|
Archaeological finds indicate
that there were people in Norway as early as the 10th millennium BC (12,000
years ago). Archaeological research shows that they came from either
southern regions (northern Germany), or from the north-east (northern
Finland or Russia). From there they settled along the coastline.
In the 9th century it seems that Norway consisted of a number of petty
kingdoms. According to tradition, Harald Fairhair gathered the small
kingdoms into one in 872AD with the Battle of Hafrsfjord. He became the
first king of a united Norway.
The Viking age (8th to 11th centuries) was one of unification and expansion.
Norwegians established settlements on Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland
and parts of Britain and Ireland, and attempted to settle at L'Anse aux
Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada (the "Vinland" of the Saga of Eric the Red).
Norwegians founded the modern-day Irish cities of Limerick, Dublin, and
Waterford[citation needed] and established trading communities near the
Celtic settlements of Cork and Dublin[citation needed] which later became
Ireland's two most important cities. The spread of Christianity in Norway in
this period is in large part attributed to the missionary kings Olav
Trygvason (995–1000) and St. Olav (1015–1028), although Haakon the Good was
Norway's first Christian king. Norse traditions were slowly replaced during
the 9th and 10th centuries.
Also, in 1349, the Black Death killed between 40% and 50% of the Norwegian
population,[3] causing a decline in both society and economics. During this
decline, it is probable that the Fairhair dynasty died out in 1387.
Ostensibly, royal politics at the time resulted in several personal unions
between the Nordic countries, eventually bringing the thrones of Norway,
Denmark, and Sweden under the control of Queen Margrethe when the country
entered into the Kalmar Union with Denmark and Sweden. Suddenly, Sweden
declared its independence in 1523, but Norway remained under the Oldenburg
dynasty for 434 years until 1814. During the national romanticism of the
19th century, this period was by some referred to as the "400-Year Night",
since all of the kingdom's royal, intellectual, and administrative power was
centred in Copenhagen, Denmark. However, it must be said that the common
people of Norway had more freedom and paid lower taxes than the Danish
people because it was difficult for royal bureaucracy to have strict control
over its distant Norwegian provinces. Other factors also contributed to
Norway's decline in this period. With the introduction of Protestantism in
1537, the archbishopric in Trondheim was dissolved, and the church's incomes
were distributed to the court in Copenhagen in Denmark instead. Norway lost
the steady stream of pilgrims to the relics of St. Olav at the Nidaros
shrine, and with them, much of the contact with cultural and economic life
in the rest of Europe. Additionally, Norway saw its land area decrease in
the 17th century with the loss of the provinces Båhuslen, Jemtland, and
Herjedalen to Sweden, as a result of the wars between Denmark–Norway and
Sweden.
After Denmark–Norway was attacked by Great Britain, it entered into an
alliance with Napoleon, and in 1814 found itself on the losing side in the
Napoleonic Wars and in dire conditions and mass starvation in 1812. The
Dano-Norwegian Oldenburg king was forced to cede Norway to the king of
Sweden, while the old Norwegian provinces of Iceland, Greenland and the
Faroe Islands remained with the Danish crown. Norway took this opportunity
to declare independence, adopted a constitution based on American and French
models, and elected the Danish crown prince Christian Fredrik as king on May
17, 1814. However, Sweden militarily forced Norway into a personal union
with Sweden, establishing the Bernadotte dynasty as rulers of Norway. Under
this arrangement, Norway kept its liberal constitution and independent
institutions, except for the foreign service. See also Norway in 1814.
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 movement covered all branches of culture, including
literature (Henrik Wergeland, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Peter Christen
Asbjørnsen, Jørgen Moe, Henrik Ibsen), painting (Hans Gude, Adolph Tiedemand),
music (Edvard Grieg), and even language policy, where attempts to define a
native written language for Norway led to today's two official written forms
for Norwegian: Bokmål and Nynorsk.
Christian Michelsen, a Norwegian shipping magnate and statesman, was Prime
Minister of Norway from 1905 to 1907. Michelsen is most known for his
central role in the peaceful separation of Norway from Sweden on June 7,
1905. Norway's growing dissatisfaction with the union with Sweden during the
late 19th century combined with nationalism to prompt the dissolution of the
union. After a national referendum confirmed the people's preference for a
monarchy over a republic, the Norwegian government offered the throne of
Norway to the Danish Prince Carl and Parliament unanimously elected him
king. He took the name of Haakon VII, after the medieval kings of
independent Norway. In 1898, all men were granted universal suffrage,
followed by all women in 1913.
During World War I, Norway was a neutral country. Norway also attempted to
claim neutrality during World War II, but was invaded by German forces on
April 9, 1940. The Allies also had plans to invade Norway, in order to take
advantage of her strategically important Atlantic coast, but were thwarted
by the German operation. Norway was unprepared for the German surprise
attack, but military resistance continued for two months, longer than any
country invaded by the Germans, save the Soviet Union. During the Norwegian
campaign, the Kriegsmarine lost many ships including the brand new cruiser
Blücher. The battles of Vinjesvingen and Hegra eventually became the last
strongholds of Norwegian resistance in southern Norway in May, while the
armed forces in the north launched an offensive against the German forces in
the Battles of Narvik, until they were forced to surrender on June 10 after
losing allied help following the fall of France. King Haakon and the
Norwegian government continued the fight from exile in Rotherhithe, London.
On the day of the invasion, the collaborative leader of the small
National-Socialist party Nasjonal Samling — Vidkun Quisling — tried to seize
power, but was forced by the German occupiers to step aside. Real power was
wielded by the leader of the German occupation authority, Reichskommissar
Josef Terboven. Quisling, as minister president, later formed a
collaborationist government under German control. During the five years of
Nazi occupation, Norwegians built a strong resistance movement which fought
the German occupation forces with both armed resistance and civil
disobedience. More important to the Allied war effort, however, was the role
of the Norwegian merchant navy. At the time of the invasion, Norway had the
fourth largest (as well as fastest and most effective) merchant navy in the
world.page 93 It was led by the Norwegian shipping company Nortraship under
the Allies throughout the war and took part in every war operation from the
evacuation of Dunkirk to the Normandy landings.
Following the war, the Social Democrats came to power and ruled the country
for much of the cold war. Norway joined NATO in 1949, and became a close
ally of the United States. Two plebiscites to join the European Union failed
by narrow margins in 1972 and 1994. Large reserves of oil and gas were
discovered in the 1960s, which lead to a continuing boom in the economy. |
