From 1908 to 1909 Koht travelled around in the United States, England and Sweden, visiting the peace conferences in London ( 1908 ), Chicago ( 1909 ) and Stockholm ( 1910 ).

When the rest of the government fled from Molde to Tromsø, landing on 1 May, Koht and Ljungberg ( Minister of Defense ) continued from there with the cruiser HMS Glasgow to London.

Koht also made a radio speech from London on the BBC, broadcasting to Norway, and a speech on American radio.

The German demand that Norway accept the " protection of the Reich " was rebuffed by Koht and the Norwegian government before dawn had broken on the morning of invasion.

Historian, genealogist and Ibsen biographer Halvdan Koht suggested it could be a patronymic based on the first name Paul.

Through neglect both on the part of the Norwegian foreign minister Halvdan Koht and minister of defence Birger Ljungberg, Norway was largely unprepared for the German military invasion when it came on the night of April 8 – 9, 1940.

Næss managed to have a meeting on 8 April 1940 with the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Halvdan Koht and woke up the day after, 9 April with the German invasion of Oslo, seeing the German transport planes landing at the Fornebu airport from his brother Arne Næss's house in Holmenkollen.

Halvdan Koht was born on 7 August 1873 in Tromsø, one of the larger cities in Northern Norway.

Koht was given to do research in Nordmøre on Neergaard.

In 1910, Koht completed the dissertation Bonde mot borgar i nynorsk historie, in which he further developed his theories on the role of the farmers in history.

Koht himself promoted a ban on the use of Norwegian ships to transport arms, ammunition and aircraft to foreign countries in general, to ensure that there could be no Norwegian connection to any such items that were delivered to Spain.

On 19 September 1936, Koht attempted to have the League of Nations impose a ceasefire in Spain, to be followed by a popular referendum on the country's constitution.

For Koht personally the civil war in Spain came close to ending his cabinet career on several occasions.

On 9 April 1937, following a series of incidents where Francoist warships intercepted Norwegian vessels sailing on Spanish ports and confiscated both cargoes and ships, and Norwegian protests failing to gain results, Koht made a formal proposal to dispatch the Norwegian minelayer Olav Tryggvason to Spain to protect Norwegian shipping.

Koht was clear from early on that Norway should remain neutral, but also that in the event of her being forced to enter the war it was critical that it was on the side of the British.

Koht was informed by British Minister to Norway Sir Cecil Dormer on 1 June that the Allied Forces had decided to retreat from Norway, owing to the difficult situation at the Western Front.

A schism between him and the rest of the cabinet grew as it also became known that Koht's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had received reports of a possible forthcoming assault on Norway, without Koht having informed the cabinet thoroughly.

Koht was granted leave of absence on 19 November 1940, and ultimately left the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs on 20 February 1941, being succeeded by Trygve Lie.

Trygve Lie, who after the war had become the first Secretary-General of the United Nations, characterized Koht in his memoirs as an expert on foreign affairs, but introvert.

Koht had few or no alternatives to his neutrality policy, and in many ways he based his entire career in foreign affairs on that policy.

According to historian Kåre Lunden, Koht was much hated by many because of his language reforms, which were routinely perceived as attacks and degradations on their preferred language.

The Norwegian government of Prime Minister Johan Nygaardsvold, with the exception of foreign minister Halvdan Koht and minister of defense Birger Ljungberg, was largely caught by surprise when it became apparent in the early hours of April 9, 1940 that Nazi Germany had launched an invasion of Norway.

Upon returning to Norway, Koht published three books on the war-time events in Norway: For fred og fridom i krigstid 1939 – 1940, Frå skanse til skanse.

Two works by Koht have been released posthumously: the memoirs Minne frå unge år in 1968 and the diary Rikspolitisk dagbok 1933 – 1940 in 1985.

Koht studied at the Royal Frederick University ( now the University of Oslo ).

Norway was now a close ally of the United Kingdom, but Koht was seen as clinging somewhat to his neutrality policy, and not embracing the alliance with the United Kingdom enough.

Koht reportedly preferred to solve a problem by himself instead of involving co-workers and employees, even the experts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He did so because fellow historian and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1928, Edvard Bull, Sr., had died, making Koht the " Foreign Minister-designate ".

Koht became Minister of Foreign Affairs in Johan Nygaardsvold's Cabinet.

In 1945, he was mentioned by Halvdan Koht among seven candidates that were qualified for the Nobel Peace Prize.

* Koht, Halvdan Harald Graafeld in Norsk biografisk leksikon, 1. utg.

" Vi gir oss ikke frivillig, kampen er allerede i gang ", replied Koht.

In the early 20th century, poet Hans E. Kinck countered and viewed Haakon as an insignificant king subordinated to forces outside of his control, a view which influenced historians such as Halvdan Koht and Edvard Bull, Sr .. Haakon has often been compared with Skule Bårdsson, and historians have taken sides in the old conflict.

While Munch saw Skule as a traitor to the rightful Norwegian king, Koht viewed Skule as a heroic figure.

According to Sverre Bagge, modern historians tend to follow Koht when it comes to see Skule's rebellion as a last desperate attempt to stop Haakon from enroaching his power, but lean closer to Munch's overall evaluation of the two men.

In 1945, he was mentioned by Halvdan Koht among seven candidates that were qualified for the Nobel Prize in Peace.

In 1945, he was mentioned by Halvdan Koht among seven candidates that were qualified for the Nobel Prize in Peace.

According to the historian Halvdan Koht, Halfdan may have been the one to win independence for Vestfold during the turbulent years of 813-14.

In the 1920s, using similar methods as Keyser but highly critical to the reliability of the sagas, the historian Halvdan Koht dated the battle to about 900.

* Koht: A former troll commander, Koht becomes the governor of Ankharan, after his predecessor is executed by Mordath for his incompetence.

Determined not to suffer the same fate, Koht attempts to crush the rebels who oppose him, but is killed in battle by Rahm.

Halvdan Koht ( 7 July 1873 – 12 December 1965 ) was a Norwegian historian and politician representing the Labor Party.

A pertinacious and unyielding advocate of international peace, Koht was a founding member of the Norwegian Peace Association and an ordinary member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

He was the second of four children born to Paul Steenstrup Koht ( 1844 – 1892 ), an educator and politician, and Betty Giæver ( 1845 – 1936 ), a part-time teacher with a penchant for singing, languages and drawing.

Through the offspring of his maternal grand-uncle, Halvdan Koht was a third cousin of the parliamentarian Ola Krogseng Giæver.