ABSTRACT
One general effect in Norway of World War II and the occupation was an unparallelled experience of social and political unity; so much so that all the political parties ratified a Joint Programme (Fellesprogrammet) after the war, staking out the principal political tasks. This was chiefly the work of the Labour Party (Arbeider - partiet), who won a clear victory in the 1945 election, inaugurating the ‘socialdemocratic order’ and the long tenure of Einar Gerhardsen as Prime Minister – a man who would become known as ‘the nation’s father’ (landsfaderen). In terms of international relations, the 1940s ended with Norway signing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947, accepting USA’s Marshall Plan in 1948 and the subsequent membership in the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), and joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in 1949.1 Thus, at the end of the decade, Norway had firmly placed itself in the ‘Western’ world both politically and economically.
