APRIL 1940

INVASION OF NORWAY

• April 1940, German warships enter major Norwegian ports
• German forces were able to slip through the mines of Britain that had laid around Norwegian ports
• Local garrisons were ordered to allow the Germans to land unopposed.
• Hours after the invasion, the German minister in Oslo demanded Norway's surrender.
• The Norwegian government refused, and Germany responded with a parachute invasion

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• Norwegian forces refused to accept German rule
• Continued to fight alongside British troops.

INVASION OF DENMARK

• In Denmark, King Christian X surrendered immediately
• He thought that his army would have no chance
• Denmark became the third country to be conquered by Germany

MAY1940

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• Hitler begins his Western offensive with the radio code word "Danzig
• He sends his troops to Holland and Belgium
• Winston Churchill becomes PM of Britain
• Allied forces attempted to meet the 136 German divisions
• 2,500 German aircraft proceeded to bomb airfields

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• 16,000 German airborne troops parachuted
• The Dutch army was defeated in five days.
• The Dutch and Belgian governments immediately appealed to Britain for help
• German bombs dropped on London in a spring "blitz,"
• Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland in an attempt to negotiate a truce