Reichskommissariat Norwegen The Reichskommissariat Norwegen was the civilian occupation regime set up by Nazi Germany in German - occupied Norway during World War II . Its full title in German was the Reichskommissariat für die besetzten norwegischen Gebiete ( " Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Norwegian Territories " ) . It was governed by " Reichskommissar " Josef Terboven until his suicide on 7 May 1945 . The German military forces in Norway , then under the command of general Franz Böhme , surrendered to the Allied forces on 8 May and the legal government was restored . German invasion and occupation of Norway . The need by Nazi Germany to occupy and incorporate Norway into a German empire came about for two principal reasons . The first was that in 1940 , Germany was dependent on natural resources , mainly iron ore , being sent from Sweden to Germany . If Norway allowed Allied vessels to pass through its waters , they could potentially blockade the trade routes . The second reason was that Germany feared an allied attack , either using Norway as a staging area , or moving through Sweden . Neutrality remained the policy of the Norwegian government until the invasion was a " fait accompli " . But its highest priority was to avoid a war with the United Kingdom . By the autumn of 1939 , there was an increasing sense of urgency that Norway had to prepare , not only to protect its neutrality , but indeed to fight for its " freedom and independence . " Efforts to improve military readiness and capability , and to sustain an extended blockade , were intensified between September 1939 and April 1940 . Several incidents in Norwegian maritime waters , notably the Altmark incident in Jøssingfjord , put great strains on Norway ' s ability to assert its ( recently broken ) neutrality . Norway managed to negotiate favorable trade treaties both with the United Kingdom and Germany under these conditions , but it became increasingly clear that both countries had a strategic interest in denying the other access to Norway . Convinced of the threat posed by the Allies to the iron ore supply , Hitler ordered the German high command ( OKW ) to begin preliminary planning for an invasion of Norway on 14 December 1939 . The preliminary plan was named " Studie Nord " and only called for one army division . In March and April 1940 , British plans for an invasion of Norway were prepared , mainly in order to reach and destroy the Swedish iron ore mines in Gällivare . It was hoped that this would divert German forces away from France , and open a war front in south Sweden . It was also agreed that mines would be laid in Norwegian waters and that the mining should be followed by the landing of troops at four Norwegian ports : Narvik , Trondheim , Bergen and Stavanger . Because of Anglo - French arguments , the date of the mining was postponed from 5 to 8 April . The postponement was catastrophic . Hitler had on 1 April ordered the German invasion of Norway to begin on 9 April ; so , when on 8 April the Norwegian government was preoccupied with earnest protest about the British mine laying , the German expeditions were well on their way . The German invasions for the most part achieved their goal of simultaneous assault and caught the Norwegian forces off guard , a situation not aided by the Norwegian Governments ' order for only a partial mobilization . Not all was lost for the Allies though , as the repulsion of German Gruppe 5 in the Oslofjord gave a few additional hours of time which the Norwegians used to evacuate the Royal family and the Norwegian Government to Hamar . With the government now fugitive , Vidkun Quisling used the opportunity to take control of a radio broadcasting station and announce a coup , with himself as the new Prime Minister of Norway . His first official act , at 19 : 30 that day , was to cancel the mobilization order . Quisling regime . Collaborationist support came from the pro - Nazi Nasjonal Samling ( " National Gathering " or " National Unification " ) party led by Vidkun Quisling , who was allowed by Adolf Hitler to form a Norwegian government under German supervision . Quisling became Minister President of Norway in 1942 but lacked any real power . Reichskommissar Terboven held control over Norway as a governor , and all the military forces stationed in Norway were under German command .