The Hunt for the King

Today’s podcast is about the greatest drama of modern Norwegian history. What Norwegians call ‘Aprildagene’ – the fateful days of the 9th, 10th and 11th of April 1940. The greatest drama? How else to describe three days that start with King Haakon in his bed in the palace in central Oslo, and finish with the king and government hunted by the Nazis from town to village to farm. Three days that finish with them stumbling through snow as German planes strife and bomb the ground around them in an assassination attempt. How else describe three days that see a coup d’etat by a politician whose party – at the most recent general election – gained a meagre 1,8 percent of the popular vote. Today, Act 1 of the drama: the 9th of April. The climax of the 10th and 11th comes in the next podcast.  

EPISODE PHOTO
King Haakon VII of Norway in 1930
Photographer: Ernest Rude
Public Domain

CONTACT
Twitter: @northbynorway
Email: northbynorway@gmail.com

LINKS & SOURCES
Quisling : A Study in Treason
Oddvar K. Høidal
Norwegian University Press, 1989

Kongens flukt - de dramatiske dagene 9. april – 7. juni 1940
Lars West Johnsen, Jens Marius Sæther
Kagge forlag, 2016

9. april – time for time 
Alf R. Jacobsen
Vega forlag, 2020

Kongens nei
Alf R. Jacobsen
Vega forlag, 2012