Vidkun Quisling

Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (/ˈkwɪzlɪŋ/; Norwegian: [ˈʋɪ̂dkʉn ˈkʋɪ̂slɪŋ]; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who headed the government of Norway during the country's occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II.

He first came to international prominence as a close collaborator of the explorer Fridtjof Nansen, and through organizing humanitarian relief during the Russian famine of 1921 in Povolzhye. He was posted as a Norwegian diplomat to the Soviet Union and for some time also managed British diplomatic affairs there. He returned to Norway in 1929 and served as minister of defense in the agrarian governments of Peder Kolstad (1931–32) and Jens Hundseid (1932–33).

In 1933, Quisling founded the fascist Nasjonal Samling (National Gathering). Although he gained some popularity after his attacks on the political left, his party failed to win any seats in the Storting, and by 1940, it was still little more than peripheral. On 9 April 1940, with the German invasion of Norway in progress, he attempted to seize power in the world's first radio-broadcast coup d'état but failed since the Germans sought to convince the recognized Norwegian government to legitimize the German occupation, as had been done in Denmark during the simultaneous invasion there, instead of recognizing Quisling. On 1 February 1942, he formed a second government, approved by the Germans, and served as minister president. He headed the Norwegian state administration jointly with the German civilian administrator, Josef Terboven. His pro-Nazi puppet government, known as the Quisling regime, was dominated by ministers from Nasjonal Samling. The collaborationist government participated in Germany's war efforts, and deported Jews out of the country to concentration camps in occupied Poland, where most were killed.

Quisling was put on trial during the legal purge in Norway after World War II. He was found guilty of charges including embezzlement, murder and high treason against the Norwegian state, and was sentenced to death, a sentence which subsequently garnered some criticism due to its questionable legality; besides by the occupation authority, with Quisling's support (including retroactive verdicts), no death sentence had been executed since 1876, and capital punishment had been abolished upon independence in 1905. Quisling was shortly after executed by firing squad at Akershus Fortress, Oslo, on 24 October 1945. Since his death, he has become one of history's most infamous traitors due to his collaboration with Nazi Germany. The term Quisling has become a byword for "collaborator" or "traitor" in several languages, reflecting the contempt with which Quisling's conduct has been regarded both at the time and in the present day.

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