Hitler's Arctic War: The German Campaigns in Norway, Finland, and the USSR 1940-1945

Book Description
The German army's first campaign in the far north was an outstanding success: between April and June 1940 German forces of less than 20,000 seized Norway, a state of three million people, for minimal losses. The army learned new skills to fight effectively in snow and ice. As the terrain prohibited the use of tanks and heavy artillery, and lack of airfields restricted the employment of aircraft, the war became an infantry duel, waged across a frozen landscape. The war in the far north was a most effective campaign, and yet, despite the losses inflicted on the Red Army and Allied convoys, the Wahrmacht resources committed there ultimately drained the German war effort. In the end, Hitler's obsession with the prospect of an Allied invasion of Norway was his downfall.


About the Author
Chris Mann is a lecturer in European history at the University of Surrey and University College, London. A holder of a doctorate in war studies from King's College, London, his area of expertise is Scandanavian military history in the twentieth century, specifically during World War II. He is the author of Norwegian Armed Forces in Exile 1940-1945, and The T-34, and co-author of Inside Hitler's Germany. He currently lives in London.



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This lavishly illustrated volume discusses in detail an aspect of World War II long considered a sideshow-the campaigns in Scandinavia and the Baltic. War came to Scandinavia in late 1939 with the Soviet invasion of Finland and continued with the German invasion of Norway in 1940. The authors correctly conclude that Germany's invasion of Norway in 1940 was the first proper and successful use of land, sea, and air forces in combined operations. The losses inflicted on the German navy, however, would have long-lasting strategic consequences. The war in the far north was an infantryman's fight in very inhospitable terrain, a fact well documented in this book, which also discusses at length the war on the Arctic convoys. It was a theater of operations that drew tons of Germany's limited martial resources into it, making the country weaker elsewhere. Recommended for all collections.-David Lee Poremba, Detroit P.L. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.


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