Editing Vidkun Quisling (section)

===Minister President===
[[File:Vidkun Quisling hos norske frivillige på østfronten..jpg|thumb|Quisling with Norwegian volunteers on the eastern front in 1942]]
[[File:Quisling's office at the Royal Palace 1945.jpg|thumb|alt=A black and white image of a large room, with two large windows on the back wall, with two more walls coming away from this wall at right angles. There are a number of large sofas spaced around the room, as well as single chairs, and a large desk surrounded by chairs. On the walls that do not have windows, one has a large map of northern Europe, whilst the other wall has a large doorway leading out of the room.|Quisling's office at the Royal Palace, into which he moved in February 1942]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2004-1001-500, Vidkun Quisling, Autogramm schreibend.jpg|thumb|alt=A middle-aged man in a dark coloured suit is writing on a pad of paper. Standing close to him and watching is a woman in her late twenties to early thirties. She is smiling, and wearing dark-coloured dungarees, with a shirt underneath and a scarf tied around her neck.|Quisling signing an autograph, 1943]]His new position gave Quisling a security of tenure he had not previously enjoyed, although the {{lang|no|Reichskommissariat}} remained outside his control. A month later, in February 1942, Quisling made his first state visit to Berlin. It was a productive trip, in which all key issues of Norwegian independence were discussed—but [[Joseph Goebbels]] in particular remained unconvinced of Quisling's credentials, noting that it was "unlikely" he would "...ever make a great statesman."<ref name="dahl250">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=250–255}}.</ref>

Back at home, Quisling was now less concerned about ''Nasjonal Samling's'' membership and even wanted action to clean up the membership list, including purging it of drunkards. On 12 March 1942, Norway officially became a [[one-party state]]. In time, criticism of, and resistance to, the party was criminalised, though Quisling expressed regret for having to take this step, hoping that every Norwegian would freely come around to accepting his government.<ref name="dahl250"/>

This optimism was short-lived. In the course of the summer of 1942, Quisling lost any ability he might have had to sway public opinion by attempting to force children into the ''Nasjonal Samlings Ungdomsfylking'' youth organisation, which was modelled on the [[Hitler Youth]]. This move prompted a mass resignation of teachers from their professional body and churchmen from their posts, along with large-scale civil unrest. His attempted indictment of Bishop [[Eivind Berggrav]] proved similarly controversial, even amongst his German allies. Quisling now toughened his stance, telling Norwegians that they would have the new regime forced upon them "whether they like it or not." On 1 May 1942, the German High Command noted that "organised resistance to Quisling has started" and Norway's peace talks with Germany stalled as a result.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=255–264}}.</ref> On 11 August 1942, Hitler postponed any further peace negotiations until the war ended. Quisling was admonished and learned that Norway would not get the independence he so greatly yearned for. As an added insult, for the first time he was forbidden to write letters directly to Hitler.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=269–271}}.</ref>

Quisling had earlier pushed for a corporate alternative to the [[Storting|Parliament of Norway]], the {{lang|no|Storting}}, which he called a {{lang|no|Riksting}}. It would comprise two chambers, the {{lang|no|Næringsting}} (Economic Chamber) and {{lang|no|Kulturting}} (Cultural Chamber). Now, in advance of ''Nasjonal Samling's'' eighth and last national convention on 25 September 1942 and becoming increasingly distrustful of professional bodies, he changed his mind. The ''Riksting'' became an advisory body while the {{lang|no|Førerting}}, or Leader Council, and parliamentary chambers were now to be independent bodies subordinate to their respective ministries.{{refn|Only the Cultural Chamber actually came into being with the Economic Chamber postponed because of unrest within the professional bodies it was supposed to represent.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=271–276}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=275–276}}.</ref>|group="nb"}}

After the convention, support for ''Nasjonal Samling,'' and Quisling personally, ebbed away. Increased factionalism and personal losses, including the accidental death of fellow politician [[Gulbrand Lunde]], were compounded by heavy-handed German tactics, such as the shooting of ten well-known residents of [[Trøndelag]] and its environs in [[Martial law in Trondheim in 1942|October 1942]]. In addition, the ''[[lex Eilifsen]]'' [[Ex post facto law|''ex-post facto'' law]] of August 1943, which led to the first death sentence passed by the regime, was widely seen as a blatant violation of the Constitution and a sign of Norway's increasing role in the [[Final Solution]], and would destroy everything the convention had achieved in terms of boosting party morale.<ref name="dahl279"/>

With government abetment and Quisling's personal engagement, Jews were registered in a German initiative of January 1942. On 26 October 1942, German forces, with help from the Norwegian police, arrested 300 registered male Jews in Norway and sent them to [[concentration camp]]s (most went to the [[Berg concentration camp]]) and manned by {{lang|no|[[Hirden]]}}, the paramilitary wing of ''Nasjonal Samling.''<ref name="hoidal597"/> Most controversially, the Jews' property was confiscated by the state.{{refn|Property confiscations were enabled by a law of 26 October 1942. Quisling's motivations in passing such a law have proved controversial, alternately labelled as collaborationist<ref name="hoidal597">{{harvnb|Høidal|1989|p=597}}.</ref> and an actively anti-collaborationist attempt to stop the occupiers from confiscating Jewish property.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|p=285}}.</ref>|group="nb"}}

On 26 November, the detainees were deported, along with their families. Although this was an entirely German initiative—Quisling himself was left unaware of it, although government assistance was provided—Quisling led the Norwegian public to believe that the first deportation of Jewish people, to camps in [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|Nazi-German occupied Poland]], was his idea.<ref name="dahl279">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=279–287}}.</ref> A further 250 were deported in February 1943, and it remains unclear what the party's official position was on the eventual fate of the 759 Norwegian deportees. There is evidence to suggest that Quisling honestly believed the official line throughout 1943 and 1944 that they were awaiting repatriation to a [[Madagascar Plan|new Jewish homeland in Madagascar]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=288–289}}.</ref>{{refn|In reality, their destination was the extermination camp at [[Auschwitz]]. That Quisling understood the realities of the final solution is suggested by authors such as Høidal, but this has never been proven.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|p=289}}.</ref>|group="nb"}}
[[File:Fo30141711060048 "Germanske SS Norge paraderer på Slottsplassen" 1944-06-03 (NTBs krigsarkiv, Riksarkivet).jpg|thumb|Vidkun Quisling inspects Norwegian volunteers in the [[Germanic SS#Organizations|Germanic SS Norway]] (''Germanske SS Norge'') at [[Slottsplassen]] in Oslo, 1944]]
At the same time, Quisling believed that the only way he could win back Hitler's respect would be to raise volunteers for the now-faltering German war effort,<ref>{{harvnb|Hayes|1971|p=289}}.</ref> and he committed Norway wholeheartedly to German plans to wage [[total war]].<ref>{{harvnb|Høidal|1989|p=609}}.</ref> For him at least, after the German defeat at [[Battle of Stalingrad|Stalingrad]] in February 1943, Norway now had a part to play in keeping the German empire strong. In April 1943, Quisling delivered a scathing speech attacking Germany's refusal to outline its plans for post-war Europe. When he put this to Hitler in person, the Nazi leader remained unmoved despite Norway's contributions to the war effort. Quisling felt betrayed over this postponement of Norwegian freedom,<ref name="dahl297">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=297–305}}.</ref> an attitude that waned only when Hitler eventually committed to a free post-war Norway in September 1943.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|p=316}}.</ref>

Quisling tired during the final years of the war. In 1942 he passed 231 laws, 166 in 1943, and 139 in 1944. Social policy was the one area that still received significant attention. By that autumn, Quisling and [[Anton Mussert|Mussert]] in the Netherlands could be satisfied they had at least survived.<ref name="dahl306"/> In 1944, the weight problems Quisling had been having during the preceding two years also eased.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|p=328}}.</ref>

Despite the increasingly dire military outlook in 1943 and 1944, ''Nasjonal Samling's'' position at the head of the government, albeit with its ambiguous relationship to the ''[[Reichskommissariat]],'' remained unassailable.<ref name="dahl306">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=306–308, 325}}.</ref> Nevertheless, the Germans exerted increasing control over law and order in Norway. Following the deportation of the Jews, Germany deported Norwegian officers and finally attempted to deport students from the [[University of Oslo]]. Even Hitler was incensed by the scale of the arrests.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|p=319}}.</ref> Quisling became entangled in a similar debacle in early 1944 when he forced compulsory military service on elements of the ''[[Hirden]],'' causing a number of members to resign to avoid being drafted.<ref name="dahl345">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=345–350}}.</ref>
[[File:Quisling på talerstolen. (8617784523).jpg|thumb|Quisling gives a speech in [[Borre National Park|Borreparken]]]]
On 20 January 1945, Quisling made what would be his final trip to visit Hitler. He promised Norwegian support in the final phase of the war if Germany agreed to a peace deal that would remove Norway's affairs from German intervention. This proposal grew out of a fear that as German forces retreated southwards through Norway, the occupation government would have to struggle to keep control in northern Norway. To the horror of the Quisling regime, the Nazis instead decided on a [[scorched earth]] policy in northern Norway, going so far as to shoot Norwegian civilians who refused to evacuate the region.<ref name="dahl345"/> The period was also marked by increasing civilian casualties from [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] air raids, and mounting [[Norwegian resistance movement|resistance to the government]] within occupied Norway. The meeting with the German leader proved unsuccessful and upon being asked to sign the execution order of thousands of Norwegian "saboteurs," Quisling refused, an act of defiance that so enraged Terboven, acting on Hitler's orders, that he stormed out of the negotiations.<ref name="dahl345"/> On recounting the events of the trip to a friend, Quisling broke down in tears, convinced the Nazi refusal to sign a peace agreement would seal his reputation as a traitor.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|p=353}}.</ref>

Quisling spent the last months of the war trying to prevent Norwegian deaths in the showdown that was developing between German and Allied forces in Norway. The regime worked for the safe repatriation of Norwegians held in German [[prisoner-of-war camp]]s. Privately, Quisling had long accepted that National Socialism would be defeated. Hitler's suicide on 30 April 1945 left him free to pursue publicly his chosen end-game, a naïve offer of a transition to a power-sharing government with the government-in-exile.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=358–360}}.</ref>[[File:Villa Grande Quisling-5.jpg|thumb|alt=A large white building with a dark coloured roof. The building is surrounded by a number of trees.|Quisling's residence, [[Villa Grande (Oslo)|Villa Grande]], in 1945, which he called "[[Gimlé]]", a name taken from [[Norse mythology]]]]

On 7 May, Quisling ordered police not to offer armed resistance to the Allied advance except in self-defence or against overt members of the Norwegian resistance movement. The same day, Germany announced it would surrender unconditionally, making Quisling's position untenable.<ref name="dahl364">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=364–366}}.</ref>
A realist, Quisling met military leaders of the resistance on the following day to discuss how he would be arrested. Quisling declared whilst he did not want to be treated as a common criminal, he did not want preferential treatment compared to his ''Nasjonal Samling'' colleagues. He argued he could have kept his forces fighting until the end, but had chosen not to so as to avoid turning "Norway into a battlefield." Instead, he tried to ensure a peaceful transition. In return, the resistance offered full trials for all accused ''Nasjonal Samling'' members after the war, and its leadership agreed he could be incarcerated in a house rather than a prison complex.<ref name="dahl364"/>