Vidkun Quisling - Personality

Personality

Interpretations of Quisling's character are divided between those making the claims. To his supporters, he was regarded as a conscientious administrator of the highest order, knowledgeable and with an eye for detail. They believed that, balanced and gentle to a fault, he cared deeply about his people and maintained high moral standards throughout. To his opponents, Quisling was unstable and undisciplined, abrupt, even threatening. Quite possibly he was both; at ease among friends and under pressure when confronted with his political opponents, and generally shy and retiring with both. During formal dinners he often said nothing at all except for the occasional cascade of dramatic rhetoric. Indeed, he did not react well to pressure and would often let slip over-dramatic sentiments when put on the spot. Normally open to criticism, he was prone to assuming larger groups were conspiratorial.

The Norwegian sociologist Johan Galtung described Quisling as a mini-Hitler, with a CMT (chosenness-myth-trauma) complex, or alternatively megalo-paranoia, more often diagnosed in modern times as narcissistic personality disorder. He was "well installed in his personality", but unable to gain a following among his own people as the population did not provide a mirror for Quisling's ideology; in short, he was "a dictator and a clown on the wrong stage with the wrong script". As quoted by Dahl, psychiatrist Professor Gabriel Langfelt stated that Quisling's ultimate goals "fitted the classic description of the paranoid megalomaniac more exactly than any other case ever encountered."

During his time in office, Quisling would rise early, often having completed several hours of work before arriving at the office at 9:30 to 10:00. He liked to intervene in virtually all government matters, reading all letters addressed to him or his chancellery personally and marking a surprising number as actionable. Party members did not receive preferential treatment. Although Quisling was independently minded and made several key decisions on the spot, unlike his German counterpart he liked to follow procedure and his government remained "a dignified and civilised" affair throughout. He rejected German racial supremacy and instead saw the Norwegian race as the progenitor of northern Europe, tracing his own family tree in his spare time. He did not, however, share in the wartime hardships of his fellow Norwegians, though many gifts went unused and he did not live extravagantly. He also took a personal interest in the administration of Fyresdal, where he was born.