15. Norway’s Minister-President
Quisling’s Norwegian fascist party never won more than 2% of the vote. That made him increasingly bitter and frustrated with his countrymen, and he was determined to exact payback for the Norwegians’ failure to recognize his merits. In late 1939, Quisling flew to Berlin, met with Hitler, and offered to assist the Germans if they tried to seize Norway. The Nazis, aware of his lack of support in Norway, were noncommittal.
When Germany invaded Norway in 1940, the Norwegian government fled into exile. Quisling opportunistically tried to set up a collaborationist government. However, everybody ignored him, even the German occupiers. It took two years of wheedling before the Nazis finally recognized Quisling in 1942 as Norway’s “Minister-President” of a puppet regime. In that capacity, Quisling did all he could to please his masters, including eager cooperation in their deportation of Norway’s Jews to death camps.