Norwegian fascist Nasjonal Samling

Norwegian fascist Nasjonal Samling
Name	Nasjonal Samling
Native name	Nasjonal Samling
Founded	1933
Dissolved	1945
Leader	Vidkun Quisling
Position	Far-right
Headquarters	Oslo
Country	Norway

Norwegian fascist Nasjonal Samling was a far-right political party active in Norway from 1933 to 1945, led by Vidkun Quisling. The party combined elements of fascism and nationalism and collaborated with Nazi Germany during the German occupation of Norway in World War II. It remained marginal in electoral politics until the wartime occupation enabled its temporary ascendancy under a quisling regime.

History

Nasjonal Samling was founded in 1933 by Vidkun Quisling after his break with the Conservative Party and associations with figures from the Interwar period such as Johan H. Andresen, Rudolf Hess-adjacent networks, and pan-European movements linked to Italian Fascism and German National Socialism. Early activities involved publishing in periodicals and attempts to build alliances with groups like Nasjonal Samling youth-oriented initiatives and veterans’ organizations stemming from the First World War aftermath. The party contested the 1933 and 1936 Storting elections with limited success, facing opposition from the Labour Party, the Liberal Party, and the Farmers' Party. By 1940, after the Invasion of Norway by Wehrmacht forces and the establishment of an occupation administration, Nasjonal Samling was installed in positions of power through cooperation with Josef Terboven and German Reichskommissariat Norwegen officials.

Ideology and Policies

Nasjonal Samling promoted a synthesis of authoritarianism, ethnic nationalism, and corporatist economic ideas influenced by Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. The party platform emphasized anti-Marxist stances against the Communist Party of Norway, anti-parliamentarian reforms targeting the Storting, and cultural policies invoking the legacy of figures like Wergeland and references to Norse mythology and Germanic antiquity. Racial policies aligned with Nazi racial theory and produced discriminatory measures aimed at Jews and Roma and Sinti, coordinated with occupation authorities such as the Gestapo and the Schutzstaffel. Nasjonal Samling also advocated for reorganization of economic life through corporatist structures echoing proposals debated in Interwar Europe and discussed in circles close to the European fascist movement.

Organization and Membership

The party structure centered on Vidkun Quisling as __Fører__ and featured departments responsible for propaganda, youth work, and paramilitary activities. Nasjonal Samling maintained local chapters in municipalities across Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, and Tromsø, and recruited members from veterans of the Norwegian Campaign, civil service personnel, and sympathizers among industrialists and landowners opposed to the Labour movement. Its affiliated organizations included a youth wing modeled on the Hitler Youth, women's groups akin to National Socialist Women's League, and paramilitary units that cooperated with the Hird and elements of the Waffen-SS recruiting in Scandinavia. Prominent members and collaborators included bureaucrats placed in ministries formerly led by politicians from the Conservative Party and technocrats with ties to prewar elite networks.

Role during World War II and German Occupation

Following the 1940 German invasion of Norway, Nasjonal Samling was installed as the only legal party under the occupation, with Quisling proclaimed head of a collaborationist regime in Oslo and later subordinate to Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. The party participated in suppressing resistance movements such as Milorg and was involved in policing actions with the Statspolitiet and the Sicherheitspolizei. Nasjonal Samling officials coordinated deportations with SS units and the Gestapo, including the rounding up and deportation of Norwegian Jews aboard ships like the SS Donau. Party members occupied ministries and municipal administrations, sought to Nazify educational institutions including the University of Oslo, and restructured cultural bodies tied to institutions such as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and the National Theatre (Oslo). Military collaboration included recruitment for the Waffen-SS Scandinavian legions and participation in anti-partisan operations on the northern front near Finnmark and in actions linked to the wider Eastern Front logistics.

Collaboration and Governmental Activities

Under German oversight, Nasjonal Samling formed cabinets and administered occupied Norway in cooperation with the Reichskommissariat Norwegen. Quisling-led administrations instituted legal measures to suppress opposition, aligning with directives from Berlin and negotiating with figures such as Wilhelm Keitel-aligned authorities. The party implemented personnel changes across ministries including the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education, installed collaborators in municipal councils, and used state machinery to enforce censorship through offices analogous to the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. Economic coordination included dealings with German industrial conglomerates and exploitation policies overseen by occupation planners. Nasjonal Samling’s role was central to facilitating Holocaust operations in Norway and to quelling Norwegian resistance movement activities.

Post-war Trials, Banning, and Legacy

After Germany’s surrender and the Liberation of Norway in 1945, Nasjonal Samling was outlawed and many leading members, including Vidkun Quisling, were arrested, tried during the Legal purge in Norway after World War II, and convicted of treason; Quisling was executed in 1945. Trials occurred in courts influenced by statutes reinstated by the Norwegian legal system and involved prosecution of officials from ministries and paramilitary units like the Hird. The postwar process included confiscation of assets, bans on political activity under reinstated constitutional norms, and public reckonings memorialized at sites such as the Akershus Fortress and through investigations by institutions like the Norges Arkivverk. The legacy of Nasjonal Samling persists in Norwegian historical memory, scholarship at universities including University of Oslo and debates in cultural forums addressing collaboration, resistance, and the wartime fate of Norwegian Jews and other persecuted groups. Its name remains synonymous with collaborationism and is studied alongside European cases such as Vichy France, Quisling-era governments, and other puppet states of the Axis powers.

Category:Political parties in Norway Category:Fascist parties Category:Collaboration with Nazi Germany