June 7, 1905: The Norway-Sweden Dissolution

King Haakon VII of Norway

June 7, 1905: The Union between Norway and Sweden is dissolved. They have been 2 separate countries ever since.

From the establishment of the Kalmar Union in 1397 until the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648, Sweden was a legitimate world power, with the descendants of the Vikings giving them what was, at the time, the world's greatest navy.

The Kalmar Union was dissolved in 1524, leaving Norway as part of Denmark. Briefly following the 1814 fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, with whom Denmark was allied, Norway was independent. But the Convention of Moss formed the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway.

Under this format, Norway was again under the rule of a neighbor, in a "personal union": Norway was a country within the Kingdom of Sweden. They had their own parliament, judiciary, legal system, armed forces, flag and currency.

But King Charles XIII of Sweden was also the King of Norway, and thus their head of state, with some power over Norway, including control of their foreign policy. He was followed in 1818 by King Charles XIV John, in 1844 by King Oscar I, in 1859 by King Charles XV, and in 1872 by King Oscar II. (Oscar II is the man for whom the King Oscar brand of sardines was named.)

There largely existed feelings of goodwill between the two peoples, and the two Charleses and the two Oscars generally tried to act in the interest of both Kingdoms. But, in time, differences became more pronounced. We now tend to think of Sweden, and Scandinavia as a whole, as being politically liberal. At the time, Norway was. But Sweden was considerably more conservative. And Oscar II was occasionally vetoing laws passed by the Storting, Norway's parliament. As Felix Unger of The Odd Couple might have said, "Oh, Oscar, Oscar, Oscar!"

King Oscar II of Sweden

Norwegians also came to believe that their foreign policy interests were inadequately served by Sweden's ministry of foreign affairs. The Norwegian economy was more dependent on foreign trade, and thus more sensitive to Sweden's protectionism. Due to distance, Norway's trade and other links were stronger with Britain, and Sweden's were with Germany. And while Sweden's business dealings were mainly within Europe, Norway's were worldwide.

In early 1905, Norwegian Prime Minister Christian Michelsen formed a coalition government consisting of liberals and conservatives, whose only stated objective was to establish a separate Norwegian corps of consuls. The law was passed by the Norwegian parliament.

Christian Michelsen

As expected, and probably as planned, King Oscar vetoed the laws, and the Michelsen government tendered its resignation. The King refused to accept the resignations, so Michelsen and his ministers refused to countersign his decision. They returned to the capital of Christiania on June 7, 1905, triggering a constitutional crisis. (Christiania was renamed Oslo in 1925.)

Later that day, the Storting voted unanimously to dissolve the union with Sweden, taking the line that Oscar had effectively abandoned his role as King of Norway by refusing to appoint a replacement government. It also empowered the Michelsen cabinet to act as a caretaker government until further notice, vesting it with the executive authority normally vested in the crown.

The Swedish government could have overreacted to this by declaring war on Norway. But they hadn't had a war since the Napoleonic Wars in 1814. (And they still haven't: They stayed neutral through both World Wars, and Germany, already a major trading partner, pretty much left them alone both times.) Instead, it asked for a Norwegian plebiscite. The Norwegian government had anticipated this, and had already scheduled one for August 13, thus avoiding the appearance that it had been called in response to demands from Sweden. The Yes vote was 368,208. The No vote was 184. The Yes side won with 99.95 percent of the vote.

Within Sweden, there was much more support for letting Norway go than keeping it, and the Social Democratic Party led demonstrations against the possibility of war. Polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen lobbied for British support for Norwegian independence, and got it. France, Germany, Russia and Italy soon followed. Swedish conservatives wanted a war, but King Oscar decided it wasn't worth it.

On September 23, negotiators at Karlstad, Sweden completed an agreement for the dissolution. Norway's parliament approved it on October 9. Sweden's followed on October 13. On October 26, King Oscar II renounced all claims of himself and his descendants to the Norwegian throne.

On November 13, there was a 2nd plebiscite, and the voters of Norway chose a monarchy instead of a republic. On November 18, the crown was offered to Prince Carl of Denmark. He was the grandson of that country's King Christian IX, and thus had family ties to the royal houses of Denmark and Sweden. His wife, Princess Maud, was the daughter of King Edward VII of Britain. And he already had a son, Prince Alexander, to continue the line of succession.

After gaining the consent of his royal grandfather, Prince Carl accepted the crown, and, seeking a traditional Norwegian regnal name, became King Haakon VII. (Haakon VI died in 1380.) He reigned until his death in 1957, and Prince Alexander took the name King Olav V. He reigned until his death in 1991, and his son became King Harald V. Since the divide, Norway has had only those 3 monarchs.

King Oscar II of Sweden died in 1907. His son became King Gustav V. He reigned until 1950, and his son became King Gustav VI Adolf. Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, son of Gustav VI, predeceased both his father and his grandfather, dying in a plane crash in 1947. But he already had a son, and when Gustav VI died in 1973, the Duke's son became King Carl XVI Gustaf.

As of June 7, 2022, Norway and Sweden have peacefully coexisted for 107 years, and Harald V of Norway and Carl XVI Gustaf are still on their respective thrones. Harald is 85 years old, and since 2003 has battled illnesses that have seen his son, Crown Prince Haakon, act as regent. He would, presumably, become King Haakon VIII.

The 1974 Instrument of Government, passed by the Swedish parliament, stripped Carl XVI of most of the power that Swedish monarchs previously had, so, like Harald and most of his other European counterparts, he is limited to ceremonial roles. He is 76. A 1980 law abolishing absolute primogeniture means that his daughter, Crown Princess Victoria, became Duchess of Västerbotten, and stands to become Sweden's 1st Queen regnant since Ulrika Eleonora died in 1741.

Harald V, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Philippe of the Belgians, and Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg are all direct descendants of Oscar II.

Christian Michelsen served as the 1st Prime Minister of a fully independent Norway until October 23, 1907, resigning because the government had already descended into petty squabbles. He lived until 1925.

Here are the places generally considered part of Scandinavia, and their historic affiliations:

* Norway: Original unification, 872-1397; Kalmar Union, 1397-1524; Denmark-Norway, 1524-1814; Kingdom of Norway, February 25 to November 4, 1814; the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, 1814-1905; Kingdom of Norway, 1905-present. Norway was occupied by Nazi Germany from April 9, 1940 to May 8, 1945, V-E Day.

* Sweden: Original unification, 970-1397; Kalmar Union, 1397-1523; Kingdom of Sweden, 1523-1814; the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, 1814-1905; Kingdom of Sweden, 1905-present. As I said, Sweden stayed neutral, but trade-friendly to Germany, so the Nazis never invaded.

* Finland: Under Swedish rule, 1150-1809; Grand Duchy of Finland, within the Russian Empire, 1809-1917; Republic of Finland, 1917-present. Since the Finns hated the Russians, they sided with the Nazis during World War II, although they never had concentration camps or other anti-Jewish measures. Since independence, Finland had never had a monarchy, despite appearing to have one in the film King Ralph.

* Denmark: Original unification, around AD 500; Kalmar Union, 1397-1524; Denmark-Norway, 1524-1814; Kingdom of Denmark, 1814-present. The Nazis also began occupying Denmark on April 9, 1940, and gave it up on May 5, 1945, 3 days before D-Day.

* Greenland: Under Danish control since around 900.

* Faroe Islands: Under Danish control since around 1000.

* Iceland: Under Danish control, 874-1918; Kingdom of Iceland, with King Christian X of Denmark also reigning over Iceland, 1918-1944; Republic of Iceland, 1944-present.

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June 7, 1905 was a Wednesday. James J. Braddock, the "Cinderella Man" who was Heavyweight Champion of the World from 1935 to 1937, was born. And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-3 at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. Christy Mathewson was the winning pitcher. Honus Wagner went 1-for-4.

* The Brooklyn Superbas, who became the Dodgers in 1911, lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 at The Palace of the Fans in Cincinnati.

* The Boston Americans, who became the Red Sox in 1908, beat the St. Louis Browns, 2-1 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 8-0 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia. Nick Altrock pitched a 7-hit shutout.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Boston Braves, 10-2 at the West Side Grounds in Chicago.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-4 at Robison Field in St. Louis.

* The Detroit Tigers and the Washington Senators were rained out at American League Park in Washington. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 23. The Senators swept, 8-5 and 3-1.

* And the New York Highlanders, who became the Yankees in 1913, and the Cleveland Naps, who became the Indians in 1915 and the Guardians in 2022, were rained out at Hilltop Park in Upper Manhattan. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 28. New York won the opener, 9-4; while Cleveland won the nightcap, 3-1 in 10 innings.