Talk:Erik Gjems-Onstad/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Coemgenus (talk · contribs) 22:15, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

• In the lede: the redlink to Lark is confusing. I'm not against redlinks, I think they're good for encouraging article-creation, but this one is a subject unfamiliar to most English-speaking readers, so you should either create the article or explain briefly it in the sentence. Done
  • (I decided to create the article.) —Filippusson (t.) 22:21, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
• First paragraph of "Early activities": "The proclamation by Norwegian Prime Minister Johan Nygaardsvold on 10 April was according to Gjems-Onstad received with great disappointment by him and his friends." What was the proclamation? It's not clear from the context. Done
• Third paragraph of "Early activities":"It was decided ..." Who decided? Done
• Professional career: Is "lawyer's firm" the same as law firm? Done
• Same section: what is a "house shark"? Done
• Member of Parliament: "After he in turn recommended voters to rather vote for the Conservative Party..." I don't understand this: wasn't he a member of the Conservative Party? Was he recommending people vote against the party or for it?
  • He was certainly not a member of the Conservative Party at this time; he was a member of Anders Lange's Party, which I think is pretty clear in the text. He was a member of the CP at least three separate times; in the 1960s, the late 1980s, and the mid 2000s. Not in the 1970s. —Filippusson (t.) 10:24, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
    • I see. I didn't see that Anders Lange's Party was the actual name of the party. --Coemgenus (talk) 14:00, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
• Personal life: with which wife did he have his children (or were some with one, some with the other)?
  • The only evidence I can find suggests that he had a daughter with his second wife, and obviously his son Ole (b. 1950) is from his first marriage. I don't know more, so it might be best to just leave it unanswered. —Filippusson (t.) 10:24, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
    • That's fine, it's not that important. --Coemgenus (talk) 14:01, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

A few more general questions:

• How did Gjems-Onstad, as an anti-communist, compare with other resistance fighters? Were others more friendly to the left?
• How was his Rhodesian diplomacy received in Norway? Did most Norwegians oppose his friendliness toward the Smith regime, or were they supportive?
  • I have not found any sources that directly discuss any of these issues, but I'd think most Norwegians would not look particularly kindly upon his activities with regards to Rhodesia, South Africa etc. In that respect he was definitely more on the fringe than in the mainstream. When it comes to the anti-communism issue, it is more difficult. Ever since the war, there has been an ever-ongoing issue about how communist resistance members, according to some, have been neglected in official Norwegian WWII history. The anti-communist faction in the would-be social democratic Labour Party (which dominated Norway for decades after the war) won the post-war ideological struggle in the party, and per se anti-communism has been pretty mainstream in Norway. —Filippusson (t.) 22:21, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
    • That's kind of what I thought with regard to Rhodesia. The other part would be nice to reflect in the article if you could, but for now I think it's good enough to pass without it. Nice work! I enjoyed reading it. --Coemgenus (talk) 00:15, 3 February 2012 (UTC)