What is a Quisling?
A quisling is a traitor, more specifically a traitor who collaborates with the enemy to promote occupation and suppression of a native people. This word is of Norwegian origin, making it one of the few Norwegian terms to enter the English language, and the history of “quisling” is actually quite fascinating. Needless to say, the Norwegians are not particularly proud of this particular word of Norwegian origin, and they would prefer to see people remembering linguistic contributions like “ski,” “fjord,” and “slalom.” This slang term emerged during the Second World War, when a Norwegian politician by the name of Vidkun Quisling advocated for a German occupation of Norway, and actively worked to hasten a German occupation. On 1 February 1942, he took power in Norway as the Minister President, and set about encouraging Nazi values and promoting the German cause in Norway. In the end, Quisling’s plan backfired, and actually stimulated quite a local resistance as angry Norwegians fought the
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssn Quisling (July 18, 1887 – October 24, 1945) was a Norwegian politician and officer. He was Prime Minister of Norway during the second world war, and was tried for treason and executed by firing squad after World War Referred to as the Norwegian Fhrer, Quisling lived in a mansion on Bygdy in Oslo which he called Gimle after Norse mythology. Quisling had a mixed and relatively successful background, having achieved the rank of major in the Norwegian army, and worked with Fridtjof Nansen in the Soviet Union during the famine in the 1930s, as well as having served as defense minister in the agrarian government 1931-1933. He was son of the Lutheran priest and well-known genealogist Jon Lauritz Qvisling. On May 17 1933, the Norwegian national day, Quisling and state attorney Johan Bernhard Hjort formed Nasjonal Samling (National Unity), the Norwegian national-socialist party. Nasjonal Samling had an anti-democratic, “leader”-oriented political structure, and Qui
