The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Chapter 20: The Conquest of Denmark and Norway Summary

As Shirer explains, the invasion of Norway wasn't actually Hitler's idea.
The German Navy played the decisive role, under the OKW, which coordinated all the armed services.
Germany's naval officers knew that in order to wage a successful war on the seas, they'd need bases in Norway.
Norway's geographical situation offered a lot of strategic benefits, but Hitler was hesitant at first to violate Norway's neutrality.

The Emergence of Vidkun Quisling

The name Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Quisling was to become like Benedict Arnold—a synonym for "traitor."
Shirer begins this section by describing Quisling's early life, as well as his careers in politics and the military, then explains how Quisling came to hatch a plan for a Nazi coup in Norway—one modeled on the coup that Arthur Seyss-Inquart had engineered in Austria.
The Nazis soon decided that occupying Norway would be a good idea.
The plan they cooked up soon included a plan for simultaneous aggression against Denmark.
Hey, they were in the neighborhood, so why not?
By the middle of March 1940, Hitler still hadn't set a firm date for the occupations of Norway and Denmark. Something else had distracted him.

In March 1940 the U.S. Undersecretary of State, Sumner Wells, paid a visit to Berlin. He was on a mission from President Roosevelt to see if there was a chance of ending the war before it became a global Armageddon.
Shirer describes Hitler's knowledge of the U.S. at this particular moment in time as "abysmal."
Germany knew the U.S. was sympathetic to their enemies, but they didn't think the U.S. had the military strength to be much of a threat.
Basically, they didn't take them very seriously.
During Wells's visit to Berlin, the American diplomat mentioned that he'd recently spoken with Mussolini in Italy, who seemed to think that there was still a chance for peace in Europe.
Shirer offers a detailed account of the conversations and negotiations that eventually resulted in Mussolini's firm decision to join Hitler's war.

We're back with our hapless group of anti-Nazi conspirators who, try as they might, never seemed to get very far in their plans.
Some of the German Army generals who'd been involved with the resistance up to this point didn't seem to be too interested in overthrowing Hitler anymore. Instead, their thoughts were focused on the upcoming invasions of Norway and Denmark.

Both Denmark and Norway had been given warnings about the invasions, none of which were taken all that seriously.
Hitler was serious, though. He had detailed plans for the invasion of three neutral countries.
The Nazi invasion of Denmark was accomplished in next to no time. The Danish king was given a choice to accept the occupation or resist and risk much worse.
He accepted Hitler's terms.
It was only four years later, when it appeared that Germany might lose the war, that Danish resistance began.

Germany easily seized Norway's harbors and ports.
Shirer devotes several paragraphs to describing the actions that were taken by the Norwegian royal family and the Norwegian government as the Germans pressured them to surrender.
While the Nazi invasion was going on, Vidkun Quisling was doing his best to orchestrate a coup.
Ironically, it was Quisling's treachery that rallied Norway to resist the occupation and refuse to surrender.
The Nazis attempted to murder the Norwegian heads of state by destroying the village where they were thought to be hiding.

In short order, Britain had entered the battle for Norway, and Shirer begins this section by describing the British Navy's offensive against the invading Nazi forces, as well as the Allied offensive on the ground.
The ground offensive came to an abrupt halt in early June, when the German Army suddenly attacked on the Western front, and all the Allied forces were needed there.
After thousands of Allied troops were quickly pulled out of Norway and brought to the Western front, the Nazis succeeded in taking Norway.
Next up: Belgium and The Netherlands.