John Christmas Møller
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Guido Leo John Christmas Møller (April 3, 1894 - April 13, 1948) was a Danish politician representing the Conservative People's Party. After the German occupation of Denmark, he joined the coalition cabinet, but was forced to withdraw following German pressure in October 1940; the German authorities felt he was too negative toward them. Three months later, in 1941 he was forced to abandon his seat in parliament altogether for the same reason. He was then instrumental in founding the illegal newspaper Frit Danmark. In 1942 he and his family fled to England, where he hoped to act as a representative of a Danish government in exile. However, his most important role turned out to be as an announcer for the BBC broadcasting to Denmark. He spoke out against the government's cooperative stance toward the Germans and urged sabotage and other resistance activities. He became enormously popular and almost certainly played a part in the collapse of the Danish government's "cooperation policy" in the summer of 1943.
After the war he became foreign minister in the post-war government. After the election of 1945 he became leader of the Conservative party. He lost the election in 1947 and then resigned as leader. He died the following year.
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Victor Pürschel |
Leader of the Conservative People's Party 1928–1947 |
Succeeded by Ole Bjørn Kraft |
Preceded by Vilhelm Buhl |
Foreign Minister of Denmark May 7, 1945 – November 7, 1945 |
Succeeded by Gustav Rasmussen |