Content deleted Content added
m →Bio |
m →Bio |
||
Line 14:
On [[May 17]], [[1933]], the [[Norwegian Constitution Day]], Quisling and state attorney [[Johan Bernhard Hjort]] formed [[Nasjonal Samling]] ("National Unity"), the Norwegian [[fascism|fascist]] [[political party|party]]. The party had an anti-[[democracy|democratic]], ''[[Führerprinzip]]''-based political structure, and Quisling was to be the party's ''Fører'' (Norwegian equivalent of [[German language|German]] ''Führer'', i.e. leader), much as [[Adolf Hitler]] was for the [[Germany|German]] [[National Socialist German Workers Party|Nazi Party]]. Nasjonal Samling had only modest success; in the [[Norwegian parliamentary election, 1933|election of 1933]], four months after the party was formed, it garnered 27,850 [[vote]]s (approximately 2%), following support from the Norwegian Farmer's Aid Association, with which Quisling had connections from his time as a member of the [[Centre Party (Norway)|Agrarian]] government. However, as the party line changed from a [[religion|religiously]] rooted one to a more pro-German and [[anti-Semitism|anti-Semitic]] hardline policy from [[1935]] onwards, the support from the Church waned, and in the [[1936]] elections the party got fewer votes. Nevertheless, in 1936, a speech by Qusling gathered 30 000 people in Oslo. Nasjonal Samling became increasingly extremist, and party membership dwindled to an estimated 2,000 members after the German invasion. By [[1945]] it had grown to almost 45,000 members.
During the 1930s, there were several obscure events in Norwegian politics. For instance, according to the Norwegian Constitution, elections were to be held every 3 years. The last election being in 1936, the next election due in 1939 was nevertheless postponed, although once again: The Norwegian Constitution had very strict rules for such changes, demanding this to be ratified by subsequent Parliaments over several years, rules that were disregarded. The Labour Government's introduction of a new election law, 22 April 1938, was therefore unconstitutional. From a legal and constitutional point of view, likewise, the Norwegian Parliament and Labour Government were illegal after 1939
When [[Operation Weserübung|German forces invaded Norway]] on [[April 9]], [[1940]], Quisling became the first person in history to announce a [[coup d'etat]] during a news broadcast, declaring an ad-hoc government during the confusion of the invasion, hoping that the Germans would support it. The background for this action was the flight northwards of the [[Haakon VII of Norway|King]] and the government, and Quisling feared that all political power could end up in German hands, to the disadvantage of the Norwegian people. Quisling had visited Adolf Hitler in Germany in [[1939]], but was not well liked by Hitler who thought Quisling was of "no use" to him. The main goal of [[Norwegian Campaign#Vidkun Quisling and initial German investigation|Quisling's visit to Berlin]] had not been to get German support for action in Norway but rather to warn Hitler against [[Stalin]]'s plans against Europe. The "Military Commission's Report of 1945" acquitted all Norwegians of collaboration with the invading forces ahead of the invasion.
| |||