Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the steady advance of democracy, parliaments, labor unions, and constitution-
al monarchies. The 20th century would quicken that pace.
In1905—afterfiveandahalfcenturiesofDanishandSwedishrule—Norway
finally was granted independence when it voted overwhelmingly to break
from Sweden. National pride ran high, as Oslo's own Roald Amundsen be-
came the first person to reach the South Pole (in 1911—for more, see the
Swedish and Russian rule—won their independence while Russia was dis-
tracted by the Bolshevik Revolution.
The Scandinavian nations remained neutral through World War I. But
when Hitler's Nazi Germany began its European conquest in World War II, it
was impossible for Scandinavians—try as they might—to remain uninvolved.
While officially neutral, Sweden allowed Nazi troops “on leave” to march
through. (Sweden's neutrality later provided a safe haven for Danish Jews and
a refuge for the Danish and Norwegian resistance movements.)
Germany invaded Denmark and Norway on April 9, 1940, with Operation
Weserübung. Scattered fighting at the Danish border was quickly put down,
and Denmark capitulated and officially cooperated with the Nazis until 1943,
when the Germans took over the government. Danish resistance groups har-
riedtheNazisandprovidedintelligence totheAllies(seetheMuseumofDan-
rabbi that the Jews were about to be deported. Danish citizens quickly hid and
eventually evacuated all but 500 of Denmark's Jews to neutral Sweden.
Norway'sarmyheldoutafewweekslonger,allowingtimeforKingHåkon
VII to flee and organize a vital resistance movement (memorialized at Oslo's
Norwegian Resistance Museum,
here
). Norway spent the war chafing under a
Nazi puppet government headed by Vidkun Quisling, whose surname has be-
come synonymous with “traitor.”
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway came out of the war without the hor-
rendous damage and loss of life suffered elsewhere in Europe—in part, prob-
ably, because Hitler wanted to turn the Scandinavian countries into model
