during the German occupation. These veterans are very wrong though, as it was Wehrmachtsbefehlshaber Friedrich Christiansen who ordered the surrounding of Putten.
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The World War I flying ace?
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Looked online & yup, its the same guy.
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