The Death of King Håkon VII

Even though German forces had experienced setbacks and defeats in the early days of the invasion it was clear that the Norwegian army could not hold the invading forces at bay. No more than a day after German forces had begun hostilities an envoy sent in an attempt to negotiate a peace which would place the king as a German puppet leader. After a strong no from both the king and parliament, it became apparent that the Germans had now given up on trying to peacefully crate a puppet state. German Fallschirmjäger chased the king and his entourage all the way to the Swedish border. As the King and Parliament was having a meeting, Fascist aligned Swedish officers discover their location and reports it the German consulate in Stockholm. The events to transpires due to this changes the course of Norway forever.

### The 12th of April, a day of sorrows.

The 12th of April, 1940

As forward elements of the German invasion force started making their way towards Oslo after the sinking the heavy cruiser "Blücher" and the earlier capture of paratroopers attempting to take Fornebu airport. As the German forces made contact with HM Kongens Garde and the Royal Dragoons (Kongens Dragoner) on the outskirts of Oslo, the royal family and the parliament was put on an evacuation train to Hamar.

As the royal family and most important members of parliament was spending the night at a farmstead near the Swedish border where the crown princess and her children had crossed to seek safety with her family on the Swedish throne, forces from the Swedish border security had reported the whereabouts of the tops of Norwegian government to their commanders. The information moved quickly and within an hour the Swedish government and top brass had been informed. While this was occurring, King Håkon and the parliament members were discussing plans for holding Norway long enough so that reinforcements could arrive. Prince Olav on the other hand was in a secret meeting via telephone with Major General Otto Ruge and Chief of Army Carl Gustav Fleischer.

In this meeting they were discussing the disorganized defense efforts so far. Olav has during the war been adamant about organization of offensive and defensive efforts in the country.

 Sometime as night approached several Nazi oriented officers in the Swedish army and airforce brought the information to the German legation in Stockholm. Berlin quickly capitalized on this, at approximately 01.47 the first He 111 bombers took off in German occupied Denmark as part of the newly formed Luftflotte 5.

Luftwaffe messages stated that the first bombs were dropped around 04.25, and the complete destruction of the farm and all it's buildings.

The body of the King and Prime Minister Nygårdsvold was found by search parties the following day. President of the Parliament Hambro were found wounded and dazed but alive.

### The Aftermath

On April 13th the NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting AS) announced the deaths of the king and prime minister to the people of Norway.

As these event were unfolding Gustav V of Sweden were dealing with problems of his own, by now he had been informed of the Swedish armed forces role in the death of Haakon VII and Johan Nygårdsvold.

Feeling guilty for the death of the Norwegian head of state and figurehead, Gustav V announced on a radio broadcast that afternoon the role the Swedish military and nationalist party had had in the Luftwaffe bombings 2 days earlier.

After Gustav V's radio broadcast waves of political fallout resonated throughout the northern countries, Sweden, a nation keeping itself neutral and out of conflict since the Great Northern War had it's armed forces torn between the nationalist and nazi officers and the few men remaining loyal to the king and government.

As different political parties and minorities rose up in armed uprisings and witch hunts across Scandinavia, the Norwegian Parliament reconvened in Hamar. Spending almost 2 whole days behind closed doors, President of Parliament Hambro announced over radio that as of April 17th former crown prince Olav IV would be inaugurated with the powers off both the king and Prime Minister. The last absolute monarchies of Europe had been toppled after the Great War, and the last monarchs with any kind of power had been in the Balkans but now an almost absolute monarchy had returned to the Scandinavia. With the parlament being a regulating body, the newly coronated King Olav V would act as head of state and supreme commander of the Armed Forces of Norway.

In this "Wartime Government" King Olav brings the military into the government by giving Major General Otto Ruge and Chief of Army Carl Gustav Fleischer advisory roles. In reality this was a plan to effectivize the defense of Norway.

### The Shift

The kings first major political decision was to formally request membership in the Allied Nations, and ask for continued British and French support for the Norwegian Army now having set up a defensive line from \*Ålesund along major cities and infrastructure points to the Swedish border\*.

As more Allied troops arrived in liberated Narvik and Trondheim, a joint Norwego-French naval landing would attempt to retake the occupied industrial zones east and west of the Oslofjord. Retaking the factories of The "Kampvogn" Project, and reinitializing Norway's arms production was agreed upon as the top priority by the King and the Allied commanders in Scandinavia.

### 5th of March 1940, Norway starts the offensive.

As the Allied Nations were preparing to retake Norway's industrial and population centers before the Germans could send sizable reinforcements across the Skagerrak - *Norwegian forts had thanks to brave pilots form RAF Bomber Command been supplied to continue their shelling actions keeping German troop transports out of the Oslofjord* -

In a closed meeting between King Olav, King Gustav and General Sir Edmund Ironside an agreement was reached between the Allied tops and the Swedish government in exile following Gustav creating the agreement for what would become the "Allied Interim Committee" Also known as the AIC.