| According to Icelandic sagas, the "Nor" in Norway is from king
Nor Thorrasson, who after he
found his sister, went home to his territory. (See Orkneyinga saga.)
There is no evidence of this; it is extremely insecure and should merely be taken as mythology. According to sober etymology, the
country's name means "the northern way" (the way north). This northern way is actually a strait between the island Karmøy and the mainland. The first king of Norway, King Harald Fairhair, lived on the island while he unified the realm. This strait had some importance,
since it was the only practical ship route up north. The strait was called "the way north", and so the kingdom got its name - in
Old Norse Norvegr or *Norðvegr, in Anglosaxon Norþweg, in mediaeval Latin Northvegia. The present name of the Kingdom of Norway in Norwegian Nynorsk
is "Kongeriket Noreg", which is only a couple of letters removed from the original "northern way"; "Nor(d)-(v)eg".
Settled since the end of the last ice age, modern-day Scandinavia contains finds from the Stone age and
Bronze age, such as rock carvings. From the time of the Roman Empire until about 800 AD, Scandinavia is known for its Iron Age culture. Many stone inscriptions can be found, written in Runes. Then Scandinavia became famous in the Middle Ages
for its fearless warriors, explorers and traders, the Vikings. Between AD 800 and AD
1100, the Vikings discovered and settled Iceland and Greenland, and conquered parts of France, Britain, and Ireland, and were also known to travel as far as
Constantinople, Greece,
Northern Africa and Newfoundland.
By utilising their excellent boats and organisation they became master traders and warriors.
Snorre Sturlason (c. 1200) was the name of a writer whose
history writings Heimskringla and Younger Edda give information about the early kings. The stories about the earliest times are legends, which
can not be taken as accurate history. However, they may have their origin in some historical facts, but the understanding is
highly debated among scholars. (See Anglo-Saxon kingdom genealogy, Jakten
på Odin, Ynglinga saga, House of Yngling)
The Viking kings
See also: Viking Age
By the time of the first historical records of Scandinavia, about the 700's AD, some 29 small kingdoms existed in Norway. A
number of small communities were gradually organized into larger regions in the 9th century, and in 872 King Harald Fairhair (Harald Hårfagre) unified the realm and became its first supreme ruler. King Harald had
many children, and his heirs ruled Norway with short interruptions until 1319. Religious influence from Europe (especially
England and Ireland) led to the adoption of Christianity. Central in this was King Olav Haraldsson "Den Hellige" ("The Holy") who died in the battle of Stiklestad, 1030. He became Norway's
patron Saint Olav, and his tomb at Nidaros cathedral Trondheim became the most
important pilgrimage destination in Northern Europe. The archdiocese of Nidaros was
established in 1153. Around 1200 the Norwegian king ruled over land from Man in the Irish
Sea to the Kola Peninsula in the east. Greenland and Iceland were incorporated as dependencies in 1262.
The Kalmar Union and the union with Denmark
Main article: Kalmar Union
King Haakon V died without male heirs in 1319. His daughter married a Swedish prince, whose son Magnus Eriksson inherited both
kingdoms. This marked the beginning of 500 years of Scandinavian unions. Magnus's son Haakon VI and his infant son Olav IV were
Norway's last native kings. Margrethe, the queen mother, succeeded in uniting Norway with Denmark and Sweden in the Kalmar Union (1397-1523), which
ended when Sweden seceded. Norway and its possessions quickly sank to the status of
provinces under the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway. Norway's power was
further weakened by the loss of a large part of the population during the Black
Death pandemic of 1349-1351, and by the dissolution of the independent Norwegian church in the reformation of 1537. Norway's provincial status lasted until 1814;
this period is called "the 400-year-night". During the 18th century, Norway enjoyed a period of great prosperity and became an
increasingly important part of the united kingdoms.
Union with Sweden
Main article: Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway
In 1814 Denmark-Norway was
defeated in the Napoleonic wars and the king was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden in the Treaty of Kiel (January 14). Owing to an omission in the treaty, the Norwegian dependencies Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands were kept by Denmark. In an attempt to retain control over Norway despite the treaty, the
Viceroy and crown prince of Denmark-Norway encouraged representatives
of various social and political factions to gather at Eidsvoll to declare
independence, adopt a constitution and elect crown prince Christian Frederik as king. May
17 is still celebrated as the day of the new democratic constitution of independent Norway. Sweden responded later the same year by waging war on Norway. In the peace negotiations, King Christian Frederik
agreed to abdicate and return to Denmark if Sweden would accept the democratic Norwegian constitution and a loose personal union. The Norwegian parliament
(Stortinget) then elected the Swedish king as king of Norway on November 4, 1814. The union was peacefully
dissolved in 1905 after several years of political unrest when Sweden recognized Norwegian
independence. The parliament offered the throne to Prince Carl of Denmark, who
accepted it after a referendum confirmed the monarchy and rejected a republican
form of government. On November 18 he ascended the throne under the Norwegian
name of Haakon VII.
World wars
See also: Norwegian resistance
movement
Norway remained neutral during World War I, however 1156 Norwegian sailors
were lost during the U-boat war. Despite their neutrality, the Norwegian government
went to considerable lengths to accommodate Britain, on account of both British pressure and an anti-German sentiment. These
accommodations came in the form of the very large Norwegian merchant fleet, who delivered essential supplies to Britain, who in
return supplied Norway with vital coal. This led to Norway occasionally being called The Neutral Ally.
As World War II erupted, Norway insisted on remaining neutral despite
warnings from some political factions that the country's strategic importance was too great for Nazi Germany to leave it alone, and attempts from the same factions to obtain political consensus to
build up sufficient defences to withstand an invasion long enough for Allied reinforcements to arrive from France and Britain,
(the specially raised British Independent Companies who were the immediate forerunners of the Commandos).
In a surprise dawn attack on April 9th, 1940, Germany launched Operation
Weserübung. The German forces attacked Oslo and the major Norwegian ports (Bergen, Trondheim, Kristiansand and Narvik) and quickly
gained footholds in those cities and the surrounding areas. The Norwegian army, manning a fort in the Oslofjord, sank the German
cruiser Blücher using cannons and torpedoes. This delayed the Nazi German invasion long enough for King Haakon, his government
and the parliament to escape the city with much of the treasury, and to resist the invaders. Despite the strength of the German
invaders and the lack of air support, the Norwegian armed forces, together with allied British, French and Polish forces, kept up
an organized military resistance for two months, longer than any other country invaded by Germany, except for the Soviet Union. Eventually, on June 7 the
Norwegian forces had to surrender and King and government left Norway to form a government in exile in London. Many servicemen, and civilians who would join them, also escaped to Britain where they served
invaluably with the British Forces and the Special Operations Executive (SOE).
The Norwegian national socialist politician Vidkun Quisling
attempted a coup the same day, but was met with such strong resistance from the people that Nazi Germany deposed him within a
week and installed a bureaucratic administration in lieu of a government. In September of 1940 the German Reichskommissar Josef Terboven formed a
cabinet with himself presiding, and with most ministers recruited among members of Quisling's Nazi party, plus some independent
collaborators. In 1942 this administration was replaced with a semi-independent puppet
government headed by Quisling, who was promoted to "minister president" by the
Reichskommissar. Quisling's name has come to mean "traitor" in several languages.
King Haakon and his government fled to Britain on June 7th, the same day the allied forces that had retaken Narvik
abandoned it and the French forces returned to a quickly disintegrating France. The
continued existence of a legitimate Norwegian government gave the exiles considerably more room for action than the French. The
worldwide operations of the large Norwegian merchant fleet was a material aid to the Allies.
The Norwegian resistance movement began on a small scale
right after the invasion, but gained in strength, especially after the installation of Quisling's puppet government in late
1940 and its attempt to enforce the native brand of fascism (see the next paragraph), and to enroll labour, teachers and officials in its organizations (for an
anecdote of Norwegian civil resistance, see paper clip).
The resistance became very active towards the end of the war, closely and continuously supported by the British SOE. Norwegian resistance, (generally termed the 'Home Front'), and its military branch
(milorg) kept many German divisions tied down in occupation duty, and Norwegian spotters contributed to the destruction of
numerous German warships and installations. The Norwegian resistance also smuggled people in and out of Norway during the war,
(typically to Scotland via the 'Shetland Bus', and to neutral Sweden), and, with the SOE, managed to destroy much of the world's supply of heavy water and cripple the Vemork heavy water plant at Rjukan, thus perhaps preventing Germany from developing an atomic bomb (Operation
Gunnerside).
Not all Norwegians sided with the legitimate government in exile. Many became members of Quisling's National Socialist party (Nasjonal Samling – NS), some out of misguided idealism. Numerous opportunists joined his movement
initially, while Germany seemed to be winning the war. Several thousand young Norwegians joined German Waffen-SS divisions to fight against the Soviet Union
on the Eastern Front.
Following the 1941 raid by British Commandos on the minor port of Vaagsoy, Hitler further reinforced Norway,
mistakenly thinking that the British might invade northern Norway to put pressure on Sweden and Finland. By the end of the war the German garrison was
372,000 strong (the Norwegian population at the time numbering a little over 3 million)[1] (http://www.library.uu.nl/wesp/populstat/Europe/norwayc.htm). In May of 1945 when the milorg was advised they no longer need act covertly, they were found to number some 50,000
members.
During the entire occupation, the German authorities built the so called Festung Norwegen. Innumerable bunkers, pillboxes, air
strips and submarine hangars dotted the coast to fend off any invaders. Coupled with the large number of German soldiers in
Norway, the Allies (especially the Norwegian government in exile) were worried that the remnants of the Nazi party would flee to
Norway and make their last stand there. They could probably have held out for months, which would have devastated Norway.
Fortunately, the Wehrmacht commander Böhme saw that resistance was futile, and surrendered on the order of Hitler's successor
Dönitz on the May 8.
The Norwegian merchant ships that were in Allied waters at the time of invasion were requisitioned by the exiled Norwegian
Government in London. The Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission was established in London shortly thereafter, and the name
abbreviated to Nortraship, following a suggestion from the British Postal
Services. The main duties were those of war transports, supply services etc. including the supply of food, ammunition and
reinforcements to the front lines, besides evacuating the wounded. Nortraship had 1,081 ships with 33,000 sailors. 570 ships were
lost (these numbers vary according to source), along with 3,734 sailors.
By the end of the war, Norwegian naval vessels were also fighting alongside the British. Norway was counted among the victors
in World War 2 and was a founding member of the United Nations. The
first UN Secretary General, Trygve Lie, was a Norwegian.
A side effect of the large German garrison was the birth of many children born to Norwegian women and German soldiers. Some of
these women suffered recriminations after the war, as did their innocent children in many cases. The children might be
stigmatized as "German kids" or Nazi kids by inconsiderate people.
Norwegians who publicly regretted instances of maltreatment, were occasionally accused of being too conciliatory.
After the liberation, active members of the National Socialist party and those who had collaborated with the enemy were
persecuted and sentenced. About a dozen Norwegians were executed for treason or for war crimes. The post-war Norwegian myth of a
united people wholeheartedly resisting the Germans is difficult to uphold when the rather large number of collaborators is
considered.
Post-war highlights
Foreign and military policy
Following the failure of neutrality in World War 2, in 1949 neutrality was abandoned and
Norway became a member of NATO. The discovery of oil and gas in adjacent waters in the late
1960s boosted Norway's economic fortunes. The current focus is on containing spending on the extensive welfare system and
planning for the time when petroleum reserves are depleted. In referenda held in 1972 and
on November 28, 1994, Norway rejected
joining the European Union, though it remains associated with it
through being part of the wider European Economic
Area.
Militarily, while Norway and Britain both maintain independent forces, some common defence policies evolved as well as certain
integration of training and deployment of both nations' Special
Forces.
Economic development
Norway resumed whaling with low quotas in 1993,
despite protests from environmental
organizations. Norway is a firm believer in sustainable development of its natural resources, and considers a quota of
approximately 500 whales a year out of about 120,000 whales reasonable.
Social policy
Cultural development
Monarchy
Main article: List of Norwegian
monarchs
Norway's kings in modern times, with periods of reign are:
External links
- Norway (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11117b.htm) - Article from the 1907 Catholic
Encyclopedia which details much about Norway including history.
- History of Norway (http://www.historyofnations.net/europe/norway.html) - Overview to Norwegian history.
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