By James Aitchison

Being branded a traitor is bad enough, but having your name used to describe one is another matter entirely.  Today, dictionaries define a “quisling” as a traitor who collaborates with an enemy force occupying their country.  Many people have been deemed “quislings”, especially those who collaborated with post-war Communist takeovers in Europe.  In popular culture, Daffy Duck called Porky Pig a “quisling” for betraying a Thanksgiving turkey.  Even in a Peanuts comic strip, Lucy accused Snoopy of being a “quisling” for betraying Linus who was hiding in his kennel.

Vidkun Quisling, the Norwegian Nazi collaborator

The man who lent his name to the term was born Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonsson Quisling on 18 July 1887 in Fyresdal, Norway.  He entered the Norwegian Army in 1911; appointed a military attaché to St Petersburg and then Helsinki, he represented Britain at the Norwegian legation in Moscow from 1927 to 1929.  In 1931, the Norwegian government appointed him as Minister for Defence.  It was in this role he first demonstrated his fascist beliefs by brutally repressing a strike by hydroelectrical workers. 

Resigning from the government in 1933, Quisling formed his own party: the Nasjonal Samling (National Union) Party, modelled on Germany’s Nazi Party.  Its members paraded like Hitler’s Nazis.  Quisling’s fascist policies included the suppression of communism and trade unionism, but he was unable to win a seat in parliament.

Having failed at the ballot box at home, Quisling ingratiated himself with Adolf Hitler.  In December 1939, Quisling urged the Germans to invade Norway.  When they did in 1940,

Quisling urged Norway to cease resisting the German invasion. 

As a reward for his loyalty, the German invaders demanded that Norwegian King Haakon VII officially appoint Quisling as Prime Minister.  The king refused.  The Nazis then established an occupation government in which Quisling served as Minister-President.  Quisling moved into the Royal Palace.

While Quisling’s administration was a puppet government for the Nazis, it bore responsibility for many war crimes.  When Quisling attempted to convert the church, schools, and youth to Nazism, he faced widespread opposition.  To intimidate his countrymen, more than 1,000 Norwegian teachers were sent to German prisons.  Nearly 1,000 Norwegian Jews were despatched to Nazi death camps.  Quisling also turned a blind eye to the murder of Norwegian resistance fighters. 

Quisling’s wartime record earned him not only the bitter hatred of his fellow countrymen but also international scorn and condemnation.  British newspapers and the BBC quickly used Quisling’s name to describe Nazi collaborators in general.  On 12 June 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke contemptuously of “A vile race of Quislings — to use a new word which will carry the scorn of mankind down the centuries — is hired to fawn upon the conqueror, to collaborate in his designs and to enforce his rule upon their fellow countrymen while grovelling low themselves.”

In a later speech, Churchill commented upon Allied victories against the Nazis: “Hope has returned to the hearts of scores of millions of men and women, and with that hope there burns the flame of anger against the brutal, corrupt invader.  And still more fiercely burn the fires of hatred and contempt for the filthy Quislings whom he has suborned.”

One can only speculate on Quisling’s state of mind as Nazi defeat loomed.  Found guilty of treason, Quisling was executed on 24 October 1945 in Oslo.  The fires of hatred did indeed burn fiercely for him.