Editing Vidkun Quisling (section)

==Early life==
===Background===
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling ({{Audio|IPA Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling.ogg|Norwegian pronunciation}}) was born on 18 July 1887 in [[Fyresdal]], in the Norwegian county of [[Telemark]]. He was the son of [[Church of Norway]] pastor and [[genealogist]] Jon Lauritz Qvisling (1844–1930) and his wife Anna Caroline Bang (1860–1941),<ref name="borgen273">{{harvnb|Borgen|1999|p=273}}.</ref> the daughter of Jørgen Bang, [[ship-owner]] and at the time the richest man in the town of [[Grimstad]] in South Norway.<ref name="juritzen11">{{harvnb|Juritzen|1988|p=11}}</ref> The elder Quisling had lectured in [[Grimstad]] in the 1870s; one of his pupils was Bang, whom he married on 28 May 1886, following a long engagement. The newly-wed couple promptly moved to [[Fyresdal]], where Vidkun and his younger siblings were born.<ref name="juritzen11"/>

[[File:Familien Quisling ca. 1915..jpg|left|thumb|Vidkun Quisling (far left) with his family, {{circa}} 1915]]

The family name derives from ''Quislinus,'' a [[Latinisation of names|Latinised name]] invented by Quisling's ancestor Lauritz Ibsen Quislin (1634–1703), based on the village of Kvislemark near [[Slagelse]], Denmark, whence he had emigrated.<ref>{{harvnb|Juritzen|1988|p=12}}.</ref> Having two brothers and a sister,<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=6, 13–14}}.</ref> the young Quisling was "shy and quiet but also loyal and helpful, always friendly, occasionally breaking into a warm smile."<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|p=21}}.</ref> Private letters later found by historians also indicate a warm and affectionate relationship between the family members.<ref>{{harvnb|Juritzen|1988|p=15}}.</ref> From 1893 to 1900, his father was a [[chaplain]] for the [[Strømsø]] borough in [[Drammen]]. Here, Vidkun went to school for the first time. He was bullied by other students at the school for his Telemark dialect, but proved a successful student.<ref>{{harvnb|Hartmann|1970|p=10}}.</ref> In 1900, the family moved to [[Skien]] when his father was appointed [[Provost (religion)|provost]] of the city.<ref name="borgen275">{{harvnb|Borgen|1999|p=275}}.</ref>

Academically Quisling proved talented in [[humanities]], particularly history, and [[natural science]]s; he specialised in mathematics. At this point, however, his life had no clear direction.<ref name="dahl6"/> In 1905, Quisling enrolled at the [[Norwegian Military Academy]], having received the highest entrance examination score of the 250 applicants that year.<ref name="dahl6"/> Transferring in 1906 to the [[Norwegian Military College]], he graduated with the highest score since the college's inception in 1817, and was rewarded by an audience with [[Haakon VII|the King]].<ref name="borgen275"/><ref name="dahl6"/> On 1 November 1911, he joined the army General Staff.<ref name="dahl6">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=6–7}}.</ref> Norway was neutral in the [[First World War]]; Quisling detested the peace movement, though the high human cost of the war did temper his views.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|p=25}}.</ref> In March 1918, he was sent to Russia as an [[attaché]] at the Norwegian [[legation]] in [[Saint Petersburg|Petrograd]], to take advantage of the five years he had spent studying the country.<ref name="borgen275"/><ref name="dahl28"/> Though dismayed at the living conditions he experienced, Quisling nonetheless concluded that "the [[Bolshevik]]s have got an extraordinarily strong hold on Russian society" and marvelled at how [[Leon Trotsky]] had managed to mobilise the [[Red Army]] forces so well;<ref name="dahl28">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=28–29}}.</ref> he asserted that by contrast, in granting too many rights to the people of Russia, the [[Russian Provisional Government]] under [[Alexander Kerensky]] had brought about its own downfall. When the legation was recalled in December 1918, Quisling became the Norwegian military's expert on Russian affairs.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=32–34, 38}}.</ref>