Norway Surrenders: Nazi Occupation Begins
King Haakon VII of Norway refused to accept a German ultimatum demanding he appoint Vidkun Quisling as prime minister, telling his cabinet on April 9, 1940, that he would rather abdicate. Norway surrendered on June 9, 1940, after two months of fighting, making it the country that resisted the German invasion longest in 1940. Haakon and his government escaped to London, where they maintained a government-in-exile for five years. The Norwegian merchant fleet, the fourth largest in the world, served the Allied cause throughout the war. Quisling ran a puppet government in Oslo whose name became synonymous with "traitor." He was executed by firing squad on October 24, 1945. King Haakon returned to Oslo on June 7, 1945, to enormous celebrations, and reigned until his death in 1957.
June 9, 1940
86 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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