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Norway

Country in northwest Europe, on the Scandinavian peninsula, bounded east by Sweden, northeast by Finland and Russia, south by the North Sea, west by the Atlantic Ocean, and north by the Arctic Ocean.

Government

Norway's constitution dates from 1814.

The hereditary monarch is the formal head of state, and the legislature consists of a single-chamber parliament, the Storting. The monarch appoints a prime minister and state council on the basis of support in the Storting, to which they are all responsible. The Storting has 165 members, elected for a four-year term by universal suffrage through a system of proportional representation. Once elected, it divides itself into two parts, a quarter of the members being chosen to form an upper house, the Lagting, and the remainder a lower house, the Odelsting. All legislation must be first introduced in the Odelsting and then passed to the Lagting for approval, amendment, or rejection. Once a bill has had parliamentary approval it must receive the royal assent.

History

Evidence for some of the earliest settlers in Scandinavia has been found in the far north of Norway, dating from around the end of the last ice age (c. 8000 BC). The first known inhabitants were the Saami (Lapps) and other nomads, and Norway was later gradually invaded by Goths, who brought their Germanic language and gods.

The Vikings abroad

The Vikings play a prominent part in the early history of Norway, which is closely linked with that of other Scandinavian countries. During the Viking period (8th–11th centuries), Vikings from Norway raided and later settled in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, and the Hebrides, and on the west coast of Scotland, and the east coast of Ireland. They also discovered and colonized the Faeroes, Iceland and Greenland, and even reached North America.

The era of Viking raids and colonization ended in the 11th century, with more settled conditions in Norway and its conversion to Christianity. The Viking raiders were, moreover, never more than a fraction of the people, most of whom were peaceable farmers and fishermen.

Unification under Harald I

In the early part of the Viking era Norway was ruled by local chieftains. It was not until the later 9th century that all the settled parts of Norway were brought under one rule by Harald I Hårfager (Fairhair or Finehair; ruled c. 872–c. 933), who introduced a form of feudalism.

Harald was descended from the kings of Vestfold, a district west of the Oslofjord, and was the son of Halfdan the Black who ruled further north. When his own inherited kingdoms were secure, Harald marched into and subdued the Trondheim territories. But it was only after several more years that he routed the chiefs of the west coast in a great battle at Hafrsfjord near Stavanger.

Harald left his kingdom to be divided among his many sons, making Eric, his favourite son, a sort of suzerain or overlord. Eric at once tried to secure the whole country for himself, and murdered seven of his eight half-brothers – hence his nickname, Eric Bloodaxe.

Haakon I and Olaf I

In 934 Haakon (I) the Good, a younger son of Harald, returned from England, where he had been raised, and drove Eric from Norway. Haakon restored to the Norwegians the rights and liberties of which they had been deprived, but his attempts to convert his subjects to Christianity failed.

In 961 Haakon was killed in combat with Danish invaders led by the sons of Eric Bloodaxe, and the ensuing years were turbulent until the arrival in 995 of Olaf (I) Tryggvesson, grandson of one of the murdered half-brothers of Eric. Olaf, who had been a well-known Viking leader, was the founder of Nidaros (later called Trondheim), for many years the Norwegian capital. After a reign of only five years he perished (1000) in a sea fight with Danish and Swedish ships under Earl Eric, son of Haakon, and the kingdom was then divided between the Swedish and Danish kings and Earl Eric.

Olaf II and the establishment of the church

Olaf Haraldsson, a descendant of Harald I Hårfager, came to the throne as Olaf II in around 1015. Olaf II's policy was a dual one of establishing both the royal power and the Christian church on a national basis in opposition to the claims of the local chieftains. But though he gave Norway comparative stability, he too died at the hands of his enemies. The chieftains rebelled, and, with the aid of King Canute of Denmark, they defeated and killed Olaf at the Battle of Stiklestad (1030). Olaf II came to be regarded as Norway's first great national champion, and he later became the patron saint of Norway.

Magnus I and Harald Hardrada

The victory at Stiklestad increased the influence of Denmark, and Canute sent Svend Knutson to rule as viceroy. On Canute's death in 1035 Knutson was expelled and Magnus (I) the Good, son of Olaf II, was brought from exile in Russia. On the death of Canute's son Hardicanute in 1042 Magnus inherited the crown of Denmark.

Magnus made his nephew Svend Estridson his viceroy, but the latter, with the aid of Harald (III) Hardrada, tried to secure his own independence. Harald Hardrada, who was a half-brother of Olaf II and a great warrior, came to terms with Magnus and from 1045 they ruled Norway jointly. Harald attempted to conquer England in 1066, but was killed at Stamford Bridge.

From Olaf III to Haakon V

Under Hardrada's son Olaf III (Olaf Kyrre; ruled 1066–93), Norway enjoyed peace and prosperity. He was succeeded by Magnus (III) the Barefooted (ruled 1093–1103), who in turn was succeeded by his three sons, who ruled jointly. Sigurd, the longest-surviving son, was the last of the line of Harald Hårfager to wield undisputed sway over Norway, and his death in 1130 ended what has been called the classic period of Norwegian history. After the death of Sigurd there followed a long period of internecine strife over rival claims to the throne, and the power of the aristocracy and the political influence of the church both tended to grow at the expense of the king.

In 1184 Magnus V – who had been chosen as king in 1161 – was defeated and killed on the Sognefjord by the Birkebeinar (‘Birchlegs’), the armed followers of a priest from the Faeroes called Sverre (or Sverrir), who (unlike Magnus) claimed to be of royal descent. Sverre, an able and strong ruler, set out to make the royal power supreme; but after his death in 1202 anarchy resumed.

Order was restored following the accession of Haakon IV (1217), who ruled until 1263. It was during his long reign that Iceland and Greenland became directly dependent on Norway. Haakon also established the authority of the crown over the nobles and the church, and made the monarchy hereditary. Haakon died while on an expedition to defend the Hebrides and Isle of Man against the Scots. The Norwegians were defeated at the Battle of Largs in 1263, and Haakon's successor, Magnus the Lawgiver (ruled 1263–80), ceded the Hebrides and the Isle of Man to Scotland by the Treaty of Perth in 1266.

Eric, Magnus's son and successor, died in 1299. His only child, Margaret, the ‘Maid of Norway’, was also the granddaughter of Alexander III of Scotland, but she had been drowned in 1290 on her way to accept the Scottish crown (see also Scotland: history 1058 to 1513). The crown of Norway then passed to Haakon Magnusson (Haakon V), Eric's brother. Haakon V left no son and the crown passed through his daughter to the reigning house of Sweden in 1319.

Union with Sweden and Denmark

In 1319 Haakon's young grandson, Magnus Eriksson, became king of Norway by hereditary right, and was also elected king of Sweden, so that the two kingdoms became nominally united. From that time until the 20th century the history of Norway is dependent on that of other parts of Scandinavia.

The union, accidental in its origin, was so unsuccessful that it was arranged that Haakon, younger son of Magnus, should reign over Norway. Haakon VI died in 1380 and Margaret, his wife, and daughter of Waldemar IV of Denmark, acted as regent in both countries, even after her son Olaf's death in 1387. In Sweden Albert, Prince of Mecklenburg, who had been chosen to replace the deposed Magnus, became so unpopular with his nobles that they asked Margaret to assume power, and in 1389 Albert was defeated by her army at Falköping. Margaret was now de facto mistress over all Scandinavia, and in 1397, by the Union of Kalmar, the three countries were declared to be ‘eternally united under one sovereign’.

Danish rule

The Danish hegemony in this union led to frequent conflicts between the Swedish and Danish nobility, while Norwegian interests were largely neglected. Under Christian I, who reigned 1450–81, Norwegian trade was monopolized by the Hanseatic League, while the administration became increasingly Danish. Christian pawned (and never redeemed) the Norwegian possessions of the Orkneys and Shetlands to the king of Scotland as security for a dowry.

Under John, king 1483–1513, the abuses of the Hanseatic League were checked, but the Danicization of the administration continued, as it did under Christian II, who came to the throne in 1513 and was overthrown in 1523 by his uncle, Frederick I. During Frederick's reign (1524–33) Christian II returned from exile and began a revolt in Norway, but the revolt was crushed. After Frederick's death Archbishop Olaf Engelbrektsson attempted to gain independence for Norway but was defeated. Norway was made a province of Denmark (1536), forced to accept Christian III as king (ruled 1535–59), and compelled to adopt the Lutheran faith.

Norway suffered considerably in the constant wars between Sweden and Denmark (the former having seceded from the union in the early 16th century), losing the provinces of Härjedalen and Jämtland in 1645 and Bohuslän in 1658. In 1718 Norway was only saved from further invasion by the death of the expansionist Swedish king Charles XII.

Norway comes under Swedish rule

In the ensuing century of peace Norway prospered, despite the lack of interest shown in the province by the Danish kings. In the Napoleonic Wars, Norway suffered catastrophic damage from Denmark's support of Napoleon and the consequent British blockade of the country, while the effective ruler of Sweden, Marshal Bernadotte (later Charles XIV), determined to attach Norway to Sweden as compensation for Sweden's loss of Finland to the Russians. Under the Treaty of Kiel (January 1814) Frederick VI of Denmark renounced his sovereignty over Norway (but not the former Norwegian territories of Greenland, Iceland, or the Faeroes) in favour of Bernadotte.

However, the Norwegians under their viceroy, Christian Frederick (later Christian VIII of Denmark), refused to accept the legality of the treaty. An elected constitutional assembly met at Eidsvoll and adopted a new liberal constitution for Norway (May 1814), electing Christian Frederick as king. When the overwhelmingly superior forces of Bernadotte invaded Norway, the Norwegians entered into negotiations. Bernadotte agreed to recognize the new constitution and Norway's independence on condition that he was elected king. Christian Frederick abdicated, and the union of the two thrones of Norway and Sweden was ratified by the Norwegian parliament in November 1814.

The growth of nationalism

The union was never successful, since the Norwegians regarded it as a union between two equal states, while the Swedes looked on Norway as a conquered territory. The Norwegians pressed their claims through legislation in the Storting (parliament), while the king protected Sweden's supremacy through his veto.

Initially the Storting was dominated by the professional classes, but the peasantry became increasingly involved in politics, particularly after the introduction of elected local government in 1837. In the 1860s a powerful democratic and anti-union alliance was formed between the peasants and a group of radical professional people under Johan Sverdrup (1816–92).

In 1872 this alliance (the Venstre, or ‘Left’, which came to be the Liberal Party) carried a bill proposing that the king's ministers in Norway should attend the Storting. The bill was vetoed by the king, as were subsequent similar bills. Finally, in 1883, the Liberals had the ministers impeached for not attending the Storting. The king, Oscar II, was forced to yield, and Sverdrup became prime minister in 1884.

Norway gains its independence

Further friction occurred over the question of separate diplomatic – particularly consular – representation for Norway. After some years of fruitless negotiation, an all-party government under Christian Michelsen passed a law in May 1905 establishing a separate consular service.

When Oscar II refused to approve the law the government resigned, and the king was unable to form a new one. The Storting then claimed that Oscar had abjured his constitutional functions and ceased to be king of Norway, and that the union with Sweden was at an end. This was confirmed by a Norwegian referendum and a treaty was signed at Karlstad, in October 1905, defining the terms of separation.

In another referendum the Norwegians voted for a monarchy rather than a republic. The Storting chose Prince Charles, second son of the then Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark, to be king. He was crowned as Haakon VII of Norway in June 1906 in Trondheim Cathedral.

The early 20th century

In World War I Norway was neutral, but its timber and mining industries suffered heavy losses, and the national debt increased enormously. The first Labour government was formed in 1928, but its plans for complete disarmament, combined with great financial difficulties, soon brought it down. In the worldwide depression that followed, unemployment reached its highest point under a Liberal government in 1933. When this government was defeated it was succeeded in 1935 by an all-Labour government; but the Labour Party had learned its lesson and increased the vote for defence in 1937.

In 1920 Norwegian sovereignty over the Spitsbergen Archipelago (known as Svalbard) was affirmed by international treaty. A long-standing dispute over Greenland came before the International Court of Justice at The Hague, but the court upheld Denmark's claim (1933). In 1939 Norway annexed part of the Antarctic coast between 20° west and 45° east, the land within, and its territorial waters.

Norway in World War II

On the outbreak of World War II Norway declared itself neutral, but on 9 April 1940 German troops invaded Norway. Germany, anxious to ensure the supply of Swedish iron ore via the northern Norwegian port of Narvik, demanded that the Norwegians place themselves under German protection, but Norway refused to submit to the German demands.

Naval and military operations were carried on against overwhelming odds by the Norwegian army, assisted by British and French forces until 10 June. After the Germans opened their offensive on the Western Front, the Allies gave notice that they must withdraw their forces from northern Norway. The Norwegian government decided, therefore, on 7 June to end the defence of northern Norway two days later at midnight, and to continue the fight outside Norway.

In February 1942 the German commissar appointed Vidkun Quisling, leader of the Norwegian Fascist Party, as ‘minister president’ of a puppet government, an appointment at once repudiated by the de jure Norwegian government in London. Quisling's attempts to coerce the teaching profession, the Lutheran clergy, and the trade unions to support his regime all failed abysmally. Repressive measures followed in 1943 in the shape of concentration camps, labour conscription, and police purges.

From outside Norway, the Norwegian government continued to direct the growing participation of Norway in the Allied war effort. The Norwegian navy was strengthened by an increase in its personnel to over 5,000 men. Corvettes carried out much convoy work; Norwegian fighter planes had shot down 137 German planes by the end of 1942; and the Norwegian army continued its intensive training. There was also an active resistance movement within Norway itself.

In the years of the German occupation the financial burden on Norway was very heavy; it was higher in proportion to the population than in any other occupied country. In October 1944 the Soviet Red Army, pursuing the retreating Germans from northern Finland, crossed the Norwegian border and took Kirkenes, the vital base from which the Germans had directed their attacks against the Allied Arctic convoys to Murmansk in the northern USSR. By the close of the year nearly half of the northern province of Finnmark was liberated. Norwegian forces all through 1944 helped not only in preparations for the liberation of Norway, but also in the general Allied offensives against Germany.

On 7 May 1945 Gen Bohme, German commander-in-chief in Norway, broadcast Germany's surrender, and the Norwegian home forces took over strategic points all over the country. The Soviet forces in northern Norway returned home in September, while US and British forces left before the end of the year. King Haakon returned to Oslo on 7 June. After the liberation the collaborators were brought to justice, and Quisling and his colleagues were executed. Reconstruction was soon started. Hydroelectric and industrial development was undertaken on a scale never before attempted in Norway; agriculture was mechanized; and the merchant, whaling, and fishing fleets were rebuilt after heavy wartime losses.

the end of Norwegian neutrality

Clearly, however, Norway could not plan in isolation, and the main problems lay in the field of collaboration with Scandinavia and the Western nations.

Norway had been a member of the United Nations Organization from its inception, and a Norwegian, Trygve Lie, became first secretary general of the UN in February 1946. In February 1948 Norway announced its agreement with the aims of the Marshall Plan, by which US aid was channelled into the war-torn countries of Europe, and undertook to participate in the economic cooperation of the 16 Marshall Plan countries.

World War II had shattered Norwegian isolationism. Unlike its neighbour, Sweden, it became a founder-member of NATO in 1949, although during the Cold War it succeeded in maintaining good relations with the USSR without damaging its commitments to the West. In May 1949 Norway joined the Council of Europe, and has been a member of the Nordic Council since its inception in 1952. Norway joined the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1960 as a founder-member.

Haakon VII died in 1957, and was succeeded by his son Olaf V.

Norway since the 1960s

Economically, the 1960s were a period of unprecedented growth and prosperity, and the discovery of North Sea oil in 1968 augured well for the future. Norway's subsequent exploitation of North Sea oil and gas resources has given it a higher income per head of population than most of its European neighbours.

Norwegian politics since 1945 have largely been dominated by Det Norske Arbeiderparti (DNA; The Labour Party), which was in office almost continuously for 30 years up to its defeat in the 1965 election. The right-centre coalition that took power then collapsed in 1971 over internal disagreements over the issue of Norway's possible membership of the European Community (EC; the predecessor of the European Union). A referendum on EC membership held in 1972 resulted in 53.5% against membership and 46.5% in favour.

The Brundtland era

In 1981 Gro Harlem Brundtland became leader of the DNA and prime minister, and was re-elected in 1986. Following a vote of no confidence in October 1989 she resigned and was succeeded by the Conservative Jan P Syse (1931–1997). In October 1990 the Syse coalition collapsed and Brundtland returned to power, leading a minority Labour government. In January 1992 Norway joined Iceland in defying a worldwide ban on whaling in order to resume its own whaling industry. In November Brundtland relinquished leadership of the DNA. In the same month, the Norwegian government made a second application to join the European Community (EC).

Brundtland was re-elected for a further term in September 1993, but there was evidence of growing support for anti-EC parties. In May 1994 member states of the European Union (formerly the EC) agreed to Norway's accession, but this was rejected in a national referendum in November 1994. Brundtland resigned in October 1996 and was replaced by Thorbjoern Jagland. In October 1997, Kjell Magne Bondevik, an ordained priest, took charge of Norway's first centrist government for a quarter of a century. His three-party minority coalition had just 42 seats in the 165-member parliament. In September 1998, with the state of the economy worsening, the fate of the government seemed precarious.

Norway in the twenty-first century

Kjell Magne Bondevik and his minority government resigned in mid-March 2000 after losing a vote of no confidence in a key environmental dispute with parliament. The DNA, led by Jens Stoltenberg, agreed to take up office, and Stoltenberg became the country's youngest-ever prime minister.

The DNA, won a general election in September 2001 with a much-reduced vote. Led by Prime Minister Stoltenberg, it won only 24% of the vote. The fragile majority was threatened by the possibility of right-wing parties forming a coalition government. In October, the far-right Fremskrittspartiet (FrP; Progress Party) emerged as the silent partner of just such a coalition, and Jens Stoltenberg was succeeded as prime minister by former prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik of the Kristelig Folkeparti (KrF; Christian People's Party). In January 2002, Bondevik announced that he would not hold a referendum on joining the EU.

In the general election of September 2005, Bondevik was defeated by a centre-left alliance led by Labour, and Jens Stoltenberg became prime minister.

In January 2000, 20 people were killed in a train crash north of Oslo, the worst train disaster in Norway for 25 years.

Norway

The world's largest ever passenger liner, measuring 316 m/1,037 ft long and with a gross tonnage of over 70,200 tonnes. It can carry 2,400 passengers. The Norway was launched originally as the France 1979, and renamed 1981 after purchase by Knut Kloster of Norway.