The History of Norway by Christopher Hughes

Author:Christopher Hughes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: norway, history, historical, norwegian, norwegian history, history of norway, the history of norway, scandinavia, scandinavia history, norway history, scandinavian history, nordic, nordic history
Publisher: Christopher Hughes
Published: 2020-12-22T00:00:00+00:00

The History of Norway during the Napoleonic Wars

At the turn of the 19th century, France was at war with most of Europe in the Napoleonic Wars. The combined governments of Norway and Denmark declared their involvement in the war in 1807, jumping to the aid of the French Army. This proved to be a harmful decision for the Norwegian citizens as the country’s economy took a direct hit from the limited exports. Had Norway remained neutral, it likely would have been able to maintain its imports and exports; however, its allegiance to the French army painted a bull's eye on its weak infrastructure. The economy of Norway was further complicated by repeated attempts at invasion from the Swedish army from 1807 until 1809. Norway remained strong during these attacks, however, and Sweden eventually abandoned the idea of invading Norway. This moment of victory was met with crushing defeat five years later when the Treaty of Kiel ended the conflict but also ceded the country of Norway to Sweden. Norway was no longer at war but was also no longer an independent country.

With the governments of Norway and Denmark remaining combined, the kingship was still controlled by one king. After the Treaty of Kiel, the heir to the kingdom, Christian Frederik who was fueled by the anger of losing his country’s independence, began garnering support for a resistance against the Swedish. Unknown at the time, this resistance would benefit Norway more than any other government uprising had previously. In exploring options for how to overthrow the government of Sweden, a group of supporters and Christian came to the conclusion that they would have to establish a new government. Christian’s first proposal of resorting to a monarchy once again was soundly discouraged by the supporters, resulting in the conclusion that a Parliament was the appropriate response to the country’s need for a government. Within the parliament, the government would go from solely led by the king to now being shared by the king and Parliament. Christian, as the rightful heir to the throne, was the obvious choice for king.

Almost three months after the first meeting to discuss liberation from Sweden, the new Parliament of Norway finished the revised Constitution of Norway. The constitution further outlined the separation of power in the country, being sure to allocate more power to the parliament. Norway endured another invasion by the Swiss army in July of the same year; however, this invasion would be the last invasion that Norway felt at the hands of Sweden.

After the invasion, Norway discussed terms with the Swedish government, ultimately resulting in the Convention of Moss on August 14, 1814. The Convention of Moss was an armistice that gave Norway recognition with equal protection while also being regarded as an independent state. The two governments continued to operate together, notably cementing this agreement with the election of Charles XIII as king of Sweden and Norway. The union was established once again; however, the two countries could not have been more different at the time.

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