No Norwegian Campaign, what happens to the rest of WW2?

  • Thread starter Deleted member 1487
  • Start date

Deleted member 1487

What if the Altmark incident never occurred and neither combatant goes after Norway? Without the Norwegian Campaign how does WW2 turn out after that? Both Germany and Britain don't experience the losses that occurred in the that campaign, which were proportionally more severe for the Germans, both navally and aerially. That said, the continued neutrality of the Norwegians also means the British don't gain their massive merchant marine, which added rough 40% (IIRC) to the prewar British shipping.

Also without the need to invade Norway, Denmark isn't invaded, so Iceland and Greenland are not then controlled by the Allies.
What does this mean for the Battle of France?
 
The major change is that Chamberlain will probably remain as PM until the Fall of France. I don't know when Churchill might become PM. The parliamentary debate may occur just as the British are evacuating at Dunkirk, and therefore might include discussions of surrender. The political turmoil may be hard to predict. There could be various outcomes, all of which are potentially plausible.

I don't think it will materially affect the Battle of France.

The Germans will not have control of the Norwegian ports reducing their ability to stage U-Boats. They will also not be able to attack future Lend Lease convoys to the USSR as well as they did. The northern route will allow a lot more supplies to flow.

Hitler will not be as concerned about the need to safeguard Norway from attack, so it will mean more troops are available for defense of the continent, and potentially in Finland against the Soviets.

That is assuming Finland even agrees to a Continuation War. With both Sweden and Norway in democratic hands, Finland may opt for continued neutrality. Another option is that Finland enters the war, but let's the Germans know that if the Soviets offer to return all land back, they will accept it and get Hitler's prior approval. If so, Finland could be out of the war before end of 1941 with its land returned. Knowing Finland might make an early peace, he might concentrate German forces in Leningrad in order to take the city rather than hoping for success against Murmansk.
 
Top