Editing Quisling

{{Short description|Term for a traitor or collaborator}}
{{About|the word}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Moebius-029-12, Norwegen, Besuch Himmler, Terboven und Quisling.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Left to right: [[Vidkun Quisling]] seated next to [[Heinrich Himmler]], [[Josef Terboven]] and [[Nikolaus von Falkenhorst]] in front of officers of the [[Waffen-SS]], German Army and Air Force in 1941]]

'''''Quisling''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɪ|z|l|ɪ|ŋ}}, {{IPA|no|ˈkvɪ̂slɪŋ|lang}}) is a term used in [[North Germanic languages|Scandinavian languages]] and in English to mean a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force; it may also be used more generally as a synonym for ''[[treason|traitor]]'' or collaborator.<ref name="Scrabble" /><ref name="Collins" /><ref name="Wordfind" /> The word originates from the surname of the Norwegian war-time leader [[Vidkun Quisling]] (1887–1945), who headed a domestic [[Quisling regime|Nazi collaborationist regime]] during [[German occupation of Norway|World War&nbsp;II]].

==Origin==
Use of [[Vidkun Quisling]]'s surname as a term predates World War II. The first recorded use of the term was by [[Labour Party (Norway)|Norwegian Labour Party]] politician [[Oscar Torp]] in a 2 January 1933 newspaper interview, where he used it as a general term for Quisling's followers. Quisling was at this point in the process of establishing the [[Nasjonal Samling]] (National Unity) party, a fascist party modelled on the German [[Nazi Party]]. Further uses of the term were made by [[Aksel Sandemose]], in a newspaper article in {{lang|no|[[Dagbladet]]}} in 1934, and by the newspaper ''[[Vestfold Arbeiderblad]]'', in 1936.<ref name="Leksicon" /> The term with the opposite meaning, a Norwegian patriot, is {{lang|no|[[Jøssingfjord#History|Jøssing]]}}.

==Popularization in World War II==
The use of the name as a term for collaborators or traitors in general probably came about upon [[Quisling regime#1940 coup|Quisling's unsuccessful 1940 coup d'état]], when he attempted to seize power and make Norway cease resisting the invading Germans. The term was widely introduced to an English-speaking audience by the British newspaper ''[[The Times]]''. It published an editorial on 19 April 1940 titled "Quislings everywhere", in which it was asserted that "To writers, the word Quisling is a gift from the gods. If they had been ordered to invent a new word for traitor... they could hardly have hit upon a more brilliant combination of letters. Aurally it contrives to suggest something at once slippery and tortuous." The ''[[Daily Mail]]'' picked up the term four days after ''The Times'' editorial was published. ''[[The War Illustrated]]'' discussed "potential Quislings" among the Dutch during the [[German invasion of the Netherlands]]. Subsequently, the BBC brought the word into common use internationally.<ref name="Krisleksicon" /><ref name="WarIllustrated" />

[[Chips Channon]] described how during the [[Norway Debate]] of 7–8 May 1940, he and other Conservative MPs who supported [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] [[Neville Chamberlain]] called those who voted against a [[motion of no confidence]] "Quislings".<ref name="jefferys1995" /> Chamberlain's successor [[Winston Churchill]] used the term while addressing a [[Declaration of St James's Palace|conference of Allied delegates]] at [[St. James's Palace]] on 12 June 1941, when he said:<ref name="Churchill" /> "A vile race of Quislings—to use a new word which will carry the scorn of mankind down the centuries—is hired to fawn upon the conqueror, to collaborate in his designs and to enforce his rule upon their fellow countrymen while groveling low themselves." He used the term again in an [[Winston Churchill's address to Congress (1941)|address]] to both houses of [[United States Congress|Congress]] in the United States of America on 26 December 1941.<ref name="DailyStar" /> Commenting upon the effect of a number of [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] victories against [[Axis forces]], and moreover the United States' decision to enter the war, Churchill opined: "Hope has returned to the hearts of scores of millions of men and women, and with that hope there burns the flame of anger against the brutal, corrupt invader. And still more fiercely burn the fires of hatred and contempt for the filthy Quislings whom he has suborned."<ref name="Churchill2" /> The term subsequently entered the language and became a target for political cartoonists.<ref name="BitsOfNews" />

In his work ''The Yugoslav peoples fight to live'', [[Josip Broz Tito]] made several descriptions of his enemies as Quislings, including [[Milan Nedić|General Milan Nedić]] ("the Serbian Quisling") and [[Ante Pavelić|Dr. Ante Pavelić]] ("the criminal Croatian Quisling ... a creature of [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]] and [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]").<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tito |first1=Josip Broz |title=The Yugoslav peoples fight to live |date=June 1944 |publisher=The United Committee of South-Slav Americans |location=New York |page=7 |url=https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1477&context=prism}}</ref>

In the United States, it was used often. In the [[Warner Bros.]] cartoon ''[[Tom Turk and Daffy]]'' (1944), it was uttered by a Thanksgiving turkey whose presence is betrayed to [[Porky Pig]] by [[Daffy Duck]]. In the American film [[Edge of Darkness (1943 film)|''Edge of Darkness'']] (1943), about the Resistance in Norway, the heroine's brother is often described as a quisling.

===Verb form===
The [[back-formation|back-formed]] verb, ''to quisle'' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɪ|z|əl}}) exists,<ref name="Boliger" /><ref name="OED" /> and gave rise to a much less common version of the noun: ''quisler''.<ref name="MerriamWebster" /><ref name="OED2" /> However, the verb form was rare even during World War&nbsp;II<ref name=Mencken/> and has entirely disappeared from contemporary usage.<ref name=Boliger/>

==Postwar use==
''Quisling'' was applied to some who cooperated with communist takeovers. As an illustration, the renegade social democrat [[Zdeněk Fierlinger]] of [[Czechoslovakia]] was frequently derided as "Quislinger" for his collaboration with the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia]].<ref name="InsideEurope" />

A 1966 ''[[Peanuts]]'' comic strip shows [[Lucy Van Pelt|Lucy]] dragging [[Linus Van Pelt|Linus]] out of [[Snoopy]]'s doghouse yelling "Traitor! ''Quisling!'' Squealer!" at Snoopy for betraying him hiding there.<ref>{{cite web |title=Peanuts by Charles Schulz for June 14, 1966 |url=https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1966/06/14 |website=[[Go Comics]] |access-date=24 May 2024}}</ref>

In the [[Doctor Who]] story ''[[Day of the Daleks]]'' (1972), the Doctor calls a man who collaborates with the Daleks a Quisling.<ref>{{cite web |title=Day of the Daleks |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/dayofdaleks/detail.shtml |website=[[BBC]] |access-date=24 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309030951/https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/dayofdaleks/detail.shtml |archive-date=9 March 2021}}</ref>

"[[The Patriot Game]]", one of the best known songs to emerge from the [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalist struggle]], includes the line "...those quislings who sold out the Patriot Game" in some versions<ref name="PatriotGame1" /> (although the original uses "cowards"<ref name="PatriotGame2" /> and other versions substitute "rebels"<ref name="Kearns" /> or "traitors").<ref name="JudeCollins" />

In "[[Edge of Darkness]]", the 1943 film with Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan a clip from radio speech by Winston Churchill quotes him as saying, "...and the filthy Quisling that is his tool.".  Errol Flynn also tells a traitorous character that, "Soon all Norway will know he's a Quisling.".

In the Norwegian television series ''[[Occupied]]'', Norwegians who are seen as collaborating with the Russian invaders and later with European Union peacekeepers are called Quislings.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kirchick |first1=James |author1-link=James Kirchick |title=The Norwegian TV series that's enraged the Kremlin |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/occupied-norwegian-tv-series-thats-enraged-the-kremlin-norway-russia-occupation/ |website=[[Politico]] |access-date=24 May 2024 |date=20 March 2016}}</ref>

Max Brooks' 2006 novel ''[[World War Z]]'' features survivors who lose their minds due to the apocalypse and pretend to be zombies themselves, even going so far as to biting and eating other survivors. These zombie-like survivors are called Quislings.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Max |author1-link=Max Brooks |title=World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War |date=2006 |publisher=[[Crown Publishing Group]] |isbn=0-307-34660-9 |page=196 |url=https://archive.org/details/worldwarzoralhis0000broo_c8o1/mode/2up}}</ref>

In the epilogue of ''[[Farnham's Freehold]]'' by [[Robert A. Heinlein]], a sign is posted listing available goods and services.  One of the items listed is "Jerked Quisling (by the neck)".<ref>{{cite web |title=Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein |url=https://www.biblio.com/book/farnhams-freehold-robert-heinlein/d/1582354688#gallery-9 |website=[[Biblio.com]] |access-date=24 May 2024}}</ref>

==21st century==
In the early 21st century, the term demonstrated continued currency as it was used by some American writers to describe President [[Donald Trump]] and his associates based on the idea that Russia interfered with the 2016 U.S. presidential election in favor of Donald Trump.<ref>{{Citation |title=Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence United States Senate on Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election |url=https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report_Volume1.pdf |volume=1}}</ref> For example, in a June 2018 ''[[New York Times]]'' column, [[Paul Krugman]] called US President Trump a "quisling", in reference to what Krugman described as Trump's "serv[ing] the interests of foreign masters at his own country's expense" and "defend[ing] Russia while attacking our closest allies".<ref name=Krugman/> Other publications also applied the term. For instance, [[Joe Scarborough]] in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' ("These are desperate times for the quislings of Trump"),<ref name=Scarborough/> [[Rich Lowry]] in ''[[Politico]]'' ("The [[GOP]] elite... is the quisling establishment"),<ref name=Lowry/> former [[United States Mint]] director [[Philip N. Diehl]] in ''[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]'' ("The historical reference that more aptly applies to pro-Trump Republicans is that of the Quislings"),<ref name=Diehl/> David Driesen in ''[[History News Network]]'' ("Trump seeks a government of quislings"),<ref name=Driessen/> [[Dick Polman]] on [[NPR]] station [[WHYY-FM]] ("Ever since last summer, most Republicans have marinated in their cowardice... The next step toward home-grown tyranny – the quisling phase – has already begun"),<ref name=Polman/> and so forth.

On 7 July 2020, Lord [[Chris Patten]], former governor of Hong Kong, described [[Carrie Lam]], the [[Chief Executive of Hong Kong]] as a "lamentable Quisling figure in Hong Kong's history".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Davidson|first=Helen|date=2020-07-07|title=Hong Kong police given sweeping powers under new security law|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/07/hong-kong-police-given-sweeping-powers-under-new-security-law|access-date=2020-07-11|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Tan|first=Huileng|date=2020-07-08|title=China has set out to 'destroy the Hong Kong which has been so successful for decades,' city's last governor says|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/08/hong-kongs-last-governor-chris-patten-on-chinas-security-law-for-hk.html|access-date=2020-07-11|website=CNBC|language=en}}</ref> On 10 February 2022, Patten expanded his use of the term ''Quislings'' to describe Lam, the [[Hong Kong Police Force]], and the [[Judiciary of Hong Kong]], during a debate on [[Nationality and Borders Act 2022|Nationality and Borders Bill]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2022-02-10/debates/F81A145A-6B3B-4824-894E-B0676740954E/NationalityAndBordersBill|title=Nationality and Borders Bill - Hansard - UK Parliament}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Collaborationism]]
* [[Eponym]] vs. [[Namesake]]
* [[Fifth column]]
* [[Treason]]
* [[Chinilpa]]
* [[Mir Jafar]]
* [[Razakar (Pakistan)|Razakar]]
* [[Hanjian]]
* [[Malinchism]]
* [[Benedict Arnold]]
* [[Jayachandra]]
* [[Robert Lundy]]
* [[Wang Jingwei]]

==References==
{{Reflist|1=30em|refs=
<ref name="Scrabble">{{cite web |url=http://blogmybrain.com/scrabble-word-finder/word/quisling.htm |title=Quisling |access-date=14 December 2013|website=blogmybrain.com}}</ref>

<ref name="Collins">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Collins English Dictionary |chapter=Quisling |edition=10th |access-date=18 January 2014 |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quisling}}</ref>

<ref name="Wordfind">{{cite web|url=http://www.wordfind.com/word/quisling/ |title=Quisling|website=Princeton Wordnet Dictionary}}</ref>

<ref name="Leksicon">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Quisling |encyclopedia=[[Store norske leksikon]] |editor-last=Godal | editor-first=Anne Marit | editor-link=Anne Marit Godal |publisher=Norsk nettleksikon |location=Oslo |url=https://snl.no/quisling |language=no | access-date=4 October 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Krisleksicon">{{cite encyclopedia |first=Hans Fredrik |last=Dahl |author-link=Hans Fredrik Dahl | encyclopedia=[[Norsk krigsleksikon 1940–45]] |title=Quisling |editor=Dahl |editor-link=Hans Fredrik Dahl |editor2=Hjeltnes |editor2-link=Guri Hjeltnes |editor3=Nøkleby |editor3-link=Berit Nøkleby |editor4=Ringdal |editor4-link=Nils Johan Ringdal |editor5=Sørensen |editor5-link=Øystein Sørensen |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2010113005006 | year=1995 |publisher=Cappelen |location=Oslo |isbn=82-02-14138-9 |page=334 |language=no}} {{in lang|no}}</ref>

<ref name="WarIllustrated">{{cite news| url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/TWI/ | title=First Days of 'Total War' on the Western Front | work=The War Illustrated | date=1940-05-24 | access-date=19 April 2015 | pages=540}}</ref>

<ref name="Churchill">{{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/410612b.html |author=Prime Minister Churchill, Winston|title= Speech to the Allied Delegates|website= British Library of Information|access-date= January 26, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="DailyStar">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AiI_AAAAIBAJ&pg=3190,4642406&dq=quisling+winston+churchill&hl=en |title=Say Quislings Back Winnie|newspaper= The Windsor Daily Star|date=November 26, 1946|access-date= December 14, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="Churchill2">{{cite web |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/411226a.html |author=Prime Minister Churchill, Winston |title=Address to the Congress of the United States |date=December 26, 1941|website=British Library of Information}}</ref>

<ref name="BitsOfNews">{{cite web |url=http://www.bitsofnews.com/content/view/3965/42/ |title=The World According to Quisling |website=Bits of News |first=Gisle |last=Tangenes |date=19 September 2006 |access-date=15 December 2006 |archive-date=2 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202190036/http://www.bitsofnews.com/content/view/3965/42/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="MerriamWebster">{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quisler |title=Quisler |work=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |access-date=April 11, 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="Mencken">{{cite journal|title=War of Words in England |author=Mencken, H.L. |journal=American Speech |volume=19 |number=1 |date=February 1944 |page=13 |doi=10.2307/486526|jstor=486526 }}</ref>

<ref name="Boliger">{{cite journal|author=Bolinger, Dwight L. |title=Among the New Words|journal=American Speech|volume= 16|number=2 |date=April 1941|page= 147|doi= 10.2307/487442|jstor=487442}}</ref>

<ref name="InsideEurope">{{cite book|author=Gunther, John |date=1961|title= Inside Europe Today|url=https://archive.org/details/insideeuropetoda00gunt |url-access=registration |location= New York|publisher= Harper & Brothers|page= [https://archive.org/details/insideeuropetoda00gunt/page/334 334]}} {{LCCN|619706}}</ref>

<ref name="PatriotGame1">{{cite web |url=http://www.bellsirishlyrics.com/patriot-game.html#lyrics |title=The Patriot Game lyrics |work=Bells Irish Lyrics |access-date=April 11, 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="PatriotGame2">{{cite web |url=http://www.bellsirishlyrics.com/patriot-game.html#original-lyrics |title=The Patriot Game lyrics |work=Bells Irish Lyrics |access-date=April 11, 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="Kearns">{{cite web |url=https://geographicalturn.wordpress.com/geographical-formation-2-larry-kirwan/ |title=Geographical Formation 2: Larry Kirwan |author=Gerry Kearns |date=June 2015 |work=The Geographical Turn |access-date=April 11, 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="JudeCollins">{{cite web |url=http://www.judecollins.com/2016/12/pat-kenny-sinn-feinn-peter-pymen/ |title=Pat Kenny and Sinn Féin by Peter Pymen |author=Jude Collins |date=December 3, 2016 |work=Jude Collins website |access-date=April 11, 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="jefferys1995">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dx3pAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA24 |title=The Churchill Coalition and Wartime Politics, 1940–1945 |last=Jefferys |first=Kevin |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1995 |isbn=9780719025600 |pages=24 |access-date=2018-02-17}}</ref>

<ref name=Krugman>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/opinion/trump-quisling-enablers.html
 |title=A Quisling and His Enablers |author=Paul Krugman |date=June 11, 2018 |work=New York Times |access-date=July 17, 2018}}</ref>

<ref name=Lowry>{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/the-quisling-establishment-213568 |title=The Quisling Establishment |author=Rich Lowry |date=January 27, 2016 |work=Politico |access-date=July 17, 2018}}</ref>

<ref name=Scarborough>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-miserable-crew-has-never-been-so-desperate/2018/04/13/23198a90-3f43-11e8-974f-aacd97698cef_story.html |title=Trump's miserable crew has never been so desperate |author=Joe Scarborough |date=April 13, 2018 |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=July 17, 2018}}</ref>

<ref name=Diehl>{{cite web |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/284400-trump-supporters-arent-vichy-republicans-theyre/ |title=How the GOP is like an occupied country in World War II |author=Philip N. Dieh |date=June 22, 2016 |work=The Hill |access-date=July 17, 2018}}</ref>

<ref name=Driessen>{{cite web |url=https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/175187 |title=Trump's Quislings |author=David Driesen |date=April 26, 2020 |work=History News Network |publisher=Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, George Washington University |access-date=June 2, 2020}}</ref>

<ref name=Polman>{{cite web |url=https://whyy.org/articles/all-hail-der-leader-donald-trumps-craven-quislings/ |title=All hail Der Leader: Donald Trump's craven quislings |author=Dick Polman |date=May 2, 2016 |work=WHYY-FM |access-date=June 2, 2020}}</ref>

<ref name=OED>{{cite web |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/269234 |url-access=subscription |title=quisle, v. |publisher=Oxford University Press |work=OED Online |access-date=July 9, 2020}}</ref>

<ref name=OED2>{{cite web |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/269235 |url-access=subscription |title=quisler, n. |publisher=Oxford University Press |work=OED Online |access-date=July 9, 2020}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* [[Paul Hayes (historian)|Hayes, Paul M.]], ''Quisling: the Career and Political Ideas of Vidkun Quisling 1887-1945'' (David & Charles, 1971)
* Borgersrud, Lars. "9 April revised: on the Norwegian history tradition after Magne Skodvin on Quisling and the invasion of Norway in 19401." ''Scandinavian Journal of History'' 39.3 (2014): 353–397, historiography
* Dahl, Hans Fredrik. ''Quisling: a study in treachery'' (Cambridge UP, 1999).

==External links==
* {{Wiktionary-inline}}

{{World War II}}
{{Norwegian language}}

[[Category:Archetypal names]]
[[Category:English words]]
[[Category:Norwegian words and phrases]]
[[Category:Political pejoratives for people]]
[[Category:Treason]]
[[Category:1940s neologisms]]
[[Category:Vidkun Quisling]]