• Home
• Politicians
• Vidkun Quisling

Vidkun Quisling Politician

Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (Norwegian: [ˈʋɪdkʉn ˈkʋɪʃlɪŋ] (13px listen); 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian fascist politician. On 9 April 1940, with the German invasion of Norway in progress, he seized power in a Nazi-backed coup d'état.From 1942 to 1945 he served as Minister-President, working with the occupying forces. His pro-Nazi puppet government, known as the Quisling regime, was dominated by ministers from Nasjonal Samling, the party he founded in 1933. The collaborationist government participated – willingly or unwillingly – in Germany's Final Solution. Quisling was put on trial during the legal purge in Norway after World War II and found guilty of charges including embezzlement, murder and high treason. He was executed by firing squad at Akershus Fortress, Oslo, on 24 October 1945. The word quisling has since become a synonym for traitor, an allusion to the very poor light in which Quisling's actions were seen both at the time and after his death.The son of a Church of Norway pastor, Quisling blended quasi-Christian principles, scientific developments, principles of Eastern religions, and bits and pieces from philosophy to form a new theory he called Universism. Before going into politics, he proved himself in the military, joining the General Staff in 1911 and specialising in Russian affairs. He was posted to Russia in 1918, and worked with Fridtjof Nansen during the Russian famine of 1921 in Ukraine, returning to Russia to work with Frederik Prytz in Moscow. When Prytz left in 1927, Quisling stayed on as the Norwegian diplomat responsible for managing British diplomatic affairs. For these services he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by King George V, though the honour was later rescinded. He returned to Norway in 1929, and served as Minister of Defence during the governments of Peder Kolstad (1931–32) and Jens Hundseid (1932–33). Although Quisling achieved some popularity after his attacks on the political left, his party failed to win any seats in the Storting and was little more than peripheral at the time of his 1940 coup.