_The Union With Sweden_
The first Storthing (Parliament), after the union had been
accomplished, remained in session a year, and together with the Swedish
Diet adopted the "Act of Union," or Rigsakt (1815), based upon the
Norwegian Constitution and defining the terms of the union. At the
same time the Supreme Court of Norway was established in Christiania.
The Bank of Norway was established at Throndhjem in 1816. At the death
of Charles XIII., in 1818, Charles John ascended the throne of both
countries as Charles XIV. John.
On several occasions there was friction between the king and the
Norwegian Storthing. At the treaty of Kiel, Charles John had promised
that Norway would assume a part of the Norwegian-Danish public debt;
but as the Norwegians had never acknowledged this treaty, they held
that it was not their duty to pay any part of the debt, and declared
besides that Norway was not able to do so. But as the powers had agreed
to help Denmark to enforce her claims, a compromise was effected in
1821, by which the Storthing agreed to pay three million dollars, the
king relinquishing his civil list for a certain number of years. The
same Storthing adopted the law abolishing the nobility in Norway. This
step was also strongly opposed by Charles John, but as it had been
adopted by three successive Storthings, the act under the Constitution
became a law in spite of any veto. It was believed by many that the
manoeuvres of Norwegian and Swedish troops and the Swedish fleet,
which was collected at Christiania at the time that these matters were
under consideration, had been called together by the king in order to
intimidate the Storthing.
For a number of years there existed a want of confidence between the
king and the Norwegian people. The king did not like the democratic
spirit of the Norwegians, and the reactionary tendencies of his
European allies had quite an influence upon his actions. In 1821 he
proposed ten amendments to the Constitution, looking to an increase
of the royal power, among which was one giving the king an absolute
instead of a suspensive veto; another giving him the right to appoint
the presidents of the Storthing, and a third authorizing him to
dissolve the Storthing at any time. But these amendments met the
most ardent opposition in the Storthing, especially from the former
cabinet-minister, Christian Krogh, and were unanimously rejected by the
Storthing in 1824. The king renewed these propositions before several
successive Storthings, but they were each time rejected.
When the Norwegians commenced to celebrate the anniversary of the
adoption of the Constitution (May 17), the king thought he saw in this
a sign of a disloyal spirit, because they did not rather celebrate the
union with Sweden, and he forbade the public celebration of the day.
The result of this was that "Independence Day" was celebrated with so
much greater eagerness. The students at the university especially took
an active part under the leadership of that champion of liberty, the
poet Henrik Wergeland (born 1808, died 1845). The unwise prohibition
was the cause of the "market-place battle" in Christiania, May 17,
1829, when the troops were called out, and General Wedel dispersed
the crowds that had assembled in the market-place. There was also
dissatisfaction in Norway, because a Swedish viceroy (Statholder) was
placed at the head of the government, and because their ships had to
sail under the Swedish flag.
The French July Revolution of 1830, which started the liberal movement
throughout Europe, also had its influence in Norway. Liberal newspapers
were established at the capital, and the democratic character of the
Storthing became more pronounced, especially after 1833, when the
farmers commenced to take an active part in the elections. Prominent
among them was Ole Gabriel Ueland. The king was so displeased with
the majority in the Storthing of 1836 that he suddenly dissolved it;
but the Storthing answered this action by impeaching the Minister of
State, Lövenskiold, for not having dissuaded the king from taking such
a step. Lövenskiold was sentenced to pay a fine. The king then yielded
and reconvened the Storthing. He also took a step toward conciliating
the Norwegians by appointing their countryman, Count Wedel-Jarlsberg,
as viceroy. This action was much appreciated in Norway. During the last
years of this reign there existed the best of understanding between
the king and the people. Charles John's great benevolence tended to
increase the affection of the people, and he was sincerely mourned at
his death, March 8, 1844, Charles XIV. John being then eighty years old.
Charles John was succeeded by his son, Oscar I., who very soon won
the love of the Norwegians. One of his first acts was to give Norway
her own commercial flag and other outward signs of her equality
with Sweden. His father had always signed himself "King of Sweden
and Norway"; but King Oscar adopted the rule to sign all documents
pertaining to the government of Norway as "King of Norway and Sweden."
During the war between Germany and Denmark, King Oscar gathered a
Swedish-Norwegian army in Scania, and he succeeded in arranging the
armistice of Malmoe in 1848. The war broke out anew, however, the
following year, and he then occupied northern Schleswig with Norwegian
and Swedish troops, pending the negotiations for peace between Germany
and Denmark. During the Crimean War, King Oscar made a treaty with
England and France (1855), by which the latter powers promised to
help Sweden and Norway in case of any attack from Russia. General
contentment prevailed during the happy reign of King Oscar, and the
prosperity, commerce and population of the country increased steadily.
These satisfactory conditions did not, however, result in any weakening
of the national feeling, and the Storthing, in 1857, declined to
promote a plan, prepared by a joint Swedish and Norwegian commission,
looking to a strengthening of the union. After a sickness of two years,
during which his eldest son, Crown Prince Charles, had charge of the
government as prince-regent, King Oscar I. died in July, 1859, at
the age of sixty years. He was married to Josephine of Leuchtenberg,
daughter of Napoleon's stepson, Engene Beauharnais.
Charles XV. was thirty-three years old when he ascended the throne. The
progress in the material welfare of the country was continued during
his reign, and, like his father, he was very popular. Numerous roads
and railways were started, all parts of the country were connected by
telegraph, and the merchant marine grew to be one of the largest in the
world. In 1869 a law was passed providing for annual sessions of the
Storthing instead of triennial as heretofore.
The first Storthing under Charles XV., with only two negative votes,
resolved to abolish the right of the king to appoint a viceroy
(Statholder) for Norway. This action of the Storthing enraged the
ruling party in the Swedish Diet, who claimed a right to be consulted
in this matter, in which they considered that Sweden had an interest,
and they demanded a revision of the terms of the union. A serious
conflict was avoided for the time being, the king vetoing the
resolution of the Storthing. Not till 1865 were negotiations opened for
a revision. A joint committee was appointed to prepare a plan; but the
question was not solved, for the Storthing, in 1870, rejected the plan
proposed by the committee.
Charles XV. died September 18, 1872, and, having no sons, was succeeded
by his younger brother, Oscar II. The king and the Storthing at first
showed themselves mutually accommodating. The Storthing appropriated
the necessary funds for the expense of the coronation at Throndhjem
(July 18, 1873), while the king sanctioned the bill abolishing the
office of Statholder. But in 1880 the difference between the Storthing
and the ministry had brought on a sharp conflict. The liberal majority
of the Storthing, in order to introduce parliamentarism, had three
times adopted an amendment to the Constitution admitting the cabinet
ministers to participation in the debates of the Storthing, and each
time the measure had been vetoed by the king. The king, supported by
the conservative party and by the opinion of the faculty of law of
the university, claimed that the Constitution was a contract between
the people and the royal house, and could not, therefore, be changed
without the sanction of the king, who thus had an absolute veto in the
matter of amendments to the Constitution. The liberal party claimed
that in constitutional amendments, as well as in the matter of ordinary
laws, the king had only a suspensive veto; and on the 9th of June,
1880, the Storthing adopted a resolution declaring that the amendment
providing for the attendance of the cabinet ministers at the meetings
of the Storthing was law in spite of the veto. The conflict steadily
grew sharper, and in 1883 the members of the ministry (headed by
Minister of State Selmer) were impeached for failure to promulgate
the resolution of June 9, 1880. The ministers were found guilty and
removed from office in the spring of 1884. The king once more tried a
ministry which was not in accord with the majority of the Storthing,
the so-called April Ministry, headed by Schweigaard; but the latter
soon resigned, and in June, 1884, the king finally called upon Johan
Sverdrup, the acknowledged leader of the liberal majority (the Left),
to form a ministry.
The king now signed the constitutional amendment, and Sverdrup and
his colleagues took their seats in the Storthing. For a time the
legislative and the executive power worked in harmony, and several
liberal reforms were introduced. A reorganization of the army in
accordance with the views of the majority was brought about, the
suffrage was extended, and trial by jury was introduced. In 1887,
however, when the government introduced a bill for a new church-law, a
division in the party of the left had taken place, and Sverdrup found
himself without a majority in the Storthing. He retained office
until after the elections of 1888, which resulted in three legislative
parties, the "Left," the "Moderate," and the Conservative, or "Right."
Neither of them had a majority in the Storthing. Sverdrup resigned
(July, 1889), and the Conservative leader, Emil Stang, formed a new
ministry. At the elections in 1891, the "pure left," having made a
separate consular service independent of Sweden the main issue of the
campaign, again obtained a majority, and their leader, Rector Steen,
became the chief of the new ministry. The principal occasion of this
movement was the rapid increase in Norwegian commercial interests,
which, as was claimed, were imperfectly protected by a joint consular
service.
The Steen Ministry resigned in May, 1893, and a ministry from the
minority was formed by Stang. On June 7, 1895, the Storthing adopted a
resolution declaring that, with a ministry possessing the confidence
of the Storthing, it would be willing to negotiate with Sweden for a
peaceable settlement of the matters in dispute. A coalition ministry,
consisting of members from each of the three political groups and
headed by Hagerup, was appointed in October, 1895, and a joint Swedish
and Norwegian Union Committee was chosen to adjust disputed points.
This committee, having failed to reach any agreement, was discharged in
1897.
At the elections of 1897 the left obtained an increased majority in
the Storthing, and, in February, 1898, the Hagerup Ministry resigned,
and Steen was again placed at the head of a ministry. The Storthing of
1898-99 adopted a constitutional amendment extending the suffrage to
all male citizens who have attained the age of twenty-five years. A
bill was also passed, for the third time, removing from the Norwegian
merchant flag the "union jack," the symbol of the union with Sweden.
This bill was twice vetoed by the king; but, after its third passage,
was promulgated, having been passed, according to the Constitution,
over the royal veto.
The secession movement was largely in abeyance during the years
1900-1902, owing to the popular fear of a Russian invasion. However,
in 1903, the anti-union sentiment again came strongly to the front,
reaching an acute stage in March, 1905, when a new cabinet, headed
by Peter Christian Michelson, was formed. A bill demanding separate
consular service was again passed by the Storthing, only to be vetoed
by the Swedish crown. Compromise measures were proposed and rejected.
In June the cabinet offered its resignation, which was refused by the
King on the ground that a new ministry could not be formed in the
existing state of feeling in Norway. The cabinet, thereupon, delegated
its powers to the Storthing, which immediately passed a resolution
declaring the dissolution of union between Sweden and Norway on the
ground of the King's inability to conduct the government and his
constructive relinquishment of authority. At the same time a letter
was addressed to the King of Sweden expressing Norway's desire for
the continuation of peaceful relations, and asking that a prince of
the royal house of Sweden be designated as King of Norway. The latter
request was refused, but other matters were adjusted by a joint
commission.
The crown was finally offered to Charles, Crown Prince of Denmark, and
son-in-law of King Edward of England, who was elected by a popular
majority of 259,563 against 69,264, and assumed the throne November
20th under the name Haakon VII.