Editing Nasjonal Samling (section)

=== During the German occupation ===
[[File:Fo60000002029395 Nazi occupied Norway Forsvar Norge i Finnland Quisling taler Universitetsplassen Oslo kommune 1941-07-04 folkemøte NS Hirden Nasjonal Samlings glassplatesamling digitalarkivet.no Riksarkivet NTBs krigsarkiv CC BY.jpg|thumb|On 4 July 1941, [[Vidkun Quisling]] gave a speech at [[Universitetsplassen]] in Oslo aimed to recruit volunteers for the [[Norwegian Legion]] to fight on the Eastern Front in Finland]]
When [[Operation Weserübung|Germany invaded Norway]] on 9 April 1940, Quisling later that day marched into the [[NRK|Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation]] studios in [[Oslo]] and made a radio broadcast proclaiming himself [[Prime Minister of Norway|Prime Minister]] and
ordering all anti-German resistance to end immediately. He claimed that Germany was simply offering Norway "peaceful help" after the Allies [[Operation Wilfred|mined Norwegian waters]], but Prime Minister [[Johan Nygaardsvold]] had "irresponsibly fled."<ref>[https://www.nrk.no/norge/hor-quisling-erklaere-statskupp-pa-nrk-1.12302434 Hør Quisling erklære statskupp i NRK radio] ''NRK''</ref> However, [[Haakon VII of Norway|King Haakon VII]], in unoccupied territory along with the [[Nygaardsvold government]], let it be known he would abdicate rather than appoint any government headed by Quisling. The Nygaardsvold government refused to step down in Quisling's favour and confirmed that resistance was to be continued. With no popular support, the German forces of occupation quickly thrust Quisling aside. 

In December 1940, Nasjonal Samling membership rose to 22,000, and peaked with around 44,000 in November 1943.<ref>[https://snl.no/Nasjonal_Samling Nasjonal Samling] ''Store norske leksikon''</ref>

After a brief period with a civilian caretaker government (''[[Administrasjonsrådet]]'') appointed by the [[Supreme Court of Norway|Supreme Court]], the Germans took control through [[Reichskommissar#Norway|Reichskommissar]] [[Josef Terboven]]. He appointed a government responsible to himself, with most ministers from the ranks of Nasjonal Samling. However, the party leader, Quisling, was controversial in Norway as well as among the occupiers, and was denied a formal position until 1 February 1942, when he became "minister president" of the "[[Quisling regime|national government]]". Other important ministers were [[Jonas Lie (government minister)|Jonas Lie]] (also head of the Norwegian wing of the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] from 1941) as minister of police, [[Gulbrand Lunde]] as minister of "popular enlightenment and [[propaganda]]", and the [[opera]] singer [[Albert Viljam Hagelin]], who was Minister of Home Affairs. The NS administration had a certain amount of autonomy in purely civilian matters, but it was in reality controlled by Reichskommissar Terboven as "head of state", subordinate only to [[Adolf Hitler]].