Throughout history, we have seen Nations triumph or be crushed by authoritarianism and it all comes down to the strength of the Leader at the helm.
But strength when exercised through fear and strength exercised through Patriotism and love are two entirely different matters.
Hitler was strong but he ruled with fear. Xi Jinping is much the same. Pol Pot. Idi Amin.
Who are you afraid to offend right now? The Leftists who attack you through social media? Or people like President Trump, Viktor Orban?
When it takes courage to stand up to defend your Rights, chances are you are in fear. If it doesn't make you frightened to stand up and defend your rights, you are probably in safe hands.
It is our choice to stand or fall in the face of fear.
I watched a movie some time ago ' the King's Choice ' from Norway. If you have not seen it, I urge you to find it and watch it.
Norway entered the conflict of WW2 as a neutral country - it sought not to be for or against. It hoped that it could stay out of the conflict and avoid the torment of the war that was beginning to rage around it's borders. Within a short period of time,
Norway learned that taking no side is impossible if you yourself are placed in the firing line.
Neutrality is impossible when Fear and Power and Control enter the fray.
In 1940, the then King of Norway, King Haakon was faced with one of the greatest decisions of his life. He was nearly 70 years old and a fiercely patriotic man. The German war machine was heavily, if not totally, dependent on Iron ore from Sweden. To get it to the port from shipment to Germany the railway went through Norway and that was the weak link in Hitler's eyes. Oddly enough Sweden was able to remain neutral throughout WW2 and continued to be a supplier of iron ore to Germany.
The Norwegian coast was also a prominent feature for German ships attempting to enter German waters from the North Atlantic safe from British naval attacks.
A British expeditionary force was landed in the far north of Norway but was overwhelmed by superior German forces and was evacuated from Narvik, near the Arctic Circle. At the same time the Norwegian royal family was evacuated on HMS Cossack and returned London where they remained throughout the war. They were a vital cog in the wheel of Norwegian resistance.
The evacuation of the British force from Narvik is one of the great but unsung exploits of trhe early days of WW2. The value of the Norwegial coastline is well depicted in the stories of the Tirpitz and the Altmark, the supply ship tending the Admiral Graf Spee.
The demeaning expression of "quisling" is derived directly from the name of the German installed PM indicating a traitor of the worst kind. Not a natural leader but just a puppet who got his just deserts at the end..
An intense invasion of Denmark, lasting a mere 6 hours, saw Denmark capitulate in exchange for being " allowed " to keep its " independence " and not have the Luftwaffe bomb the living daylights out of Copenhagen.
Norway did not. And it was all because of King Haakon. He made a choice.
The King of Norway's courage and moral compass was really tested by Nazi Germany.
Hitler wanted to install a Nazi-friendly government in Norway under Vidkun Quisling, someone the Norwegian people neither liked nor trusted. Despite the pressure upon him to lie down to the bully that was Nazi Germany, King Haakon refused to abdicate.
The strength that it must have taken for this aging King to stand up to Hitler is astonishing. His fear must have been intense. But his love of his Nation and his People was greater than his fear of death or an unknown future under Nazi occupation.
He chose to stand up to the Nazi's rather than fall on his knees or on his belly in submission.
The Germans retaliated with bombing campaigns.
The ruins of Molde after the bombing in 1940. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
It is uncertain how but the German forces became aware that both Norway’s monarch, his son and the government were in Molde, and that large British-French forces had arrived in the city. The Germans were looking for the king but now they did not want to capture him, as they had wanted in early April. Now the goal was to get rid of the king. A large number of German warplanes were sent to the city to kill the king. The attack came as a surprise and on April 28, 1940, Molde was bombed.
Only a few seconds warning before the attack were given to the monarch, who fortunately lived on the outskirts of town. The King and the Crown Prince sought shelter in a wooded area near the town and the famous image at the tree “Kongebjørka” was taken during the attack.
King Haakon VII ultimately evacuated the country with government leaders, forming a Norwegian government in exile.source
During this time King Haakon VII made speeches to his people through the BBC radio service.
The Norwegian government and King Haakon started a radio channel which broadcasted from London to Norway. In 1940. Each Christmas, the King would deliver a speech to his People and, thoughout the war, the broadcasts kept the Norwegians in contact with their beloved king.
Everywhere in Norway during the occupation 1940-45, the King’s monogram H7 became the very symbol of freedom. The symbol was banned, and those caught drawing it on the ground or buildings were sentenced to severe prison sentences. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
From 1942 to 1945, Vidkun Quisling served as Prime Minister of Norway and headed the Norwegian state administration jointly with the German civilian administrator, Josef Terboven. His pro-Nazi puppet government, known as the Quisling regime, was dominated by ministers from Nasjonal Samling. The collaborationist government participated in Germany's war efforts, and sent Jews out of the country to concentration camps in occupied Poland,
Quisling was put on trial during the legal purge in Norway after World War II. He was found guilty of charges including embezzlement, murder and high treason against the Norwegian state, and was sentenced to death. He was executed by firing squad at Akershus Fortress, Oslo, on 24 October 1945. source
Germany capitulated on 8 May 1945. On 13 May Crown Prince Olav and five government ministers returned to a liberated Norway. King Haakon, Crown Princess Märtha and the children returned on 7 June, five years to the day that the King and Crown Prince had been forced to leave the country.
Make no mistake, we are now, throughout the globe, in a time of crisis.
It is time, as Nations and as citizens, to realise that we are under attack and it is INEVITABLE that we will have to declare our hand.
This self loathing that has crept in to our populations is reprehensible and should be seen for what it is: an act of cowardice in the face of bullies.
Now is the time for strength, not weakness. Now is the time for patriotism, not ideology. Now is the time to stand up, not lie down in submission. Now is the time to make a choice.
For if we lie down, we can expect to be walked over.
Here endeth the lesson.
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