Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-04115-7 - Quisling: A Study in Treachery Hans Fredrik Dahl Frontmatter More information The word `quisling' is used all over the world as a synonym for traitor or treachery. The original Quisling ± the man behind the word ± was a Norwegian army of®cer of exemplary merits who earned notoriety when he collaborated with the German enemy on the ®rst day of Norway's entry into the Second World War. Quisling's coup d'eÂtat in Oslo on 9 April 1940 was immediately denounced by the BBC and condemned as an act of arch-treason by the British press, who within days launched the general concept of `quisling' and `quislingism' to warn the world against collaborators. Even Churchill spoke of `the vile race of quislings'. This ®rst Quisling ± what was he like, and with what justi®cation does he carry the heavy burden of his fame? This biography is able to draw extensively on the `missing' Quisling archives, discovered in Oslo a decade ago, and on the complete Quisling papers ®nally made available after the death of Quisling's wife. The picture that emerges is of a remarkable career, spanning from Quisling's pioneering work for the League of Nations in the Ukraine after 1918, to his diplomatic ventures in Moscow in the 1920s, and to his attempts to adopt fascist political ideas ± Italian at ®rst, then German ± in Norway during the 1930s. During the Second World War, as Hitler's ally, he acquired a more decisive hand in the ruling of the country than any other of the FuÈhrer's vassals. Accordingly most Norwegians hated him, and after the liberation in 1945 he was tried and executed for high treason. Quisling's ideas ± a blend of Christian fundamentalism, scienti®c insights and Hegelian dialectics blended in a home-grown philosophical system called `Univer- sism' ± failed to attract even his followers. His policy of siding with National Socialism, in what he thought was a stage towards World `Universism', proved disastrous, and before his death he bitterly accused Hitler of betraying the idea of Europe for the sake of German imperialism. Quisling's career thus seemed absolutely futile; yet his name has continued to live until this day. This book, abridged from a two-volume study in Norwegian, is unique in drawing on such a comprehensive body of source material from Nordic, German, Italian and Russian archives, and from family archives now in the United States. HANS FREDRIK DAHL was born in Oslo in 1939, and was educated as an historian at the University of Oslo where he received his doctorate in 1976 and where he is currently Professor of Media and Communication. © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-04115-7 - Quisling: A Study in Treachery Hans Fredrik Dahl Frontmatter More information Quisling A study in treachery HANS FREDRIK DAHL Translated by Anne-Marie Stanton-Ife © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-04115-7 - Quisling: A Study in Treachery Hans Fredrik Dahl Frontmatter More information CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521496971 © Hans Fredrik Dahl and H. Aschehoug & Co. 1999 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1999 Reprinted 1999 This digitally printed version 2007 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Dahl, Hans Fredrik. [Vidkun Quisling. English] Quisling: a study in treachery / Hans Fredrik Dahl: translated by Anne-Marie Stanton-Ife. p. cm. ‘. abridged from a two-volume study in Norwegian . .’ – Pref. Included bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0 521 49697 7 (hb) 1. Quisling, Vidkun, 1887–1945. 2. Fascists – Norway – Biography. 3. Politicians – Norway – Biography. 4. Norway – Politics and government – 1905– I. Title. DL529.Q5D3413 1999 948.104´1´092 – dc21 [B] 98–35102 CIP ISBN 978-0-521-49697-1 hardback ISBN 978-0-521-04115-7 paperback © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-04115-7 - Quisling: A Study in Treachery Hans Fredrik Dahl Frontmatter More information Contents List of illustrations page vi Acknowledgements vii List of abbreviations viii Prologue. Innocent? 1 1 Back in Norway 4 2 The Russian dream 27 3 A reluctant leader 70 4 Mussolini or Hitler? 110 5 A time of crisis 160 6 Leader on probation 207 7 Revolution from above 244 8 Betrayed by Hitler 272 9 On the edge of the volcano 306 10 An enemy of the people 354 Epilogue. Dangerous? 416 Archive sources 419 Bibliography 422 Index 434 v © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-04115-7 - Quisling: A Study in Treachery Hans Fredrik Dahl Frontmatter More information Illustrations Between pages 214 and 215 1 Quisling, a photograph taken during his visit to Hitler at Schloss Klessheim on 19 April 1943 (photo Walter Frenz/Odd V. Aspheim). 2 The only known portrait of Jon and Anna Qvisling and their family, 1896 (photo H. Aschehoug & Co.). 3 Quisling's wife Maria and his father Jon (photo Tom B. Jensen Collection). 4 Quisling as countryman (photo Tom B. Jensen Collection). 5 Dramatic portrait cover of Oslo Illustrerte, 30 November 1932 (photo University of Oslo Library). 6 Quisling in Berlin, February 1942, with the Reichskommissar for Norway, Josef Terboven, and Reichsminister Hans-Heinz Lammers (Bundesarchiv, Koblenz). 7 Quisling with the Norwegian Interior Minister, Hagelin, and Hitler in the Chancellery, Berlin, February 1942 (Bundesarchiv, Koblenz). 8 Quisling and Hitler at Schloss Klessheim, 19 April 1943 (Bundesarchiv, Koblenz). 9 Quisling after his arrest, July 1945 (photo # Norway's Resistance Museum). 10 Quisling on trial (photo # Thore Gjesvold). vi © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-04115-7 - Quisling: A Study in Treachery Hans Fredrik Dahl Frontmatter More information Acknowledgements The international archival research behind this book has been made possible by the support from the Ruhrgas Foundation, the American-Scandinavian Foundation, and the Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers' Association. The English-language edition, condensed from the original Norwegian two- volume edition by Nils Johan Ringdal, has been revised and updated by the author before being published with the aid of grants from the following institutions: The Norwegian Research Foundation, MUNIN (Marketing Unit for Norwegian International Non-Fiction) and Fritt Ord. To all the institutions involved I extend my warm appreciation. HFD Oslo, October 1998 vii © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-04115-7 - Quisling: A Study in Treachery Hans Fredrik Dahl Frontmatter More information Abbreviations AA AuswaÈrtiges Amt. The German Foreign Ministry, Berlin ADAP Akten zur deutschen auswaÈrtigen Politik, Series D and E. Documents from the German Foreign Ministry APA Aussenpolitisches Amt der DNSAP. The Foreign Bureau of the German Nazi Party, headed by Alfred Rosenberg AT Arbeidstjenesten, the NS Labour Service, a scheme for mobilising the youth for the work-force in Norway 1940±5 DNSAP Deutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei, the German Nazi Party DRZW Das deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg, the of®cial German history of the Second World War (see bibliography under Kroener, Hans et al.) FF Fritt Folk, the NS newspaper, published in 1936 and 1940±5 HT Historisk Tidsskrift, Norwegian journal of history GS Generalstaben, the Norwegian General Staff ICRR International Commission for Russian Relief, a League of Nations institution headed by Fridtjof Nansen KTB Kriegstagebuch, war diary of the German High Command NA Universitetsbiblioteket i Oslo, Norske avdeling, the National Division of the University Library of Oslo NBL Norsk biogra®sk Leksikon, the Norwegian national biographical dic- tionary in 19 vols. Oslo 1923±83 ND Nuremberg Documents, published evidence from the Nuremberg Trials NNT Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift, a Norwegian quarterly of history and politics NS and NS Nasjonal Samling, National Union, Quisling's party and paper 1933±45 NSDAP National-socialistische deutsche Arbeiterpartei, the German Nazi Party NSM Nasjonal Samling Meddelelser, NS announcements viii © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-04115-7 - Quisling: A Study in Treachery Hans Fredrik Dahl Frontmatter More information Abbreviations ix NSPM Nasjonal Samling Propagandameddelelser, NS propaganda announce- ments OKW Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the German High Command Ot.prp., Ot.forh. Odelstingstidende, forhandlinger ± Norwegian parliamen- tary papers ProMi Reichspropagandaministerium, Berlin, the Nazi Ministry of Propa- ganda headed by Goebbels RFSS ReichsfuÈhrer SS, Heinrich Himmler RK Reichskommissariat, Reichskommissar, the title of the German of®cial in an occupied country RKVB Verordnungsblatt des Reichskommissars, the of®cial gazette of the Reichskommissar RSHA Reichssicherheitshauptamt, headquarters of the German State and Secret Police, Berlin Rt. Norsk rettstidende, the of®cial