Enig og tro til Dovre faller – A Norwegian AAR

[Lord E]

Enig og tro til Dovre faller* – A Norwegian AAR

Alright this is going to be my first HOI2 AAR.
Playing as Norway in the 1936 scenario. Difficulty is normal.
Comments will be appreciated, and good advices are welcome with thanks. Maybe I shall even take them into consideration and use them in the game.

*: "United and faithful til Dovre falls", motto for the founding fathers writing the Constitution at Eidsvoll in 1814, Dovre being the mountains in the middle of Norway.


Enjoy.

[Lord E]

Norway 1905-1936 A new beginning



On the 7th of June 1905 the Norwegian Parliament declared that since the Swedish-Norwegian King no longer could create a government with support from Parliament, the union was no longer in function, and in the autumn of 1905 Norway was recognized as a free, independent nation. Later that autumn Norway got its first King as a free nation, the former Danish prince Carl, became King Haakon 7 of Norway. Norway now had its first independent King for over 500 years.

The Norwegian Prime Minister Christian Michelsen welcoming the new King in November 1905

The new nation started out on a new beginning. The Norwegian constitution dated back to 1814, but it was now that the differences and the new politics of the nation came forward.
Soon the struggle between what should be the official written language got bigger, a nationalisation of waterfalls began and the end to the two party system became clear when the Labour Party grew stronger and stronger as the working class grew bigger and more important in society. In 1913 Norway, as one of the first nations in the world issued voting rights to women.


At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 the Norwegian government was quick to declare that Norway was to be a neutral nation, together with the other Scandinavian nations, and soon neutrality co-operation was agree upon with Denmark and Sweden. At the outbreak of the war Norway had one of the world’s largest merchant navies, and there was much pressure on the Norwegian government from the different alliances to make the merchant navy supply the countries at war. The sailors at sea struggled hard and gave their lives, while at home the shipping families grew richer and richer as the war progressed.
More and more of the trade on Norwegian ships went to Britain, and as the war progressed the Norwegian public grew very pro-British, especially so after the Germans started their “Unrestricted U-boat Warfare” witch inflicted great casualties on the Norwegian merchant navy. At the end of the war in 1918 almost all the goods on Norwegian ships went to Britain and her other allies. Norway stayed neutral during the entire war, but still 2000 Norwegian sailors lost their lives in the First World War.

After the war in the early 1920s the unemployment rate went up and the Norwegian economy got worse. The rest of the world got back from war and the demand for goods fall drastically, hurting the Norwegian economy. This was to continue during the 20s.
In 1930 it got even worse when the effect from the New York crash in 1929 made its effect on the Norwegian economy, this added together with the worst strikes and lockouts in Norwegian history made the start of the 30s a terrible time economical and sociological in Norway.

The Norwegian navy of 1936 was obsolete, and the pride of the Navy was two heavy cruiser, called Norge and Eidsvold, bought from the British in 1905.




The Norwegian army was old fashion, and the standard weapon was the Krag-Jorgensen rifle, 6,5 m.m introduced in 1894, a good weapon for precision, but it needed to be properly used and maintained.

In 1920 Norway was awarded sovereignty over Svalbard, and in 1925 Svalbard was created a Norwegian province. Also in the 20s Norway entered the League of Nations, but the nation was more interested in keeping its own neutrality than working active in the League. In the 30s the dispute over Greenland created great tension between Norway and Denmark, but in 1933 the international court in Haag ruled that the island was to belong to Denmark, and this caused great disappointment from many Norwegians. During the 20s and 30s the army and the rest of the defence forces was cut down, and the forces that was left was an army not created for war, just to guard the borders. As the world got more unstable by the mid 1930s Norway had tried to get away from all duties that the League of Nation issued on their member nations to focus on the neutrality policy once again…

[Mettermrck]

Ah, this looks good. Very informative...I look forward to future updates.

[yourworstnightm]

Hmm, might be interresting to see what happens, Norway is not the nation I would play, but you never know, could be fun!

[Arntf]

I'm looking forward to this one.

[kenneththegreat]

Enig og Tro til Dovre Faller!


Nice name....my advice would be to get a nice alliance with the USSR so that when Germany invades they're in some serious trouble


Ofrer alt....alt for Norge

[Arntf]

Enig og Tro til Dovre Faller!


Nice name....my advice would be to get a nice alliance with the USSR so that when Germany invades they're in some serious trouble


Ofrer alt....alt for Norge

Hmm... give Joe Stalin a finger and he'll take your arm off...

[Arntf]

So, Lord E

What do you plan to do in order to make the norwegian armed forces into something resembling a fighting force?

[kenneththegreat]

Hmm... give Joe Stalin a finger and he'll take your arm off...

Don't get it....and BTW, how's the air force (if there is one) doing

[Lord E]

Ah, this looks good. Very informative...I look forward to future updates.

Thanks. I hope I shall continue this way. Have a second update coming up.

Hmm, might be interresting to see what happens, Norway is not the nation I would play, but you never know, could be fun!

Well it I though it would be cool to try playing as a small nation. When you have done the big ones like US, UK and Germany it is interesting to try something smaller

I'm looking forward to this one.

Thanks, hope the rest will be to your liking

Enig og Tro til Dovre Faller!


Nice name....my advice would be to get a nice alliance with the USSR so that when Germany invades they're in some serious trouble


Ofrer alt....alt for Norge

He he yeah, we will have to see how much we shall need to sacrifice Funny you should talk about the Soviet, got something coming up on them later on

Hmm... give Joe Stalin a finger and he'll take your arm off...

That might be a problem, so we shall see what happens…

So, Lord E

What do you plan to do in order to make the norwegian armed forces into something resembling a fighting force?

Well that one is a little hard. Norway starts out with two divisions of 1918 inf, 2 submarines and “Norge” and “Eidsvold” so not really a great force, but I have started to take some action. 1936 infantry is under research by Raufoss Ammunisjonsfabrikk and then I shall try to start producing one division of 36 inf… Then we shall see what happens

Don't get it....and BTW, how's the air force (if there is one) doing

Well Norway starts out with no air force at all, and it is way too expensive to use IC to produce any planes just now. Norway only starts with about 11 or 12 IC, so the air force will need to wait…
New update coming up next…

[Lord E]

Spring 1936 Dark clouds on the horizon




1936 began with great expectations for the future in Norway. The Labour government under Prime Minister Johan Nygaardsvold was working to better the situation of common people and lower the unemployment rate. At home situation seems to be improving, but what scared the government in the spring of 1936 were international affairs.

The Norwegian Prime Minister Johan Nygaardsvold

Germany had already violated the Versailles treaty by re-arming after Adolf Hitler had become Chancellor in 1933. When Hitler had announced the re-arming in 1935 Britain and France wanting to keep the peace had only protested, but not taken any actions against Hitler.
As 1936 began it seemed clear that Germany once again had started getting a strong military. With the re-armament in 35 it was important for the Norwegian government to stay neutral and when the Great Powers only protested that was just to the governments liking.

On the night of the 7th of March 1936 Foreign Minister Haldan Koht was awaken by a telephone early in the morning. Feeling grumpy Koht answered the phone in an angry tone.

-What? Don’t you know what time it is? It is the middle of the bloody night!

-I am very sorry minister, but you really needed to know this…
The Germans have invaded Rhineland!

-What? If this is some kind of joke!

-No, sir not at all. We got the news from our embassy in Berlin during the night that something was going to happen, and again now this morning when the ambassador confirmed that the talk in Berlin is that German troops has entered Rhineland.
Also we have just had it confirmed from your embassy in London, the Foreign Department in London have also confirmed that Germany troops have entered Rhineland.

-This is just… insane

-Yes, I agree, sir.

-Quickly get me the Prime Minster on the phone.

-Yes, sir. I am connecting you now

Yes…

-Johan you won’t believe it, the Germans have invaded Rhineland…

In violation of the Versailles Treaty German troops invade Rhineland in March 1936

In clear violation of the Versailles Treaty German troops had entered Rhineland during the night of the 6th and 7th of March. The scary start on the 7th that the Norwegian government had awaken to soon calmed down as it became clear that the response of the great powers was only sending an official protest again. The French army stood ready, but again the Great Powers had lost their nerve, and the wish for peace was to strong so no conflict happened. Once again Hitler had got away with a gamble without anything else than an official protest. But both in Britain and France some people felt that Germany was becoming too strong and powerful again. And this wasn’t the only time these spring that the great powers had done nothing in clear violation of international law and agreements.



The Italian invasion of Ethiopia had started in 1935, without any declaration of war. Although the League of Nations had ruled that Italy had no right to Ethiopia none of the great powers had done anything else than protest on the Italian invasion. As 1935 ended and 36 began the situation was becoming worse for the Ethiopians as the Italian war machine closed in on Addis Abeba. The capital was conquered by Italy in April 1936 and as the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie fled the country, Italy annexed all of Ethiopia on the 27th of April 1936.

Italian forces advancing into Ethiopia

In Norway the Prime Minister had been in meeting with Foreign minister, Halvdan Koht, and the Minister of Justice Trygve Lie.

“Well gentlemen it seems like the British aren’t going to take any action against Italy”

Koht nodded.

“Yes, Johan neither the British nor the French are going to do anything. It seems like the only action of the League and the great powers is the protest they have already issued to Mussolini.”

Lie looked a little shocked on the two others.

“So Halvdan are you saying that the Italians will just get away with annexing Ethiopia?”

“Yes, it would seem so. There is no wish for any other war, and besides it is just some land in Africa any way, nothing to worry about…”

The spring of 1936 was calm in Norway. Steps were taken to lower the unemployment rate, and the navy had carried out exercises in the North of Norway to show the Norwegian presence in the area.
Although the international community had overlooked both the German and Italian aggression and promised that there would be peace for many years to come, the Norwegian government still made sure that the army was strengthen with one more standing division with the newest and best equipment.

As the spring of 1936 went over into summer the eyes of the world was soon to turn away from Germany and Italy to an other nation in southern Europe.

[kenneththegreat]

Great.....a new infantry division. Any other developments

[Schizo!]

Hey, it's 1936, what do you expect?

Nicely written Lord E, look forward to more of the same

[Arntf]

When playing as Norway, you just have to accept that the going is slow to begin with, unless you venture down that cheatin' road, that is...

When it comes to the airforce, Norway did in fact have a handful of Gloster Gladiators and some older WWI vintage planes. There were even orders for a number of Caproni medium bombers. But the numbers can not have been anywhere near enough to justify keeping a full air division in the game. And building it takes forever, so...

Anyway, keep updating. I wanna see maps!!

[kenneththegreat]

When playing as Norway, you just have to accept that the going is slow to begin with, unless you venture down that cheatin' road, that is...

When it comes to the airforce, Norway did in fact have a handful of Gloster Gladiators and some older WWI vintage planes. There were even orders for a number of Caproni medium bombers. But the numbers can not have been anywhere near enough to justify keeping a full air division in the game. And building it takes forever, so...

Anyway, keep updating. I wanna see maps!!

In fact, the Gloster Gladiators were able to shoot down the following on the day of the invasion

• 2 BF-110 escort fighters
• 2 Heinkel HE-111 Bombers
• 1 Junkers Ju-52 transport

[Lord E]

Great.....a new infantry division. Any other developments

No, not really. Working on getting 1936 infantry now, but as Schizo! Wrote it is 36 so we shall wait and see what happens

Hey, it's 1936, what do you expect?

Nicely written Lord E, look forward to more of the same

Thank you, glad you like it

When playing as Norway, you just have to accept that the going is slow to begin with, unless you venture down that cheatin' road, that is...

When it comes to the airforce, Norway did in fact have a handful of Gloster Gladiators and some older WWI vintage planes. There were even orders for a number of Caproni medium bombers. But the numbers can not have been anywhere near enough to justify keeping a full air division in the game. And building it takes forever, so...

Anyway, keep updating. I wanna see maps!!

Yeah, well I won’t have any cheating so then things will have to be slow on the production and research front

Yes, I know about the Gladiators, but I guess Paradox though it wasn’t enough to create an air division in the game, and actually that is ok I think. Still I do want to have some air force at least so we will have to wait and see.

So what you want to see a map over?

In fact, the Gloster Gladiators were able to shoot down the following on the day of the invasion

• 2 BF-110 escort fighters
• 2 Heinkel HE-111 Bombers
• 1 Junkers Ju-52 transport

Didn’t know that, cool. Let us hope by the time of any invasion I shall have some planes that will be able to do that as well…

A little update coming up next about uncle Joe, Trotsky and Norway

[Lord E]

1936 Communist problems

The Norwegian government was in a meeting. The Foreign minister, Halvdan Koht was holding a paper in front of the Prime Minister, Johan Nygaardsvold.

-It ends with a polite request from the Soviet government to the Norwegian government saying that he has to go.

-So do we consider this is something to be taken serious Halvdan?

-Very much so Johan, it seems clear that it is the will of the Soviet government that he has to go. Stalin isn’t very found of him, and you can never know what the Soviets might do if we don’t agree to this. It is much better to do it now, than risk making them angrier.

Nygaardsvold looked around the room. All the men nodded at him, and Trygve Lie, the Minister of Justice spoke

-We can deport him on the grounds that he has been holding political meetings, and that is against the grounds of his stay here. He has been informed that he won’t be allowed to be political active while staying in Norway. That would at least be the official reason.

-It is clear Johan. Trotsky has to go. We can’t risk anger the Soviets anymore…

-Alright since we all agree. I leave it to you Trygve to carry this out. Send him out as soon as possible. Halvdan you inform the Russians that the Norwegian government has deported Trotsky from Norway effecting immediately!

Leon Davidovich Trotsky

Josef Vissarionovitsj Stalin, ruler of the Soviet Union who made sure Trotsky was deported

Leon Davidovich Trotsky had been a problem for the Norwegian government ever since he arrived in Norway from France in June 1935. Almost at once after his arrival an official protest had arrived through the Soviet embassy. During the autumn of 35 and winter of 35-36 the Soviet pressure on the Norwegian government had increased. The Soviets made it more and more clear that they wouldn’t allow for Trotsky to stay in Norway; it was to close to the Soviet Union.

Trotsky had been deported form the Soviet Union in 1929. Having been one of the leading members of the Communist Party and the revolution, he was thought to be one of the men that would possibly come to power after Lenin. Stalin’s dislike for Trotsky had grown in the late 20s as Stalin got more and more powerful in the Communist Party. This lead to Stalin making sure Trotsky was excluded form the Communist Party in 1928, deported to Siberia and then in 1929 deported from the Soviet Union. Trotsky then lived in Turkey and France before he arrived in Norway during the summer of 1935.

The official reason given by the Norwegian government for the deportation of Trotsky was that he had been political active during his time in Norway, therefore breaking the rules for his stay that he had received upon arriving.
In reality the pressure from the Soviets had scared the Norwegian government, and the pressure had increased a lot during the time Trotsky had stayed in Norway, therefore it was decided during the summer of 1936 that Trotsky had to go. When Trotsky was deported from Norway he travelled to Mexico to settle down there.

[Kurt_Steiner]

You're doing a very good AAR! Keep going on!

[Rapcw]

Nice AAR. I was thinking of doing a Norwegian AAR after my Japanese one, but now I don't have to. Good Luck!

[Arntf]

So what you want to see a map over?

Sorry, I think what I MEANT to say was that I'd eventually like to see some maps of your troop dispositions and (cross my fingers) conquests. ;-)

Great update, btw