April 9th

On this day - April 9th 1940 - Vidkun Quisling and Nazi-Germany occupied Norway

Norway was occupied by Germany in the early morning of April 9th 1940. The Germany attack happened both by air and sea and since Norway's military defense was rather poor at the time was the occupation an easy quest for the much stronger German army. The Norwegian army and resistance managed to sink the German ship Blücher and the government managed to get escape. The occupying German forces had expected Norway to surrender, but after much discussion decided the government that they would not give into German demands. Germany and Quisling decided thereafter to start a military coup and Quisling announced himself as the new Prime Minister over Norwegian radio. Norway was occupied until the end of the war, when Quisling was sentenced to death for his betrayal. You can read about his death sentence on October 24th here.

If you want to know mor about the events during the occupation and the resistance against Germany recommend we the movie "Max Manus: Man of War (English Subtitled)". The movie tells the story of one of the most important resistance fighters in Norway, Max Manus , and his fight against the German occupation.

October 24th

On this day - 24th of October 1945 - Vidkun Quisling was executed 

Quisling is mostly known for being the head of state during the German occupation of Norway. Quisling also met Hitler several times both before and after the ware broke out. Quisling announced over the radio that his political party, "Nasjonal Samling"(Norwegian national nazi-party) had seized power and that he was to be prime minister. His role as the prime-minister only lasted one week, since neither the Germans nor the Norwegians approved of him. Quisling got a second shot at political power in 1942 when he was appointed Minister President of Norway. Quisling had to, however, share his power with the German Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. Quisling was not a well liked man, he was not even liked by the Germans or even his own political party. After the war Quisling turned himself over to the police and his trial was set the 20th of August where he was found guilty of treason among other charges. On the 10th of September he was convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad. His last words were "I'm convicted unfairly and I die innocent." His legacy is that his name Quisling is a synonym with traitor and collaborationist.

Quisling og Terboven