Ole Bjørn Kraft (17 December 1893 – 2 December 1980) was a Danish journalist and politician who was the leader of the Conservative People's Party. He also served as the minister of foreign affairs.
Ole Bjørn Kraft | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 1950–1953 | |
| Prime Minister | Erik Eriksen |
| Minister of Defense | |
| In office 1945–1945 | |
| Prime Minister | Vilhelm Buhl |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 December 1893 Copenhagen |
| Died | 2 December 1980 (aged 86) |
| Political party | Conservative People's Party |
| Profession | Journalist |
Early life
editKraft was born in Copenhagen on 17 December 1893.[1] He studied journalism at the University of Copenhagen.[2] He and Max Kjaer-Hansen, his friend from the University of Copenhagen, formed the West Indian Society of Danish Academics to reinforce the protests over the sale of Virgin Islands.[2] Although their attempt was not a success, it paved the way for the establishment of the Det unge Danmark (Danish: The Young Denmark).[2] The group was established just before World War I and supported imperialistic, ethno-nationalist and anti-liberal views.[3][4]
Career
editKraft began his career as a journalist. In 1918 he edited a magazine entitled Det nye Tid which was affiliated with the Det unge Danmark.[1] From May 1919 he worked for Århus Stiftstidende.[1] Then he worked for other newspapers, including Svendborg Amts Dagblad, Nationaltidendes Søndag and Fædrelandet.[1] Between 1928 and 1932 and between 1934 and 1938 he was the editor of another magazine entitled Det nye Danmark which he co-founded with the theologian Alfred Bindslev.[5]
Kraft joined the Conservative People's Party. In 1926 he was first elected to the Parliament representing Ålborg[1] and functioned as the leader of the Conservative People's Party at the Parliament.[3] In 1945 Kraft briefly served as the minister of defense.[4] In November 1947 he was elected as the political leader of the Conservative People's Party, and under his leadership the party supported the right-wing policies.[3] Kraft was a member of the Danish Committee of the European Movement which was established after the Congress of Europe organized in The Hague on 7–9 May 1948.[6] The Danish Committee was founded on 11 August and headed by Thorkil Kristensen.[6]
In 1950 Kraft was named as the foreign minister to the cabinet formed by Prime Minister Erik Eriksen.[7] Kraft remained in the office until 1953.[1] When Kraft was in office Denmark objected to the admission of Greece and Turkey into NATO, and Kraft stated that although these countries had legitimate security concerns, a Mediterranean pact could be establish by them to meet their security needs.[8] Eventually, Denmark voted against acceptance of these countries by NATO as full members.[8] In 1955 Kraft's term as the political leader of the Conservative People's Party ended, and Aksel Møller succeeded him in the post.[4] Kraft was a contributor of Berlingske Tidende and a member of the Parliament until 1964.[1]
Personal life and death
editKraft married in Aarhus in May 1919.[1] He died on 2 December 1980.[1]
He published his memoirs entitled Ung mand undervejs.[2]
Views
editAt the beginning of his political career Kraft's views were based on Christianity and national idealism.[4] He objected to the sale of the Virgin Islands to the USA in 1916.[2] He was among the admirers of the Italian fascism arguing that its corporative ideas should be integrated into the Danish constitution.[3] He also stated that not all Danes were the same in that some of them were more truly Danish than others.[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i Helge Larsen. "Ole Bjørn Kraft". Dansk Biografisk Leksikon (in Danish).
- ^ a b c d e Christian Egander Skov (Summer 2013). "Radical conservatism and Danish imperialism: the empire built "anew from scratch"". Contributions to the History of Concepts. 8 (1). doi:10.3167/Choc.2013.080104.
- ^ a b c d e Christian Egander Skov (2021). "A true People's Party?—The rise and fall of one nation conservatism in Denmark in the 1940s". Scandinavian Journal of History. 46 (2): 254–255, 264. doi:10.1080/03468755.2020.1815572. S2CID 225323421.
- ^ a b c d "Ole Bjørn Kraft, 1893-1980" (in Danish). Danmarks Historien. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ^ Christian Houlberg Skov (2013). "Dansk radikalkonservatismes sekulærreligion". Historisk Tidsskrift (in Danish). 110 (2).
- ^ a b Finn Laursen (2019). "The Discussion on European Union in Denmark". In Walter Lipgens; Wilfried Loth (eds.). The Struggle for European Union by Political Parties and Pressure Groups in Western European Countries 1945–1950. De Gruyter. p. 570. ISBN 978-3-11-087642-0.
- ^ A.H.H. (October 1952). "Some Problems Facing Denmark". The World Today. 8 (10): 422. JSTOR 40392508.
- ^ a b Joe R. Wilkinson (August 1956). "Denmark and Nato: The Problem of a Small State in a Collective Security System". International Organization. 10 (3): 395. doi:10.1017/S0020818300007803. S2CID 154983738.
External links
edit
Media related to Ole Bjørn Kraft at Wikimedia Commons
