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Music Hello, everyone and welcome to history of the Second World War, episode 163, The Invasion of Norway Part 1, the Altmark Incident.

This week, a big thank you goes out to Stephen, Edward, and Matthew

for choosing to support the podcast by becoming members. You can find out more over at

History of the Second World War.com slash members. The Second World War developed in ways that

none of the belligerents expected when they entered the conflict. This included the invasion

of Norway, which would occur in April

1940. Before the war, and then during the opening months of the war, German leaders did not

plan to invade Norway, and in fact they believed that they should do everything in their

power to keep Norway neutral. This was due to the fact that Norway, in Norwegian territorial waters, were an important

conduit for Scandinavian goods to enter Germany. Norway also had tight ties to Britain, particularly

around their economies, and Norway had the fourth largest merchant marine at this time

in the world. These were ships that the British hoped to take

advantage of by paying them to carry goods during the war years. This meant that both sides of

the conflict wanted Norway to remain neutral. Britain and France did not initially plan on taking

any actions that would cause Norway to abandon that neutrality, but this would begin to change

...