Vidkun Quisling

Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (Norwegian: [ˈʋɪ̂dkʉn ˈkʋɪ̂slɪŋ] ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who headed the puppet government of Norway during the country's occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II.

He first came to international prominence as a close collaborator of the explorer Fridtjof Nansen, and through organising humanitarian relief during the Russian famine of 1921 in Povolzhye. He was posted as a Norwegian diplomat to the Soviet Union, and for some time also managed British diplomatic affairs there. He returned to Norway in 1929 and served as minister of defence in the agrarian governments of Peder Kolstad (1931–1932) and Jens Hundseid (1932–1933).

In 1933, Quisling founded the fascist Nasjonal Samling (National Gathering). Although he gained some popularity after his attacks on the political left, his party failed to win any seats in the Storting, and by 1940, it was still little more than peripheral. On 9 April 1940, with the German invasion of Norway in progress, he attempted to seize power in the world's first radio-broadcast coup d'état but failed since the Germans sought to convince the recognised Norwegian government to legitimize the German occupation. On 1 February 1942, he formed a second government, approved by the Germans, and served as minister president. He headed the Norwegian state administration jointly with the German civilian administrator, Josef Terboven. His pro-Nazi puppet government, known as the Quisling regime, was dominated by ministers from Nasjonal Samling. The collaborationist government participated in Germany's war efforts and deported Jews out of the country to concentration camps in occupied Poland, where most were killed.