Kings Bay Affair

The Kings Bay Affair (Kings Bay-saken) was a political issue in Norway that reached its apex in 1963 and brought down the government of Einar Gerhardsen and formed the basis for non-socialist coalition politics in Norway that persisted to the end of the 20th century. The affair was a dramatic episode in Norwegian history that portended the end of the Gerhardsen dynasty and the emergence of a more articulate and coherent political alternative in the non-socialist camp. It is also credited with galvanizing the radical socialist wing of Norwegian politics in time for the EU debate nine years later.