The Kråkerøy Speech

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The Kråkerøy speech, also known as the Fredrikstad speech, is one of the most well-known speeches of former Norwegian Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen. It was given at the Folkvang assembly hall in Kråkerøy near Fredrikstad, on February 29, 1948.^[1] The speech attracted great attention, and not only in Norway.^[2] It has since become a part of Norwegian political history.

[edit] Background

The background for the speech was the communist coup in Czechoslovakia on the 25th of February and the Soviet Union's offer to Finland of a non-aggression pact on the 27th of February. These events caused uncertainty within the government as to how they would affect Norway, which became one of the original members of NATO when the organisation was established the following year.

In the Kråkerøy speech, Gerhardsen didn’t really say anything new when it came to Det Norske Arbeiderparti’s (DNA, the Norwegian Labour Party) view on Norges Kommunistiske Parti (NKP, Norway's Communist Party). The most important political U-turn Gerhardsen made was to declare himself to be a clear opponent of the NKP. Until then, he had advocated a more moderate stance for the DNA in relation to the NKP, in contrast to the DNA’s party secretary Haakon Lie who had taken a more uncompromising stance since the war. Subsequent to Gerhardsen falling in line with Lie in delivering the speech, the NKP experienced an unsuccessful period, on the grounds that the party had accepted the Soviet version of events in Czechoslovakia, swimming against the tide of public opinion in Norway.

In 1950 the Kråkerøy speech’s main principles became law in the form of ‘beredskapslovene’ (the preparedness laws). The speech was also the prelude to the introduction of comprehensive monitoring of communist and left-wing radicals in the post-war era, as documented by the report of the Lund Commission, amongst others.

After the publication of the report, the Innsynsutvalget (insight committee) was established as body which those who felt watched could appeal to in order to seek access to the file held on them. Several of those investigated have received compensation for unlawful surveillance carried out on them which violated regulations.

In the speech Gerhardsen commented especially on the communist coup in Czechoslovakia, since fresh parliamentary elections had been due to take place later that spring.

[edit] References

• This article was translated in its entirety from the Norwegian-language Wikipedia entry.

1. ^ Stian Larsen. The Northern Norwegian Press and the Cold War 1947-70. Retrieved on July 16, 2006.
2. ^ Torgrim Titlestad. The Cold War in Norwegian Politics. Retrieved on July 16, 2006.