Treaty of Kiel
Encyclopedia
The Treaty of Kiel or Peace of Kiel (Kielfreden, Freden i 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
. It ended the hostilities between the parties in the ongoing Napoleonic Wars
, where the United Kingdom and Sweden were part of the anti-French camp (Sixth Coalition
) while Denmark-Norway was allied to Napoleon Bonaparte.
Frederick VI of Denmark
joined the anti-French alliance, ceded Heligoland
to George III of the United Kingdom
, and further ceded most of the Kingdom of Norway to Charles XIII of Sweden
in return for Swedish Pomerania
. Specifically excluded from the exchange were the Norwegian dependencies of Greenland
, Iceland
and the Faroe Islands
which remained in the union with Denmark. Norway unsuccessfully contested the Danish claim to all of Greenland in the East Greenland case of 1931–1933.
However, not all provisions of the treaty would come into force. Norway declared its independence, adopted a constitution and elected Christian Frederick as their own king. Sweden therefore refused to hand over Swedish Pomerania
, which instead passed to Prussia
after the Congress of Vienna
in 1815. After a short war with Sweden, Norway accepted entering into a personal union with Sweden
at the Convention of Moss
.
, Denmark-Norway and Kingdom of Sweden tried to maintain neutrality, but soon became involved in the fighting joining opposite camps. Swedish king Gustav IV Adolf
entered an alliance with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
and the Russian Empire
against Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804, and declared war on Napoleonic France in 1805. The United Kingdom, which had declared war on France in 1803, paid subsidies to Sweden. Before Gustav IV Adolf marched his forces out of Swedish Pomerania
, a province long coveted by Prussia
, he negotiated an agreement that Prussia would not attack it. Denmark remained neutral.
In 1807, Napoleonic forces seized Swedish Pomerania
and forced Prussia and Russia to sign the Treaty of Tilsit. Russia was therein obliged to attack Napoleon's enemies, and since Gustav IV Adolf refused to break his alliance with the United Kingdom, the tsar invaded Finland
and severed it from Sweden in the Finnish War
, 1808/1809. Sweden could no longer uphold her anti-French foreign policy, and French general Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was elected pretender to the Swedish throne in 1810. Denmark-Norway entered an alliance with France after the second British bombardment of Copenhagen
in 1807.
In 1812, Napoleon's forces were decimated in their failed attempt to subdue Russia, and started their westward retreat. Sweden allied with Russia on 30 August 1812, with the United Kingdom on 3rd March 1813, and with Prussia on 22 April 1813. Already on 23 March 1813, she declared war on Napoleon. Bernadotte's condition for entering the anti-Napoleonic alliance was the gain of Norway, which the United Kingdom and Russia accepted in May 1813. Prussia however did not acknowledge this claim at first. Thus, Bernadotte hesitated to enter the war with full force, and only engaged in a campaign against Hamburg
which on 30 June was re-conquered by allied French and Danish forces. When Prussia finally accepted the Swedish claim to Norway on 22 July, Sweden joined the alliance of Reichenbach
concluded between Russia, the United Kingdom and Prussia on 14/15 June. With three armies (North, Main and Silesian, the Northern army under Bernadotte's command), the allies subsequently cleared Northern Germany from French forces. Denmark, who had maintained the alliance with Napoleon in face of the Swedish claim to Norway, was isolated and, as a consequence of the war, bankrupt.
and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
was negotiated by Danish diplomat Edmund Bourke (Burke) and the British envoy at the Swedish court, Edward Thornton
. It consisted of 14 articles, to which two articles were added in Brussels
on 7 April.
In article III, the United Kingdom was obliged to return all occupied Danish possessions to the Danish king. Excepted was the island of Heligoland
, where the British king was granted "full and unlimited sovereignty".
In article VI, the Danish king joined the anti-Napoleonic alliance, and obliged himself to maintain an army of 10,000 men which was to be joined to the allied forces in Northern Germany and likewise be commanded by the Swedish crown prince. This Danish contingent was to be treated the same way the Swedish contingent was treated, and the Danish king was to receive an annual 400,000 pounds of British subsidies for maintenance and pay of the army, to be paid in monthly rates as soon as the army entered allied service.
Article VIII was concerned with the abolishment of slave trade. In article X, the British king promised the Danish king to negotiate further compensation for Denmark's territorial cessions to Sweden in a pending final peace. In article XIII, older Dano-British treaties were confirmed.
The articles added in Brussels were concerned with the property of Danish subjects in the colonies or in ceded territories, which was to remain untouched by the British for the next three years, and equal treatment of Danish, British and Hanoveranian subjects, who were not to be prosecuted because of their participation in the war on different sides, and neither because of their political or religious beliefs.
and the Kingdom of Sweden was negotiated by Danish diplomat Edmund Bourke (Burke) and Swedish envoy Baron Gustaf af Wetterstedt
with British mediation. It consisted of 28 articles and one separate article. In article III, the Danish king promised to join the alliance against Napoleonic France, and with reference to the Dano-British treaty confirms his obligation to put part of his army under Swedish command.
In article IV, the Danish king in his and his successors' name "irrevocably and forever" renounced claims to the Kingdom of Norway in favor of the Swedish king. The Norwegian kingdom was thereby defined as consisting of the with the bishoprics and collegiate church
es Christianssand, Bergen
, Aggerhuus and Trondheim
, as well as the coastal islands and the northern and Finn marches up to the Russian border. Excepted were Greenland
, Iceland
and the Faroe Islands
. The Norwegian subjects were freed of their obligations to the Danish king. In article VI, the Swedish crown took over the debts and financial obligations of Norway, which was to be determined by a joint Dano-Swedish commission.
Article VII ruled that Swedish Pomerania
was to be handed over to Denmark. In article XV, it was ruled out that the Swedish forces were to take over the Norwegian fortresses as soon as the treaty was ratified, and that they were to abandon Swedish Pomerania as soon as the Norwegian fortresses Frederikshald, Frederiksstad, Kongsvinger
and Aggerhuus
were handed over. In article XIII, the Swedish king promised the Danish king to negotiate full compensation for the cession of Norway in a pending final peace, and the cession of Swedish Pomerania is described as a "proof" of this intention.
In article XII, the two kings promised to maintain the Norwegian University of Oslo
, which was to pass to Sweden according to article IV, and the Pomeranian University of Greifswald, which was to pass to Denmark according to article VII, and confirmed donations made before the exchange. Also, it was agreed in article XX that subjects of the Danish king could choose within the next six years whether they would finally settle in Norway or Denmark, whereby property in the realm which would not become the permanent residence was to be sold only to inhabitants of this realm. This provision was also enacted with respect to Swedish Pomerania. In article XVI, it was agreed that the governors general and all foreign-born officials of the exchanged territories, as long as they did not decide to remain, were removed from their offices. Article XXI obliged the Danish administration to hand over all civilian and military administrative documents and archives concerning Norway.
Article XVII provided for a mutual exchange of all prisoners of war. According to article XV, allied troops were to leave the Danish Duchy of Schleswig
(Slesvig), but were allowed to remain in the German confederal
Duchy of Holstein (Holsten), ruled in personal union
with Denmark and Schleswig, to participate in the encirclement of Hamburg
. In article XXVII, former Dano-Swedish peaces were confirmed as long as their provisions were not in conflict with the treaty of Kiel, namely the Treaty of Copenhagen (1660), the Treaty of Stockholm (June 1720)
, the Treaty of Frederiksborg
(July 1720) and the Treaty of Jönköping (1809). A separate article was concerned with the cession of hostilities.
, most likely with the surreptitious goal of re-unification with Denmark. His initiative was successful, partly due to clandestine support from the Danish Crown
, but also because it was supported by prominent and influential Norwegians. They convinced the Prince that it would be unwise to claim the throne as his inheritance. Instead they advised him to assume the regency and call an election of representatives to a constituent assembly.
On 10 April the national assembly met at Eidsvoll
to decide on a constitution. Norway eventually declared independence on 17 May 1814, electing Christian Frederick as King. (The seventeen of May is "Syttende mai" or Norwegian Constitution Day
that is celebrated by Norwegians at home and abroad.) A short war with Sweden later that year led to the abdication of Christian Frederik in October. After having made the necessary amendments to the constitution, the Norwegian Storting on 4 November elected Charles XIII of Sweden
as King of Norway, creating the union between Sweden and Norway
.
did not hand over Swedish Pomerania
to Frederick VI of Denmark
. The problem was solved at the Congress of Vienna
, when the Great Powers followed a plan worked out by Karl August von Hardenberg
, prime minister of the Kingdom of Prussia
, who proposed a ring exchange of territories and payments between the Kingdom of Denmark
, the Kingdom of Hanover
(ruled in personal union with Great Britain and Ireland
), the Kingdom of Prussia
and the Kingdom of Sweden.
According to Hardenberg's plan, Prussia ceded East Frisia
with Emden
to Hanover, and in exchange received from Hanover the Duchy of Lauenburg. This duchy was then handed over from Prussia to Denmark, along with an additional payment of 3.5 million talers. Prussia also took over a Danish debt to Sweden of 600,000 talers, and agreed on an additional payment of 2 million talers to Sweden. Denmark and Sweden in turn relinquished their claims to Swedish Pomerania in favour of Prussia. Charles XIII of Sweden then released his Pomeranian subjects from their obligations towards Sweden on 1 October 1815, and on 23 October the province was handed over to von Ingersleben, president of Prussian Pomerania
.
in The Hague
. As of December 2008, this was the only case where possession of a polar territory was ever decided by an international court.
The Norwegian side argued that Denmark did not hold rights to any part of the island where she did not exact actual sovereignty, and accordingly proclaimed a Norwegian Eirik Raudes Land in eastern Greenland on 10 July 1931, which had been occupied in the previous month. On 5 April 1933 however, the court ruled that on the basis of the treaty of Kiel and subsequent treaties, Denmark was the sovereign over the whole of Greenland.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
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
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
. It ended the hostilities between the parties in the ongoing 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...
, where the United Kingdom and Sweden were part of the anti-French camp (Sixth Coalition
War of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
) while Denmark-Norway was allied to Napoleon Bonaparte.
Frederick VI of Denmark
Frederick VI of Denmark
Frederick VI reigned as King of Denmark , and as king of Norway .-Regent of Denmark:Frederick's parents were King Christian VII and Caroline Matilda of Wales...
joined the anti-French alliance, ceded Heligoland
Heligoland
Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the south-eastern corner of the North Sea...
to George III of the United Kingdom
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
, and further ceded most of the Kingdom of Norway to Charles XIII of Sweden
Charles XIII of Sweden
Charles XIII & II also Carl, , was King of Sweden from 1809 and King of Norway from 1814 until his death...
in return for Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...
. Specifically excluded from the exchange were the Norwegian dependencies of 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...
, 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...
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...
which remained in the union with Denmark. Norway unsuccessfully contested the Danish claim to all of Greenland in the East Greenland case of 1931–1933.
However, not all provisions of the treaty would come into force. Norway declared its independence, adopted a constitution and elected Christian Frederick as their own king. Sweden therefore refused to hand over Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...
, which instead passed to Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
after the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
in 1815. After a short war with Sweden, Norway accepted entering into a personal union with Sweden
Union between Sweden and Norway
The Union between Sweden and Norway , officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, consisted of present-day Sweden and Norway between 1814 and 1905, when they were united under one monarch in a personal union....
at the Convention of Moss
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...
.
Background
In the beginning of the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic 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...
, Denmark-Norway and Kingdom of Sweden tried to maintain neutrality, but soon became involved in the fighting joining opposite camps. Swedish king Gustav IV Adolf
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden also Gustav Adolph was King of Sweden from 1792 until his abdication in 1809. He was the son of Gustav III of Sweden and his queen consort Sophia Magdalena, eldest daughter of Frederick V of Denmark and his first wife Louise of Great Britain. He was the last Swedish...
entered an alliance with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
and the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
against Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804, and declared war on Napoleonic France in 1805. The United Kingdom, which had declared war on France in 1803, paid subsidies to Sweden. Before Gustav IV Adolf marched his forces out of Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...
, a province long coveted by Prussia
Brandenburg-Pomeranian conflict
Starting in the 12th century, the Margraviate, later Electorate of Brandenburg was in conflict with the neighboring Duchy of Pomerania over frontier territories claimed by both Brandenburg and Pomerania, and over the status of the Pomeranian duchy, which Brandenburg claimed as a fief, whereas...
, he negotiated an agreement that Prussia would not attack it. Denmark remained neutral.
In 1807, Napoleonic forces seized Swedish Pomerania
Siege of Stralsund (1807)
The Siege of Stralsund lasted from 30 January to 24 August 1807 and saw troops from the First French Empire twice attempt to capture the port city from Lieutenant General Hans Henric von Essen's...
and forced Prussia and Russia to sign the Treaty of Tilsit. Russia was therein obliged to attack Napoleon's enemies, and since Gustav IV Adolf refused to break his alliance with the United Kingdom, the tsar invaded 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...
and severed it from Sweden in the Finnish War
Finnish War
The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and the Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire...
, 1808/1809. Sweden could no longer uphold her anti-French foreign policy, and French general Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was elected pretender to the Swedish throne in 1810. Denmark-Norway entered an alliance with France after the second British bombardment of Copenhagen
Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
The Second Battle of Copenhagen was a British preemptive attack on Copenhagen, targeting the civilian population in order to seize the Dano-Norwegian fleet and in turn originate the term to Copenhagenize.-Background:Despite the defeat and loss of many ships in the first Battle of Copenhagen in...
in 1807.
In 1812, Napoleon's forces were decimated in their failed attempt to subdue Russia, and started their westward retreat. Sweden allied with Russia on 30 August 1812, with the United Kingdom on 3rd March 1813, and with Prussia on 22 April 1813. Already on 23 March 1813, she declared war on Napoleon. Bernadotte's condition for entering the anti-Napoleonic alliance was the gain of Norway, which the United Kingdom and Russia accepted in May 1813. Prussia however did not acknowledge this claim at first. Thus, Bernadotte hesitated to enter the war with full force, and only engaged in a campaign against Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
which on 30 June was re-conquered by allied French and Danish forces. When Prussia finally accepted the Swedish claim to Norway on 22 July, Sweden joined the alliance of Reichenbach
Treaties of Reichenbach (1813)
The Treaties of Reichenbach were a series of agreements signed in Reichenbach between Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, and Austria. These accords served to establish and strengthen a united coalition force against Napoleon I of France. On June 14, 1813 the Treaty of Reichenbach was signed between...
concluded between Russia, the United Kingdom and Prussia on 14/15 June. With three armies (North, Main and Silesian, the Northern army under Bernadotte's command), the allies subsequently cleared Northern Germany from French forces. Denmark, who had maintained the alliance with Napoleon in face of the Swedish claim to Norway, was isolated and, as a consequence of the war, bankrupt.
Dano–British treaty
The treaty between the Kingdom of DenmarkKingdom of Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark or the Danish Realm , is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting of Denmark proper in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. Denmark is the hegemonial part, where the...
and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
was negotiated by Danish diplomat Edmund Bourke (Burke) and the British envoy at the Swedish court, Edward Thornton
Edward Thornton (1766–1852)
Sir Edward Thornton was a British diplomat, and father of Sir Edward Thornton .He was born in London, the third son of an innkeeper, but orphaned at an early age. He was educated at Christ's Hospital and at Pembroke College, Cambridge...
. It consisted of 14 articles, to which two articles were added in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
on 7 April.
In article III, the United Kingdom was obliged to return all occupied Danish possessions to the Danish king. Excepted was the island of Heligoland
Heligoland
Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the south-eastern corner of the North Sea...
, where the British king was granted "full and unlimited sovereignty".
In article VI, the Danish king joined the anti-Napoleonic alliance, and obliged himself to maintain an army of 10,000 men which was to be joined to the allied forces in Northern Germany and likewise be commanded by the Swedish crown prince. This Danish contingent was to be treated the same way the Swedish contingent was treated, and the Danish king was to receive an annual 400,000 pounds of British subsidies for maintenance and pay of the army, to be paid in monthly rates as soon as the army entered allied service.
Article VIII was concerned with the abolishment of slave trade. In article X, the British king promised the Danish king to negotiate further compensation for Denmark's territorial cessions to Sweden in a pending final peace. In article XIII, older Dano-British treaties were confirmed.
The articles added in Brussels were concerned with the property of Danish subjects in the colonies or in ceded territories, which was to remain untouched by the British for the next three years, and equal treatment of Danish, British and Hanoveranian subjects, who were not to be prosecuted because of their participation in the war on different sides, and neither because of their political or religious beliefs.
Dano-Swedish treaty
The treaty between the Kingdom of DenmarkKingdom of Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark or the Danish Realm , is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting of Denmark proper in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. Denmark is the hegemonial part, where the...
and the Kingdom of Sweden was negotiated by Danish diplomat Edmund Bourke (Burke) and Swedish envoy Baron Gustaf af Wetterstedt
Gustaf af Wetterstedt
Count Gustaf af Wetterstedt was a Swedish statesman. He served as the Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1824 to 1837. In 1811 he was elected into the Swedish Academy, and later he also became a member of the Royal Swedish Academies of Agriculture, Music and Sciences...
with British mediation. It consisted of 28 articles and one separate article. In article III, the Danish king promised to join the alliance against Napoleonic France, and with reference to the Dano-British treaty confirms his obligation to put part of his army under Swedish command.
In article IV, the Danish king in his and his successors' name "irrevocably and forever" renounced claims to the Kingdom of Norway in favor of the Swedish king. The Norwegian kingdom was thereby defined as consisting of the with the bishoprics and collegiate church
Collegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...
es Christianssand, 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 , ....
, Aggerhuus and 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...
, as well as the coastal islands and the northern and Finn marches up to the Russian border. Excepted were 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...
, 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...
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...
. The Norwegian subjects were freed of their obligations to the Danish king. In article VI, the Swedish crown took over the debts and financial obligations of Norway, which was to be determined by a joint Dano-Swedish commission.
Article VII ruled that Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...
was to be handed over to Denmark. In article XV, it was ruled out that the Swedish forces were to take over the Norwegian fortresses as soon as the treaty was ratified, and that they were to abandon Swedish Pomerania as soon as the Norwegian fortresses Frederikshald, Frederiksstad, Kongsvinger
Kongsvinger
is a town and is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger....
and Aggerhuus
Akershus Fortress
Akershus Fortress or Akershus Castle is a medieval castle that was built to protect Oslo, the capital of Norway. It has also been used as a prison.- Construction :...
were handed over. In article XIII, the Swedish king promised the Danish king to negotiate full compensation for the cession of Norway in a pending final peace, and the cession of Swedish Pomerania is described as a "proof" of this intention.
In article XII, the two kings promised to maintain the Norwegian University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
, which was to pass to Sweden according to article IV, and the Pomeranian University of Greifswald, which was to pass to Denmark according to article VII, and confirmed donations made before the exchange. Also, it was agreed in article XX that subjects of the Danish king could choose within the next six years whether they would finally settle in Norway or Denmark, whereby property in the realm which would not become the permanent residence was to be sold only to inhabitants of this realm. This provision was also enacted with respect to Swedish Pomerania. In article XVI, it was agreed that the governors general and all foreign-born officials of the exchanged territories, as long as they did not decide to remain, were removed from their offices. Article XXI obliged the Danish administration to hand over all civilian and military administrative documents and archives concerning Norway.
Article XVII provided for a mutual exchange of all prisoners of war. According to article XV, allied troops were to leave the Danish Duchy of Schleswig
Holstein-Glückstadt
The Duchy of Holstein in Glückstadt was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire. It consisted of the part of Holstein that was ruled by the king of Denmark; its capital was Glückstadt on the River Elbe.-History:...
(Slesvig), but were allowed to remain in the German confederal
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
Duchy of Holstein (Holsten), ruled in 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...
with Denmark and Schleswig, to participate in the encirclement of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. In article XXVII, former Dano-Swedish peaces were confirmed as long as their provisions were not in conflict with the treaty of Kiel, namely the Treaty of Copenhagen (1660), the Treaty of Stockholm (June 1720)
Treaty of Stockholm (Great Northern War)
With the death of Charles XII of Sweden in 1718 it was obvious that the Great Northern War was coming to a close. His successor Frederick I began negotiating the Treaty of Stockholm, which refers to the two treaties signed in 1719 and 1720 that ended the war between Sweden on one side and Hanover...
, the Treaty of Frederiksborg
Treaty of Frederiksborg
The Treaty of Frederiksborg refers to the treaty signed at Frederiksborg Palace on 3 July 1720 that ended the Great Northern War between Sweden and Denmark-Norway. Sweden paid 600,000 Riksdaler in damages, broke the alliance with Holstein and forfeited its right to duty free passage of Öresund...
(July 1720) and the Treaty of Jönköping (1809). A separate article was concerned with the cession of hostilities.
The personal union of Sweden and Norway
On hearing news of the treaty, the Crown Prince of Denmark and Norway, Christian Frederick, the resident viceroy in Norway, founded a Norwegian independence movementNorway in 1814
1814 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...
, most likely with the surreptitious goal of re-unification with Denmark. His initiative was successful, partly due to clandestine support from the Danish Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
, but also because it was supported by prominent and influential Norwegians. They convinced the Prince that it would be unwise to claim the throne as his inheritance. Instead they advised him to assume the regency and call an election of representatives to a constituent assembly.
On 10 April the national assembly met 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 decide on a constitution. Norway eventually declared independence on 17 May 1814, electing Christian Frederick as King. (The seventeen of May is "Syttende mai" or Norwegian Constitution Day
Norwegian Constitution Day
Norwegian Constitution Day is the National Day of Norway and is an official national holiday observed on May 17 each year. Among Norwegians, the day is referred to simply as syttende mai or syttande mai , Nasjonaldagen or Grunnlovsdagen , although the latter is less frequent.- Historical...
that is celebrated by Norwegians at home and abroad.) A short war with Sweden later that year led to the abdication of Christian Frederik in October. After having made the necessary amendments to the constitution, the Norwegian Storting on 4 November elected Charles XIII of Sweden
Charles XIII of Sweden
Charles XIII & II also Carl, , was King of Sweden from 1809 and King of Norway from 1814 until his death...
as King of Norway, creating the union between Sweden and Norway
Union between Sweden and Norway
The Union between Sweden and Norway , officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, consisted of present-day Sweden and Norway between 1814 and 1905, when they were united under one monarch in a personal union....
.
Swedish Pomerania
Due to the refusal of Norway to subordinate itself to the Swedish king, Charles XIII of SwedenCharles XIII of Sweden
Charles XIII & II also Carl, , was King of Sweden from 1809 and King of Norway from 1814 until his death...
did not hand over Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...
to Frederick VI of Denmark
Frederick VI of Denmark
Frederick VI reigned as King of Denmark , and as king of Norway .-Regent of Denmark:Frederick's parents were King Christian VII and Caroline Matilda of Wales...
. The problem was solved at the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
, when the Great Powers followed a plan worked out by Karl August von Hardenberg
Karl August von Hardenberg
Karl August Fürst von Hardenberg was a Prussian statesman and Prime Minister of Prussia. While during his late career he acquiesced to reactionary policies, earlier in his career he implemented a variety of Liberal reforms...
, prime minister of the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, who proposed a ring exchange of territories and payments between the Kingdom of Denmark
Kingdom of Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark or the Danish Realm , is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting of Denmark proper in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. Denmark is the hegemonial part, where the...
, the Kingdom of Hanover
Kingdom of Hanover
The Kingdom of Hanover was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg , and joined with 38 other sovereign states in the German...
(ruled in personal union with Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
), the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
and the Kingdom of Sweden.
According to Hardenberg's plan, Prussia ceded East Frisia
East Frisia
East Frisia or Eastern Friesland is a coastal region in the northwest of the German federal state of Lower Saxony....
with Emden
Emden
Emden is a city and seaport in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia; in 2006, the city had a total population of 51,692.-History:...
to Hanover, and in exchange received from Hanover the Duchy of Lauenburg. This duchy was then handed over from Prussia to Denmark, along with an additional payment of 3.5 million talers. Prussia also took over a Danish debt to Sweden of 600,000 talers, and agreed on an additional payment of 2 million talers to Sweden. Denmark and Sweden in turn relinquished their claims to Swedish Pomerania in favour of Prussia. Charles XIII of Sweden then released his Pomeranian subjects from their obligations towards Sweden on 1 October 1815, and on 23 October the province was handed over to von Ingersleben, president of Prussian Pomerania
Province of Pomerania (1653–1815)
The Province of Pomerania was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia, the later Kingdom of Prussia. After the Thirty Years' War, the province consisted of Farther Pomerania. Subsequently, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land, Draheim, and Swedish Pomerania south of the Peene river were joined into the province...
.
East Greenland case
Between 1931 and 1933, Norway contested the Danish possession of all of Greenland at the Permanent Court of International JusticePermanent Court of International Justice
The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1922 , the Court was initially met with a good reaction from states and academics alike, with many cases submitted to it for its first decade of...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. As of December 2008, this was the only case where possession of a polar territory was ever decided by an international court.
The Norwegian side argued that Denmark did not hold rights to any part of the island where she did not exact actual sovereignty, and accordingly proclaimed a Norwegian Eirik Raudes Land in eastern Greenland on 10 July 1931, which had been occupied in the previous month. On 5 April 1933 however, the court ruled that on the basis of the treaty of Kiel and subsequent treaties, Denmark was the sovereign over the whole of Greenland.