By the initiative of young industrialist Joakim Lehmkuhl, the organisation was co-founded with national hero Fridtjof Nansen and Norway's first Prime Minister Christian Michelsen.

[8] The proposal fell through as Conservative and Liberal politicians reacted coldly to the idea, and quickly came to a new government agreement.

[1][14] Following the onset of the Great Depression, Lehmkuhl and the party developed an economic ideology in part inspired by the American New Deal social program, emphasising a more planned economy.

[15] After the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, the remnants of the organisation attempted to establish a political alternative against the Quisling regime.

[16] Anders Lange, founder of the modern Progress Party was active as the secretary of the organisation in Kristiansand and in Oslo until 1938.