In 1939 Norway was neutral. Stalin and the Soviet Union (Russia) had a non-aggression pact with Hitler and Nazi Germany. Fearing a possible attack from the east, the Norwegian government reinforced the border guard in Finnmark.
The German Wehrmacht forces invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, but were – temporarily – beaten back in the battle of Narvik. This was the first victory of the Allies in Europe since the outbreak of war. Forces from Britain, Poland and France fought with north Norwegian forces and a battalion from Trøndelag. The Alta battalion consisted of Norwegians, Sámi and Kvens.
Northern Norway remained free one month longer than the south of the country. Finnmark was hardly touched by the invasion in April. The first German soldiers did not arrive in Kirkenes until 16 June, following Norway’s capitulation on 10 June.
Hitler’s pact with Stalin ended in June 1941, and the Germans attacked the Soviet Union. This turned the Soviet Union into an ally. In northern Troms and Finnmark, Hitler’s “Festung Norwegen” led to the establishment there of around sixty military bases. The aim was for Wehrmacht to prevent an allied coastal invasion, and also to invade the Soviet Union from eastern Finnmark.
At its peak there were 250,000 German soldiers in northern Troms and Finnmark.
The allied Murmansk convoys carried supplies to Russian forces. German convoys sailed to the port of Kirkenes with soldiers and supplies for the Litza Front near Murmansk. Enemy convoys were bombed by both sides. Many ships were sunk by German submarines. The coast was heavily mined.
• From 1941, the Russians alongside allied troops also bombed strategic targets and towns in Finnmark. Kirkenes was bombed 328 times. In the whole of Europe, only Valetta in Malta was bombed more times than Kirkenes.