Norway Calls
Election poster promoting Norway’s far-right Nasjonal Samling (National Assembly) party, founded in May 1933 by Vidkun Quisling. The sun in the form of a pagan sun cross rises behind a raven, symbolizing a new dawn in the form of a cultural and national rebirth, a concept in political theory known as ‘palingenesis’. Reads “Norway Calls” at the top.
The raven was venerated in old Norse Viking mythology as the divine messenger of Odin, and akin to the German National Socialists they were modeled on, the Nasjonal Samling rejected Christianity and drew much of its imagery from paganism which they saw as a more authentically Norwegian faith, as well as from their medieval viking heritage. The party’s paramilitary Hirden for example, is a pre-Christian medieval term loosely translated as the King’s ‘hearth-guard’ and would, in similar fashion, serve as the party leader’s modern praetorian guard. Although the party never enjoyed any electoral success, Quisling’s Nasjonal Samling came to power by collaborating with the Germans upon their invasion of Norway. While Quisling was nominally appointed as head of state by the Germans, real power in occupied Norway was held by the German Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. Thanks to efficient German economic management, Norway’s production capacity remained largely intact despite losing all its major trading partners during its occupation. Following his deposition in 1945, the very term ‘Quisling’ would later become synonymous with ‘traitor’ in the Scandinavian languages.
As with other notable fascists such as Oswald Mosley or Benito Mussolini, Quisling was an altruist who began his political career as a socialist, drawn to its idealistic principles and believing in the betterment of humanity by volunteering in various humanitarian causes. Quisling is known for working alongside humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Fridtjof Nansen, having assisted refugees of the First World War and supplying aid in famine-struck Ukraine during the interwar period. In February 1922, Quisling visited Kharkov, where he collected data on conditions in the Ukrainian countryside. As its soon became clear that a third of the country was affected by famine, Quisling was given a leading role in the ‘Nansen Aid’, and together with Nansen he managed to raise awareness of the situation in Ukraine across the rest of Europe. Private contributions poured in, and several hundred thousand people were saved from starvation in the areas under Quisling’s administration. Both Nansen and Quisling became popular figures in Ukraine due to their work, particularly grateful for Quisling having made the disaster known abroad. From 1925 onwards, Quisling devoted his time trying to help the displaced victims of the Armenian genocide, again alongside Nansen.
Alongside his English and Italian compatriots, it is likely Quisling realized through his travels the futility of the internationalist sentiment behind traditional socialism, and that in order for socialism to succeed it must pertain to sociocultural realities by remaining within national bounds and allowed to flourish separately.
Quisling would stand trial in 1945 for high treason, during which he would state the following:
“For me, politics is not a question of party interests, a career trajectory [levebrødspolitikk], or personal ambition and hunger for power. It is self-sacrifice and acts in the service of the historical development for the good of my own people, and for the promotion of the Kingdom of God on earth that Christ came to establish. If my actions have been treacherous—as they have been portrayed—then I wish to God for the sake of Norway that many of the sons of Norway become traitors like I am, only that they are not thrown into prison.”
A famous Norwegian supporter of both the Quisling and Hitler was Nobel Prize laureate Knut Hamsun, who wrote a eulogy for Hitler a week after his death: “He was a warrior, a warrior for mankind, and a prophet of the gospel of justice for all nations.” Hamsun’s Nobel-winning novel Growth of the Soil heavily influenced back-to-the-land initiatives espoused by right-wing agrarians, notably manifesting in the famous German slogan ‘Blut und Boden’ (Blood and Soil).
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Election poster promoting Norway’s far-right Nasjonal Samling (National Assembly) party, founded in May 1933 by Vidkun Quisling. The sun in the form of a pagan sun cross rises behind a raven, symbolizing a new dawn in the form of a cultural and national rebirth, a concept in political theory known as ‘palingenesis’. Reads “Norway Calls” at the top.
The raven was venerated in old Norse Viking mythology as the divine messenger of Odin, and akin to the German National Socialists they were modeled on, the Nasjonal Samling rejected Christianity and drew much of its imagery from paganism which they saw as a more authentically Norwegian faith, as well as from their medieval viking heritage. The party’s paramilitary Hirden for example, is a pre-Christian medieval term loosely translated as the King’s ‘hearth-guard’ and would, in similar fashion, serve as the party leader’s modern praetorian guard. Although the party never enjoyed any electoral success, Quisling’s Nasjonal Samling came to power by collaborating with the Germans upon their invasion of Norway. While Quisling was nominally appointed as head of state by the Germans, real power in occupied Norway was held by the German Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. Thanks to efficient German economic management, Norway’s production capacity remained largely intact despite losing all its major trading partners during its occupation. Following his deposition in 1945, the very term ‘Quisling’ would later become synonymous with ‘traitor’ in the Scandinavian languages.
As with other notable fascists such as Oswald Mosley or Benito Mussolini, Quisling was an altruist who began his political career as a socialist, drawn to its idealistic principles and believing in the betterment of humanity by volunteering in various humanitarian causes. Quisling is known for working alongside humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Fridtjof Nansen, having assisted refugees of the First World War and supplying aid in famine-struck Ukraine during the interwar period. In February 1922, Quisling visited Kharkov, where he collected data on conditions in the Ukrainian countryside. As its soon became clear that a third of the country was affected by famine, Quisling was given a leading role in the ‘Nansen Aid’, and together with Nansen he managed to raise awareness of the situation in Ukraine across the rest of Europe. Private contributions poured in, and several hundred thousand people were saved from starvation in the areas under Quisling’s administration. Both Nansen and Quisling became popular figures in Ukraine due to their work, particularly grateful for Quisling having made the disaster known abroad. From 1925 onwards, Quisling devoted his time trying to help the displaced victims of the Armenian genocide, again alongside Nansen.
Alongside his English and Italian compatriots, it is likely Quisling realized through his travels the futility of the internationalist sentiment behind traditional socialism, and that in order for socialism to succeed it must pertain to sociocultural realities by remaining within national bounds and allowed to flourish separately.
Quisling would stand trial in 1945 for high treason, during which he would state the following:
“For me, politics is not a question of party interests, a career trajectory [levebrødspolitikk], or personal ambition and hunger for power. It is self-sacrifice and acts in the service of the historical development for the good of my own people, and for the promotion of the Kingdom of God on earth that Christ came to establish. If my actions have been treacherous—as they have been portrayed—then I wish to God for the sake of Norway that many of the sons of Norway become traitors like I am, only that they are not thrown into prison.”
A famous Norwegian supporter of both the Quisling and Hitler was Nobel Prize laureate Knut Hamsun, who wrote a eulogy for Hitler a week after his death: “He was a warrior, a warrior for mankind, and a prophet of the gospel of justice for all nations.” Hamsun’s Nobel-winning novel Growth of the Soil heavily influenced back-to-the-land initiatives espoused by right-wing agrarians, notably manifesting in the famous German slogan ‘Blut und Boden’ (Blood and Soil).
