Kråkerøy speech

The Kråkerøy speech, also known as the Fredrikstad speech, is the name of a speech given by Norwegian Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen on February 29, 1948 at the Folkvang Assembly Hall on Kråkerøy Island near Fredrikstad. In the speech, he condemned the Norwegian Communist Party. He also strongly criticized Norwegian Communists, and announced the final break between the Norwegian Labour Party and Norwegian Communist Party.

The speech attracted great attention at the time, both in Norway and abroad. It has since become a part of Norwegian political history, signaling the end of communism as a force in Norwegian politics, as well as the beginning of a purge of communists and leftist radicals within the Labour Party. The speech has been coined "A declaration of war on Norwegian communists".

The background for the speech was the communist coup in Czechoslovakia on 25 February, just four days prior, as well as the Soviet Union's offer to Finland of a non-aggression pact on 27 February. At the time of the coup, Czechoslovakia was preparing a highly anticipated parliamentary election, which was due that very spring. Both the coup itself and the timing was a source of widespread concern within the Norwegian government, who were at the time uncertain as to how it would affect Norway.

Furthermore, the Moscow-aligned Norwegian Communist Party (NKP) and its leader Peder Furubotn had publicly voiced support for the Soviet Union and accepted its version of events. This had caused fear throughout the population that a similar coup and subsequent soviet invasion could happen in Norway. Prime Minister Gerhardsen had until then followed a conciliatory line towards both the Communist party as well as hard-line leftists in his own party. However, after the coup events he joined with the anti-communist Party-Secretary Haakon Lie in purging the Party.

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