L] Quisling and R] Reichskommissar Terboven, 1940
partnership of the paramilitary organisation, Hirden,
during Nazi occupation of Norway, Wikiwand
during Nazi occupation of Norway, Wikiwand
Quisling also had a diplomatic career, as a military attaché to Petrograd (1918-19) and to Helsinki (1919-21). Then Quisling represented Norway on the League of Nations’ Disarmament Committee, established post-war to settle international disputes. Later he assisted Fridtjof Nansen on humanitarian missions in the USSR and Armenia from 1922-25. Nansen was a famous explorer-diplomat who won the 1922 Nobel Peace Prize. Then Quisling served as a diplomat in Moscow. Luckily he met a Russian girl, Maria Vasiljevna, in 1923, and they lived as a married couple.
Quisling was Norway’s Minister of Defence from 1931-33. He and state attorney Johan Hjort then left the Agrarian Party to found the Fascist Nasjonal Samling-National Unity Party. Initially his party had the support of the Norwegian Church, so they had modest successes in the 1933 election. But the party became more extremist and Quisling feared that Norwegian Labour leaders were planning revolution. So he banned unions, and eventually lost the votes.
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Quisling befriended Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg, visiting Nazi meetings together from 1937. Naturally Adolf Hitler planned to conquer Europe, before he and Quisling met in Dec 1939. But either for power or for ideology, Quisling was happy to negotiate for HIS country. Early in 1940, ex Defence Minister Quisling travelled to Berlin to meet with Nazi command and gave the secrets of Norway’s defences to the German agents. Although Norway had declared neutrality when WW2 started, occupying Norway was a strategic and economic necessity for Quisling.
He met Hitler just 4 days before the invasion; Rosenberg documented Quisling’s proposal for welcoming the Germans. Quisling informed Hitler that the Western powers were planning to occupy Norway’s air bases eg the British would land at Kristiansand & Stavanger. Quisling was willing to take over the bases and give them to the Germans. The information earned Quisling 200,000 gold marks from Hitler.
The German Invasion of Norway and Denmark began in Apr 1940. Denmark surrendered immediately. The Germans attacked Norway using warships & paratroopers. Norwegian troops retreated north for several weeks so Quisling called for voluntary war efforts in support of Germany, violating Norway's constitution. Norwegian citizens resisted the Germans AND Quisling!
With the invasion, Princess Märtha and the children fled Norway for the safety of the US. And when King Haakon VII and the government dramatically escaped in April to the UK, Quisling stormed into Oslo’s radio station, announcing the coup. In the chaos, he named himself prime minister!
The German Invasion of Norway and Denmark began in Apr 1940. Denmark surrendered immediately. The Germans attacked Norway using warships & paratroopers. Norwegian troops retreated north for several weeks so Quisling called for voluntary war efforts in support of Germany, violating Norway's constitution. Norwegian citizens resisted the Germans AND Quisling!
With the invasion, Princess Märtha and the children fled Norway for the safety of the US. And when King Haakon VII and the government dramatically escaped in April to the UK, Quisling stormed into Oslo’s radio station, announcing the coup. In the chaos, he named himself prime minister!
Early on, Norwegian Fascist forces were a 5th column for the German invaders who occupied military bases. German warships entered ports and deployed thousands of troops, capturing strategic points on the Norwegian coast. They cruised past British mines and local garrisons; after two months of resistance, the last Norwegian and British defenders were overwhelmed and the country fell in June 1940. Hitler had driven all Allied forces out.
But resistance to Quisling continued, so in Sept 1940 his German masters sent in Nazi Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. Terboven was the highest authority in Norway, reporting directly to Hitler, and Quisling was retained as a Norwegian figurehead. The relationship between the two was tense, although Terboven saw an advantage in having a Norwegian in power, to reduce community resentment. Quisling started a repressive regime that was merciless to any opponents. So Norway’s resistance movement continued as the most effective in Nazi-occupied Europe.
Anti-Jewish persecutions began after the German invasion. The Nazis ordered Norway's small Jewish community to hand in membership lists; Jews were barred from university positions and Trondheim’s synagogue, one of only two in Norway, was given to German troops. In June 1942, Quisling confiscated all Jewish property. In Oct 1942 Jewish men were sent to Auschwitz in Poland, then Jewish women in Nov. Of the 770 Jews deported, 740 were murdered.
L->R Quisling, Heinrich Himmler, Josef Terboven, Commander Nikolaus von Falkenhorst
Behind: officers of the German forces in Norway, 1941, WikiwandQuisling tried to impose Nazi agendas on Norwegian society, via newspapers and schools. The grand idea of German propaganda was that after centuries of "Western contamination", Norway was finally finding its way home. He used all the methods of the Nazi machine: persuasion, bribery and torture. And he responded to general strikes and industrial sabotage with martial law and internment.
Despite his difficulties, Quisling remained Norway's Minister President from Feb 1942-May 1945, while the elected cabinet of Johan Nygaardsvold was exiled in London. In Apr 1945 when Hitler died, thousands of German soldiers were still stationed in Norway. Norwegian resistance leaders accepted their surrender at Oslo’s Akershus Fortress.
Quisling was arrested in May with other Nasjonal Samling leaders, tried for high treason, convicted and executed. "Quisling" now means traitor in many European languages,
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Quisling was arrested in May with other Nasjonal Samling leaders, tried for high treason, convicted and executed. "Quisling" now means traitor in many European languages,
Quisling (L) and Reichskommissar Terboven (C)
inspect an honorary partnership of State Police officers
inspect an honorary partnership of State Police officers
Norway 1942, Wiki