The National Socialist Workers' Party of Norway ( no, Norges Nasjonalsocialistiske Arbeiderparti, NNSAP) was a
minor extraparliamentary political party in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
.
The party was founded in 1930,
and dissolved in May 1940.
History
Ideologically modelled on the German
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
(NSDAP), and espousing a
pan-Germanic current,
many members of the party, and notably the founder and first leader
Adolf Egeberg had organisational and personal ties to the NSDAP and the
SS.
Founded as a Nazi "cell" in 1930, the party gained financing from
Eugen Nielsen, publisher of ''
Fronten'', from 1932 until a schism in 1934 due to conflict over Nielsen's primarily
anti-Masonic focus, with the party seeking to develop its national socialist ideology.
In early 1933 the NNSAP saw a surge of
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...
gymnasium students joining the party, and according to the rival communist ''
Mot Dag'' movement the NNSAP briefly became the leading student organisation in the city.
The party had around a thousand members at its height, but was quickly overshadowed by
Nasjonal Samling
Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norwegian far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling and a group of supporters such ...
(NS), which was founded by
Vidkun Quisling
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (, ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who nominally list of heads of government of Norway, headed the government of Norway during t ...
in May 1933.
Several of the party's original and early members, including Egeberg, as well as
Egil Holst Torkildsen,
and
Eiliv Odde Hauge Eiliv Odde Hauge (10 November 1913 – 3 July 1971) was a Norwegian military officer, screenwriter, author and museum director.
During World War II, he was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement.
Biography
Hauge was born at Stranda in Møre ...
at some point left the party to join NS.
The surge in the NNSAP had reportedly played a key role in pushing forward the formation of Nasjonal Samling itself, because Egeberg had allowed
Walter Fürst to use the NNSAP's development and threats of contesting the
1933 parliamentary election as pressure against Quisling (then a member of the
Farmers' Party), who initially hesitated to form a new party.
The NNSAP was led by
Yngvar Fyhn from 1935 until 1940, when he followed suit and joined NS.
Despite being modelled on the NSDAP, the National Socialist Workers' Party of Norway has been described as a relatively loosely organised association.
During the
German occupation of Norway
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...
, former members of the NNSAP were considered to be the most able Norwegian agents for the German secret services. Many former members who later joined NS continued to be more pro-German, and less loyal to Quisling.
See also
*
National Socialist Movement of Norway
References
{{Authority control
Political parties established in 1930
1930 establishments in Norway
Political parties disestablished in 1940
1940 disestablishments in Norway
Nazi parties
Defunct political parties in Norway
Far-right political parties in Norway