History of Norway
Encyclopedia
The history of human settlement in what is present day Norway
goes back at least 11,000 years, to the late Paleolithic
. Archaeological finds in the county of Møre og Romsdal
have been dated to 9,200 BC and are probably the remains of settlers from Doggerland
, an area now submerged in the North Sea
, but at the time a landbridge that connected the present day British Isles
with Jutland
. The Fosna-Hensbacka culture
inhabited parts of Norway about 8300 BC to 7300 BC. Petroglyphs dating from the Neolithic
Age (in Norway 4000 BC to 1800 BC) show scenes of hunter-gatherers. More permanent settlements developed during the Bronze Age
(1800 BC to 400 BC) and Iron Age
. The earliest runes (an inscription in North Germanic) that have been found were inscribed on an arrowhead dating from about 200 AD. Many more inscriptions appear until 800 AD; a number of small kingdoms developed during these centuries.
The period from 800–1066 saw significant expansion, and is referred to as the Viking age. During this period, Norwegians, as well as Swedes
and Danes
, traveled abroad on longship
s, as raiders, explorers, settlers and traders. By the middle of the 11th century, the Norwegian kingdom was firmly established, although there was still only a very rudimentary administrative framework. The Black Death
arrived in Norway in 1349, killing perhaps half the population, after which Norway entered into a period of decline.
Between 1396 and 1536 Norway was a part of the Kalmar Union
, and from 1536 to 1814 Norway was effectually a tributary to Denmark, named as the personal union Denmark–Norway
. Denmark–Norway entered into an alliance with Napoleon, with the war leading to dire conditions and mass starvation in 1812. 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). Sweden and Norway adopted a loose union, in which Norway was permitted to maintain its own Constitution.
This period also saw the rise of the Norwegian romantic nationalism
cultural movement, as Norwegians sought to define and express a distinct national character. The union with Sweden was dissolved in 1905. Norway remained neutral during World War I
. Norway claimed neutrality again during World War II
, but was occupied by German forces from April 9, 1940 until May 8, 1945.
Norway joined NATO in 1949 and in 1960 the European Free Trade Area
(one of seven states). Two plebiscites to join the European Union failed by narrow margins in 1972 and 1994. Norway has been a close ally of the United States
. Large reserves of petroleum and natural gas were discovered in the 1960s, which led to a continuing boom in the economy. Whaling was once an important industry and commercial fishing continues to be so.
believe the country's name means "the northward route" (the way north or the north way), which in Old Norse
would be nor veg or *norð vegr. The Old Norse name for Norway was Nóregr, in Anglo-Saxon
Norþ weg, and in mediaeval Latin
Northvegia. The present name of the Kingdom of Norway
in Norwegian Bokmål
is "Kongeriket Norge" and in Norwegian Nynorsk
"Kongeriket Noreg", both only a couple of letters removed from the original "northern way"; "Nor(d)-(v)e.g.
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.
Pytheas
description of Thule
as a land six days sailing north of Britain, where there is no nightfall in summer, might be the first written reference to what we today know as Norway. Later Scandinavia is known for its Iron Age
culture. From around the time of the Roman Empire
until about 800 AD, many stone inscriptions can be found, written in Runes. Apparently, the petty kingdoms
developed during these centuries.
The period from 800–1066 AD is referred to in Norwegian history as the Viking age. During this period,
Norwegians, as well as Swedes and Danes, traveled abroad on longship
s, as raiders, explorers, settlers and traders. Viking raids affected large parts of Europe. The Norwegian Vikings mainly traveled west, to Britain
and Ireland
. Emigrants from Norway colonized Shetland, Orkney, the Faroe Islands
and Iceland
. From Iceland, Greenland
was also colonized, and voyages were even made to North America
, where remains of Viking dwellings have been found in Newfoundland.
Several historic works, known as the kings' sagas
were written in Norway and Iceland in the 12th and 13th centuries, the best known of which is Snorri Sturluson
's Heimskringla
(c. 1220). These provide our main sources for the early history of Norway. However, their accuracy for the earliest period is uncertain, and a much debated topic among modern historians. The stories about the earliest times are partly legendary in nature, and can hardly be taken as accurate history.
The period of the Viking age coincides with the first consolidation of a single Norwegian kingdom. By the time of the first historical records of these events, about the 700s AD, Norway was divided into several petty kingdom
s. It is also assumed that Danish rulers often held sway in the Oslofjord
-area.
King Harald Fairhair
is the king who is credited by later tradition as having unified Norway into one kingdom. According to the sagas, he ruled Norway from approximately 872 to 930. Modern historians assume that his rule was limited to the coastal areas of southern Norway. Kings of Norway until King Olav IV
, who died in 1387, claimed descent from Harald Fairhair. After Harald's death, the unity of the kingdom was not preserved, and for the next century, the kingdom was variously ruled, wholly or in part, by descendants of King Harald or by earl
s under the suzerainty
of Denmark.
During this period, Christianity
was introduced to Norway, probably mainly from the British Isles. In terms of church organization, Norway remained part of the Archdiocese of Bremen until 1152 or 1153. The first Norwegian king to have adopted Christianity was, according to the sagas, Harald Fairhair's son, King Haakon the Good
(c. 934–961). Haakon did not force his subjects to accept the new religion. His successors, Olaf Tryggvason
(c. 995–1000), and Olaf Haraldsson (St. Olav)
(1015–1028) resorted to forceful means to convert the Norwegian people. Olaf Haraldsson was probably the first King of Norway to extend his rule to the inland regions of eastern Norway, and to have ruled more or less the whole of the present-day country. His death in the battle of Stiklestad
in 1030 is traditionally considered a milestone in the history of the Christianisation of the country, although religion was not one of the issues at stake in that battle. After his death, Olaf was revered as a saint. He became the patron saint of Norway, and by the end of the century, Christianity was the only religion allowed in the country. In theory, later kings of Norway were said to hold the kingdom as vassals of St. Olav.
After Olaf's death, Norway was ruled from Denmark, as part of the "North Sea Empire" of King Knut the Great
. However, Knut was the last Danish king to rule Norway for more than three centuries, and already in 1035, Olaf's son, Magnus the Good
took the throne. His successor, King Harald Hardrada attempted the invasion of England
in 1066, but was beaten and killed at the battle of Stamford Bridge
, an event which is generally considered the end of the Viking Age.
These maps are mainly based on later saga sources, from the 13th century. Their historical accuracy is questionable.
By the middle of the 11th century, the Norwegian kingdom was firmly established, although there was still only a very rudimentary administrative framework. The establishment of cities gathered pace, and by the end of the 11th century, the three largest cities of modern-day Norway, Oslo
, Trondheim
(Nidaros) and Bergen
(Bjørgvin) were flourishing, as well as Tønsberg
, the most important city in Eastern Norway until c. 1300. King Olaf Kyrre
(1067–1093) was the first Norwegian king to be literate
. The Church gradually developed its organization, and the archdiocese of Nidaros
was established in 1152 or 1153. By that time, there were five dioceses in mainland Norway, with bishop
s in Nidaros, Bjorgvin, Stavanger
, Oslo and Hamar
. The islands of the North Sea, which had been colonized from Norway, were also part of the archdiocese of Nidaros. Orkney, Shetland and the Faeroe Islands were subject to the Norwegian king. The Hebrides
and the Isle of Man
were made subject to Norway by King Magnus Barefoot
c. 1100. The rulers of these islands held the title of "king
" themselves, but recognised the suzerainty of the Norwegian king. The extent to which the Norwegian king was able to exercise his rule over all of these islands was highly variable, and dependent on the individual kings.
According to the succession practices of the time, all sons of the king had the same right to inherit from their father, and this also included illegitimate sons. This led to periods when there were several kings at the same time, at several times three, on one occasion even four. The division of the kingdom does not appear to have been geographical, when there was more than one king, all were kings of the whole country, but they divided the royal income. The unclear succession laws, and the frequent divisions of the kingdom, combined with social and economic conflicts, were some of the main causes of the civil war era
, the name given to the period between 1130 and 1240. The civil wars started with the disputed succession after King Sigurd the Crusader
, who died in 1130, and flared up at shorter or longer intervals for over a century. In the 1160s, the Church got involved, and made King Magnus Erlingsson
the first Norwegian king to be crowned, in 1163 or 1164. The first written succession law was written at this time, stipulating one king, who had to be of legitimate birth. However, this law never came into force, as King Magnus was defeated and killed by Sverre Sigurdsson
, who became King Sverre. Sverre was excommunicated
by the Church, and the country was placed under an interdict
. Although constantly challenged by various pretenders, Sverre fended off his rivals, and when he died in 1202, he was the first King of Norway to have died of natural causes since 1130. By this time, the warring factions had coalesced into two groups: The birchlegs
, King Sverre's party, and the bagler
, who were supported by the Church, and tried to place descendants of King Magnus Erlingsson on the throne. From 1208 to 1217, the country was divided between these two factions by a peace treaty. In 1217, the kings of both factions died, and both accepted the young King Haakon Haakonsson
as king. Haakon defeated the last royal pretender in 1240, thus ending the civil war era.
The extent to which the civil wars adversely affected the general population at the time has been debated by recent historians. What is clear is that the country came out of the civil wars in 1240 as a much more unified and consolidated kingdom than it had been in 1130. The rule of King Haakon and his successors until 1319 has sometimes been called the golden age of the Norwegian medieval kingdom, by later historians. Under King Haakon Haakonsson, a centralised administration was for the first time built up, with a chancellery
in Bergen, which became the first capital city of the country. Clear succession laws were put into place, stipulating one single ruler, who had to be of legitimate birth. The Old Norse language, which had first been written with the Latin alphabet in the 12th century, was used in administration, as well as for the composition of original literature, and the translation of foreign literature. Haakon also brought Iceland and Greenland under Norwegian rule, in the early 1260s, at which point the kingdom of Norway reached its largest territorial extent. Haakon died in 1263 while on campaign against Scotland
, defending his claim to the overlordship of the Hebrides and the Isle of Man. His successor, King Magnus the Lawmender
gave up that claim in the treaty of Perth
, but secured Scotland's recognition of Norwegian rule over Orkney and Shetland. King Magnus promulgated the first national law-code for all of Norway in 1274, a rare thing in Europe at that time. During the late 13th century, the Norwegian kings attempted to play the part of a great power in international politics, forging wedding alliances with Castile
in 1258, and Scotland in 1281. King Eirik II was one of the many claimants for the throne of Scotland in the "Great Cause
", claiming succession from his daughter, Margaret
. In 1295, he forged an alliance
with France
and Scotland
against England
, whereby Norway undertook to supply the King of France with 300 ships and 50 000 troops. It is clear that Norway could not have the manpower to fulfil the terms of this treaty; however, it was never put to the test.
In 1299, King Haakon V
took the throne, and moved the capital of the country to Oslo. Haakon led an active foreign policy, aimed at increasing Norway's influence in Scandinavia. These policies, which included complex dynastic ties between the Nordic royal houses, were to lead Norway into several centuries of unions with her neighbours. At his death, Haakon left no male issue, and the throne went to his daughter's son, the King of Sweden, Magnus Eriksson
. The union with Sweden was a personal union
, and it was agreed that Magnus' two sons would inherit one kingdom each. King Magnus abdicated, and his son, Haakon
, became King of Norway. However, Haakon, who married Margrethe
, the daughter of the Danish king, also vied for the throne of Sweden. Haakon and Margrethe's son, Olaf
, became King of Denmark in 1376. On his father's death in 1380, Olaf also succeeded to the Norwegian throne, as King Olav IV. With brief exceptions, Norway and Denmark were to be ruled by the same king until 1814.
Norway entered into a period of decline. The Royal line died out and the country entered into two unequal unions from 1396 until 1814; this period was called "the 400-year-night" by Henrik Ibsen
during the national romantic period as Norwegian national awareness was rediscovered in the 19th century. It can be broken into two main periods:
inherited both kingdoms. Magnus's son Haakon VI and his infant son Olav IV were Norway's last native kings until Harald V
ascended to the throne in 1991. Margrethe
, the queen mother, who was the oldest daughter of King Valdemar IV of Denmark, succeeded in uniting Norway with Denmark
and Sweden
in the Kalmar Union (1397–1523), which ended after 180 years when Sweden
seceded in 1536. Norway's power was weakened during this period by the loss of a large part of the population during the Black Death
pandemic
of 1349–1351.
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). 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 hereditary prince of Denmark–Norway
encouraged representatives of various social and political factions to gather at Eidsvoll
to declare independence, adopt a constitution
and elect hereditary 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
, Christian Frederik agreed to relinquish claims to the Norwegian throne 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. When residing in Sweden, the king was represented by a governor-general styled Stattholder, often noble, repeatedly even the Crown Prince (then called Viceroy). The stattholder office, vacant after 1856, was abolished in 1873.
The union was peacefully dissolved in 1905 after several years of political unrest when Sweden recognised 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
.
, but 829 Norwegian ships were sunk during the war at sea, with the loss of some 2,000 sailors. 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, which delivered essential supplies to Britain, which in return supplied Norway with vital coal. This led to Norway occasionally being called The Neutral Ally
.
. The Norwegan parliament consisted of 150 seats. Between 1930 and 1936, six political parties from across the Norweigan political spectrum competed for these seats. During the general election of 1933, the Labor Party received 500,526 votes from the Norweigan public. The Conservative Party received 272,690 votes, the Liberal Party received 220,001 votes, the Farmers Party received 173,534 votes. On the extremes of Norweigan politices, the right wing was represented by Quisling's Nasjonal Samling or the "National Unification Party" which in 1933 received only 27,847 votes and the left wing was represented by the Communist Party of Norway, which in 1933 received only 22,000 votes.
As World War II
erupted, Norway insisted on remaining neutral. In a surprise dawn attack on April 9, 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
at 7:23am after a two hour enagement. 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, although Oslo itself surrendered to the invaders at 14:00 on 9 April 1940. The Norwegian armed forces, together with allied British, French and Polish forces, kept up an organized military resistance for two months, longe 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
.
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 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" of the "National government
" by the Reichskommissar. Quisling's name has come to mean "traitor" in several languages.
King Haakon
and his government
fled to Britain
on June 7, 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 were 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
, 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 government in exile. 2% of the population became members of Quisling's National Socialist
party (Nasjonal Samling – NS). Numerous opportunists joined his movement initially, while Germany seemed to be winning the war. Six 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). In May 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.
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 II and was a founding member of the United Nations
. The first UN Secretary General, Trygve Lie
, was a Norwegian.
After the liberation, active members of the National Socialist party and those who had collaborated with the enemy were prosecuted and sentenced. Twenty-five Norwegians, including Quisling
, were executed for treason and/or war crime
s, and 12 Germans were executed for war crimes.
". Many children were sent to homes where they had to suffer physical and sexual abuse, some have been used as test subjects for medical experiments.
In 1949 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 referendums held in 1972 and on November 28, 1994, Norway rejected joining the European Union
, though it chose to remain associated with it through being part of the wider European Economic Area
.
Norway has advanced in its standard of living
beyond many of its Europe
an counterparts, in large part to its affluent economy. As a result, for the last several years the United Nations
has ranked Norway as having the highest standard of living in the world. This ranking compares nations' level of education and income, combined with expected length of life
.
Norway also ranked 2nd in a study conducted by World Economic Forum
on the gender gap
in 58 nations based on measuring the level of equality with men in five areas: Economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment, and health and well-being.
has focused on culture
. A number of museum
s have been built and now the new Munch
museum
and the Historic Museum is the government's current focus. The construction of the new financial district is a new mass-scale project in Oslo
. As the biggest building project in Scandinavia
n history the government plans to renovate Bjørvika
and eastern Oslo
. The Oslo Opera House
received two architectural awards in 2008 and 2009. The new "port of Oslo", or Eufemias Street (codename: "Barcode") is being built, before the new Oslo Central Station will be built in 2014. Oslo
has established a large group of telecom
and software companies. Some of the probably largest ones are Telenor
, Opera Software
, Statnett
, Netcom
and Ementor
. A new IT "city" has been built at Fornebu
, Bærum
near Oslo
. Until 2008, Tandberg
's headquarer was located at Lysaker
, outside Fornebu
The area is currently housing the headquarters of Telenor
, Microsoft
Norway and Oracle
Norway.
A three-party minority coalition of the Centre, Christian Democratic, and Liberal parties, headed by Christian Democrat Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik
, moved into office in October 1997. That government fell in March 2000, and Jens Stoltenberg
took over the government with a cabinet from the Norwegian Labour Party. In 2001, Bondevik once again became Prime Minister in 2001, this time as head of a minority coalition of the Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals. Since 2005, Jens Stoltenberg has been leading a red-green coalition, consisting of Norwegian Labour Party
, Socialist Left Party
and Center Party.
Norway participated in sending troops to serve in Afghanistan
as part of the NATO force that responded to the Taliban government’s support of al-Qaeda
. Norway also contributed warplanes to the NATO mission to Libya
in 2011.
On 22 July 2011, terror attacks
took place, including bombings in the government offices in Oslo and a shooting in Utøya
island in Buskerud
, where the Workers' Youth League
(the youth organization affiliated with the Labour Party) held the yearly camp. The bomb explotion was centred a short distance from the building complex, and seven persons were killed and others injured. In the shooting 69 persons were killed, many of which were less than 18 years old. Soon after, the attacker Anders Behring Breivik
was captured. This was the deadliest incident in Norway since World War II.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
goes back at least 11,000 years, to the late Paleolithic
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
. Archaeological finds in the county of Møre og Romsdal
Møre og Romsdal
is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. The county administration is located in Molde, while Ålesund is the largest city.-The name:...
have been dated to 9,200 BC and are probably the remains of settlers from Doggerland
Doggerland
Doggerland is a name given by archaeologists and geologists to a former landmass in the southern North Sea that connected the island of Great Britain to mainland Europe during and after the last Ice Age, surviving until about 6,500 or 6,200 BCE, though gradually being swallowed by rising sea levels...
, an area now submerged in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, but at the time a landbridge that connected the present day British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
with Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
. The Fosna-Hensbacka culture
Fosna-Hensbacka culture
The Fosna/Hensbacka ,or , were two very similar Late Palaeolithic/early Mesolithic cultures in Scandinavia, and are often subsumed under the name Fosna-Hensbacka culture. This complex includes the Komsa culture that, notwithstanding different types of tools, is also considered to be a part of the...
inhabited parts of Norway about 8300 BC to 7300 BC. Petroglyphs dating from the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
Age (in Norway 4000 BC to 1800 BC) show scenes of hunter-gatherers. More permanent settlements developed during the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
(1800 BC to 400 BC) and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
. The earliest runes (an inscription in North Germanic) that have been found were inscribed on an arrowhead dating from about 200 AD. Many more inscriptions appear until 800 AD; a number of small kingdoms developed during these centuries.
The period from 800–1066 saw significant expansion, and is referred to as the Viking age. During this period, Norwegians, as well as Swedes
Swedes
Swedes are a Scandinavian nation and ethnic group native to Sweden, mostly inhabiting Sweden and the other Nordic countries, with descendants living in a number of countries.-Etymology:...
and Danes
Danes
Danish people or Danes are the nation and ethnic group that is native to Denmark, and who speak Danish.The first mention of Danes within the Danish territory is on the Jelling Rune Stone which mentions how Harald Bluetooth converted the Danes to Christianity in the 10th century...
, traveled abroad on longship
Longship
Longships were sea vessels made and used by the Vikings from the Nordic countries for trade, commerce, exploration, and warfare during the Viking Age. The longship’s design evolved over many years, beginning in the Stone Age with the invention of the umiak and continuing up to the 9th century with...
s, as raiders, explorers, settlers and traders. By the middle of the 11th century, the Norwegian kingdom was firmly established, although there was still only a very rudimentary administrative framework. The Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
arrived in Norway in 1349, killing perhaps half the population, after which Norway entered into a period of decline.
Between 1396 and 1536 Norway was a part of the Kalmar Union
Kalmar Union
The Kalmar Union is a historiographical term meaning a series of personal unions that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway , and Sweden under a single monarch, though intermittently and with a population...
, and from 1536 to 1814 Norway was effectually a tributary to Denmark, named as the personal union Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway is the historiographical name for a former political entity consisting of the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, including the originally Norwegian dependencies of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands...
. Denmark–Norway entered into an alliance with Napoleon, with the war leading to dire conditions and mass starvation in 1812. In 1814 Denmark–Norway was defeated in the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and the king was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden in the Treaty of Kiel (January 14). Sweden and Norway adopted a loose union, in which Norway was permitted to maintain its own Constitution.
This period also saw the rise of the Norwegian romantic nationalism
Norwegian romantic nationalism
Norwegian romantic nationalism was a movement in Norway between 1840 and 1867 in art, literature, and popular culture that emphasized the aesthetics of Norwegian nature and the uniqueness of the Norwegian national identity...
cultural movement, as Norwegians sought to define and express a distinct national character. The union with Sweden was dissolved in 1905. Norway remained neutral during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Norway claimed neutrality again during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but was occupied by German forces from April 9, 1940 until May 8, 1945.
Norway joined NATO in 1949 and in 1960 the European Free Trade Area
EFTA
EFTA may refer to:* European Family Therapy Association, an NGO.* European Fair Trade Association, an association of eleven Fair Trade importers in nine European countries....
(one of seven states). Two plebiscites to join the European Union failed by narrow margins in 1972 and 1994. Norway has been a close ally of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Large reserves of petroleum and natural gas were discovered in the 1960s, which led to a continuing boom in the economy. Whaling was once an important industry and commercial fishing continues to be so.
Etymology
Modern etymologistsEtymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
believe the country's name means "the northward route" (the way north or the north way), which in Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
would be nor veg or *norð vegr. The Old Norse name for Norway was Nóregr, in Anglo-Saxon
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
Norþ weg, and in mediaeval Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
Northvegia. The present name of the Kingdom of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in Norwegian Bokmål
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
is "Kongeriket Norge" and in Norwegian Nynorsk
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
"Kongeriket Noreg", both only a couple of letters removed from the original "northern way"; "Nor(d)-(v)e.g.
Pre-historic age (10,000 BC–800 AD)
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
, modern-day Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
contains finds from the Stone age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
and Bronze age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
, such as rock carvings.
Pytheas
Pytheas
Pytheas of Massalia or Massilia , was a Greek geographer and explorer from the Greek colony, Massalia . He made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe at about 325 BC. He travelled around and visited a considerable part of Great Britain...
description of Thule
Thule
Thule Greek: Θούλη, Thoulē), also spelled Thula, Thila, or Thyïlea, is, in classical European literature and maps, a region in the far north. Though often considered to be an island in antiquity, modern interpretations of what was meant by Thule often identify it as Norway. Other interpretations...
as a land six days sailing north of Britain, where there is no nightfall in summer, might be the first written reference to what we today know as Norway. Later Scandinavia is known for its Iron Age
Germanic Iron Age
The Germanic Iron Age is the name given to the period 400–800 in Northern Europe and it is part of the continental Age of Migrations.-Germanic Iron :...
culture. From around the time of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
until about 800 AD, many stone inscriptions can be found, written in Runes. Apparently, the petty kingdoms
Petty kingdoms of Norway
The Petty kingdoms of Norway were the entities from which the later Kingdom of Norway was founded. Before the unification of Norway in 872 and during the period of fragmentation after King Harald Fairhair's death Norway was divided in several small kingdoms...
developed during these centuries.
The Viking Age (800–1066)
Norwegians, as well as Swedes and Danes, traveled abroad on longship
Longship
Longships were sea vessels made and used by the Vikings from the Nordic countries for trade, commerce, exploration, and warfare during the Viking Age. The longship’s design evolved over many years, beginning in the Stone Age with the invention of the umiak and continuing up to the 9th century with...
s, as raiders, explorers, settlers and traders. Viking raids affected large parts of Europe. The Norwegian Vikings mainly traveled west, to Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Emigrants from Norway colonized Shetland, Orkney, the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
and Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
. From Iceland, Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
was also colonized, and voyages were even made to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, where remains of Viking dwellings have been found in Newfoundland.
Several historic works, known as the kings' sagas
Kings' sagas
The kings' sagas are Norse sagas which tell of the lives of Scandinavian kings. They were composed in the 12th to 14th centuries in Iceland and Norway....
were written in Norway and Iceland in the 12th and 13th centuries, the best known of which is Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
's Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
(c. 1220). These provide our main sources for the early history of Norway. However, their accuracy for the earliest period is uncertain, and a much debated topic among modern historians. The stories about the earliest times are partly legendary in nature, and can hardly be taken as accurate history.
The period of the Viking age coincides with the first consolidation of a single Norwegian kingdom. By the time of the first historical records of these events, about the 700s AD, Norway was divided into several petty kingdom
Petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is one of a number of small kingdoms, described as minor or "petty" by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it...
s. It is also assumed that Danish rulers often held sway in the Oslofjord
Oslofjord
The Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north....
-area.
King Harald Fairhair
Harald I of Norway
Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair , , son of Halfdan the Black, was the first king of Norway.-Background:Little is known of the historical Harald...
is the king who is credited by later tradition as having unified Norway into one kingdom. According to the sagas, he ruled Norway from approximately 872 to 930. Modern historians assume that his rule was limited to the coastal areas of southern Norway. Kings of Norway until King Olav IV
Olav IV of Norway
Olaf II Haakonsson was king of Denmark as Olaf II and king of Norway as Olaf IV . Olaf was son of King Haakon VI of Norway and the grandson of King Magnus IV of Sweden. His mother was Queen Margaret I of Denmark which made him the grandson of King Valdemar IV of Denmark...
, who died in 1387, claimed descent from Harald Fairhair. After Harald's death, the unity of the kingdom was not preserved, and for the next century, the kingdom was variously ruled, wholly or in part, by descendants of King Harald or by earl
Earl
An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...
s under the suzerainty
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
of Denmark.
During this period, Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
was introduced to Norway, probably mainly from the British Isles. In terms of church organization, Norway remained part of the Archdiocese of Bremen until 1152 or 1153. The first Norwegian king to have adopted Christianity was, according to the sagas, Harald Fairhair's son, King Haakon the Good
Haakon I of Norway
Haakon I , , given the byname the Good, was the third king of Norway and the youngest son of Harald Fairhair and Thora Mosterstang.-Early life:...
(c. 934–961). Haakon did not force his subjects to accept the new religion. His successors, Olaf Tryggvason
Olaf I of Norway
Olaf Tryggvason was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken , and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King of Norway.Olaf played an important part in the often forcible, on pain of torture or death, conversion of the...
(c. 995–1000), and Olaf Haraldsson (St. Olav)
Olaf II of Norway
Olaf II Haraldsson was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae and canonised in Nidaros by Bishop Grimkell, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. Enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral...
(1015–1028) resorted to forceful means to convert the Norwegian people. Olaf Haraldsson was probably the first King of Norway to extend his rule to the inland regions of eastern Norway, and to have ruled more or less the whole of the present-day country. His death in the battle of Stiklestad
Battle of Stiklestad
The Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 is one of the most famous battles in the history of Norway. In this battle, King Olaf II of Norway was killed. He was later canonized...
in 1030 is traditionally considered a milestone in the history of the Christianisation of the country, although religion was not one of the issues at stake in that battle. After his death, Olaf was revered as a saint. He became the patron saint of Norway, and by the end of the century, Christianity was the only religion allowed in the country. In theory, later kings of Norway were said to hold the kingdom as vassals of St. Olav.
After Olaf's death, Norway was ruled from Denmark, as part of the "North Sea Empire" of King Knut the Great
Canute the Great
Cnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...
. However, Knut was the last Danish king to rule Norway for more than three centuries, and already in 1035, Olaf's son, Magnus the Good
Magnus I of Norway
Magnus I , known as the Good or the Noble, was the King of Norway from 1035 to 1047 and the King of Denmark from 1042 to 1047. He was an illegitimate son of king Olaf II of Norway, but fled with his mother in 1028 when his father was dethroned. In 1035 he returned to Norway and was crowned king at...
took the throne. His successor, King Harald Hardrada attempted the invasion of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1066, but was beaten and killed at the battle of Stamford Bridge
Battle of Stamford Bridge
The Battle of Stamford Bridge took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire in England on 25 September 1066, between an English army under King Harold Godwinson and an invading Norwegian force led by King Harald Hardrada of Norway and the English king's brother Tostig...
, an event which is generally considered the end of the Viking Age.
These maps are mainly based on later saga sources, from the 13th century. Their historical accuracy is questionable.
Norway in the High Middle Ages (1066–1380)
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
(Nidaros) and Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
(Bjørgvin) were flourishing, as well as Tønsberg
Tønsberg
is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, southern Norway, located around north-east of Sandefjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg....
, the most important city in Eastern Norway until c. 1300. King Olaf Kyrre
Olaf III of Norway
Olaf Kyrre , or Olaf III Haraldsson, was King of Norway from 1067 to 1093. He was present at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in England in 1066 where his father, Harald Hardrada, saw defeat and was killed in action...
(1067–1093) was the first Norwegian king to be literate
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
. The Church gradually developed its organization, and the archdiocese of Nidaros
Archdiocese of Nidaros
The Archdiocese of Nidaros was the metropolitan see covering Norway in the later Middle Ages. The see was the Nidaros Cathedral, in the city of Nidaros...
was established in 1152 or 1153. By that time, there were five dioceses in mainland Norway, with bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s in Nidaros, Bjorgvin, Stavanger
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
, Oslo and Hamar
Hamar
is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...
. The islands of the North Sea, which had been colonized from Norway, were also part of the archdiocese of Nidaros. Orkney, Shetland and the Faeroe Islands were subject to the Norwegian king. The Hebrides
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
and the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
were made subject to Norway by King Magnus Barefoot
Magnus III of Norway
Magnus Barefoot or Magnus III Olafsson was King of Norway from 1093 until 1103 and King of Mann and the Isles from 1099 until 1103.-Background:...
c. 1100. The rulers of these islands held the title of "king
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
" themselves, but recognised the suzerainty of the Norwegian king. The extent to which the Norwegian king was able to exercise his rule over all of these islands was highly variable, and dependent on the individual kings.
According to the succession practices of the time, all sons of the king had the same right to inherit from their father, and this also included illegitimate sons. This led to periods when there were several kings at the same time, at several times three, on one occasion even four. The division of the kingdom does not appear to have been geographical, when there was more than one king, all were kings of the whole country, but they divided the royal income. The unclear succession laws, and the frequent divisions of the kingdom, combined with social and economic conflicts, were some of the main causes of the civil war era
Civil war era in Norway
The Civil war era of Norwegian history is a term used for the period in the history of Norway between 1130 and 1240. During this time, a series of civil wars were fought between rival kings and pretenders to the throne of Norway. The reasons for the wars is one of the most debated topics in...
, the name given to the period between 1130 and 1240. The civil wars started with the disputed succession after King Sigurd the Crusader
Sigurd I of Norway
Sigurd I Magnusson , also known as Sigurd the Crusader , was King of Norway from 1103 to 1130. His rule, together with his brother Eystein I of Norway , has been regarded by historians as a golden age for the medieval Kingdom of Norway...
, who died in 1130, and flared up at shorter or longer intervals for over a century. In the 1160s, the Church got involved, and made King Magnus Erlingsson
Magnus V of Norway
Magnus V Erlingsson was a King of Norway during the Civil war era in Norway.-Biography:Magnus Erlingsson was probably born in Etne in Hordaland. He was the son of Erling Skakke. His father was a Norwegian nobleman who earned his reputation crusading with Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, the Earl of Orkney...
the first Norwegian king to be crowned, in 1163 or 1164. The first written succession law was written at this time, stipulating one king, who had to be of legitimate birth. However, this law never came into force, as King Magnus was defeated and killed by Sverre Sigurdsson
Sverre of Norway
Sverre Sigurdsson was king of Norway from 1177 to 1202. He married Margareta Eriksdotter, the daughter of the Swedish king Eric the Saint, by whom he had the daughter Kristina Sverresdotter....
, who became King Sverre. Sverre was excommunicated
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
by the Church, and the country was placed under an interdict
Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholic canon law, an interdict is an ecclesiastical censure that excludes from certain rites of the Church individuals or groups, who nonetheless do not cease to be members of the Church.-Distinctions in canon law:...
. Although constantly challenged by various pretenders, Sverre fended off his rivals, and when he died in 1202, he was the first King of Norway to have died of natural causes since 1130. By this time, the warring factions had coalesced into two groups: The birchlegs
Birkebeiner
The Birkebein Party or Birkebeinar was the name for a rebellious party in Norway, formed in 1174 around the pretender to the Norwegian throne, Eystein Meyla...
, King Sverre's party, and the bagler
Bagler
The Bagli Party or Bagler was a faction or party during the Norwegian Civil Wars. The Bagler faction was made up principally of the Norwegian aristocracy, clergy and merchants....
, who were supported by the Church, and tried to place descendants of King Magnus Erlingsson on the throne. From 1208 to 1217, the country was divided between these two factions by a peace treaty. In 1217, the kings of both factions died, and both accepted the young King Haakon Haakonsson
Haakon IV of Norway
Haakon Haakonarson , also called Haakon the Old, was king of Norway from 1217 to 1263. Under his rule, medieval Norway reached its peak....
as king. Haakon defeated the last royal pretender in 1240, thus ending the civil war era.
The extent to which the civil wars adversely affected the general population at the time has been debated by recent historians. What is clear is that the country came out of the civil wars in 1240 as a much more unified and consolidated kingdom than it had been in 1130. The rule of King Haakon and his successors until 1319 has sometimes been called the golden age of the Norwegian medieval kingdom, by later historians. Under King Haakon Haakonsson, a centralised administration was for the first time built up, with a chancellery
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
in Bergen, which became the first capital city of the country. Clear succession laws were put into place, stipulating one single ruler, who had to be of legitimate birth. The Old Norse language, which had first been written with the Latin alphabet in the 12th century, was used in administration, as well as for the composition of original literature, and the translation of foreign literature. Haakon also brought Iceland and Greenland under Norwegian rule, in the early 1260s, at which point the kingdom of Norway reached its largest territorial extent. Haakon died in 1263 while on campaign against Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, defending his claim to the overlordship of the Hebrides and the Isle of Man. His successor, King Magnus the Lawmender
Magnus VI of Norway
Magnus VI Lagabøte or Magnus Håkonsson , was king of Norway from 1263 until 1280.-Early life:...
gave up that claim in the treaty of Perth
Treaty of Perth
The Treaty of Perth, 1266, ended military conflict between Norway, under King Magnus VI of Norway, and Scotland, under King Alexander III, over the sovereignty of the Hebrides and the Isle of Man....
, but secured Scotland's recognition of Norwegian rule over Orkney and Shetland. King Magnus promulgated the first national law-code for all of Norway in 1274, a rare thing in Europe at that time. During the late 13th century, the Norwegian kings attempted to play the part of a great power in international politics, forging wedding alliances with Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
in 1258, and Scotland in 1281. King Eirik II was one of the many claimants for the throne of Scotland in the "Great Cause
Competitors for the Crown of Scotland
With the death of Alexander III of Scotland in 1286 without a male heir, the throne of Scotland had become the possession of the three-year old Margaret, Maid of Norway, the granddaughter of the King...
", claiming succession from his daughter, Margaret
Margaret, Maid of Norway
Margaret , usually known as the Maid of Norway , sometimes known as Margaret of Scotland , was a Norwegian princess who was Queen of Scots from 1286 until her death...
. In 1295, he forged an alliance
Auld Alliance
The Auld Alliance was an alliance between the kingdoms of Scotland and France. It played a significant role in the relations between Scotland, France and England from its beginning in 1295 until the 1560 Treaty of Edinburgh. The alliance was renewed by all the French and Scottish monarchs of that...
with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
against England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, whereby Norway undertook to supply the King of France with 300 ships and 50 000 troops. It is clear that Norway could not have the manpower to fulfil the terms of this treaty; however, it was never put to the test.
In 1299, King Haakon V
Haakon V of Norway
Haakon V Magnusson was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319.-Biography:Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, King of Norway, and his wife Ingeborg of Denmark. Haakon was descended from king Saint Olav and is considered to have been the last Norwegian king in the Fairhair...
took the throne, and moved the capital of the country to Oslo. Haakon led an active foreign policy, aimed at increasing Norway's influence in Scandinavia. These policies, which included complex dynastic ties between the Nordic royal houses, were to lead Norway into several centuries of unions with her neighbours. At his death, Haakon left no male issue, and the throne went to his daughter's son, the King of Sweden, Magnus Eriksson
Magnus IV of Sweden
Magnus Eriksson as Magnus IV was king of Sweden , including Finland, as Magnus VII King of Norway , including Iceland and Greenland, and also ruled Scania . He has also vindictively been called Magnus Smek...
. The union with Sweden was a personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
, and it was agreed that Magnus' two sons would inherit one kingdom each. King Magnus abdicated, and his son, Haakon
Haakon VI of Norway
Haakon VI of Norway was King of Norway from 1343 until his death and King of Sweden from 1362 until 1364, when he was deposed by Albert of Mecklenburg in Sweden.-Background:...
, became King of Norway. However, Haakon, who married Margrethe
Margaret I of Denmark
Margaret I was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and founder of the Kalmar Union, which united the Scandinavian countries for over a century. Although she acted as queen regnant, the laws of contemporary Danish succession denied her formal queenship. Her title in Denmark was derived from her...
, the daughter of the Danish king, also vied for the throne of Sweden. Haakon and Margrethe's son, Olaf
Olav IV of Norway
Olaf II Haakonsson was king of Denmark as Olaf II and king of Norway as Olaf IV . Olaf was son of King Haakon VI of Norway and the grandson of King Magnus IV of Sweden. His mother was Queen Margaret I of Denmark which made him the grandson of King Valdemar IV of Denmark...
, became King of Denmark in 1376. On his father's death in 1380, Olaf also succeeded to the Norwegian throne, as King Olav IV. With brief exceptions, Norway and Denmark were to be ruled by the same king until 1814.
The Kalmar Union and the union with Denmark
After the Black DeathBlack Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
Norway entered into a period of decline. The Royal line died out and the country entered into two unequal unions from 1396 until 1814; this period was called "the 400-year-night" by Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
during the national romantic period as Norwegian national awareness was rediscovered in the 19th century. It can be broken into two main periods:
- The union of all Scandinavia referred to as the Kalmar Union, and
- The Danish Period or Union with Denmark.
The Kalmar Union (1396–1523)
King Haakon V died without male heirs in 1319. His daughter married a Swedish prince, whose son Magnus ErikssonMagnus IV of Sweden
Magnus Eriksson as Magnus IV was king of Sweden , including Finland, as Magnus VII King of Norway , including Iceland and Greenland, and also ruled Scania . He has also vindictively been called Magnus Smek...
inherited both kingdoms. Magnus's son Haakon VI and his infant son Olav IV were Norway's last native kings until Harald V
Harald V of Norway
Harald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...
ascended to the throne in 1991. Margrethe
Margaret I of Denmark
Margaret I was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and founder of the Kalmar Union, which united the Scandinavian countries for over a century. Although she acted as queen regnant, the laws of contemporary Danish succession denied her formal queenship. Her title in Denmark was derived from her...
, the queen mother, who was the oldest daughter of King Valdemar IV of Denmark, succeeded in uniting Norway with Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in the Kalmar Union (1397–1523), which ended after 180 years when Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
seceded in 1536. Norway's power was weakened during this period by the loss of a large part of the population during the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
pandemic
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
of 1349–1351.
The Union with Denmark (1523–1814)
The elite in Norway was so weakened that it was not able to resist the pressures from the Danes. More and more decisions were taken in Copenhagen and the Norwegian Riksråd was eventually disbanded. The Danish crown was represented by a governor styled Statholder, but it was always important for the King to maintain Norway's legal status as a separate hereditary kingdom. The Danish period can be separated into subperiods:- The Reformation in Norway (1537–1596): Norway's power was further weakened by the dissolution of the independent Norwegian church in the reformationProtestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
of 1537. Norway became a tributary to Denmark.
- The Northern WarsNorthern WarsNorthern Wars is a term used for a series of wars fought in northern and northeastern Europe in the 16th and 17th century. An internationally agreed nomenclature for these wars has not yet been devised...
(1596–1720): A period of virtually continual war and preparation for war, including the Kalmar WarKalmar WarThe Kalmar War was a war between Denmark–Norway and Sweden. Though Denmark soon gained the upper hand, she was unable to defeat Sweden entirely...
(1611–1613), the Thirty Years' WarThirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
(1618–1648), the Second Northern War (1655–1658), the Gyldenløve War (1675–1679) and culminating in the Great Northern WarGreat Northern War and NorwayThe Great Northern War was the war fought between a coalition of Denmark–Norway, Russia and Saxony-Poland on one side and Sweden on the other side from 1700 to 1721. It started by a coordinated attack on Sweden by the coalition in 1700, and ended 1721 with the conclusion of the Treaty of Nystad,...
(1700–1721). In the treaties of RoskildeTreaty of RoskildeThe Treaty of Roskilde was concluded on 26 February or 8 March 1658 during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Charles X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde...
and Copenhagen, Norway lost Bohuslen, Jemtland and Herjedalen, in addition to Idre and Serna, two smaller communities of Eastern Norway.
- The Period of Peace and Economic Growth (1721–1770): During the 18th century, Norway enjoyed a period of great prosperity and became an increasingly important part of the united kingdoms.
- National Reawakening and Preparation for Independence (1770–1814): This period was built on the strong natural independence of the Norwegian farm cultureNorwegian farm cultureThe Norwegian farm culture was a rural movement unique in values and practices which assumed a form in Viking Age Norway, and continued with little change into the age of firearms - and in many respects even to the early 20th century...
, combined with awareness of the American RevolutionAmerican RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
(1775–1783) and the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
(1789–1799), building the natural national assertiveness, and culminating in the constitutional convention of 1814Norway in 18141814 was a pivotal year in the history of Norway. It started with Norway in a union with the Kingdom of Denmark subject to a naval blockade being ceded to the king of Sweden. In May a constitutional convention declared Norway an independent kingdom. By the end of the year the Norwegian parliament...
.
Union with Sweden (1814–1905)
Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway is the historiographical name for a former political entity consisting of the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, including the originally Norwegian dependencies of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands...
was defeated in the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and the king was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in the Treaty of Kiel
Treaty of Kiel
The Treaty of Kiel or Peace of Kiel was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the other side on 14 January 1814 in Kiel...
(January 14). The Norwegian dependencies Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
and the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
were kept by Denmark. In an attempt to retain control over Norway despite the treaty, the Viceroy and hereditary prince of Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway is the historiographical name for a former political entity consisting of the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, including the originally Norwegian dependencies of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands...
encouraged representatives of various social and political factions to gather at Eidsvoll
Eidsvoll
is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet.-Name:...
to declare independence, adopt a constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
and elect hereditary prince Christian Frederik as king. May 17 is still celebrated as the day of the new democratic constitution of independent Norway. Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
responded later the same year by waging war on Norway. In the peace negotiations
Convention of Moss
The Convention of Moss was a cease fire agreement, signed August 14, 1814, between the Swedish King and the Norwegian Storting. It followed the Swedish-Norwegian War due to Norway's claim to sovereignty...
, Christian Frederik agreed to relinquish claims to the Norwegian throne and return to Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
if Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
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. When residing in Sweden, the king was represented by a governor-general styled Stattholder, often noble, repeatedly even the Crown Prince (then called Viceroy). The stattholder office, vacant after 1856, was abolished in 1873.
The union was peacefully dissolved in 1905 after several years of political unrest when Sweden recognised Norwegian independence. The parliament offered the throne to Prince Carl of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, who accepted it after a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
confirmed the monarchy and rejected a republican form of government. On November 18 he ascended the throne under the Norwegian name of Haakon VII
Haakon VII
Haakon VII may refer to:People* Haakon VII of Norway , King of Norway Ships* HNoMS King Haakon VII, a Royal Norwegian Navy escort ship in commission from 1942 to 1951...
.
Norway in World War I
Norway remained neutral during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, but 829 Norwegian ships were sunk during the war at sea, with the loss of some 2,000 sailors. 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, which delivered essential supplies to Britain, which in return supplied Norway with vital coal. This led to Norway occasionally being called The Neutral Ally
The Neutral Ally
Norway is at times referred to as "The Neutral Ally". During World War I, while theoretically a neutral country, British pressure and anti-German sentiment in the population enabled the government to highly favour Britain in matters concerning the large Norwegian shipping fleet and vast fish supplies...
.
Interwar years
A political tension developed in Norway during the 1930s. The effects of the international economic depression on Norway created a stalemate within the government. This stalemate created a frustation with moderate governments in Norway and allowed extremists on both the left and the right of Norweigan politics to thrive. The right-wing of Norweigan politics was embodied in the career of Vidkun QuislingVidkun Quisling
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling was a Norwegian politician. On 9 April 1940, with the German invasion of Norway in progress, he seized power in a Nazi-backed coup d'etat that garnered him international infamy. From 1942 to 1945 he served as Minister-President, working with the occupying...
. The Norwegan parliament consisted of 150 seats. Between 1930 and 1936, six political parties from across the Norweigan political spectrum competed for these seats. During the general election of 1933, the Labor Party received 500,526 votes from the Norweigan public. The Conservative Party received 272,690 votes, the Liberal Party received 220,001 votes, the Farmers Party received 173,534 votes. On the extremes of Norweigan politices, the right wing was represented by Quisling's Nasjonal Samling or the "National Unification Party" which in 1933 received only 27,847 votes and the left wing was represented by the Communist Party of Norway, which in 1933 received only 22,000 votes.
Norway in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
erupted, Norway insisted on remaining neutral. In a surprise dawn attack on April 9, 1940, Germany launched Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
. The German forces attacked Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
and the major Norwegian ports (Bergen, Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
, Kristiansand
Kristiansand
-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...
and Narvik
Narvik
is the third largest city and municipality in Nordland county, Norway by population. Narvik is located on the shores of the Narvik Fjord . The municipality is part of the Ofoten traditional region of North Norway, inside the arctic circle...
) and quickly gained footholds in those cities and the surrounding areas. The Norwegian Army
Norwegian Army
Norway achieved full independence in 1905, and in the first century of its short life has contributed to two major conflicts, the Cold War and the War on Terror. The Norwegian Army currently operates in the north of Norway and in Afghanistan as well as in Eastern Europe. The Army is the oldest of...
, manning a fort
Oscarsborg Fortress
Oscarsborg Fortress is a coastal fortress in the Oslofjord, close to the small town of Drøbak. The fortress is situated on two small islets, and on the mainland to the west and east, in the fjord and was military territory until 2003 when it was made a publicly available resort island...
in the Oslofjord
Oslofjord
The Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north....
, sank the German cruiser Blücher
German cruiser Blücher
Blücher was the second of five heavy cruisers of the German Kriegsmarine, built after the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles. Named for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, the victor of the Battle of Waterloo, the ship was laid down in August 1936 and launched in...
at 7:23am after a two hour enagement. 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, although Oslo itself surrendered to the invaders at 14:00 on 9 April 1940. The Norwegian armed forces, together with allied British, French and Polish forces, kept up an organized military resistance for two months, longe than any other country invaded by Germany, except for the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Eventually, on June 7 the Norwegian forces had to surrender and King and government left Norway to form a government in exile
Government in exile
A government in exile is a political group that claims to be a country's legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usually operate under the assumption that they will one day return to their...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
The Norwegian national socialist politician Vidkun Quisling
Vidkun Quisling
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling was a Norwegian politician. On 9 April 1940, with the German invasion of Norway in progress, he seized power in a Nazi-backed coup d'etat that garnered him international infamy. From 1942 to 1945 he served as Minister-President, working with the occupying...
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 1940 the German Reichskommissar Josef Terboven
Josef Terboven
Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven was a Nazi leader, best known as the Reichskommissar during the German occupation of Norway.-Early life:...
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" of the "National government
Quisling regime
The Quisling regime, or the Quisling government are common names used to refer to the collaborationist government led by Vidkun Quisling in occupied Norway during the Second World War. The official name of the regime from 1 February 1942 until its dissolution in May 1945 was Nasjonale regjering...
" by the Reichskommissar. Quisling's name has come to mean "traitor" in several languages.
King Haakon
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
and his government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
fled to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on June 7, the same day the allied forces that had retaken Narvik
Narvik
is the third largest city and municipality in Nordland county, Norway by population. Narvik is located on the shores of the Narvik Fjord . The municipality is part of the Ofoten traditional region of North Norway, inside the arctic circle...
abandoned it and the French forces returned to a quickly disintegrating France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan 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 were a material aid to the Allies.
The Norwegian resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
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
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, 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
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
SOE
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
. Norwegian resistance (generally termed the 'Home Front'), and its military branch (milorg
Milorg
Milorg was the main Norwegian resistance movement in World War II....
) 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
Shetland bus
The Shetland Bus was the nickname of a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Shetland, Scotland, and German-occupied Norway from 1941 until the German occupation ended on 8 May 1945. From mid-1942 the official name of the group was "Norwegian Naval Independent Unit"...
', and to neutral Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
), and, with the SOE, managed to destroy much of the world's supply of heavy water
Heavy water
Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...
and cripple the Vemork heavy water plant at Rjukan
Rjukan
Rjukan is a town and the administrative center of Tinn municipality in Telemark . It is situated in Vestfjorddalen, between Møsvatn and Tinnsjå, and got its name after Rjukanfossen west of the town. The Tinn municipality council granted township status for Rjukan in 1996. The town has 3 386...
, thus perhaps preventing Germany from developing an atomic bomb
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
(Operation Gunnerside).
Not all Norwegians sided with the government in exile. 2% of the population became members of Quisling's National Socialist
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
party (Nasjonal Samling – NS). Numerous opportunists joined his movement initially, while Germany seemed to be winning the war. Six thousand young Norwegians joined German Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
divisions to fight against the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
on the Eastern Front.
Following the 1941 raid by British Commandos
British Commandos
The British Commandos were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, for a force that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe...
on the minor port of Vaagsoy
Operation Archery
Operation Archery, also known as the Vaagso Raid, was a British Combined Operations raid during World War II against German positions on Vaagso Island , Norway, on 27 December 1941....
, Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
further reinforced Norway, mistakenly thinking that the British might invade northern Norway to put pressure on Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. 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). In May 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.
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
Nortraship
The Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission was established in London in April 1940 to administer the Norwegian merchant fleet outside German-controlled areas. Nortraship operated some 1,000 vessels and was the largest shipping company in the world. It is credited for giving a major contribution to...
, 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 II and was a founding member of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. The first UN Secretary General, Trygve Lie
Trygve Lie
Trygve Halvdan Lie was a Norwegian politician, labour leader, government official and author. He served as Norwegian Foreign minister during the critical years of the Norwegian government in exile in London from 1940 to 1945. From 1946 to 1952 he was the first Secretary-General of the United...
, was a Norwegian.
After the liberation, active members of the National Socialist party and those who had collaborated with the enemy were prosecuted and sentenced. Twenty-five Norwegians, including Quisling
Vidkun Quisling
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling was a Norwegian politician. On 9 April 1940, with the German invasion of Norway in progress, he seized power in a Nazi-backed coup d'etat that garnered him international infamy. From 1942 to 1945 he served as Minister-President, working with the occupying...
, were executed for treason and/or war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s, and 12 Germans were executed for war crimes.
Post-war
A side effect of the large German garrison was the birth of up to 12,000 children born to Norwegian women and German soldiers. Most of these women suffered recriminations after the war, as did their children, who were called tyskerbarna ("German children") or "Nazi childrenWar children
A war child refers to a child born to a native parent and a parent belonging to a foreign military force . It also refers to children of parents collaborating with an occupying force...
". Many children were sent to homes where they had to suffer physical and sexual abuse, some have been used as test subjects for medical experiments.
In 1949 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 referendums held in 1972 and on November 28, 1994, Norway rejected joining the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, though it chose to remain associated with it through being part of the wider European Economic Area
European Economic Area
The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...
.
Norway has advanced in its standard of living
Standard of living
Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as real income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. Examples are access to certain goods , or measures of health such as...
beyond many of its Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an counterparts, in large part to its affluent economy. As a result, for the last several years the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
has ranked Norway as having the highest standard of living in the world. This ranking compares nations' level of education and income, combined with expected length of life
Life expectancy
Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
.
Norway also ranked 2nd in a study conducted by World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
on the gender gap
Economic inequality
Economic inequality comprises all disparities in the distribution of economic assets and income. The term typically refers to inequality among individuals and groups within a society, but can also refer to inequality among countries. The issue of economic inequality is related to the ideas of...
in 58 nations based on measuring the level of equality with men in five areas: Economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment, and health and well-being.
21st century
Since the year 2000, NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
has focused on culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
. A number of museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s have been built and now the new Munch
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...
museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
and the Historic Museum is the government's current focus. The construction of the new financial district is a new mass-scale project in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. As the biggest building project in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n history the government plans to renovate Bjørvika
Bjørvika
Bjørvika is a neighborhood in the Sentrum borough of Oslo, Norway. The area is an inlet in the inner Oslofjord, situated between Gamlebyen and Akersness. It serves as an outlet for the river Akerselva. Since the 2000s, it has been undergoing urban redevelopment, being transformed from a container...
and eastern Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. The Oslo Opera House
Oslo Opera House
The Oslo Opera House is the home of The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera theatre in Norway. The building is situated in the Bjørvika neighborhood of central Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. It is operated by Statsbygg, the government agency which manages property for...
received two architectural awards in 2008 and 2009. The new "port of Oslo", or Eufemias Street (codename: "Barcode") is being built, before the new Oslo Central Station will be built in 2014. Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
has established a large group of telecom
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
and software companies. Some of the probably largest ones are Telenor
Telenor
Telenor Group is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. Today, Telenor Group is mostly an international wireless carrier with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia, working predominantly under the Telenor brand...
, Opera Software
Opera Software
Opera Software ASA is a Norwegian software company, primarily known for its Opera family of web browsers with over 220 million users worldwide. Opera Software is also involved in promoting Web standards through participation in the W3C. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway and is...
, Statnett
Statnett
Statnett is a Norwegian state owned enterprise responsible for owning, operating and constructing the stem power grid in Norway. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway....
, Netcom
NetCom (Norway)
NetCom is a Norwegian mobile phone operator. Founded in 1993, it is the second largest mobile phone operator in Norway. The company has about 1.2 million subscribers, and the company headquarters are located in Nydalen in Oslo. It is owned by the Swedish and Finnish company TeliaSonera...
and Ementor
Ementor
Atea , previously Ementor, is a Nordic IT infrastructure solutions and services company. It is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.The company sells, installs, and supports products from Cisco, HP, Microsoft, Sun, SAP and others....
. A new IT "city" has been built at Fornebu
Fornebu
Fornebu is a peninsular area in the suburban municipality of Bærum in Norway, bordering western parts of Oslo.Oslo Airport, Fornebu served as the main airport for Oslo and the country since before WWII and until the evening of October 7, 1998, when it was closed down...
, Bærum
Bærum
is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandvika. Bærum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. A suburb of Oslo, Bærum is located on the west coast of the city....
near Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. Until 2008, Tandberg
Tandberg
This article is about the video-conferencing vendor, a Cisco company. Other companies with the same name such as Tandberg Television or Tandberg Data for data storage: see here and here...
's headquarer was located at Lysaker
Lysaker
Lysaker is a section of and a postal code area of the Norwegian municipality of Bærum, just west of Oslo.Geographically, it is bordered by Lysakerelven on the east, which also forms the border to Oslo; Fornebu to the south; Stabekk to the west; and Jar to the north...
, outside Fornebu
Fornebu
Fornebu is a peninsular area in the suburban municipality of Bærum in Norway, bordering western parts of Oslo.Oslo Airport, Fornebu served as the main airport for Oslo and the country since before WWII and until the evening of October 7, 1998, when it was closed down...
The area is currently housing the headquarters of Telenor
Telenor
Telenor Group is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. Today, Telenor Group is mostly an international wireless carrier with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia, working predominantly under the Telenor brand...
, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Norway and Oracle
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
Norway.
A three-party minority coalition of the Centre, Christian Democratic, and Liberal parties, headed by Christian Democrat Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik
Kjell Magne Bondevik
Kjell Magne Bondevik is a Norwegian Lutheran minister and politician . He served as Prime Minister of Norway from 1997 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2005, making him Norway's longest serving non-Labour Party Prime Minister since World War II...
, moved into office in October 1997. That government fell in March 2000, and Jens Stoltenberg
Jens Stoltenberg
is a Norwegian politician, leader of the Norwegian Labour Party and the current Prime Minister of Norway. Having assumed office on 17 October 2005, Stoltenberg previously served as Prime Minister from 2000 to 2001....
took over the government with a cabinet from the Norwegian Labour Party. In 2001, Bondevik once again became Prime Minister in 2001, this time as head of a minority coalition of the Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals. Since 2005, Jens Stoltenberg has been leading a red-green coalition, consisting of Norwegian Labour Party
Norwegian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
, Socialist Left Party
Socialist Left Party (Norway)
The Socialist Left Party or SV, is a Norwegian left-wing political party. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since...
and Center Party.
Norway participated in sending troops to serve in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
as part of the NATO force that responded to the Taliban government’s support of al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
. Norway also contributed warplanes to the NATO mission to Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
in 2011.
On 22 July 2011, terror attacks
2011 Norway attacks
The 2011 Norway attacks were two sequential terrorist attacks against the government, the civilian population and a summer camp in Norway on 22 July 2011....
took place, including bombings in the government offices in Oslo and a shooting in Utøya
Utøya
Utøya is a small island in the Tyrifjorden lake in Hole municipality, in the county of Buskerud, Norway. The island is , situated off the shore, by the E16 road, driving distance north-west of Oslo city centre.-Overview:...
island in Buskerud
Buskerud
is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...
, where the Workers' Youth League
Workers' Youth League (Norway)
The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...
(the youth organization affiliated with the Labour Party) held the yearly camp. The bomb explotion was centred a short distance from the building complex, and seven persons were killed and others injured. In the shooting 69 persons were killed, many of which were less than 18 years old. Soon after, the attacker Anders Behring Breivik
Anders Behring Breivik
Anders Behring Breivik is a Norwegian terrorist, paranoid schizophrenic and the confessed perpetrator of the Norway attacks on 22 July 2011: the bombing of government buildings in Oslo that resulted in eight deaths, and the mass shooting at a camp of the Workers' Youth League of the Labour Party...
was captured. This was the deadliest incident in Norway since World War II.
See also
- History of DenmarkHistory of DenmarkThe history of Denmark dates back about 12,000 years, to the end of the last ice age, with the earliest evidence of human inhabitation. The Danes were first documented in written sources around 500 AD, including in the writings of Jordanes and Procopius. With the Christianization of the Danes c...
- History of EuropeHistory of EuropeHistory of Europe describes the history of humans inhabiting the European continent since it was first populated in prehistoric times to present, with the first human settlement between 45,000 and 25,000 BC.-Overview:...
- History of IcelandHistory of Iceland-Early history:In geological terms, Iceland is a young island. It started to form about 20 million years ago from a series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge...
- History of SwedenHistory of SwedenModern Sweden started out of the Kalmar Union formed in 1397 and by the unification of the country by King Gustav Vasa in the 16th century. In the 17th century Sweden expanded its territories to form the Swedish empire. Most of these conquered territories had to be given up during the 18th century...
- List of Norwegian monarchs
- List of Norwegian Prime Ministers
- List of Norwegians
- Military history of NorwayMilitary history of NorwayThe Military history of Norway commences before the Viking age with the internal wars fought between regional kings to obtain the supreme kingship og the whole of Norway. The most famous period of Norwegian history and thus military history is the Viking age, but the early Middle Ages was the era...
- Politics of NorwayPolitics of NorwayPolitics in Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the King's council, the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister of Norway. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Storting, elected...
- Sami peopleSami peopleThe Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
- Kven people
Sources and External links
- History of Norway - World History Database
- Norway — Article from the 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia which details much about Norway including history.
- History of Norway — Overview to Norwegian history.
- History of Norway: Primary Documents
- WorldStatesmen — Norway
- Historical Atlas of Norway
- Det rike landet
- V.Malstøm: Norway before the Vikings
- Map showing regions of Medieval Norway
