Thorvald Stauning

Lore & Background

Stauning was trained as a cigar sorter and became involved in trade union activity, leading the Cigar Sorters' Union from 1896 to 1908 and editing the magazine Samarbejdet. He was elected to the Folketing in 1906 and became chairman of the Social Democratic Party in 1910, a position he held until 1939. He served as Minister without Portfolio from 1916 to 1920 before becoming prime minister in 1924. His first cabinet was groundbreaking as the first purely Social Democratic cabinet and included Nina Bang as Minister of Education, one of the first female ministers in the world. From 1929 he led a coalition with the social liberal Det Radikale Venstre party, steering Denmark out of the Great Depression. In January 1933, his government entered the Kanslergade settlement with the liberal party Venstre, which included agricultural subsidies and social sector reforms. Stauning successfully sought re-election three times (1932, 1935, 1939), using the slogan 'Stauning or Chaos' in 1935. An attempt to amend the Constitution failed in 1939 due to insufficient turnout, a blow from which he reportedly considered resigning. During the Nazi occupation beginning 9 April 1940, his cabinet was widened to include all parties, and he adopted a policy of collaboration with Nazi Germany to protect Danish sovereignty, a controversial stance. His health declined, and he died in 1942.

Reader's Guide

Thorvald Stauning's significance lies in his transformation of Denmark into a social welfare state and his role in containing political extremism during the turbulent 1930s. Under his leadership, the 1933 Social Reform Act codified and extended social insurance, while the Kanslergade settlement stabilized the economy. His popularity, peaking with 46% of the vote in 1935, limited the growth of populist and Nazi parties in Denmark. He also played a major role in resolving the constitutional Easter Crisis of 1920, brokering a deal that reduced the monarch's role to a symbolic one while securing his party's support for the monarchy. His collaborationist policy during the Nazi occupation remains controversial, but his legacy in Denmark is generally positive. He was given a state funeral in 1942, an honor not normally bestowed on Danish prime ministers, and is buried in Copenhagen's Vestre Cemetery. The Stauning Alps in Greenland were named after him.

Did You Know?

• Stauning was trained as a cigar sorter and led the Cigar Sorters' Union from 1896 to 1908.
• His 1924 cabinet included Nina Bang as Minister of Education, one of the first female ministers in the world.
• The 1933 Kanslergade settlement was named after Stauning's apartment in Kanslergade, Copenhagen.
• The Stauning Alps, a large mountain range in Greenland, were named after him.

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