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Norway's Swedish Invasion

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In the 13th century Oslo emerged as a center of power. It continued to flourish until 1387 when the Norwegian royal line died out, coinciding with a recession following the Black Plague in 1349, which wiped out nearly half the population. 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. In 1397 Norway was absorbed into a union with Denmark that lasted over 400 years. As Norway was the weaker part of a union that kept all of its royal, intellectual and administrative power in Copenhagen, Denmark. Norway was relinquished to Sweden in 1814. Other factors also contributed to Norway’s decline in this period. With the introduction of Protestantism in 1537, 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 the cultural and economic life of the rest of Europe. Additionally, Norway saw its land area decrease in the 17th century with the loss of the provinces Bahuslen, Jemtland, and Herjedalen to Sweden, as a result of Norway being attacked by England, it entered into an alliance with Napoleon and in 1814, Norway found itself on the losing side in the Napoleonic Wars and in dire economic conditions. That same year a defiant Norway - fed up with forced unions - adopted its own constitution, but its struggle for independence was quelled by a Swedish invasion. In the end, Norwegians were allowed to keep their new constitution but were forced to accept the Swedish king.

Norway’s growing dissatisfaction with the union with Sweden during the late 19th century, combined with National Romanticism and the growing national culture coming from it, led to the termination of the union on June 7, 1905. At this time, the Norwegian government offered the throne of Norway to the Danish Prince Carl. After a referendum validating the monarchy, the Parliament unanimously elected him king. He took the name of Haakon VII, after the medieval kings of independent Norway. In 1913, Norwegian women gained suffrage.

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