Hitler aimed to conquer Britain

before turning his forces against the Soviet Union

(Gilbert, 2004:56). However, he received certain

reports that “the Allies were preparing to occupy

Norway and Sweden under the cover of coming

to the aid of Finland” (Rich, 2003:217). He

further argued that such a preparation should be

prevented, for if the British forces had occupied

Norway and Sweden this would have been a

serious threat to German strategic and economic

interests. Germany had various naval bases in the

Baltic Sea and depended on Sweden’s iron ore

(Rich, 2003:217).