Editing Vidkun Quisling (section)

===Head of the government===
{{See also|Quisling regime}}
[[File:Vidkun Quisling på talerstolen i anledning Reichsjugendführer Axmanns besøk. (8617530334).jpg|thumb|Quisling in Oslo in 1941]]
[[File:Fra venstre- Vidkun Quisling, fru Fuglesang, ukjent kvinne, Rolf Jørgen Fuglesang. (8615478575).jpg|thumb|Vidkun Quisling and [[Rolf Jørgen Fuglesang]]]]
Once the King had declared the German commission unlawful, it became clear that he would never be won over. An impatient Hitler appointed a German, [[Josef Terboven]], as the new Norwegian {{lang|no|[[reichskommissar]]}}, or governor-general, on 24 April, reporting directly to him. Despite Hitler's assurances, Terboven wanted to make sure that there would be no room in the government for the ''Nasjonal Samling'' nor its leader Quisling, with whom he did not get along.<ref name="dahl188">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=188–194}}.</ref> Terboven eventually accepted a certain ''Nasjonal Samling'' presence in the government during June, but remained unconvinced about Quisling. As a result, on 25 June, Terboven forced Quisling to step down as leader of the ''Nasjonal Samling'' and take a temporary leave of absence in Germany.<ref name="dahl188"/> Quisling remained there until 20 August, while Rosenberg and Admiral [[Erich Raeder]], whom he had met on his earlier visit to Berlin, negotiated on his behalf. In the end, Quisling returned "in triumph," having won Hitler over in a meeting on 16 August. The {{lang|no|Reichskommissar}} would now have to accommodate Quisling as leader of the government, then allow him to rebuild the ''Nasjonal Samling'' and bring more of his men into the cabinet.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=194–200}}.</ref> Terboven complied and addressed the Norwegian people in a radio broadcast in which he asserted that the ''Nasjonal Samling'' would be the only political party allowed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Norway: Commission State|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802044-1,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107085600/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802044-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 November 2012|work=Time Magazine|page=1|date=7 October 1940|access-date=31 May 2011}}</ref>

As a result, by the end of 1940 the monarchy had been suspended, although the Parliament of Norway and a body resembling a cabinet remained. The ''Nasjonal Samling,'' the only pro-German party, would be cultivated, but Terboven's {{lang|no|Reichskommissariat}} would keep power in the meantime. Quisling would serve as [[acting (law)|acting]] prime minister and ten of the thirteen "cabinet" ministers were to come from his party.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=200–207}}.</ref> He set out on a programme of wiping out "the destructive principles of the [[French Revolution]]", including [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|pluralism]] and parliamentary rule. This reached into local politics, whereby mayors who switched their allegiance to the ''Nasjonal Samling'' were rewarded with much greater powers. Investments were made in heavily censored cultural programmes, though the press remained theoretically free. To bolster the survival chances of the Nordic [[genotype]], [[contraception]] was severely restricted.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=207–212}}.</ref> Quisling's party experienced a rise in membership to a little over 30,000, but despite his optimism it was never to pass the 40,000 mark.<ref name="dahl215">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|p=215}}.</ref>
[[File:Vidkun Quisling og reichskommissar Terboven utenfor NRK-bygget i anledning kringskastingstale..jpg|thumb|German occupation forces in [[German-occupied Norway|Norway during World War II]], along with assembled German [[Ordnungspolizei|order police]] soldiers and Quisling, before a German propaganda event at the Colosseum cinema in Oslo, May 1941]]
On 5 December 1940, Quisling flew to Berlin to negotiate the future of Norway's independence. By the time he returned on 13 December, he had agreed to raise volunteers to fight with the German {{lang|de|[[Schutzstaffel]]}} (SS). In January, SS head [[Heinrich Himmler]] travelled to Norway to oversee preparations. Quisling clearly believed that if Norway supported Nazi Germany on the battlefield, there would be no reason for Germany to annex it. To this end, he opposed plans to have a German SS brigade loyal only to Hitler installed in Norway.<ref name="dahl219"/> In the process, he also toughened his attitude to the country harbouring the exiled king, the United Kingdom, which he no longer saw as a Nordic ally. Finally, Quisling aligned Norwegian policy on Jews with that of Germany, giving a speech in Frankfurt on 26 March 1941 in which he argued for compulsory exile, but warned against [[Final Solution|extermination]]: "And since [[Jewish question|the Jewish question]] cannot be solved by simply exterminating the Jews or sterilizing them, secondly their parasitic existence must be prevented by giving them, like the other peoples of the earth, their own land. However, their former land, [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], has been the land of the Arabs for centuries. There is therefore no better and milder way to solve the Jewish problem than to get them another so-called promised land and to send them all there together, so as to, if possible, bring the eternal Jew and his divided soul to rest."<ref name="dahl219">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=219–225}}.</ref><ref>[http://virksommeord.no/tale/2463/ Kampen mellem arier og jødemakt, Vidkun Quisling (1887–1945) Frankfurt 28. mars 1941]</ref>

In May, Quisling was shattered by the death of his mother Anna, as the two had been particularly close. At the same time, the political crisis over Norwegian independence deepened, with Quisling threatening Terboven with his resignation over the issue of finance. In the end, the Reichskommissar agreed to compromise on the issue, but Quisling had to concede on the SS issue: A brigade was formed, but as a branch of the ''Nasjonal Samling.''<ref name="dahl219"/>

Meanwhile, the government line hardened, with Communist Party leaders arrested and trade unionists intimidated. On 10 September 1941, [[Viggo Hansteen]] and [[Rolf Wickstrøm]] were executed and many more imprisoned following the [[milk strike]] in Oslo. Hansteen's execution was later seen as a watershed moment, dividing the occupation into its more innocent and more deadly phases.<ref name="dahl225"/> The same year {{lang|no|[[Statspolitiet]]}} ("the State Police"), abolished in 1937, was reestablished to assist the [[Gestapo]] in Norway, and radio sets were confiscated across the country. Though these were all Terboven's decisions, Quisling agreed with them and went on to denounce the government-in-exile as "traitors." As a result of the toughened stance, an informal "ice front" emerged, with ''Nasjonal Samling'' supporters ostracised from society.<ref name="dahl225">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=225–232}}.</ref> Quisling remained convinced this was an anti-German sentiment that would fade away once Berlin had handed power over to ''Nasjonal Samling.'' However, the only concessions he won in 1941 were having the heads of ministries promoted to official ministers of the government and independence for the party secretariat.<ref name="dahl232">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=232–237}}.</ref>
[[File:Vidkun Quisling, Josef Terboven og to piker (8618020459).jpg|thumb|Two girls in [[Bunad]] greet Reichskommissar [[Josef Terboven]] and Minister President Vidkun Quisling on 1 February 1942.]]
In January 1942, Terboven announced the German administration would be wound down. Soon afterwards he told Quisling that Hitler had approved the transfer of power, scheduled for 30 January. Quisling remained doubtful it would happen, since Germany and Norway were in the midst of complex peace negotiations that could not be completed until peace had been reached on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], while Terboven insisted that the {{lang|no|Reichskommissariat}} would remain in power until such peace came about.<ref name="dahl232"/> Quisling could nevertheless be reasonably confident that his position within the party and with Berlin was unassailable, even if he was unpopular within Norway, something of which he was well aware.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=240–242}}.</ref>

After a brief postponement, an announcement was made on 1 February 1942, detailing how the cabinet had elected Quisling to the post of [[minister president]] of the national government.<ref>{{harvnb|Borgen|1999|p=284}}.</ref><ref name="dahl247"/> The appointment was accompanied by a banquet, rallying, and other celebrations by the ''Nasjonal Samling'' members. In his first speech, Quisling committed the government to closer ties with Germany. The only change to the Constitution was the reinstatement of the [[History of the Jews in Norway|ban on Jewish entry into Norway]], which had been [[Norwegian Constitution#Development|abolished in 1851]].<ref name="dahl247">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=247–249}}.</ref>