Talk:Quisling

Untitled
I removed the words "nearer Britain" from the Etymology paragraph in the discussion of why Quisling's name was applied to collaborationism as a whole. Though I am not a military history subject matter expert, I cannot see any *meaningful* way that Norway is or was "nearer" to Britain, geographically at least. The North Sea separates both Norway and Denmark from Britain, and although technically the West coast of Norway is closer to the Shetland Islands "as the crow flies" than Denmark is to Norfolk, England, to get to any part of Britain from Norway, now and then, you would most likely travel *through* Denmark (*and* Germany) and cross the channel. True, there used to be (I don't know if there was at the time) ferries from Newcastle to Norway (I don't think there is anymore), but Newcastle is still closer to Denmark. And I don't see any arguement off hand that Norway and Britain were sociopolitically "nearer" to each other than Denmark and Britain, and anyway if that was the meaning, it should be so stated. In any case, unless someone has a reason why Norway was "nearer" to Britain than Denmark was, "nearer Britain" is incorrect. The phrase could be reinstated with further explanation if someone has a legitimate one.Olynickjeff (talk) 16:51, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

I suggest merger with "Vidkun Quisling". a term named after a person can be properly explained under that person's history, and only so, because it has no meaning out of context.

I removed the reference to the Elvis Costello Song referring to the "Quisling Clinic" from the popular culture section. The Quisling clinic is the name of a modernist building in Madison, Wisconsin, and has no connexion to the Vidkun Quisling or any other use of the term "Quisling" for collaborators.

I removed a bizarre and seemingly anti-Semitic comment at the beginning of the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Teebol (talk • contribs) 14:40, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

I strongly oppose merger into Collaborationsim.--Mike18xx 03:47, 8 August 2006 (UTC)


 * It was Dictionary.com's Word of the Day on July 9, 2006.

I'm removing this as irrelevant, as well as reminiscent of an ad. Naphra 20:55, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

I think the Elvis Costello reference ought to be reinstated. The Quisling Clinic was operated by Vidkun Quisling's first cousin (according to his obituary: http://madisonchspre1990obits.blogspot.com/) and in any case Costello, as an Englishman, was referring to the incongruity (to him) of something being named after a Quisling. Pinglis 13:21, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

All Quislings are not the same.

 * Pinglis - I know it's been a long while. Be that as it may, I want to tell you that when you say something like that, you are painting all Quislings with too-broad a brush, tarring all Quislings with Vidkun Quisling's bad deeds. Relatives may be connected through DNA, but they are not liable for Vidkun's activities merely because of that DNA. Thanks for your attention, Wordreader (talk) 05:17, 28 February 2018 (UTC)


 * When removing the reference to the Elvis Costello song that mentions the Quisling Clinic. However, I couldn't say all I wanted in the explanation. It is this -  "(→‎Music: Removed inappropriate reference to the Quisling Clinic, apparently named for an innocent relative of Vidkun Quisling. No evidence was presented to say that the relative was at all connected to Vidkun's bad deeds. Therefore, that reference is irrelevant. Because Elvis Costello misunderstood doesn't mean that we should. [Don't get me wrong - Costello is great, just in error on this point.])". Thanks again for your time, Wordreader (talk) 05:34, 28 February 2018 (UTC)

Questionable Quislings
I removed a couple of examples from the list as they seem questionable to me:


 * Austria: the explanation (also in the linked article) wrong: the NS did not grow out of Austrian National Socialism - a proper example would be the Austrian Nazis but because of the fragile nature of the Austrian Republic it is questionable in how far one speaking of supporting a different country.
 * Czechoslovakia: the Sudeten Germans were, for a number of reasons, not well integrated into the CSR. Also they were a minority (in the CSR perspective) that pushed for separatism, for a ceding of their regions to another country, but not for subjugation of their country (CSR) to another country (Germany)
 * Slovakia: Hitler's allies here were separatists too that pushed for independence from Czech dominance.
 * Poland: again, the links points to ethnic Germans that had found themselves on the Polish side of the border after 1919 and not Poles collaborating
 * Romania: in the case of the Iron Guard I cannot see this putting a different country first either - sure they were collaborators but were they Quislings?

The intro already relates that the term became popular because Norway was the first country that provided an example of a "Quisling", which makes it questionable that anyone before Vidkun Quisling should be called a Quisling.

Whether Croatian nationalists should be included is of course questionable as well, but I will retain them for now. Str1977 (smile back) 16:54, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

In The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William Shirer anachronistically compares Austrian traitor Arthur Seyss-Inquart to Vidkun Quisling for his role in becoming the nominal leader of Austria only to seek incorporation of Austria into Nazi Germany two years before Quisling sought to establish his puppet dictatorship. There would be others between Seyss-Inquart and Quisling and others after Quisling in the service of Nazi Germany. One could also speak of Communists participating in the Soviet takeovers of the Baltic Republics.

Maybe "Quisling" is simply easier to make sound sinister and pitiable than "Seyss-Inquart".

For making the noun worthy of inclusion as an article, there must be other "quislings" mentioned.Pbrower2a (talk) 04:15, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

Pbrower2a (talk) 04:15, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

"In popular culture"
Do we really want a list of every single TV show/song/movie in which the word is ever used? Because that's what we're getting at the moment. 86.132.142.207 (talk) 01:31, 28 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I speak for the vast mass of right-thinking people when I say that we do not want a list of every single etc. I certainly do not want a list of etc. That kind of thing belongs in List of Uses of the word Quisling in Popular Culture, which over the past few years has been completely supplanted by TVTropes, which is a far better outlet for the creative impulse that drives the creation of such lists. None of the examples were individually notable; as a group, they were less informative than the three examples I have inserted in their place. -Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 15:02, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Invasion
The article said Quisling *aided* the Germans in the invasion, this is false. Germany had already invaded and sucesfully occupied Norway when he formed the NS government. 155.55.60.110 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 08:11, 6 April 2009 (UTC).
 * During the invasion Quisling attemted a coup d'etat, broadcast to the nation that he was the new prime minister and withdrew the mobilization order. I think most people would call that aid to the Germans. How much good it did the Germans can always be debated, but it remains clear that Quisling aided the Germans both duing and after the invasion. Inge (talk) 18:24, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Hungary and Romania
Hungary and Romania were Axis allies not quisling puppets.--English Bobby (talk) 00:06, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Re: Tolkien
https://www.tolkiensociety.org/blog/2015/02/tolkien-and-quisling/
 * "In the next sentence, with a fine disregard for sequential logic, Wikipedia writes, ‘Before that, J.R.R Tolkien used the term in “On Fairy-Stories”, a presentation given in 1939 and first printed in 1947.’


 * "It’s true that Tolkien printed the word in 1947. It’s on p. 76 of Essays Presented to Charles Williams. In his criticism of those who ‘confound the escape of the prisoner with the flight of the deserter,’ Tolkien also charges that ‘they would seem to prefer the acquiescence of the “quisling” to the resistance of the patriot.’


 * "But did he use it in 1939? It seems unlikely. Wikipedia informs us that the word had been used in Norwegian politics since at least 1933 to refer to Vidkun Q.’s followers, but prior to the German invasion of 9 April 1940 it would have lacked the full meaning of ‘traitor to one’s country, collaborationist’ of the OED’s definition and Tolkien’s meaning, as well as the transference to others than specifically Norwegians."
 * Kortoso (talk) 19:07, 2 February 2017 (UTC)

Actual/Original Meaning
Well I figured it'd be nice to know what the name actually means in Norwegian since its was introduced to popularity with a different culturally creative meaning. Apparently it means "One from Kvilsemark" a place in the region of Norway. I didn't find a notable/reliable source for that but it makes sense to me and also I think it will be nice(especially for those who have to live with that surname) if that info eventually makes its way into the article but I've never noticed anyone ever link to wikitionary as a reliable source(I imagine because like wikipedia it can be edited), and like I mentioned I didn't find a reliable source to cite for that. So just throwing it in would constitute as OR.SoNetMedia&#39;s Alfred O. Mega (talk) 22:01, 27 June 2018 (UTC)

Add Wikilink to Rep. US Rep. Devin Nunez?
Given the opening statement and questions of Rep. US Rep. Devin Nunez today in the House hearing I propose adding a Wikilink to the page for Rep. US Rep. Devin Nunez https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devin_Nunes. Let's talk. Chip.berlet (talk) 17:21, 24 July 2019 (UTC)

Postwar Use examples biased
The usage of quislings is universal, Krugman himself is called a quisling by many on the right, along with other such neocons. I mean seriously, war mongering for foreign interests, dual loyalties, a neocon using the term is an example of ultimate projection. 75.101.93.247 (talk) 14:49, 15 August 2019 (UTC)

Alternative definition
I've also heard it used as a synonym for "weakling" but I cannot find any references. Royal Autumn Crest (talk) 16:37, 10 January 2024 (UTC)