Otto Ruge (9 January 1882 – 15 August 1961) was a Norwegian general. Ruge was Commander-in-chief of the Royal Norwegian Armed Forces after Nazi Germany's assault on Norway in April 1940. Early career Ruge grew up in Kristiania (Oslo) in a family with strong military traditions. He attended Oslo Cathedral School. At only 20 years old, he was a military officer. He attended the Norwegian Military College (1905) and took the General Staff exam (1915). Colonel Otto Ruge became chief of the General Staff in 1933. In 1938 he resigned from the position and was appointed as inspector general of infantry. World War II In 1940, Colonel Ruge was promoted to major general and assumed command after the former commander-in-chief, Generalmajor Kristian Laake, who was supposed to go into retirement a few days after the German attack on Norway, displayed a defeatist attitude and consequently was relieved of command. General Ruge persuaded the government to fight the German invaders. He was convinced that fighting would be vital to the country and the nation's self-respect, but pragmatic enough to realize that a need for Allied help was crucial to succeed. Ruge had a hard task on his hands: he received command over an only partly mobilised army. Norway had already lost all major cities to the Germans, moreover the Germans had established air superiority. The loss of one of the few infantry regiments available, the Norwegian third infantry regiment (its commander surrendering without a shot being fired, falsely believing that he was surrounded), made the situation even worse. Ruge's main strategy was to slowly retreat northward and to establish a defence line south of Trondheim while waiting for the Allies to reconquer that city. However, the Allies launched their pincers toward Trondheim too late, and too far away from their destination. As a result of this several of the pincer forces became entangled in combat before the attack against the city could be launched. Evaluation of strategy Ruge's choices have later been criticised. Retired Major General claims that General Ruge to a large degree was responsible for the ease of which German forces were able to occupy Norway. This was partly due to his appeasement with the Labor party and their razing of the Norwegian Army during the 1930s and partly due to his failure to mount a more active, determined defense in central Norway. However, other military historians have contested