F20120223040 - Stauning taler til masserne på grundlovsdag

F20120305024 - Plankeværk med to af Socialdemokratiets plakater, op til valget den 22. oktober 1935

Theme about Thorvald Stauning

“Society should become like a family that works together” – Thorvald Stauning 1931

Thorvald Stauning was a beacon in Danish politics and is the longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century. He gained a popularity that stretched across the population.

From humble beginnings in Vesterbro, he rose through the trade union movement and into the highest office in the land. He became not only the leader of the Social Democratic Party, but a national father who shaped Denmark in a time of great challenges and change.

Stauning saw politics as more than power – it was a tool to create dignity in people’s lives. With his vision of a society where everyone had the right to work, education and security, he laid the foundation for what we now call the welfare state. Under the slogan “Stauning or Chaos”, he rallied the population in a time of unemployment and insecurity – and showed that cooperation could build a stronger Denmark than confrontation.

Get the full information about the theme

Experience the theme in multiple ways

Read about the 1930s and Stauning Read the article From Working Boy to Prime Minister Read Six milestones Stauning achieved See Stauning’s Life in pictures Read about the Kanslergade settlement See Stauning’s life in years Read about the Easter crisis

Thorvald Stauning was the first Prime Minister of the Social Democratic Party and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 1910-39. He served two terms as Prime Minister (1924-26 and 1929-1942) and thus managed to lead the government for almost 16 years, the longest for any Danish Prime Minister in the 20th century.

Thorvald August Marinus Stauning was born on October 26, 1873 in Copenhagen and died there on May 3, 1942.

Stauning trained as a cigar sorter in 1892 and became active in trade union work and in the Social Democratic Association, for which he became chief treasurer in 1899 and business manager (chairman) in 1910. In 1906 he was elected to parliament and in 1916-20 he was minister without portfolio (control minister) in the Zahle government.

In 1924-26 he became Minister of State and Social Affairs in the first Social Democratic government, and in 1929 he formed another government and remained Prime Minister in a Social Democratic-radical government until 1940, when, after the German occupation of Denmark, he formed a cooperative government together with the Radicals, the Conservative People’s Party and the Liberals. He remained Prime Minister until his death in May 1942.

In the Labor Movement Library and Archive

Th Stauning Archive
Th. Stauning Archive contains Stauning’s handwritten speeches and articles for the period 1910-1942, including the original manuscript for the play “The Lies of Life” from 1904. Material illustrating the policies of the 1st Stauning Ministry (1924-1926) and the 2nd Stauning-Munch Ministry (1929-1941) is represented.

Th. Stauning received thousands of letters from politicians, organizations and business people. There are search options for people. The many general inquiries to Stauning are arranged by year.

Examples of political areas where Stauning played an active political role include “The government crisis in 1913”, where Stauning wrote down his conversations with King Christian X. The Greenland issue in 1923-1924 and 1931-1933 can also be highlighted.

Literature, photographs and posters

Literature by Stauning

Literature about Stauning

Stauning in ABA’s photo collection

Stauning in ABA’s poster collection

Stauning in Years

1873: On October 26, Stauning is born in an attic room in Holmens Kanal 30 in Copenhagen

1890: 16-year-old Stauning joins the Social Democratic Party and becomes active in the labor movement

1892: Stauning, a newly trained cigar sorter, goes on strike in solidarity with cigar rollers at the cigar factory in Fredericia – and becomes famous for this event.

1896 -1908: Chairman of the Cigar Sorters’ Union

1906: Stauning wins a parliamentary mandate on his third attempt by being elected in a district in Fakse

1910: Stauning becomes party chairman of the Social Democratic Party

1910: Stauning is behind the International Socialist Congress in Copenhagen

1913: The Social Democratic Party becomes the largest party in terms of votes in the general election

1913-1925: Stauning becomes a member of the Copenhagen City Council

1916-1920: Stauning gets his first ministerial post as Minister of Control

1924-1926: Stauning forms the first Social Democratic government as Prime Minister

1929-1940: Stauning is Prime Minister of the majority government together with the Radical Left

1933: The Kanslergade Agreement is negotiated in Stauning’s home

1935: Under Stauning’s leadership, the Social Democratic Party wins a record 46% of the vote in the general election.

1936: The Social Democratic Party and the Social Liberal Party also win a majority in the Landstinget, the first chamber of the Danish Parliament

1940: April 9 – Denmark is occupied. Stauning forms a coalition government with the 1939 government in collaboration with the Liberal Party and the Conservative People’s Party

1942: Stauning dies on May 3 after a few months of illness