Centre (political party)

Centre (Norwegian: Centrum) was a political party in Norway founded in 1893 and led by Frits Hansen.[4] It positioned itself as a moderate middle party between the Conservative Party and the radical Liberal Party.

Centre
Centrum
LeaderFrits Hansen
Founded1893
Dissolved1903
Split fromLiberal Party
Merged intoCoalition Party
IdeologySocial conservatism[1]
Agrarian protectionism[1]
Pietistic orthodoxy[2]
Unionism[3]
Political positionCentre

History

Centre was founded by eastern moderates who had been politically homeless since the 1888 Liberal split, and it was often characterised as the Eastern Norway parallel to the Moderate Liberal Party (based in the south-west). While informally known as the "Moderate Party of Eastern Norway", it remained an independent party-organisation despite talks of a possible merger. Their common goal was to work against the Liberals' policy of challenging the union with Sweden, expanding voting rights, and taxes.[3]

Presenting itself as a rural agrarian party with its base among farmers, Centre largely adopted the protectionist program of the Norwegian Agrarian Association from 1895/96.[5] The party was otherwise ideologically closely connected to the conservative Christian section of the folk high school movement.[4] Along with Frits Hansen, an educator himself, another co-founder was the priest and fellow educator Christopher Bruun.[1] In elections the party cooperated with the Conservative Party.[3] After declining support, some members joined the Conservative Party around 1900,[4] and when the Coalition Party was formed in 1903 Centre was absorbed into the alliance.[6]

References
  1. Tidsskrift for kulturforskning (in Norwegian). Novus forlag. 2004. p. 40. I 1893 er Bruun også med å stifte et politisk parti: Centrum-Østlandet, en variant av Moderate Venstre. Profilen var kristelig-ortodoks, sosial konservativ og agrarproteksjonistiske på grensen til det nasjonalistiske påpeker Nerbøvik.
  2. Nerbøvik, Jostein (1999). Norsk historie 800-2000: Norsk historie 1860-1914 :eit bondesamfunn i oppbrot (in Norwegian). Det Norske Samlaget. p. 230. ISBN 9788252155334. Profilen var pietistisk-ortodoks og agrar-nasjonalistisk.
  3. Kaartvedt, Alf (1984). Drømmen om borgerlig samling: 1884-1918 (in Norwegian). Cappelen. pp. 123–127. ISBN 8202049903.
  4. "Partihistorie: Centrum". Norsk samfunnsvitenskapelig datatjeneste.
  5. Vedi, Sten F. (1976). Nye politiske konstellasjoner mellom stortingsvalgene 1894 og 1897: Landmandsforbundet, pressgruppe eller politisk parti? (in Norwegian). Tapir. pp. 83–92. ISBN 8251901774.
  6. "Centrum". Tidens leksikon (in Norwegian). Tiden. 1975. p. 25. ISBN 8210009222.
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