In 1933, Quisling founded the fascistNasjonal Samling (National Gathering). Although he gained some popularity after his attacks on thepolitical left, his party failed to win any seats in theStorting, and by 1940, it was still little more than peripheral. On 9 April 1940, with theGerman invasion of Norway in progress, he attempted to seize power in the world's first radio-broadcastcoup d'état but failed since the Germans sought to convince therecognized Norwegian government to legitimize the German occupation, as had been done in Denmark during thesimultaneous invasion there, instead of recognizing Quisling. On 1 February 1942, he formed a second government, approved by the Germans, and served asminister president. He headed the Norwegian state administration jointly with the Germancivilian administrator,Josef Terboven. His pro-Nazipuppet government, known as theQuisling regime, was dominated by ministers from Nasjonal Samling. Thecollaborationist government participated in Germany's war efforts and deported Jews out of the country toconcentration camps inoccupied Poland, where most were killed.
Quisling was put on trial during thelegal purge in Norway after World War II. He was found guilty of charges includingembezzlement,murder andhigh treason against the Norwegian state, and wassentenced to death, a sentence which subsequently garnered some criticism due to its questionable legality; besides by the occupation authority, with Quisling's support (includingretroactive verdicts), no death sentence had been executed since 1876, and capital punishment had been abolished uponindependence in 1905.[2] Quisling was shortly afterexecuted by firing squad atAkershus Fortress, Oslo, on 24 October 1945. Since his death, he has become one of history's most infamous traitors due to his collaboration with Nazi Germany. The termQuisling has become a word for "collaborator" or "traitor" in English and Scandinavian languages.
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (Norwegian pronunciationⓘ) was born on 18 July 1887 inFyresdal, in the Norwegian county ofTelemark. He was the son ofChurch of Norway pastor andgenealogist Jon Lauritz Qvisling and his wife Anna Caroline Bang,[3] the daughter of Jørgen Bang,ship-owner and at the time the richest man in the town ofGrimstad in South Norway.[4] The elder Quisling had lectured inGrimstad in the 1870s; one of his pupils was Bang, whom he married on 28 May 1886, following a long engagement. The newly-wed couple promptly moved toFyresdal, where Vidkun and his younger siblings were born.[4]
The family name derives fromQuislinus, aLatinised name invented by Quisling's ancestor Lauritz Ibsen Quislin (1634–1703), based on the village of Kvislemark nearSlagelse, Denmark, whence he had emigrated.[5] Having two brothers and a sister,[6] the young Quisling was "shy and quiet but also loyal and helpful, always friendly, occasionally breaking into a warm smile."[7] Private letters later found by historians also indicate a warm and affectionate relationship between the family members.[8] From 1893 to 1900, his father was achaplain for theStrømsø borough inDrammen. Here, Vidkun went to school for the first time. He was bullied by other students at the school for his Telemark dialect, but proved a successful student.[9] In 1900, the family moved toSkien when his father was appointedprovost of the city.[10]
Academically Quisling proved talented inhumanities, particularly history, andnatural sciences; he specialised in mathematics. At this point, however, his life had no clear direction.[11] In 1905, Quisling enrolled at theNorwegian Military Academy, having received the highest entrance examination score of the 250 applicants that year.[11] Transferring in 1906 to theNorwegian Military College, he graduated with the highest score since the college's inception in 1817, and was rewarded by an audience withthe King.[10][11] On 1 November 1911, he joined the army General Staff.[11] Norway was neutral in theFirst World War; Quisling detested the peace movement, though the high human cost of the war did temper his views.[12]
In March 1918, he was sent to Russia as anattaché at the Norwegianlegation inPetrograd, to take advantage of the five years he had spent studying the country.[10][13] Though dismayed at the living conditions he experienced, Quisling nonetheless concluded that "theBolsheviks have got an extraordinarily strong hold on Russian society" and marvelled at howLeon Trotsky had managed to mobilise theRed Army forces so well;[13] he asserted that by contrast, in granting too many rights to the people of Russia, theRussian Provisional Government underAlexander Kerensky had brought about its own downfall. When the legation was recalled in December 1918, Quisling became the Norwegian military's expert on Russian affairs.[14]
In September 1919, Quisling departed Norway to become an intelligence officer with the Norwegian delegation inHelsinki, a post that combined diplomacy and politics.[15] In the autumn of 1921, Quisling left Norway once again, this time at the request of explorer and humanitarianFridtjof Nansen, and in January 1922 arrived in theUkrainian capitalKharkiv to help with theLeague of Nations humanitarian relief effort there.[16][17] Highlighting the massive mismanagement of the area and the death toll of approximately ten thousand a day, Quisling produced a report that attracted aid and demonstrated his administrative skills, as well as his dogged determination to get what he wanted.[18]
Quisling replied [that] the Russian people needed wise leadership and proper training [that they suffered from] indifference, a lack of clearly defined goals with conviction and a happy-go-lucky attitude [and that] it is impossible to accomplish anything without willpower, determination and concentration.
— Alexandra recounts a conversation with her soon-to-be husband,Yourieff 2007, p. 93
On 21 August 1922, he married the RussianAlexandra Andreevna Voronina.[19] Alexandra wrote in her memoirs that Quisling declared his love for her,[20] but from his letters home and investigations undertaken by his cousins, Quisling merely seemed to have wanted to lift the girl out of poverty by providing her with a Norwegian passport and financial security.[21]
Having left Ukraine in September 1922, Quisling and Alexandra returned to Kharkiv in February 1923 to prolong aid efforts, with Nansen describing Quisling's work as "absolutely indispensable."[21][22] In March 1923, Alexandra was pregnant, and Quisling insisted on her having an abortion, which greatly distressed her.[23] Quisling found the situation much improved and, with no fresh challenges, found it a more boring trip than his last. He did however meetMaria Vasiljevna Pasetchnikova (Russian:Мари́я Васи́льевна Па́сечникова), a Ukrainian more than ten years his junior. Her diaries from the time "indicate a blossoming love affair" during the summer of 1923, despite Quisling's marriage to Alexandra the year before.[21] She recalled that she was impressed by his fluent command of the Russian language, hisAryan appearance, and his gracious demeanour.[24] Quisling later claimed to have married Pasetchnikova in Kharkiv on 10 September 1923, although no legal documentation has been discovered. Quisling's biographer,Hans Fredrik Dahl, believes that in all likelihood the second marriage was never official.[25] Regardless, the couple behaved as though they were married, claimed Alexandra was their daughter, and celebrated their wedding anniversary. Soon after September 1923, the aid mission came to an end and the trio left Ukraine, planning to spend a year in Paris. Maria wanted to see Western Europe; Quisling wanted to get some rest following bouts of stomach pain that had lasted all winter.[25]
The stay in Paris required a temporary discharge from the army, which Quisling slowly grew to understand was permanent: army cutbacks meant that there would be no position available for him when he returned.[26][nb 1] Quisling devoted much of his time in the French capital to study, reading works of political theory and working on his philosophical project, which he calledUniversism. On 2 October 1923, he persuaded the Oslo daily newspaperTidens Tegn to publish an article he had written calling fordiplomatic recognition of theSoviet government.[27] Quisling's stay in Paris did not last as long as planned, and in late 1923 he started work on Nansen's newrepatriation project in the Balkans, arriving inSofia in November.
The next two months he spent traveling constantly with his wife Maria. In January, Maria returned to Paris to look after Alexandra, who took on the role of the couple's foster-daughter; Quisling joined them in February.[28] In the summer of 1924, the trio returned to Norway where Alexandra subsequently left to live with an aunt inNice and never returned.[29] Although Quisling promised to provide for her well-being, his payments were irregular, and over the coming years he would miss a number of opportunities to visit.[30]
Back in Norway, and to his later embarrassment, Quisling found himself drawn into the communist Norwegian labour movement. Among other policies, he fruitlessly advocated a people'smilitia to protect the country againstreactionary attacks,[29] and asked members of the movement whether they would like to know what information the General Staff had on them, but he got no response. Although this brief attachment to the far-left seems unlikely given Quisling's later political direction, Dahl suggests that, following a conservative childhood, he was by this time "unemployed and dispirited ... deeply resentful of the General Staff ... [and] in the process of becoming politically more radical."[31] Dahl adds that Quisling's political views at this time could be summarised as "a fusion of socialism and nationalism," with definite sympathies for the Soviets in Russia.[32]
The Armenia commission of the League of Nations. 19 June 1925. From left, sitting, are C.E. Dupuis,Fridtjof Nansen, and G. Carle; standing are Pio Le Savio, and Vidkun Quisling.
In June 1925, Nansen once again provided Quisling with employment. The pair began a tour ofArmenia, where they hoped to help repatriate Armenians, including those who survived theArmenian genocide, via a number of projects proposed for funding by theLeague of Nations. Despite Quisling's substantial efforts, however, the projects were all rejected.
In May 1926, Quisling found another job with long-time friend and fellow NorwegianFrederik Prytz in Moscow, working as a liaison between Prytz and the Soviet authorities who owned half of Prytz's firm, Onega Wood.[33] He stayed in the job until Prytz prepared to close down the business in early 1927, when Quisling found new employment as a diplomat. British diplomatic affairs in Russia were being managed by Norway, and he became their new legation secretary; Maria joined him late in 1928.
A massive scandal broke when Quisling and Prytz were accused of using diplomatic channels to smuggle millions ofroubles onto theblack markets, a much-repeated claim that was later used to support a charge of "moral bankruptcy," but neither it nor the charge that Quisling spied for the British has ever been substantiated.[34]
The harder line now developing in Russian politics led Quisling to distance himself from Bolshevism. The Soviet government had rejected outright his Armenian proposals, and obstructed an attempt by Nansen to help with the 1928 Ukrainian famine. Quisling took these rebuffs as a personal insult; in 1929, with the British now keen to take back control of their own diplomatic affairs, he left Russia.[35]
Having spent nine of the previous twelve years abroad, but with no practical experience in party politics outside the Norwegian Army, Quisling returned to Norway in December 1929, bringing with him a plan for change he termedNorsk Aktion, meaning "Norwegian Action."[37] The planned organisation consisted of national, regional and local units with the intention of recruiting in the style of theSoviet Communist Party. LikeAction Française of the French right, it advocated radical constitutional changes. TheParliament of Norway, orStorting, was to becomebicameral with the second chamber made up of Soviet-style elected representatives from the working population.[38] Quisling focused more on organisation than the practicalities of government; for instance, all members ofNorsk Aktion were to have their own designation in a militaristic hierarchy.[39]
Quisling next sold a large number of antiques and works of art that he had acquired cheaply in post-revolutionary Russia.[40] His collection stretched to some 200 paintings, including works claimed to be byRembrandt,Goya,Cézanne and numerous other masters. The collection, including "veritable treasures," had been insured for almost 300,000kroner.[40] In the spring of 1930, he again joined up with Prytz, who was back in Norway. They participated in regular group meetings that included middle-aged officers and business people, since described as "the textbook definition of aFascist initiative group," through which Prytz appeared determined to launch Quisling into politics.[41]
After Nansen died on 13 May 1930, Quisling used his friendship with the editor of theTidens Tegn newspaper to get his analysis of Nansen onto the front page. The article was entitled "Politiske tanker ved Fridtjof Nansens død" ("Political Thoughts on the Death ofFridtjof Nansen") and was published on 24 May.[42] In the article, he outlined ten points that would complete Nansen's vision as applied to Norway, among them "strong and just government" and a "greater emphasis on race and heredity."[41] This theme was followed up in his new book,Russia and Ourselves [no], which was serialised inTidens Tegn during the autumn of 1930.[43] Advocating war againstBolshevism, the openly racist book catapulted Quisling into the political limelight.[41] Despite his earlier ambivalence, he took up a seat on the Oslo board of the previously Nansen-ledFatherland League. Meanwhile, he and Prytz founded a new political movement,Nordisk folkereisning i Norge, or "Nordic popular rising in Norway", with a central committee of 31 and Quisling as itsfører—a one-man executive committee—though Quisling seemed to have had no particular attachment to the term.[44] The first meeting of the league took place on 17 March 1931, stating the purpose of the movement was to "eliminate the imported and depraved communist insurgency."[45]
Quisling (seated, right) as defence minister in the Kolstad government in 1931
Quisling leftNordisk folkereisning i Norge in May 1931 to serve as defence minister in theAgrarian government ofPeder Kolstad, despite being neither an Agrarian nor a friend of Kolstad.[46] He had been suggested to Kolstad for the post byThorvald Aadahl, editor of the Agrarian newspaperNationen, who was in turn influenced by Prytz.[47] The appointment came as a surprise to many in the Parliament of Norway.[48]
Quisling's first action in the post was to deal with the aftermath of theBattle of Menstad, an "extremely bitter" labour dispute, by sending in troops.[47][49][50] After narrowly avoiding criticism by the left wing over his handling of the dispute, and the revelation of his earlier "militia" plans, Quisling turned his attention to the perceived threat posed by communists.[51] He created a list of theRevolutionäre Gewerkschafts Opposition (Revolutionary Trade Union Opposition) leadership, who had been the alleged agitators at Menstad; a number of them were eventually charged withsubversion and violence against the police.[47]
Quisling's policies also resulted in the establishment of a permanent militia called theLeidang which, unlike the body he had previously planned, was to be counter-revolutionary. Despite the ready availability of junior officers in the reserve following defence cuts, only seven units were established in 1934, and funding restrictions meant that the enterprise included less than a thousand men before it faded away.[52] Sometime during the period 1930–33, Quisling's first wife, Alexandra, received notice of the annulment of her marriage to him.[53]
In mid-1932Nordisk folkereisning i Norge was forced to confirm that even though Quisling remained in the cabinet, he would not become a member of the party. They further stated that the party programme had no basis in fascism of any kind, including theNational Socialism model.[52] This did not dampen criticism of Quisling, who remained constantly in the headlines, although he was gradually earning a reputation as a disciplined and efficient administrator.[52] After he was attacked in his office by a knife-wielding assailant who threw ground pepper in his face on 2 February 1932, some newspapers, instead of focusing on the attack itself, suggested that the assailant had been the jealous husband of one of Quisling's cleaners; others, especially those aligned with theLabour Party, posited that the whole thing had been staged.[54][55] In November 1932, Labour politicianJohan Nygaardsvold put this theory to Parliament,[56] prompting suggestions that charges of slander be brought against him.[57] No charges were brought, and the identity of the assailant has never been confirmed. Quisling later indicated it was an attempt to steal military papers recently left by Swedish Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm Kleen.[54][nb 2] The so-called "pepper affair" served to polarise opinion about Quisling, and government fears grew concerning reasonably open Soviet elements in Norway who had been active in promoting industrial unrest.[59]
Following Kolstad's death in March 1932, Quisling retained his post as defence minister in the second Agrarian government underJens Hundseid for political reasons, though they remained in bitter opposition throughout.[60] Just as he had been under Kolstad, Quisling was involved in many of the spats that characterised Hundseid's government.[61] On 8 April that year, Quisling had a chance to defend himself over the pepper affair in Parliament, but instead used the opportunity to attack the Labour andCommunist parties, claiming that named members were criminals and "enemies of our fatherland and our people."[59] Support for Quisling from right-wing elements in Norwegian society rocketed overnight, and 153 distinguished signatories called for Quisling's claims to be investigated. In the coming months, tens of thousands of Norwegians followed suit and Quisling's summer was full of speeches to packed political rallies.[59] In Parliament, however, Quisling's speech was viewed as political suicide; not only was his evidence weak, but questions were raised as to why the information had not been handed over much sooner if the revolutionary threat were so serious.[59]
Over the course of 1932 and into 1933, Prytz's influence overNordisk folkereisning i Norge weakened and lawyerJohan Bernhard Hjort assumed the leadership role. Hjort was keen to work with Quisling because of his new-found popularity, and they devised a new programme of right-wing policies including proscription of revolutionary parties including those funded by foreign bodies such asComintern, the suspension of the voting rights for people in receipt ofsocial welfare, agricultural debt relief, and an audit of public finances.[62] In 1932, during theKullmann Affair, Quisling turned on the prime minister for questioning his hard-line stance over pacifist agitator CaptainOlaf Kullmann. In a memorandum laying out his proposals for economic and social reform distributed to the entire cabinet, Quisling called for the prime minister to stand down.[63] As the government began to collapse, Quisling's personal popularity reached new heights; he was referred to as "man of the year," and there were expectations of forthcoming electoral success.[63]
Despite the new programme, some of Quisling's circle still favoured a cabinet coup. He later said he had even considered the use of force to overthrow the government but, in late February, it was theLiberal Party that brought them down. With the assistance of Hjort and Prytz,Nordisk folkereisning i Norge quickly became a political party,Nasjonal Samling, or NS, literally "National Unity," ready to contest the forthcoming October parliamentary election. Quisling was mildly disappointed and would have preferred to head a national movement, not just one of seven political parties.Nasjonal Samling soon afterwards announced it would support candidates from other parties if they supported its key aim of "establishing a strong and stable national government independent of ordinary party politics." Although not an overnight success in the already crowded political spectrum, the party slowly gained support. With its Nazi-inspired belief in the central authority of a strongFührer, as well as its powerful propaganda elements, it gained support from many among the Oslo upper classes, and began to give the impression that "big money" lay behind it.[64]
Increased support also materialised when theBygdefolkets Krisehjelp, the Norwegian Farmers' Aid Association, sought financial aid fromNasjonal Samling, who in turn gained political influence and a useful existing network of well-trained party officers. Quisling's party never managed a grand anti-socialist coalition, however, in part because of competition from theConservative Party for right-wing votes.[65] Though Quisling remained unable to demonstrate any skill as an orator, his reputation for scandal nonetheless ensured that the electorate were aware ofNasjonal Samling's existence. As a result, the party showed only moderate success in theOctober election, with 27,850 votes—approximately two per cent of the national vote, and about three and a half per cent of the vote in constituencies where it fielded candidates.[66] This made it the fifth largest party in Norway, out-polling the Communists but not the Conservative, Labour, Liberal or Agrarian parties, and failing to secure a single seat in Parliament.[66]
Quisling on the podium during a party meeting in the 1930s
After the underwhelming election results, Quisling's attitude to negotiation and compromise hardened.[67] A final attempt to form a coalition of the right in March 1934 came to nothing, and from late 1933, Quisling'sNasjonal Samling began to carve out its own form of national socialism. With no leader in Parliament, however, the party struggled to introduce the constitutional reform bill needed to achieve its lofty ambitions. When Quisling tried to introduce the bill directly, it was swiftly rejected,[67] and the party went into decline. In the summer of 1935, headlines quoted Quisling telling opponents that "heads [would] roll" as soon as he achieved power. The threat irreparably damaged the image of his party, and over the following few months several high-ranking members resigned, includingKai Fjell and Quisling's brother Jørgen.[68]
Quisling speaks during a trip toSetesdal, Norway, probably in 1936
Quisling began to familiarise himself with the international fascist movement, attending the1934 Montreux Fascist conference in December. For his party, the association withItalian fascism could not have come at a worse time, so soon after headlines of illegalItalian incursions into Abyssinia.[69] On his return trip from Montreux, he met Naziideologue and foreign policy theoristAlfred Rosenberg, and though he preferred to see his own policies as a synthesis of Italian fascism and German Nazism, by the time of the 1936 elections, Quisling had in part become the "Norwegian Hitler" that his opponents had long accused him of being.[70] Part of this was due to his hardeningantisemitic stance, associating Judaism with Marxism, liberalism, and, increasingly, anything else he found objectionable, and part as a result ofNasjonal Samling's growing similarity to the German Nazi Party. Despite receiving an unexpected boost when the Norwegian government acceded to Soviet demands to arrestLeon Trotsky, the party's election campaign never gained momentum. Although Quisling sincerely believed he had the support of around 100,000 voters, and declared to his party that they would win an absolute minimum of ten seats,Nasjonal Samling managed to poll just 26,577, fewer than in 1933 when they had fielded candidates in only half the districts.[71][72] Under this pressure, the party split in two, with Hjort leading the breakaway group; although fewer than fifty members left immediately, many more drifted away during 1937.[73]
Dwindling party membership created many problems for Quisling, especially financial ones. For years he had been in financial difficulties and reliant on his inheritance, while increasing numbers of his paintings were found to be copies when he tried to sell them. Vidkun and his brother Arne sold oneFrans Hals painting for just four thousand dollars, believing it to be a copy and not the fifty-thousand-dollar artwork they had once thought it to be, only to see it reclassified as an original and revalued at a hundred thousand dollars. In the difficult circumstances of theGreat Depression, even originals did not raise as much as Quisling had hoped.[74] His disillusionment with Norwegian society was furthered by news of the plannedconstitutional reform of 1938, which would extend the parliamentary term from three to four years with immediate effect, a move Quisling bitterly opposed.[75]
In 1939, Quisling turned his attention towards Norway's preparations for the anticipated European war, which he believed involved a drastic increase in the country's defence spending to guarantee its neutrality. Meanwhile, Quisling presented lectures entitled "The Jewish problem in Norway"[76] and supportedAdolf Hitler in what appeared to be growing future conflict. Despite condemningKristallnacht, he sent the German leader a fiftieth-birthday greeting thanking him for "saving Europe from Bolshevism and Jewish domination".[75] Quisling also contended that should a British-Soviet alliance make neutrality impossible, Norway would have "to go with Germany."[77] Invited to the country in the summer of 1939, he began a tour of a number of German and Danish cities. He was received particularly well in Germany, which promised funds to boostNasjonal Samling's standing in Norway, and hence spread pro-Nazi sentiment. When war broke out on 1 September 1939, Quisling felt vindicated by both the event and the immediate superiority displayed by the German army. He remained outwardly confident that, despite its size, his party would soon become the centre of political attention.[77]
For the next nine months, Quisling continued to lead a party that was at best peripheral to Norwegian politics.[77] He was nonetheless active, and in October 1939 he worked with Prytz on an ultimately unsuccessful plan for peace between Britain, France and Germany and their eventual participation in a new economic union. Quisling also mused on how Germany ought to go on the offensive against its ally the Soviet Union, and on 9 December travelled to Germany to present his multi-faceted plans.[78] After impressing German officials, he won an audience with Hitler himself, scheduled for 14 December, whereupon he received firm advice from his contacts that the most useful thing he could do would be to ask for Hitler's help with a pro-German coup in Norway,[nb 3] that would let the Germans use Norway as a naval base. Thereafter, Norway would maintain official neutrality as long as possible, and finally the country would fall under German rather than British control.[80] It is not clear how much Quisling himself understood about the strategic implications of such a move, and he instead relied on his future Minister of Domestic AffairsAlbert Hagelin, who was fluent in German, to put the relevant arguments to German officials in Berlin during pre-meeting talks, even though Hagelin was prone to damaging exaggeration at times.[81] Quisling and his German contacts almost certainly went away with different views as to whether they had agreed upon the necessity of a German invasion.[82]
On 14 December 1939, Quisling met Hitler. The German leader promised to respond to any British invasion of Norway (Plan R 4), perhaps pre-emptively, with a German counter-invasion, but found Quisling's plans for both a Norwegian coup and an Anglo-German peace unduly optimistic. Nonetheless, Quisling would still receive funds to bolsterNasjonal Samling.[nb 4] The two men met again four days later, and afterwards Quisling wrote a memorandum that explicitly told Hitler that he did not consider himself a National Socialist.[82] As German machinations continued, Quisling was intentionally kept in the dark. He was also incapacitated by a severe bout of illness, probablynephritis in both kidneys, for which he refused hospitalisation. Though he returned to work on 13 March 1940, he remained ill for several weeks.[84]
In the meantime, theAltmark incident complicated Norway's efforts to maintain its neutrality. Hitler himself remained in two minds over whether an occupation of Norway should require an invitation from the Norwegian government. Finally, Quisling received his summons on 31 March, and reluctantly travelled toCopenhagen to meet with Nazi intelligence officers who asked him for information on Norwegian defences and defence protocols. He returned to Norway on 6 April and, on 8 April, the BritishOperation Wilfred commenced, bringing Norway into the war. WithAllied forces in Norway, Quisling expected a characteristically swift German response.[85]
In the early hours of 9 April 1940,Germany invaded Norway by air and sea in "OperationWeserübung", or "Operation Weser Exercise", intending to capture KingHaakon VII and the government of Prime MinisterJohan Nygaardsvold. However, alert to the possibility of invasion,ConservativePresident of the ParliamentC. J. Hambro arranged for their evacuation toHamar in the east of the country.[86] TheBlücher, a German cruiser which carried most of the personnel intended to take over Norway's administration,was sunk by cannon fire and torpedoes fromOscarsborg Fortress in theOslofjord.[nb 5] The Germans had expected the government to surrender and to have its replacement ready; neither happened, although the invasion itself continued. After hours of discussion, Quisling and his German counterparts decided that an immediatecoup was necessary, though this was not the preferred option either of Germany's ambassadorCurt Bräuer or of theGerman Foreign Ministry.[88]
In the afternoon, German liaison-personHans-Wilhelm Scheidt told Quisling that should he set up a government, it would have Hitler's personal approval. Quisling drew up a list of ministers and, although the legitimate government had merely relocated some 150 kilometres (93 mi) toElverum, accused it of having "fled".[nb 6]
Meanwhile, the Germans occupied Oslo and at 17:30Norwegian radio (NRK) ceased broadcasting at the request of the occupying forces.[91] With German support, at approximately 19:30, Quisling entered the NRK studios in Oslo and proclaimed the formation of a new government with himself as prime minister. He also revoked an earlier order to mobilise against the German invasion.[91][92] He still lacked legitimacy. Two of his orders—the first to his friend Colonel Hans Sommerfeldt Hiorth, the commanding officer of the army regiment atElverum,[93] to arrest the government, and the second toKristian Welhaven, Oslo's chief of police—were both ignored. At 22:00, Quisling resumed broadcasting, repeating his earlier message and reading out a list of new ministers. Hitler lent his support as promised, and recognised the new Norwegian government under Quisling within 24 hours.[91] Norwegian batteries were still firing on the German invasion force, and at 03:00 on 10 April, Quisling acceded to a German request to halt the resistance of theBolærne fortress.[nb 7][95] As a result of actions such as these, it was claimed at the time that Quisling's seizure of power in apuppet government had been part of the German plan all along.[96]
Quisling now reached the high-water mark of his political power. On 10 April, Bräuer travelled to Elverum where the legitimateNygaardsvold government now sat. On Hitler's orders, he demanded that King Haakon appoint Quisling head of a new government, thereby securing apeaceful transition of power and giving legal sanction to the occupation. Haakon rejected this demand.[97] Later, in a meeting with his cabinet, Haakon told his ministers that neither the people nor the Storting had confidence in Quisling. The king went further, saying that he could not appoint Quisling as prime minister, and would abdicate before appointing a Quisling-led government. Hearing this, the government unanimously voted to support the King's stance. It formally advised him not to appoint any government headed by Quisling,[98] and urged the people to continue their resistance.[97] With his popular support gone, Quisling ceased to be of use to Hitler. Germany retracted its support for his rival government, preferring instead to build up its own independent governing commission. In this way, Quisling was manoeuvred out of power by Bräuer and a coalition of his former allies, including Hjort, who now saw him as a liability. Even his political allies, including Prytz, deserted him.[97]
In return, Hitler wrote to Quisling thanking him for his efforts and guaranteeing him some sort of position in the new government. The transfer of power on these terms was duly enacted on 15 April, with Hitler still confident theAdministrative Council would receive the backing of the King.[99] Quisling's domestic and international reputation both hit new lows, casting him as both a traitor and a failure.[100]
Once the King had declared the German commission unlawful, it became clear that he would never be won over. An impatient Hitler appointed a German,Josef Terboven, as the new Norwegianreichskommissar, or governor-general, on 24 April, reporting directly to him. Despite Hitler's assurances, Terboven wanted to make sure that there would be no room in the government for theNasjonal Samling nor its leader Quisling, with whom he did not get along.[101] Terboven eventually accepted a certainNasjonal Samling presence in the government during June, but remained unconvinced about Quisling. As a result, on 25 June, Terboven forced Quisling to step down as leader of theNasjonal Samling and take a temporary leave of absence in Germany.[101] Quisling remained there until 20 August, while Rosenberg and AdmiralErich Raeder, whom he had met on his earlier visit to Berlin, negotiated on his behalf. In the end, Quisling returned "in triumph," having won Hitler over in a meeting on 16 August. TheReichskommissar would now have to accommodate Quisling as leader of the government, then allow him to rebuild theNasjonal Samling and bring more of his men into the cabinet.[102] Terboven complied and addressed the Norwegian people in a radio broadcast in which he asserted that theNasjonal Samling would be the only political party allowed.[103]
As a result, by the end of 1940 the monarchy had been suspended, although the Parliament of Norway and a body resembling a cabinet remained. TheNasjonal Samling, the only pro-German party, would be cultivated, but Terboven'sReichskommissariat would keep power in the meantime. Quisling would serve asacting prime minister and ten of the thirteen "cabinet" ministers were to come from his party.[104] He set out on a programme of wiping out "the destructive principles of theFrench Revolution", includingpluralism and parliamentary rule. This reached into local politics, whereby mayors who switched their allegiance to theNasjonal Samling were rewarded with much greater powers. Investments were made in heavily censored cultural programmes, though the press remained theoretically free. To bolster the survival chances of the Nordicgenotype,contraception was severely restricted.[105] Quisling's party experienced a rise in membership to a little over 30,000, but despite his optimism it was never to pass the 40,000 mark.[106]
German occupation forces inNorway during World War II, along with assembled Germanorder police soldiers and Quisling, before a German propaganda event at the Colosseum cinema in Oslo, May 1941
On 5 December 1940, Quisling flew to Berlin to negotiate the future of Norway's independence. By the time he returned on 13 December, he had agreed to raise volunteers to fight with the GermanSchutzstaffel (SS). In January, SS headHeinrich Himmler travelled to Norway to oversee preparations. Quisling clearly believed that if Norway supported Nazi Germany on the battlefield, there would be no reason for Germany to annex it. To this end, he opposed plans to have a German SS brigade loyal only to Hitler installed in Norway.[107] In the process, he also toughened his attitude to the country harbouring the exiled king, the United Kingdom, which he no longer saw as a Nordic ally. Finally, Quisling aligned Norwegian policy on Jews with that of Germany, giving a speech in Frankfurt on 26 March 1941 in which he argued for compulsory exile, but warned againstextermination: "And sincethe Jewish question cannot be solved by simply exterminating the Jews or sterilizing them, secondly their parasitic existence must be prevented by giving them, like the other peoples of the earth, their own land. However, their former land,Palestine, has been the land of the Arabs for centuries. There is therefore no better and milder way to solve the Jewish problem than to get them another so-called promised land and to send them all there together, so as to, if possible, bring the eternal Jew and his divided soul to rest."[107][108]
In May, Quisling was shattered by the death of his mother Anna, as the two had been particularly close. At the same time, the political crisis over Norwegian independence deepened, with Quisling threatening Terboven with his resignation over the issue of finance. In the end, the Reichskommissar agreed to compromise on the issue, but Quisling had to concede on the SS issue: A brigade was formed, but as a branch of theNasjonal Samling.[107]
Meanwhile, the government line hardened, with Communist Party leaders arrested and trade unionists intimidated. On 10 September 1941,Viggo Hansteen andRolf Wickstrøm were executed and many more imprisoned following themilk strike in Oslo. Hansteen's execution was later seen as a watershed moment, dividing the occupation into its more innocent and more deadly phases.[109] The same yearStatspolitiet ("the State Police"), abolished in 1937, was reestablished to assist theGestapo in Norway, and radio sets were confiscated across the country. Though these were all Terboven's decisions, Quisling agreed with them and went on to denounce the government-in-exile as "traitors." As a result of the toughened stance, an informal "ice front" emerged, withNasjonal Samling supporters ostracised from society.[109] Quisling remained convinced this was an anti-German sentiment that would fade away once Berlin had handed power over toNasjonal Samling. However, the only concessions he won in 1941 were having the heads of ministries promoted to official ministers of the government and independence for the party secretariat.[110]
Two girls inBunad greet ReichskommissarJosef Terboven and Minister President Vidkun Quisling on 1 February 1942.
In January 1942, Terboven announced the German administration would be wound down. Soon afterwards he told Quisling that Hitler had approved the transfer of power, scheduled for 30 January. Quisling remained doubtful it would happen, since Germany and Norway were in the midst of complex peace negotiations that could not be completed until peace had been reached on theEastern Front, while Terboven insisted that theReichskommissariat would remain in power until such peace came about.[110] Quisling could nevertheless be reasonably confident that his position within the party and with Berlin was unassailable, even if he was unpopular within Norway, something of which he was well aware.[111]
After a brief postponement, an announcement was made on 1 February 1942, detailing how the cabinet had elected Quisling to the post ofminister president of the national government.[112][113] The appointment was accompanied by a banquet, rallying, and other celebrations by theNasjonal Samling members. In his first speech, Quisling committed the government to closer ties with Germany. The only change to the Constitution was the reinstatement of theban on Jewish entry into Norway, which had beenabolished in 1851.[113]
Quisling with Norwegian volunteers on the eastern front in 1942Quisling's office at the Royal Palace, into which he moved in February 1942Quisling signing an autograph, 1943
His new position gave Quisling a security of tenure he had not previously enjoyed, although theReichskommissariat remained outside his control. A month later, in February 1942, Quisling made his first state visit to Berlin. It was a productive trip, in which all key issues of Norwegian independence were discussed—butJoseph Goebbels in particular remained unconvinced of Quisling's credentials, noting that it was "unlikely" he would "...ever make a great statesman."[114]
Back at home, Quisling was now less concerned aboutNasjonal Samling's membership and even wanted action to clean up the membership list, including purging it of drunkards. On 12 March 1942, Norway officially became aone-party state. In time, criticism of, and resistance to, the party was criminalised, though Quisling expressed regret for having to take this step, hoping that every Norwegian would freely come around to accepting his government.[114]
This optimism was short-lived. In the course of the summer of 1942, Quisling lost any ability he might have had to sway public opinion by attempting to force children into theNasjonal Samlings Ungdomsfylking youth organisation, which was modelled on theHitler Youth. This move prompted a mass resignation of teachers from their professional body and churchmen from their posts, along with large-scale civil unrest. His attempted indictment of BishopEivind Berggrav proved similarly controversial, even amongst his German allies. Quisling now toughened his stance, telling Norwegians that they would have the new regime forced upon them "whether they like it or not." On 1 May 1942, the German High Command noted that "organised resistance to Quisling has started" and Norway's peace talks with Germany stalled as a result.[115] On 11 August 1942, Hitler postponed any further peace negotiations until the war ended. Quisling was admonished and learned that Norway would not get the independence he so greatly yearned for. As an added insult, for the first time he was forbidden to write letters directly to Hitler.[116]
Quisling had earlier pushed for a corporate alternative to theParliament of Norway, theStorting, which he called aRiksting. It would comprise two chambers, theNæringsting (Economic Chamber) andKulturting (Cultural Chamber). Now, in advance ofNasjonal Samling's eighth and last national convention on 25 September 1942 and becoming increasingly distrustful of professional bodies, he changed his mind. TheRiksting became an advisory body while theFørerting, or Leader Council, and parliamentary chambers were now to be independent bodies subordinate to their respective ministries.[nb 8]
After the convention, support forNasjonal Samling, and Quisling personally, ebbed away. Increased factionalism and personal losses, including the accidental death of fellow politicianGulbrand Lunde, were compounded by heavy-handed German tactics, such as the shooting of ten well-known residents ofTrøndelag and its environs inOctober 1942. In addition, thelex Eilifsenex-post facto law of August 1943, which led to the first death sentence passed by the regime, was widely seen as a blatant violation of the Constitution and a sign of Norway's increasing role in theFinal Solution, and would destroy everything the convention had achieved in terms of boosting party morale.[119]
With government abetment and Quisling's personal engagement, Jews were registered in a German initiative of January 1942. On 26 October 1942, German forces, with help from the Norwegian police, arrested 300 registered male Jews in Norway and sent them toconcentration camps (most went to theBerg concentration camp) and manned byHirden, the paramilitary wing ofNasjonal Samling.[120] Most controversially, the Jews' property was confiscated by the state.[nb 9]
On 26 November, the detainees were deported, along with their families. Although this was an entirely German initiative—Quisling himself was left unaware of it, although government assistance was provided—Quisling led the Norwegian public to believe that the first deportation of Jewish people, to camps inNazi-German occupied Poland, was his idea.[119] A further 250 were deported in February 1943, and it remains unclear what the party's official position was on the eventual fate of the 759 Norwegian deportees. There is evidence to suggest that Quisling honestly believed the official line throughout 1943 and 1944 that they were awaiting repatriation to anew Jewish homeland in Madagascar.[122][nb 10]
At the same time, Quisling believed that the only way he could win back Hitler's respect would be to raise volunteers for the now-faltering German war effort,[124] and he committed Norway wholeheartedly to German plans to wagetotal war.[125] For him at least, after the German defeat atStalingrad in February 1943, Norway now had a part to play in keeping the German empire strong. In April 1943, Quisling delivered a scathing speech attacking Germany's refusal to outline its plans for post-war Europe. When he put this to Hitler in person, the Nazi leader remained unmoved despite Norway's contributions to the war effort. Quisling felt betrayed over this postponement of Norwegian freedom,[126] an attitude that waned only when Hitler eventually committed to a free post-war Norway in September 1943.[127]
Quisling tired during the final years of the war. In 1942 he passed 231 laws, 166 in 1943, and 139 in 1944. Social policy was the one area that still received significant attention. By that autumn, Quisling andAnton Mussert in the Netherlands could be satisfied they had at least survived.[128] In 1944, the weight problems Quisling had been having during the preceding two years also eased.[129]
Despite the increasingly dire military outlook in 1943 and 1944,Nasjonal Samling's position at the head of the government, albeit with its ambiguous relationship to theReichskommissariat, remained unassailable.[128] Nevertheless, the Germans exerted increasing control over law and order in Norway. Following the deportation of the Jews, Germany deported Norwegian officers and finally attempted to deport students from theUniversity of Oslo. Even Hitler was incensed by the scale of the arrests.[130] Quisling became entangled in a similar debacle in early 1944 when he forced compulsory military service on elements of theHirden, causing a number of members to resign to avoid being drafted.[131]
On 20 January 1945, Quisling made what would be his final trip to visit Hitler. He promised Norwegian support in the final phase of the war if Germany agreed to a peace deal that would remove Norway's affairs from German intervention. This proposal grew out of a fear that as German forces retreated southwards through Norway, the occupation government would have to struggle to keep control in northern Norway. To the horror of the Quisling regime, the Nazis instead decided on ascorched earth policy in northern Norway, going so far as to shoot Norwegian civilians who refused to evacuate the region.[131] The period was also marked by increasing civilian casualties fromAllied air raids, and mountingresistance to the government within occupied Norway. The meeting with the German leader proved unsuccessful and upon being asked to sign the execution order of thousands of Norwegian "saboteurs," Quisling refused, an act of defiance that so enraged Terboven, acting on Hitler's orders, that he stormed out of the negotiations.[131] On recounting the events of the trip to a friend, Quisling broke down in tears, convinced the Nazi refusal to sign a peace agreement would seal his reputation as a traitor.[132]
Quisling spent the last months of the war trying to prevent Norwegian deaths in the showdown that was developing between German and Allied forces in Norway. The regime worked for the safe repatriation of Norwegians held in Germanprisoner-of-war camps. Privately, Quisling had long accepted that National Socialism would be defeated. Hitler's suicide on 30 April 1945 left him free to pursue publicly his chosen end-game, a naïve offer of a transition to a power-sharing government with the government-in-exile.[133]
On 7 May, Quisling ordered police not to offer armed resistance to the Allied advance except in self-defence or against overt members of the Norwegian resistance movement. The same day, Germany announced it would surrender unconditionally, making Quisling's position untenable.[134]A realist, Quisling met military leaders of the resistance on the following day to discuss how he would be arrested. Quisling declared that while he did not want to be treated as a common criminal, he did not want preferential treatment compared to hisNasjonal Samling colleagues. He argued he could have kept his forces fighting until the end, but had chosen not to so as to avoid turning "Norway into a battlefield." Instead, he tried to ensure a peaceful transition. In return, the resistance offered full trials for all accusedNasjonal Samling members after the war, and its leadership agreed he could be incarcerated in a house rather than a prison complex.[134]
The civil leadership of the resistance, represented by lawyerSven Arntzen, demanded Quisling be treated like any other murder suspect and, on 9 May 1945, Quisling and his ministers turned themselves in to police.[135] Quisling was transferred to Cell 12 inMøllergata 19, the main police station in Oslo. The cell was equipped with a tiny table, a basin, and a hole in the wall for a toilet bucket.[136]
After ten weeks of being constantly watched to prevent suicide attempts in police custody, he was transferred toAkershus Fortress and awaited trial as part of thelegal purge.[135] He soon started working on his case withHenrik Bergh, a lawyer with a good track record but largely unsympathetic, at least initially, to Quisling's plight. Bergh did, however, believe Quisling's testimony that he tried to act in the best interests of Norway and decided to use this as a starting point for the defence.[137]
Initially, Quisling's charges related to the coup, including his revocation of the mobilisation order, to his time asNasjonal Samling leader and to his actions as minister president, such as assisting the enemy and illegally attempting to alter the constitution. Finally, he was accused ofGunnar Eilifsen's murder. While not contesting the key facts, he denied all charges on the grounds that he had always worked for a free and prosperous Norway, and submitted a sixty-page response.[137] On 11 July 1945, a further indictment was brought, adding a raft of new charges, including more murders, theft, embezzlement, and, most worrying of all for Quisling, the charge of conspiring with Hitler over the invasion and occupation of Norway.[138]
I know that the Norwegian people have sentenced me to death, and that the easiest course for me would be to take my own life. But I want to let history reach its own verdict. Believe me, in ten years' time I will have become anotherSaint Olav.
— Quisling to Bjørn Foss, 8 May 1945,Dahl 1999, p. 367
The trial opened on 20 August 1945.[138] Quisling's defence rested on downplaying his unity with Germany and stressing that he had fought for total independence, something that seemed completely contrary to the recollections of many Norwegians. From that point on, wrote biographer Dahl, Quisling had to tread a "fine line between truth and falsehood", and emerged from it "an elusive and often pitiful figure".[138] He misrepresented the truth on several occasions and the truthful majority of his statements won him few advocates in the country at large, where he remained almost universally despised.[139]
In the later days of the trial, Quisling's health suffered, largely as a result of the number of medical tests to which he was subjected,[139] and his defence faltered.[139] The prosecution's final speech placed responsibility for the Final Solution being carried out in Norway at the feet of Quisling, using the testimony of German officials. The prosecutorAnnæus Schjødt called for thedeath penalty, using laws introduced by the government-in-exile in October 1941 and January 1942.[139][140]
Speeches by both Bergh and Quisling himself could not change the outcome. When the verdict was announced on 10 September 1945, Quisling was convicted on all but a handful of minor charges and sentenced to death.
An October appeal to theSupreme Court was rejected.[141] The court process was judged to be "a model of fairness" in a commentary by author Maynard Cohen.[142] After giving testimony in a number of other trials ofNasjonal Samling members, Quisling wasexecuted by firing squad atAkershus Fortress at 02:40 on 24 October 1945.[143][144] His last words before being shot were, "I'm convicted unfairly and I die innocent."[145] After his death his body was cremated and the ashes interred in Fyresdal.[146]
Quisling's wife Maria lived in Oslo until her death in 1980.[147] They had no children. Upon her death, she donated all their Russian antiques to a charitable fund that still operated in Oslo as of October 2025.[148] For most of his later political career, Quisling lived in a mansion onBygdøy in Oslo that he called "Gimle," after the place inNorse mythology where survivors of the great battle ofRagnarök were to live.[149] The house, later renamed Villa Grande, in time became aHolocaust museum.[150] TheNasjonal Samling movement was wiped out as a political force in Norway and Quisling has become one of the most written-about Norwegians of all time.[151]The wordquisling became a synonym fortraitor.[152] The term was coined by the British newspaperThe Times in its lead of 15 April 1940, titled "Quislings everywhere."[153] The noun survived, and for a while during and after World War II, theback-formed verbto quisle/ˈkwɪzəl/ was used. One who wasquisling was in the act of committing treason.[154]
To his supporters, Quisling was regarded as a conscientious administrator of the highest order, knowledgeable and with an eye for detail. He was believed to care deeply about his people and maintained high moral standards throughout.[155] To his opponents, Quisling was unstable and undisciplined, abrupt, even threatening. Quite possibly he was both, at ease among friends and under pressure when confronted with his political opponents, and generally shy and retiring with both. During formal dinners he often said nothing at all except for the occasional cascade of dramatic rhetoric. Indeed, he did not react well to pressure and would often let slip over-dramatic sentiments when put on the spot. Normally open to criticism, he was prone to assuming larger groups were conspiratorial.[155]
Post-war interpretations of Quisling's character are similarly mixed. After the war, collaborationist behaviour was popularly viewed as a result of mental deficiency, leaving the personality of the clearly more intelligent Quisling an "enigma". He was instead seen as weak, paranoid, intellectually sterile, and power-hungry: ultimately "muddled rather than thoroughly corrupted".[156]
As quoted by Dahl, psychiatristGabriel Langfeldt stated Quisling's ultimate philosophical goals "fitted the classic description of theparanoid megalomaniac more exactly than any other case [he had] ever encountered."[157]
During his time in office, Quisling arose early, often having completed several hours of work before arriving at the office between 9:30 and 10:00. He liked to intervene in virtually all government matters, reading all letters addressed to him or his chancellery personally and marking a surprising number for action.[158] Quisling was independent minded, made several key decisions on the spot and, unlike his German counterpart, he liked to follow procedure to ensure that government remained "a dignified and civilised" affair throughout.[158] He took a personal interest in the administration of Fyresdal, where he was born.[155]
He rejectedGerman racial supremacy and instead saw the Norwegian race as the progenitor of Northern Europe, tracing his own family tree in his spare time.[155] Party members did not receive preferential treatment,[158] though Quisling did not himself share in the wartime hardships of his fellow Norwegians. Nevertheless, many gifts went unused and he did not live extravagantly.[155]
Quisling's library included works of eminent philosophers
Quisling was interested in science, eastern religions and metaphysics, eventually building up a library that included the works ofSpinoza,Kant,Hegel andSchopenhauer. He kept up with developments in the realm ofquantum physics, but did not keep up with more current philosophical ideas.[159] He blended philosophy and science into what he called Universism, or Universalism, which was a unified explanation of everything. His original writings stretched to a claimed two thousand pages.[159] He rejected the basic teachings oforthodox Christianity and established a new theory of life, which he calledUniversism, a term borrowed from a textbook whichJan Jakob Maria de Groot had written onChinese philosophy. De Groot's book argued that Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism were all part of a world religion that De Groot called Universism. Quisling described how his philosophy "... followed from the universaltheory of relativity, of which thespecific andgeneral theories of relativity are special instances."
Hismagnum opus was divided into four parts: an introduction, a description of mankind's apparent progression from individual to increasing complex consciousnesses, a section on his tenets of morality and law, and a final section on science, art, politics, history, race and religion. The conclusion was to be titledThe World's Organic Classification and Organisation, but the work remained unfinished. Generally, Quisling worked on it infrequently during his time in politics. The biographerHans Fredrik Dahl describes this as "fortunate" since Quisling would "never have won recognition" as a philosopher.[159]
During his trial and particularly after being sentenced, Quisling became interested once more in Universism. He saw the events of the war as part of the move towards the establishment of God's kingdom on earth and justified his actions in those terms. During the first week of October, he wrote a fifty-page document titledUniversistic Aphorisms, which represented "...an almost ecstatic revelation of truth and the light to come, which bore the mark of nothing less than a prophet."[160] The document was also notable for its attack on thematerialism of Nazism. In addition, he simultaneously worked on a sermon,Eternal Justice, which reiterated his key beliefs, including reincarnation.[160]
Quisling was portrayed byGard B. Eidsvold in the 2024 Norwegian filmQuisling: The Final Days which dramatized the arrest, trial and execution of the Nazi collaborator. The film was well received by critics.[161]
Borgersrud, Lars. "9 April revised: on the Norwegian history tradition after Magne Skodvin on Quisling and the invasion of Norway in 19401",Scandinavian Journal of History 39.3 (2014): 353–397, historiography
Hamre, Martin Kristoffer. "Norwegian Fascism in a Transnational Perspective: The Influence of German National Socialism and Italian Fascism on the Nasjonal Samling, 1933–1936",Fascism 8.1 (2019): 36–60.online
Hayes, Paul M. "Vidkun Quisling",History Today (May 1966), Vol. 16 Issue 5, pp. 332–340, online
Hayes, Paul M. (1971).Quisling: the career and political ideas of Vidkun Quisling, 1887–1945.Newton Abbot, UK: David & Charles.OCLC320725.
Høidal, Oddvar K. "Vidkun Quisling and the Deportation of Norway's Jews",Scandinavian Studies; 88.3 (2016): 270–294.online
Larsen, Stein Ugelvik. "Charisma from Below? The Quisling Case in Norway",Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions 7#2 (2006): 235–244.
Larsen, Stein Ugelvik, "The Social Foundations of Norwegian Fascism 1933–1945: An Analysis of Membership Data" in Stein Ugelvik Larsen, Bernt Hagtvet, and Jan Petter Myklebust, eds.Who were the fascists: social roots of European fascism (Columbia University Press, 1980).
Borgen, Per Otto (1999).Norges statsministre. Oslo: Aschehoug.ISBN82-03-22389-3.
Bratteli, Tone; Myhre, Hans B. (1992).Quislings siste dager. Oslo: Cappelen.ISBN82-02-13345-9.
Hartmann, Sverre (1970) [1959].Fører uten folk. Forsvarsminister Quisling – hans bakgrunn og vei inn i norsk politikk (2nd rev. ed.). Oslo: Tiden Norsk Forlag.OCLC7812651.
^Increasingly bitter over the treatment he had received from the military, he eventually took up a post in the reserves on the reduced salary of a captain, and received a promotion to major in 1930.[26]
^Attempts to establish exactly what the Oslo authorities managed to achieve in trying to find the assailant have been hampered by the loss of the original case file. Quisling himself seemed to have rejected the idea that the plot had been masterminded by an important military power such as the Russians or Germans.[58]
^Quisling considered the fourth and constitutionally dubious session of the Parliament of Norway, due to open on 10 January 1940, as the mostly likely time forNasjonal Samling to face an exploitable crisis. During 1939 he had firmed up a list of candidates for an incoming government.[79]
^Immediately after the meeting on 14 December, Hitler ordered his staff to draw up preparations for an invasion of Norway.[83]
^Dahl suggests that the mix-up was in part due to Quisling's earlier statement to the Germans that he "did not believe" the Norwegian sea defences would open fire without previous orders to do so.[87]
^The option of a "Danish solution"—welcoming the invaders in order to avoid conflict—was still on the table. In this way, the Nazis were avoiding choosing between the rival centres of power.[89] This became impossible only after Quisling's announcement at 19:30.[90]
^Though now accepted, this charge was later one of the few for which the jury at Quisling's trial did not find sufficient evidence.[94]
^Only the Cultural Chamber actually came into being with the Economic Chamber postponed because of unrest within the professional bodies it was supposed to represent.[117][118]
^Property confiscations were enabled by a law of 26 October 1942. Quisling's motivations in passing such a law have proved controversial, alternately labelled as collaborationist[120] and an actively anti-collaborationist attempt to stop the occupiers from confiscating Jewish property.[121]
^In reality, their destination was the extermination camp atAuschwitz. That Quisling understood the realities of the final solution is suggested by authors such as Høidal, but this has never been proven.[123]
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