Etableringen av okkupasjonskontoen
i Norges Bank er ett av de viktige, men lite
undersøkte spørsmål i norsk okkupasjonshistorie. Hvilke forhold
og vurderinger lå til grunn for de beslutninger de sentrale norske
aktørene Norges Bank, ledet av Nicolai Rygg, og Administrasjonsrådet,
med finansminister Gunnar Jahn i spissen, traff i dette spørsmålet?
I hvilken grad var de norske aktørene utsatt for direkte tysk press?
En hovedkonklusjon er at Norges Bank 24. april 1940, under sterkt
press fra finansminister Gunnar Jahn og Administrasjonsrådet, ga
tyskerne en blankosjekk til sentralbankens midler med virkning for
resten av okkupasjonen. Jahns og Administrasjonsrådets press på
Norges Bank kan i liten grad forklares med et lignende direkte tysk
press på dem.
The Norwegian central bank, the
Administrative Council and the establishment
of the occupation account in 1940
On 24 April 1940 the so-called occupation account on the balance sheet
of Norges Bank, the Norwegian central bank, was established. Fifteen
days after the German attack on Norway on 9 April 1940, and in the
midst of the campaign, the Wehrmacht was given a blank cheque
to finance the campaign and occupation by withdrawing against this
account. The article analyses the background, while focusing on
the central actors of Norges Bank, notably Governor Nikolai Rygg,
and the Administrative Council, whose principal policy-maker in
these matters was the Minister of Finance, Gunnar Jahn. One main
conclusion is that Norges Bank, under strong pressure from Jahn
and the Administrative Council, agreed to an unlimited change or
cashing in of Reichskreditkassenscheine, which was a novel German
financial innovation making occupied areas pay the conqueror. It
was not transparent to Norwegian policy-makers at the time, however,
the decision meeting significant opposition among Norges Banks
elected representatives, who eventually gave in to the instruction
by the Administrative Council and Ryggs unwavering attitude. The
Germans did not put any direct pressure on Jahn and the Administrative
Council in this matter beyond circumstantial power relations. One
of the major explanations behind Jahns and the Administrative Councils
pressure on Norges Bank was the need to create confidence in and
acceptance of Reichskommissar Terboven, to whom the council had
promised loyal cooperation in their first meeting on 23 April. This
was necessary if the council was to achieve its aim of restoring
employment and income in the occupied areas.
