Anders Sigurd Lange (5 September 1904 – 18 October 1974) was a Norwegian political organiser, speaker and editor who led his eponymously named political party Anders Lange's Party into the Storting (Norwegian parliament) in 1973.
Educated as a forestry technician, Lange got involved in politics following his stay in Argentina in the late 1920s. He joined the right-wing Fatherland League organisation upon his return to Norway in 1929, and he became a popular speaker at public rallies. His provocative style however often led to controversies. Although his agitation was chiefly directed against the political left, he also rejected the efforts of the far-right. He left the organisation in 1938 to join Landsforeningen Norges Sjøforsvar, where he argued for strengthening the Norwegian armed forces and warned against the future world war. He was initially blocked from entering the organised Norwegian resistance during the Second World War, but nonetheless did work to assist resistance members, and he was arrested by the Germans and imprisoned twice.
After the war, Lange initially focused on his work as a kennel-owner, as well as to write and publish his own dog-owner's paper. Although he had pledged to not enter politics again, he became increasingly politically active. He started touring the country to speak at his public rallies, and the paper he published became increasingly political. He was a charismatic right-wing public speaker who first and foremost objected to high taxes, state-regulations and public bureaucracy. He gained a considerable following among youth in the 1960s, and their activities included to counter-demonstrate against left-wing demonstrations. Increasingly called upon by his supporters to establish a new political party, it was not until 1973 that he finally agreed to do so. The new party, named Anders Lange's Party (ALP) was founded by popular acclamation during a public meeting at Saga kino. He successfully entered the Norwegian Parliament after the election later the same year, but his new-found political career came to an abrupt end when he died the following year. Lange's political party was reformed and renamed to the Progress Party after his death.
Early life
Anders Sigurd Lange was born in Nordstrand in Aker Municipality (now a part of Oslo) to doctor Alf Lange (1869–1929) and Anna Elisabeth Svensson (1873–1955).Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, p. 7. He had two older siblings, Alexander and Karen.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, p. 30. Although he was born in Aker, the family moved to Foss in Bjelland Municipality when he was only six weeks old, owing to his father being appointed district physician for a region consisting of Bjelland Municipality, Grindheim Municipality and Åseral Municipality. The Lange family was originally from Holstein and Denmark, and included several prominent public officials, priests, doctors and businessmen. Lange lived in Foss for his first seven years.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, pp. 27–28. Lange's parents were divorced in 1911, and Anna Elisabeth moved to Bergen with her three children. They lived in humble conditions in a guest house in Fjøsanger for the first two to three years. The family thereafter moved to Kristiania (now named Oslo), settling in Skillebekk.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, pp. 34–36.
Lange started his secondary education at Vestheim School in 1921, but failed to graduate examen artium. He subsequently moved to Kristiansand in 1923, and finished his education at Kristiansand Cathedral School in 1924. He was not interested in politics in his youth, spending his free time in outdoor recreation and sports. In Kristiania (Oslo), Lange had played football and ice hockey for the club Mercantile SFK, and he continued to play football for FK Donn in Kristiansand. He broke his nose several times during play, giving him his characteristic crooked nose. Lange held his first public speech (albeit a short one), the Kristiansand russ speech, on 17 May 1924 in honour of Henrik Wergeland. He thereafter served in the Royal Guards for his conscription service.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, pp. 36–37.
During his time in the military, Lange became interested in forestry after reading the 1923 book Skogen og folket by Christian Gierløff. He graduated as a forestry technician at the forestry school in Oddernes Municipality in 1926. He had part of his practice in Andebu, and after graduating he continued working there for a local farmer. A cousin of his father later tipped him that he could get work at a forestry school in Argentina, and Lange set out for the country in 1927. He went to port in Buenos Aires, got in connection with Kristiansand-based Norwegians, and travelled north to Tartagal near the border to Paraguay. He became engaged with the Saco company, and headed a work team of 15 men. Lange had also brought with him football equipment to the country, and he became known by the locals as "Don André". Lange lived in Argentina from November 1927 to June 1929, when he went home with his father's casket, his father having died of a heart attack when visiting Lange at his office in Argentina.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, pp. 37–41.
Political career
Interwar period Lange began his political career in the Norwegian right-wing Fatherland League organisation, which had been founded in 1925 by prominent figures such as Christian Michelsen and Fridtjof Nansen. Lange received a letter from writer Olaf Benneche, supplemented with a letter from Nansen requesting him to come back to Norway and join the anti-communist movement, and he was invited to Nansen's property Polhøiden.Eide, 1974, p. 23. According to Lange himself, it was communism that shaped his views. He had read about communism since his youth, and concluded that it was a "poison" that would destroy humans, take away their liberties and relinquish the independence of nations.Eide, 1974, p. 24. Lange had also noted the stark political conflicts in Argentina during his stay in the country.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, p. 41. His experience as an emigrant had led him to debunk what he saw as the left's negative view of patriotism (fedrelandskjærlighet). The growth of the left-wing labour movement at the same time caused a polarisation of Norwegian politics, and the Fatherland League's stated aim was to unite the political right against left-wing revolutionaries. Lange became secretary of the Fatherland League's Agder branch in 1929, and marked himself in the first year by writing op-eds in newspapers and speaking at public rallies.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, pp. 46–49.
In early 1933, when Vidkun Quisling was Defence Minister, Lange was scheduled to host him at a public rally that was endorsed by the Agrarian Party (of which Quisling was a member at the time). The event led Lange to get a complete distaste of him. Lange was set to drive Quisling to the rally, and already when they met Lange noted that Quisling seemed "as distracted as a St. Bernard," and that his handshake was "as limp as a sponge." Quisling did reportedly not say a single word during the five-mile drive to the rally, and his speech was a disaster due to his failure to speak audibly (he would not use a microphone). At the Fatherland League's subsequent national convention in 1933, a faction sought to tie the organisation closer to Quisling's then-newly founded party, but Lange loudly opposed the proposal and attacked Quisling as "the worst Defence Minister this country has ever had." Quisling left the Fatherland League following the convention. Although accused by the left of fascism, Lange distanced himself from the ideology, and instead considered it to "live on" through socialism and trade unions.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, pp. 51–53.
Lange's later activities consisted mainly of holding public rallies, and his provocative style often got him into physical altercations with left-wing labour activists. His most controversial stunt was in 1935, when he sought to "demonstrate" the Labour Party's attitude towards the existing society. Inspired by an earlier stunt of the Labour Party's youth organisation (AUF), Lange demonstratively stood above a volunteer soaked in pig's blood, lying over a truck, and "threatening" him with a hammer. The stunt led to clashes with AUF activists (Lange eventually broke his jaw), and as Lange's stunt had not been approved by neither the Fatherland League's local branch nor its central leadership, Lange was transferred to Oslo.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, pp. 56–59. He then held the position as national leader of the Fatherland League's youth organisation from 1935 to 1936.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, p. 68. Lange was considered a great speaker, and his rhetoric changed between being largely gentle or more vulgar. During a 1935 speech, Lange warned against both socialism and Nazism, often alleging the "dictatorial tendencies" he saw in the Labour Party. He in turn criticised Norway for being "ripe for dictatorship," owing to Norwegians having "stopped thinking" and uncritically accepted "supervisory boards, editorials, propaganda and dozy parliamentarians."Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, pp. 59–61. Lange travelled through most of the country to hold speeches, including Northern Norway.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, p. 67.
Lange left the Fatherland League at the end of 1938, and joined Landsforeningen Norges Sjøforsvar ("Country Confederation for the Naval Defense of Norway") as its general secretary. The organisation's purpose was to inform about the importance for Norway of the sea, and thus of the Norwegian navy. Lange continued to travel around the country in order to show films and hold speeches. He agitated for strengthening the Norwegian Armed Forces, and increasingly warned against a possible world war, and how Norway could be pulled into it. Lange was dejected that the authorities did not take him seriously, and left-wing activists continued to disturb his meetings. He showed up at the last meeting of the organisation on 6 or 7 April 1940 with a Krag-Jørgensen rifle, telling the audience to "get ready for war," and asking rhetorically when Norway would arm its forces. Lange travelled to the Norwegian Parliament on 8 April 1940, and begged Labour Party MP Torvald Haavardstad to mobilise the Norwegian army. Haavardstad in turn responded that Lange should quit "this hysterical defence talk."Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, pp. 69–70.
Second World War On 9 April 1940, Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany. Part of the background for Lange's predictions about the future war was the letters he sent to several foreign heads of state, including Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler. He asked in a letter what Hitler's plans were with his "Third Reich", and received response from German authorities that "Nazi Germany will triumph on all fronts." Lange had several Jewish friends, and considered their situation to be under such threat in 1939/40 that he thought they should escape before a German invasion of Norway. He managed to reserve 100 seats on the Norwegian America Line for Jews to escape, but none of the seats were taken.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, pp. 80–81. Lange and several of his friends from the Fatherland League were eager to join the resistance forces of the Norwegian Campaign, and they set out to Nordmarka on skis on 10 April. Lange had with him a machine gun and 1,000 bullets, but was forced to turn his weapon in when they met other resistance members. He was considered to be "not reliable" on account of his time in the Fatherland League, and he was left to ski back to Oslo. Lange became dejected and bitter as a result of his treatment, and he was left to think that the Labour Party, which he had criticised for not arming the defence before the invasion, had now also taken over control of Nordmarka.Rygnestad & Kvanmo, 1993, p. 71.