The Fatherland League ( no, Fedrelandslaget) was a Norwegian

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

political organisation in the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

. Founded in 1925, the movement aimed to unite all centre-to-right forces against the rise of the revolutionary Marxist labour movement. At its peak of popular support and political influence around 1930 it was the single largest mass movement ever organised on the political right in Norway, with an estimated 100,000 members. The movement began to decline through the 1930s, followed by some unsuccessful attempts to gain direct influence as a political party. The Fatherland League was banned and dissolved after the German occupation of Norway in 1940.

History

Mass movement

Fridtjof Nansen on a lecturing tour for Fedrelandslaget

By the initiative of young industrialist Joakim Lehmkuhl, the organisation was co-founded with national hero

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...

and Norway's first Prime Minister Christian Michelsen. Former Prime Minister

Jens Bratlie Jens Kristian Meinich Bratlie (17 January 1856 – 15 September 1939) was a Norwegian attorney and military officer. He served as an elected official representing the Conservative Party. He was the 13th prime minister of Norway from 1912 to 191 ...

also joined the organisation. The Fatherland League's goal was a national coalition of all centre-to-right "bourgeoise" (''borgerlige'') and nationally minded forces, in opposition to the emerging revolutionary Marxist labour movement. The organisation gained particular support from the Free-minded Liberal Party and the Farmers' Party, while it was met with scepticism by the Conservative Party, and largely rejection by the Liberal Party. The labour movement in turn saw the organisation as a "seeding ground" for a

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

movement. After the government crisis of 1926 and continued division among the centre-right parties, a "Nansen-petition" was launched by several influential people of different political backgrounds for a national unity government to be led by Nansen, an idea that was eventually endorsed by Nansen himself and by Lehmkuhl.Norland (1973) pp. 52–62. The proposal fell through as Conservative and Liberal politicians reacted coldly to the idea, and quickly came to a new government agreement. Following a strong surge of support and victory for the Labour Party (which had adopted a revolutionary ideology in 1918) in the 1927 parliamentary election, the Fatherland League launched a "thousand day's election campaign" towards the 1930 parliamentary election, a period which is considered the most important and successful in the history of the movement. The 1930 election resulted in Labour Party setbacks amid record voter turnouts, which the League assigned to its own credit, a view that was echoed by the Labour Party's Haakon Lie and Halvard Lange. The organisation peaked the same year with around 100,000 members and more than 400 local chapters.

Party attempt and decline

Increasingly seen as a political rival rather than a unifying force by the centre-right parties, the organisation effectively reorganised into a political party in 1933 after pressure from its young activists. At the same time it launched a more radical political program titled "A Norwegian program", and entered into secret, eventually unsuccessful negotiations of a "national block" with the Farmers' Party and the Free-minded People's Party (and briefly Nasjonal Samling which dropped out as it did not consider itself a ''borgerlig'' party). Following the onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, Lehmkuhl and the party developed an economic ideology in part inspired by the American

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

social program, emphasising a more

planned economy A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, part ...

. For the 1936 parliamentary election the party contested electoral lists in a few districts, both independently and together with the Free-minded, but did not win any representation. The group declined in the late 1930s, partly due to the Labour Party abandoning its revolutionary ideology dating from 1918, and partly as an effect of the Nazi German-friendly attitude exhibited by several of its leading members as segments of the movement came under the influence of Italian fascism and German national socialism. In 1933, in response to the labour movement's long-standing use of uniforms, some of its young members marched in "greyshirts" for the first time at a local rally after the uniform had been launched by the party newspaper ''ABC''.Norland (1973) pp. 216–217. While the labour movement's uniforms had been tolerated for years, political use of uniforms was swiftly banned by the Liberal government the day after the rally. After the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, the remnants of the organisation attempted to establish a political alternative against the Quisling regime. The new chairman,

Victor Mogens Victor Andreas Emanuel Mogens (16 August 1886 – 17 January 1964) was a Norwegian journalist, editor and politician for the Fatherland League. Pre-war life and career He was born in Bergen, and grew up in Bergen, Trondheim, Kristiania and Hol ...

' secret talks and negotiations with the Germans remained unsuccessful. The organisation, like all other parties but Nasjonal Samling, was banned by Reichskommissar Josef Terboven on 25 September 1940. The Fatherland League was not reorganised after the war. As the archives of the organisation were burned after its dissolution, limited historical material remains of it despite being the single largest mass movement ever organised on the political right in Norway. Anders Lange, founder of the modern Progress Party was active as the secretary of the organisation in Kristiansand and in Oslo until 1938.

Gallery

File:Fedrelandslaget 1932.jpg, Representatives for the organisation in 1932. File:Fedrelandslaget vis din farge.jpg, "Show your colour. Vote labour up, and the Labour Party down." File:Fedrelandslagets valgplakat 1933.jpg, 1933 election poster. File:Fedrelandslaget Mot Marxismen.jpg, Fatherland League rally under the parole "Against Marxism". File:Fedrelandslaget Victor Mogens 1935.jpg, Victor Mogens speaking at a rally in Kristiansand in 1935.

References

External links