Norwegian Life - Various

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adopted the rule to sign all documents pertaining to the government of Norway as "King of Norway and Sweden." During the war between Germany and Denmark, King Oscar gathered a Swedish-Norwegian army in Scania, and succeeded in arranging the armstice of Malmoe in 1848. The war broke out anew, however, the following year, and he then occupied northern Schleswig with Norwegian and Swedish troops, pending the negotiations for peace between Germany and Denmark. During the Crimean War, King Oscar made a treaty with England and France (1855), by which the latter powers promised to help Sweden and Norway in case of any attack from Russia. General contentment prevailed during the happy reign of King Oscar, and the prosperity, commerce, and population of the country increased steadily. These satisfactory conditions did not, however, result in weakening the national feeling, and the Storthing, in 1857, declined to promote a plan, prepared by a joint Swedish and Norwegian commission, looking to a strengthening of the union. After a sickness of two years, during which his son, Crown Prince Charles, had charge of the government as prince-regent, King Oscar I died in July, 1859, at the age of sixty years. He was married to Josephine of Leuchtenberg, daughter of Napoleon's stepson, Eugene Beauharnais.

      Charles XV was thirty-three years old when he ascended the throne. The progress in the material welfare of the country continued during his reign, and, like his father, he was very popular with the Norwegians. Numerous roads and railroads were started, all parts of the country were connected by telegraph, and the merchant marine grew to be one of the largest in the world. In 1869 a law was passed providing for annual sessions of the Storthing instead of triennial as heretofore.

      Charles XV died Sept. 18, 1872, and, having no sons, was succeeded by his younger brother, Oscar II, the late ruler of Sweden. The Storthing appropriated the necessary funds for the expense of the coronation at Throndhjem (July 18, 1873), while the king sanctioned the bill abolishing the office of Statholder. But soon differences between the Storthing and the ministry brought on sharp conflicts. Long before Norway deposed King Oscar II (June 7, 1905), disruptions and war would doubtless have occurred had it not been for the wisdom and tact of the king. The last straw that broke the camel's back in this instance was the refusal of separate consular representation for Norway. The basis of this last demand was not mainly the commercial value to Norway of having its distinct consuls, though this was an element, but the right of Norway as a nation entirely independent of Sweden to be represented as such in its commercial relations with foreign nations. Sweden and Norway are now not only two distinct nations, but are competitors in trade and commerce. Norway's shipping and carrying trade far exceeds that of Sweden. The Norwegians have always been a seafaring people, and Norwegian sailors and marines are found in large numbers in the commercial marine and navies of all Europe and America. From the standpoint of Norway, common justice demanded that Norwegian merchants and sailors should, like every other nation, have their own consuls to represent and protect them in foreign countries.

      Not being able to secure the approval of the king for separate consular representation, the Storthing, on June 7, 1905, passed resolutions declaring the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden, and that King Oscar had ceased to be the ruler of Norway. In the place of the king, the Storthing appointed the members of the Norway Council of State to act as a temporary government for the nation. The Storthing further declared that Norway had no ill feeling against King Oscar or his dynasty of Sweden, and asked the king to cooperate in selecting one of his own house to be king of Norway.

      The Riksdag of Sweden met in extraordinary session, June 21, 1905, at the call of King Oscar, to consider the action of the Norwegian Storthing in declaring the dissolution of the union between the two countries. The opening of the session was marked by the usual ceremonial pomp, but also by a gravity and solemnity befitting the unusual occasion. The emotional feeling was intense and repressed with difficulty by both speakers and audience. The king, in his address to the Riksdag, maintained with dignity that he had acted within his constitutional rights and that Norway had not the power to dissolve the union which legally could be effected only by mutual consent. Nevertheless, it was with great sadness that he now urged negotiations for the severance of the ties between the two nations, believing that "the union was not worth the sacrifice which acts of coercion would entail." The bill prepared by the government was immediately presented to the Riksdag. It was of the same tenor as the king's address, and asked for authorization to negotiate with the Norwegian Storthing for the establishment of a common basis for the settlement of the question involved in the separation of the two kingdoms. The bill encountered strong opposition, both in and out of the Riksdag. In the Senate it was referred to a committee of nine anti-government members, while in the lower house the composition of the corresponding committee was equally divided between the two opposing parties, with the addition of two independent members. The Riksdag authorized the government to negotiate a loan of $25,000,000 for works of defense, and declared the harbors of Stockholm, Karlskrona, Gothenburg, and Farosund to be war ports from which all foreign naval vessels were to be excluded. Norway's army was also mobilized and brought near the Swedish boundary.

      Notwithstanding these warlike aspects, a peaceful dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway was finally effected. The conference at Karlstad between the representatives of the two nations, on Sept. 23, 1905, drew up a protocol which became a treaty when subsequently ratified by the Riksdag and the Storthing, on the ninth of the following October. Thereupon Sweden canceled the charter of 1815 which governed the union of the two countries, and King Oscar declared Norway to be again separate and independent. Thus were severed the political relations between two countries, which, during a period of ninety years, had led to ever-increasing discord.

      King Oscar II of Sweden steadfastly refused, however, to allow any prince of his house to be chosen as the new king of Norway, and the choice finally fell upon Prince Charles of Denmark, who was elected by an overwhelming majority at the plebiscite held throughout Norway on Nov. 12, 1905. He accepted the throne offered him and was crowned June 22, 1906.

      The idea is prevalent that there is ill will between the Norwegian and Swedish peoples. This is a popular misconception. The Norwegian and Swedish peoples are racially very similar in character and habits, and mutually respect each other. King Oscar was as beloved and honored in Norway as he was in Sweden, and deservedly so. The Norwegians felt proud of his character, life, and statesmanship. They appreciated his wisdom and moderation, and gave him full credit for his earnest conviction that he was right in his differences with the Norwegian government. And yet, the dissolution was a blessing to both countries concerned. So long as Norway and Sweden were united under one king, there would have been friction. In like manner the long union between Norway and Denmark was a continuous source of irritation, but after the dissolution they were the best of friends. It has been suggested that Russia has long had her eye on the ice-free harbors of the Norwegian coast and has coveted them; that she has built her railroads across Finland close up to the Norwegian frontier, and that there is trouble ahead for Norway, because she has isolated herself from Sweden, her natural protector. But we see in the division a Greater Scandinavia. There are now the three great Scandinavian nations, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and it can be imagined that, so close of kin, any one of them would rush to arms in defense of the others. A united Norway and Sweden under one king brought constant bickerings; a separate Norway and Sweden can be of mutual help.[b]

       Table of Contents

      SWEDEN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

      Leading up to the events of the nineteenth century in Sweden were centuries of splendid history, some points of which will be briefly touched upon to connect the present-day Sweden with the mediaeval state.

      During the Folkung Dynasty, in the fourteenth century, the royal houses of Sweden and Norway became united through the marriage of Duke Eric, of Sweden, and Ingeborg, only child of King Haakon, of Norway; and Duke Valdemar to the king's niece of the same name. In May, 1319, King Haakon died, and Magnus Ericsson, the young son of Duke Eric and Princess Ingeborg, inherited the crown of Norway, and July 8 of the same year was elected King of Sweden, at Mora in Upland.

      For the attainment of this end, Magnus' mother, Duchess Ingeborg, and seven Swedish

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