Gerhardsen's Second Cabinet governed
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
between 5 November 1945 and 19 November 1951. The
Labour Party (Ap) cabinet was led by
Einar Gerhardsen
Einar Henry Gerhardsen (; 10 May 1897 – 19 September 1987) was a Norwegian politician who served as the prime minister of Norway from 1945 to 1951, 1955 to 1963 and 1963 to 1965. With a total of 16 years in office, he is the longest serving Pri ...
.
In May 1948, Gerhardsen told
Jens Chr Hauge
Jens Christian Hauge (15 May 1915 – 30 October 2006) was a Norwegian lawyer and leader in the World War II resistance—and one of the two incumbent Milorg Council members in May 1945. Njølstad p.125 He served as Minister of Defence from 194 ...
, that he was considering resigning.
[Njølstad p.352]
Furthermore, as candidates for prime minister, Gerhardsen named Torp,
Sverre Støstad
Sverre Kornelius Eilertsen Støstad (13 May 1887 – 7 December 1959) was the Norwegian Minister of Social Affairs 1939–1945, and member of the government delegation in Oslo in 1945, as well as head of the Ministry of Supplies and Reconstructi ...
and
Lars Evensen.
[Njølstad p.352]
On 17 June 1948 parliament started its deliberations about the
Helset Case.
[Njølstad p.367] Something Gerhardsen knew, but did not tell parliament, was that he had certain
[Njølstad p.369] evidence, that "either at the US embassy or in the top leadership of Norway's Armed Forces there were people who were willing to leak top secret info about
then minister of defence's conversations with US military attaché, winter and spring 1948, in an attempt to force" the defence minister out of office—with or without the knowledge of
Olaf Helset
Olaf Helset (28 July 1892 – 21 August 1960) was a Norwegian military officer with the rank of major general and a sports administrator. He played a central role in the early resistance during the German occupation of Norway, both civil and m ...
. Later in 1948
Olaf Helset
Olaf Helset (28 July 1892 – 21 August 1960) was a Norwegian military officer with the rank of major general and a sports administrator. He played a central role in the early resistance during the German occupation of Norway, both civil and m ...
resigned.
Cabinet members
Notes
References
Gerhardsen 2
Gerhardsen 3
1945 establishments in Norway
1951 disestablishments in Norway
Cabinets established in 1945
Cabinets disestablished in 1951
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