A politician and member of the Norwegian army, Vidkun Quisling is best remembered for helping Hitler’s “Nazi Party” seize Norway during World War II. He has been labeled a “traitor” for this act of treachery. In 1911, Quisling enlisted in the Norwegian military. Later, he was sent to Soviet Russia as a Norwegian ambassador. He oversaw British affairs for a while, and from 1931 to 1933, he was Norway’s defense minister under the “Farmers’ Party” coalition. He was a fervent supporter of fascism and founded his own fascist party, “Nasjonal Samling,” in 1933. But his repeated electoral failures caused him to second-guess his choices. He backed the “Nazi Party” at the start of the Second World War, and in 1942, when the Nazi party took power, he was appointed prime minister. He led a puppet administration for Hitler and wholeheartedly approved of the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust. As a result, the Quisling era is regarded as one of the darkest in Norway’s political history. After the conflict was finished, Quisling was found guilty of murders, treason, and embezzlement and was given the death penalty. On October 24, 1945, his execution took place in Oslo.
Early Childhood & Life
On July 18, 1887, Vidkun Quisling was born into a renowned family in Fyresdal, Telemark, Norway. His father, Jon Lauritz Quisling, worked as a genealogist and was a priest in the “Church of Norway.” His mother, Anna Caroline Bang, came from a wealthy family of businesspeople. Vidkun was born in Fyresdal, where his parents had relocated shortly after getting married. He was the oldest of their kids.
The family members’ letters to one another reveal a lot about Vidkul’s upbringing. He was a shy, kind, and upbeat young man. He had two brothers and a sister and three younger siblings. The letters also show that Quisling’s family members had a very close bond with one another and that he had a very contented upbringing.
The family was forced to relocate to Drammen in 1893 since Vidkun’s father was scheduled to work as a chaplain there. Vidkun was a student at a Drammen school. He struggled in his new environment and experienced bullying due to his pronounced Telemark dialect. Quisling turned out to be a fairly clever student, with stress and bullying apart. In 1900, the family relocated once more and lived in Skien.
The young Quisling showed a great interest in both the natural sciences and the humanities, particularly history. He excelled at arithmetic as well, but by the time he graduated from high school, he had no clear plans for the future.
His enrolment in the “Norwegian Military Academy” occurred in 1905. This came about as a result of Quisling receiving the top ranking out of all 250 applications that particular year. He was sent to the “Norwegian Military College” the following year, where he displayed his genius by earning the greatest grades in the school’s history. He met the King of Norway as a result of this achievement.
His Military Service
Quisling joined the army general staff in November 1911. His opinions on the First World War neutrality policies of his nation were in opposition to those of the ruling party. He was transferred to the Soviet Union in 1918 as a result of his research on the political climate in Russia, and his immaculate understanding of how the Russian authority kept its citizens under control was valued.
He quickly rose to the position of Russian affairs expert in the Norwegian military. He was transferred to Helsinki, Finland, in 1919, when he was appointed an intelligence officer in the Norwegian embassy. Quisling traveled extensively to France, Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, and other countries over the ensuing few years. He got married to a Russian woman while serving as a diplomat and traveling.
He was given the title of “Commander of the Order of the British Empire” in 1929 for his assistance to Britain. For his humanitarian work, he also received numerous awards in Romania and Yugoslavia. He relocated to Norway in 1929 to begin his own political career after serving as a Norwegian diplomat abroad for 12 years. He was unaware of the inner workings of military politics, though.
His Electoral Life
As a member of the “Agrarian” administration in 1931, he has appointed defense minister thanks to his conservative and anti-communist political views. His first contentious choice was to sternly silence the voices of the hydroelectric plant workers. His political aspirations increased, and he made a valiant effort to unite all the national conservative parties but failed terribly.
He founded the “Nasjonal Samling,” or “National Union,” in 1933 as his own political organization, drawing heavily on Hitler’s fascist government in Germany. He was also given credit for overthrowing the Norwegian government when in actuality, the ‘Liberal Party’ was responsible. The fascist philosophy that Quisling attempted to introduce to Norway was never accepted by the populace, despite the fact that he was well-liked in Norway.
Like the majority of the globe, Norwegian voters detested Hitler, and as a result, Quisling’s party suffered a significant loss in the elections that took place in October 1933. In his remarks, he made it clear that he was opposed to capitalism and socialism and believed that only an authoritarian government could prevent the collapse of the nation. He gave the example of “Nazi” Germany and said that Hitler’s fascist tactics were to blame for its fast-increasing economic and military power.
He met the leaders of the “Italian Fascist Party” while attending the 1934 Montreux “Fascist International Congress.” Following his conversation with Alfred Rosenberg, a senior “Nazi” official, he became more familiar with Hitler’s party. In the style of the two “German paramilitary groups, the SS and the SA,” Hitler organized two forces. He earned the moniker “Norwegian Hitler” as a result.
In the 1936 elections, his party did horribly and was unable to secure even a single seat in the legislature. He became extremely irate as a result of his frequent defeats and began looking for strategies to help his party win the election.
He met Hitler at the start of the Second World War and begged him to take Norway in a treacherous move. The democratically elected government was overthrown in April 1940 when a large convoy of German military officers invaded Norway and requested that King Haakon VIII appoint Quisling as prime minister.
Finally, a puppet regime was put in place in 1942, and Quisling was appointed the country’s prime minister. Josef Terboven, the “Third Reich” Commissioner, demanded that he respond. Many Germans rose to become leaders of the government.
Even though Quisling sought to construct a strong fascist government, the Norwegian people were never entirely supportive of his plans. When Quisling moved Norwegian Jews to ‘Nazi’ concentration camps where they would be mercilessly murdered, Norwegian hate for him peaked in 1943. He outright said that the royal family was no longer in charge and that the nation had turned into a fascist state. The royal family was forced into exile as a result.
Vidkun’s The Failure
Finally breaking over the Norwegian border, the “Allied” forces drove the “Nazi” soldiers out of the country. The fascist “National Union” administration was overthrown as a result, and Vidkun Quisling was promptly taken into custody. He was found guilty of murder and collaborating with the enemy after being tried by a council of war.
He was ultimately given the death penalty. On October 24, 1945, at Oslo’s “Akershus Fortress,” his punishment was carried out. He is one of the most infamous figures in Norwegian political history, and the phrase “traitor” has come to be associated with his name.
His Individual Life
According to legend, Vidkun Quisling married twice during his lifetime. Alexandra Andreevna Voronin, his first wife, was a peddler’s daughter. A later marriage to Maria Vasilyevna Pasek is thought to have taken place, however, historians contend that there is no evidence of this.
Estimated Net Worth
Vidkun Quisling has an estimated net worth of $8 million and earns most of his money as a politician and military commander. There aren’t enough facts available on Vidkun Quisling’s vehicles or way of life.