It was the old Danish King Christian who remained at his post, riding daily through Copenhagen. When a stupid SS man said that it was a disgrace that the king rode alone with no one to protect him, someone replied, "All of us in Copenhagen protect him." That's respect.
The best part is because of Hitler's massive respect for the Scandinavians Viking background the Danes were the only nation (I believe) who had basically no military presence until the Danish government was dissolved in '43.
When you aknowledged Norway was "no pushover" holding the line against germany for 2 months, longer than any other invaded country - a tear came to my eye. As a nurse I know a lot of people that lived during the war. It means alot. Thanks
That's actually incorrect. Of alle the continental countries, Greece lasted the longest at 219 days of resistance, and they fought against 4 countries at once... Norway lasted only 62 days against Germany alone.
Håkon Mo Flataker But you see when Germany invaded Norway Germans took the majority losses with over 5,000 dead and only 2,300 Norwegians died during the invasion while in Greece Germany lost 1,099 men while Greece lost 13,408 men.
@@JMinuteman We're talking length of resistance, not loss of soldiers. According to historical record, Greece resisted for a total of 219 days against Italy, Germany, Bulgaria and Albania between October 1940 and April 1941 when the nazis launched a final, massive attack. It would only make sense that Greece had more casualties, as they had to fight more invading forces than Norway.
Håkon Mo Flataker But you can’t really compare the resistance of both countries since Greece has a bigger population and had more available manpower and also counting that Norway had no idea of such invasion while Greece had known more since they had already been invaded by Italy and had more available manpower and troops while Norway not having an idea wasn’t able to mobilize enough to put up a better resistance so I’m just saying comparing the resistance of Norway and Greece against Germany is quite an unfair comparison.
When Haakon VII faced criticism for appointing a Labour majority to govern after winning the election with fears of revolution, he dispelled doubts by saying "I'm also King of communists.” The Labour Party subsequently dropped republicanism from their platform......
“His Majesty, with his great statesmanship, tactfulness and belief in democracy, completely disarmed even us who are principal republicans” - Christopher Hornsrud, first Labour Prime Minister, appointed by Haakon VII in 1928, speaking about the king following his death in 1957
And he was. In the weeks following the German occupation, communist veterans from Spain were among the volunteers defending an guarding the king, with their lives and weapons. My mother-in-law grew up in northern Norway - in her childhood home, pictures of Lenin and Haakon was hanging side by side.
@@SilverTongueTied Side effects may include annexation, being turned into a puppet state, attempted communist coups and an overabundance of red decorations.
An interesting fact is that the very last act Haakon VII did before leaving for exile in 1940 was that he, personally, took the Norwegian crown and buried it in a cave outside the city of Narvik, stating that “though I may leave, the crown must never leave Norway”. 5 years later, after the liberation, the crown was dug up from that same cave, where I had remained safe and hidden throughout the war
@@ChrisAndrePettersen I cant remember which exact documentary it was, however in a documentary on the British expedition to Norway during WWII on the BBC they stated it, and one of Haakon VII’s British bodyguards, who was interviewed, specifically talked about it. If I find it again I’ll send you the name
@@ChrisAndrePettersen I've never heard of this before. However, after some research I think I found Lord Dim's source. I can't link to the video because of RUclips's overzealous spam filters, but if you search for "Viking: King Haakon of Norway’s Daring Escape in WWII" here on RUclips you should find the video. Skip to about 3 minutes you will find the nephew of at the time the British ambassador Michael Dormer telling a story about king Haakon buried his crown in a cave before he left Tromsø. I must admit that I have a doubt that this is actually true as I can't find any other sources that support this story. WW2 has been a lifelong interest of mine and I have read countless books about WW2 in Norway, and I've never read or heard anything about this before. But hey! It might be a hidden gem of a story so I will continue to search to either verify or disprove this story.
Beautiful fairytale, but there is no historic backing for that. As far as we know, the Crown Jewels of Norway was stored in the Bank of Norway`s vaults in Trondheim. Unknown to the German occupants, luckily. But noone knows for certain, it is a blank in the history books🤷♂️
He was compared to some of the English kings, or in his time the Kaiser in Germany, or Nicolas the II of Russia, who was stubborn and bullheaded and believed he was appointed by God, we know where that got him. Haakon was better because he grew up not expecting to be king. He did not believe he was entitled to the position, and never expected any special treatment. He realized as king he was responsible to the people, and never let his ego take control. He was indeed a rare breed, a honest leader.
You should check out his son; King Olav the fifth and our current king, King Harald the fifth. They are also known for the love they have for their people. We indeed are a lucky bunch.
@@homla8116 It goes both ways. We owe nothing to our royal family, so they sit uneasily, but the love they show is enough for us to allow them to continue their reign. We, the Norwegian people, surely do tolerate, and respect, our royal family. Especially our king and crown prince. Never have they let us down, and we trust that they never will.
@@TheSystemaSystem I remember watching King Haralds speech on the memorial service a month after Utøya and the bombs in Oslo. It was comforting to feel his love for us that day and through it all. We are lucky to have him and I have faith in Haakon as well. Especially after the whole Verret case. 😅
The film 'The King's Choice'(2016) depicts our King Haakon's dilemma during the Nazi invasion in 1940; stay and yield to German demands, or flee to England and continue the resistance. The film includes scenes of the sinking of 'Blücher' and the German attempts to kill the King. A good watch, if you're a history buff. Personally I think the film should have been longer, and included a scene where he embarks the 'Devonshire' in Tromsø and leaves his kingdom. Must have been tough and emotional for him, I imagine.
It's annoying to me that it's called the King's choice in english considering the movie is actuially and (to me more fittingly) named The King's "no" which refers to him obviously telling the germans off for occupying Norway
Sometimes the right person comes along at the right time to take on a role that was essential for their country, Haakon VII was one of them, to be honest all three of Norways kings since independence have been exceptional rulers. Better that he fled and remained a symbol of resistance from abroad rather than risking giving Quisling and Terboven a veneer of legitimacy. Christian X was in a different situation in that Denmark had no chance of resisting the invasion and knew he could use his position to leverage better treatment for the Danes
Christian also had his own little rebellion against the Germans. Christian was a cavalry man, and for many years he had taken a morning ride through Copenhagen every day. After the occupation, he kept that up, just him and his horse, no escorts, wearing his Danish cavalry uniform. Even the German soldiers saluted him with respect, tho he never acknowledged them. Unfortunately in late 1942 he took a serious fall from his horse, that he never fully recovered from. They were truly remarkable, both fully dedicated to serving their country and their ppls. Their families have also remained very close.
Christian X of Denmark decided to stay. He became a symbol for riding his horse through Copenhagen almost every day as a silent protest and to remind the people they were still Danish and still had their king.
Indeed Christian X stayed in Denmark during German occupation, and became as much a symbol of resistance here, as Håkon did in Norway, but then again the situation was very different in the 2 countries, with the Danish government initially cooperating with the occupation.
@@TheSystemaSystem *squeaks happily* To be fair our country is kinda small and cute in that sense, its almost like, if you invade us, your automatically getting a bad reputation, simply because at that point its just bullying a bunch of defenseless potato farmers :3
In English 'All' can mean both 'everything' and 'everyone', so while it may not be the best translation to convey the sense of the phrase clearly, it isn't really incorrect.
I disagree. All is the right translation, as "everything" is a pronoun meaning "all the things". Whereas "all" here is used as a noun with a possessive pronoun and means: "Everything that one is capable of". King Haakon would give everything he was capable of for his country, he would give it all! All for Norway.
I’m half. Mom was full despite the fact that she was 2nd generation American (if I remember correctly). My paternal great grandmother was born 101 years before me. Mom never her any of her grandparents because they were all dead before she as born.
I mean it recommended it to me while I was listening a sabaton song while my only youtube viewings are music and ww1 related channels so the algorithms recommendation idea is a bit... diverse
Yes. 'All for Norway' sounds more like everyone for Norway, but the meaning was that he would give it all, or everything he got for his new homeland. Nice to hear the pronounciation of Norge was corrected when referring to the yacht gifted to the king after the war :)
I'm Norwegian (yes, I know I don't look like one) And my grandmother told me that during WW2 they would hide radios in the attic and listen to King Håkon ❤ I'm glad he left
@@InForTheLonghaul Eh no. Ethnical norwegians have pale skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. Edit 2021: Greit, ser at det er et par nordnemenn og skandinavere som stiller seg uenig til at _alle_ nordmenn har blondt hår og blå øyne. Jeg refererte til den norske etniske steriotypen. Men hvis du e hvit, så vil du jo passere for etnisk norsk 😇
@@angelgray8899 So someone has brown hair and brown/grey/green eyes isn't ethical norwegian, despite having lived in norway their whole life, both of the parents are nowegian, so is the grandparents (on both sides), great grandparents and so forth, is that what you think?
Guess we're gonna have to agree to dissagree. I was adopted to Norway at 3 months old from Latin-Amerina. Ofc I _am_ a norwegian. My culture is norwegian, my language, family, citizenship, and passport is norwegian. And that's cool. But my _ethnicity_ wil always be mestizo, not norwegian. So yeah, on the inside I'll always be norwegian, but on the outside I'll always look like a latin american. And that's great.
@@angelgray8899 Well i guess it makes sense, at least in your case, you just made it seem that you have to be blonde,pale and blue- eyed to be considered etnically a norwegan, which is obviously false. It was that statement i reacted to
Fleeing was the right thing to do for Haakon,his brother also did the right thing staying as it was diffrent situations,also the germans underestemated the norwigans loyalty to their king badly as they tought with Haakon fleeing he be seen as coward but instead Haakon became a beekon for resistanse agenst them
So tru not to mention the king was chosen by the pepol and lived up to his motto and was extreamly populer,Hitlers chose Quisling was hated even by the germans and peticarly Trehoben(not sure how to spell it)so basicly bonud to fail
Wenche Wenche if you want more, diffrent is spelled different, norwigansnis spelled norwegians, resistanse is spelled resistance, agenst is spelled against, tru is true, pepol is people, extreamly is extremely, populer is popular, in this case, in your case its choice not chose and peticarly is particularly.
@@madslorenzen3459 Bishop Bang was of the Norwegian Church, a branch of Lutheranism and therefore not celebrate. in fact he was married and had at least one son Thanks for another great post
0:34 Sorry I'm a history buff and can't help but commenting. _"One of the youngest (...)"_ Norway is one of the oldest countries in Europe, in terms of when its identity or "formation" first happened, which is around 880... that's way long before England, Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia, Baltics, Poland, Turkey, Morocco, Spain, etc etc etc.... _"(...) and smallest"_ In terms of area, it's one of the biggest (and always was)... in terms of population I can agree, at least when comparing to contemporary states before colonial times and after Rome's fall. Alright, now that is out of the way, on we go! _continues to watch_
By youngest he meant it's one of the most recent new countries in Europe. Norway was it's own country before the Dannish union (and all other unions that followed). Norway as it's own country didn't really exist between the 1300s and 1905 and therefor is now a really young country. Despite it existing in the past.
I know alot of ppl in youtube comment sections tell tall tales about their relatives deeds during this time, BUT my grandfather was an actual Norwegian war hero. When I was a kid I remember other old ppl on the street would take of their hats to shake his hand..I was so proud. When i got older i realised how broken he was from the war and he was very difficult to have a relationship with. My dad says he would scream and cry at night and that he was particularly bothered by a young german he had killed during an operation on a bridge called "svartufsbroen" in the area where we are from. He is even mentioned by name(and picture) in a few books about the war here in my area.
I met a Norwegian dude while travelling Europe and he was amazed that I'd heard of the playwright Henrik Ibsen. He assumed English speaking people had never heard of him.
I find this weird, as most Norwegians should know Ibsen's plays are performed world wide. It's basically like saying someone from Britain not knowing Shakespeare is known outside the UK. Did he also not know that A-Ha performed outside Norway?
I disagree. All is the right translation, as "everything" is a pronoun meaning "all the things". Whereas "all" here is used as a noun with a possessive pronoun and means: "Everything that one is capable of". King Haakon would give everything he was capable of for his country, he would give it all! All for Norway.
@@BlueMasteress2012 Well yes and no. Some things are more natural to use in certain types of context, given that this one is a translation it is rather hard. "All for Norway" alone is not something you would say. You would have to elaborate something along the lines of "Give your all for Norway", but even then it's just an idiom. "Everything for Norway" solves this problem completely, as it directly translates the context and meaning of the saying.
I would have still probably fled if I were in his position. Even though I may be leaving my people behind, I can do more good for them from England than from a Nazi jail cell
Didn't the King of Belgium elect to say in Nazi his occupied country? Effectively powerless and under house arrest. You may have to leave but continue to be a thorn in the enemies side.
And even if you manage to live on the run, hiding in cabins on the mountains or whereever, how can you lead the resistance effectively? He did the right thing, and I am sure it was hard for him. Another side of this is that having the head of state seeking refuge in britain gives legitimacy to the allies, and who knows, it might have been good for their motivation to keep on the war efforts
@@stianberg5645 Absolutely, every movement of any kind needs a figure head, a leader, someone who symbolises what the struggle is for. Haakon certainly did that, as did Charles De Gaulle and many others during World War II. The formula is true even today, this is why so much emphasis was placed on capturing of killing Bin Laden and even more recently Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
Unless they could really, really convince the norwegians that Haakon is very bad for the nation, there's pretty much no way in hell they would put him in an actual jail cell. Glorified security, or effectively house arrest would probably be more likely.
As a Norwegian dude, i find this very interesting. I love history, but ive never learned much about the royal familys history. Great work and you definitely deserve a sub from me! 🙌
Great video as always, however the Narvik Campaign were ended as a result of the Battle of France, and having to divert resources. The Norwegians and the expeditionary force had the upper hand on the germans, and the retreat came as a huge disappointment to the soldiers who were there. My grandfather expressed anger in his field notes from the battle. Up till then it was Hitlers first setback in the war. Narvik has streets named after it in France, England, Poland and Holland, so it is not seen as a defeat, but a missed victory.
Yes, those were the actions on land. But there were also two naval battles at Narvik, in which the Nazi Kriegsmarine suffered badly at the hands of the Royal Navy - losing 10 destroyers, 7 cargo ships and a U-boat. The Kriegsmarine also had other warship sinkings during the Norwegian invasion, to the extent that they never really recovered from these losses.
@@VincentComet-l8e And it was those naval losses that in turn influenced the German efforts at an invasion of the UK itself following the fall of France. So in a way the Norwegian Campaign helped spare the UK the ravages of an invasion. (yes, i know the German invasion of the UK would never have succeeded, but it would have further affected the UK's efforts in the war if they had to rebuild their infrastructure following a prolonged ground invasion)
His currently ruling grandson is just as awesome, and an oasis of tempered rationality. His son will make just as good of a King, if not better. Listening to their speeches, they embody the calm,rational,humble, and goodhearted of norway's beloved royal house.
Thank you for this episode. My family fled Norway as we had members active in the resistance and had kill orders put on them and have revered Haakon as an example of a great leader even in times of trouble. We give our all for Norway
@Sander Skovly The nazis invaded Norway near Narvik. She lived close to a town south of Narvik called Mo i Rana. Close enough to not feel safe so she and her mom and dad fled to Sweden
If she fled in 1944 she escaped 4 years after the battles araound Narvik. 100K Norwegians fled to sweden during the war. She didnt need any more reason then to want to live in a free nation. I would have fled had i had the chance.
Simon Whistler has grown to be my favourite speaker, ever. He's interesting, he's got a magnificent beard and moustache, and his voice is just incredibly nice to listen to that said, Simon, keep it up!
@@TTaiiLs you could say he was norwegian .. and his son King Olav (who later became the one we called Folkekongen (Peoples king)), being norwegian does not require being born in Norway only a citizen (and well they where)... :-)
@@arcticblue248 i think a better way to put it is (being (country) does not require being born in (country) only being at heart with the culture.) because in colonial countries like me for example i consider my self to be french and english but my english routes date back to 1902~ and my french go back to 1600-1630~ but i do not consider my self to be first nation even though my route is only from 1920~ my great grand mother because i do not know/do most things from that culture. the only thing i do from my first nation route is not cutting my hair unless their's a big change in my life even then i do not stick to it 100%. i consider my self english and french and canadian and french ontarian. which the french ontarian is just an extantion of france because of the fact that its how i got my french ontarian culture tldr you do not need to live in a country to be called someone of that country. home is were your heart is not were you are
Hi, would first just like to mention that because of the sponsor highlight, the subtitles are off. Secondly I would also like to add that both Håkons son Olav, and his(Olav's) son Harald have also been beloved kings. Olav was especially known for taking the tram with everyone else and being well known for being down to earth. Harald gave an amazing speech and was a unifying figure in the dark days after the Utøya massacre. In general we seem to have been very lucky with our kings so far. Will be interesting to see how the crown prince(also called Håkon) will do in time, but as it currently stands there seems to be little interest in changing from a monarchy to a republic. Although somewhat archaic at times, I still think there is a place for good monarch in modern day europe. Acting as ambassadors, having mostly symbolic power, but still some power, and in general being responsible for most of the national ceremonies. Looking at most presidents around the world I think we will keep our king for a good while still ;) Great video as always :)
I see sooo much King Olav in Crownprince Haakon Magnus, you can see how he is going to be a good king, as a royalist here in Norway I must say that I rather follow a king than some random guy called president that atleast half the people did not vote for. Atleast the king is everyones king, despite what side of politics you are at, he is not a political person, and he would comfort a right winger as a left winger ... King Olav once said when asked about if he was not worried about his security taking the tram. "Security ? I have 4 million guards" ... meaning he knew he was loved by his people, why would they harm him ? That famous photo of him demanding to pay for the ticket taking the train .. its priceless... and was so much him :-) I miss him dearly, I remember christmas siting infront of TV lissening to his speech as a child ... Also I believe from what I have seen Princess Ingrid Alexandra doing I believe one day she will become a good Monarch... when it is her time, her father and mother is good teachers and I am pretty sure that our King and Queen also are good teachers and role models for what to be.
There is a funny story about King Haakon. When he was in exile in the UK, he made regular broadcasts to Norway, courtesy of the BBC World Service. These broadcasts were announced with a Royal fanfare. But not this time. A mix-up meant that instead of a fanfare, there was the sound of a *funfair*. Oops. But King Haakon just smiled, and the first words out of his mouth was "Roll up, roll up, all the fun of the fair" and managed adroitly to incorporate the funfair reference into his speech. After the speech ended, he told his producer it was all he could do to avoid bursting into laughter, which led to a friendship that lasted until Haakon's death. So, not only a great man, but one with a nice sense of humour.
Fun fact I've heard from my mom: We were supposed to breed/raise a dog/few dogs for Queen Maude (this is way back, so we're talking my great-grandfather at least), but they were poisoned and died because someone else was jealous that the task was given to him.
Hi Simon and Shell, keep up your tremendous work!!!: I find this channel one of the most interesting and important on RUclips because you introduce and thoroughly explain the lives of people of history to your viewers. I was wondering if you could please do one on Mikhail Gorbachev. It’s no secret that your audience is interested in history, and I feel like many people who weren’t alive in the late ‘80s don’t know who he is or how influential he was. He is I.M.O. one of the most important and controversial figures of the 20th century, who saw the fall of the Soviet Union when it was not expected and he has a very unique life to tell, and an odd relationship with a U.S. president that was quite bizarre. Keep up the terrific work! - [ ]
I remember in 6th grade we read a novel about Norwegian school kids who transported Norway's gold to waiting ships, sledding it down the mountains to a fjord. I thought they were they most brave and patriotic kids ever; I held them in such high regard.
@@brandonholmes8485I think the book he is taking about is calld "Snow Treasure" according to wikipedia on this book: "The characters and some of the events described are fiction, but the story may have some basis in fact. A cargo of gold bullion, worth $9,000,000, arrived by the freighter Bomma in Baltimore on 28 June 1940. The ship's captain reported that the gold was smuggled past the Germans by Norwegian children on their sleds. The book is often described as being "based on a true story.""
Basically the same happened with Dutch queen Wilhelmina. She and her family fled too and she became a symbol of the resistance. The king of Belgium stayed and he was vilified after the war. I don't know. It always struck me as a bit odd. Also it's easier to be brave from a distance. But I can also see how a state symbol as a monarch falling in enemy's hands can be problematic
Well, the Danish king also stayed, tho he didnt have much choice, as Denmark was overrun, and Livgarden (the King's Garde) were exchanging gunfire with the Germans outside the palace, while the King and Crown Prince were meeting inside with the government on whether to fight and die or try to leverage a surrender. King Christian, an old cavalry man, had always gone on a ride around Copenhagen every morning, when in residence. He kept that up after the German occupation, just him and his horse, wearing his old Danish cavalry uniform. A quiet rebellion against the Germans and a great inspiration to the Danish ppl. Even the German soldiers saluted him with respect, tho he never acknowledged them. I dont know anything about the Belgian king, maybe he was not seen to be doing something to inspire the ppl or be a gathering force?
As a native Norwegian, I can attest that your pronaunciation of Norwegian is really very good, sir! :) And thank you for this excellent video on our first, modern age, king.
Thank you Simon! This video caused me to recognize "The King's Choice" while browsing Amazon Prime, and excitedly watch it. I really enjoyed this lesser-known story of WW2 resistors, and was reminded of "Snow Treasure", which I read as a kid, (was also about Norwegian resistance to Nazis). Without your video, I may have flipped past an obscure non-Hollywood foreign film, so Thanks again!
Next time do his older brother, King Christian X of Denmark! One of the greatest kings Denmark ever had! He also stayed after the German invasion and helped save the danish Jews among other things.
At 12:10, King Håken did *not* start the tradition of the annual children's parade on the national day, 17 May. Henrik Wergeland is considered the "King of 17 May" for his popularization in the 1820's to 1840's of celebrating the 1814 signing of the constitution and by including children in those celebrations. However, while Matthias Conrad Peterson was the first to organize a public celebration in Trondheim (including a community parade), it was Peter Qvam with publicity assistance from Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who started already in 1870 what we know today as the children's parade, going from Akershus festning to the Castle. In fact, it was the 17th of May children's parade that inspired the founding of the first school band at Møllergata Skole in Oslo in 1901, which first marched and played in the parade in 1902, which is the format we still have today (school bands followed by additional kids from that school). The King further popularized and promoted the children's parade, but he did not start that tradition.
The Swedish House of Bernadotte was descended from a French general of Napoleon, who got adopted by the King of Sweden because there was no clear heir to the throne.
This man deserved his title. He was a worthy King for his people. And so was his brother, the King of Denmark, and Haakon's son Olav. Whatever their upbringing was, they learned how to lead. Olav wanted to stay in Norway and lead the resistance, and his father had to order him to leave for Britain.
As Olav was a single child, securing succession was important. This dilemma for the King and Crown Prince is dramatized in the movie "The Kings choice!".
I would LOVE to see queen Wilhelmina of Netherlands here as well. She was also a great resistance leader during WWII. I believe Churchill even called her the only man within exiled leaders.
1:05 - Chapter 1 - Prince carl 4:05 - Chapter 2 - Aakon 8:00 - Mid roll ads 9:55 - Chapter 3 - A chosen son for an independent kingdom 13:40 - Chapter 4 - The neutral ally 16:55 - Chapter 5 - Between 2 wars 19:00 - Chapter 6 - The voice of the resistance 24:00 - Chapter 7 - Return of the chosen son
Amazing video! My grandfather was part of the Norwegian government and fled with king, saving the Norwegian gold reserves from getting into Nazi hands. And you cracked me up with your Bishop Bang comment!
Can you do a video on Klaus Barbie? He was the head of the Gestapo in Lyon, France, and was recruited by the U.S. for counterintelligence work (aka spreading anti-communism in Europe) after World War 2.
Funfact about the sinking of Blücher. We didnt know who was coming, if they were friend or foe. No orders or messages had told the fortresses. They had no orders to shoot. The men in Oskars borg were mostly new recruits. The Colonel that gave the order to shoot made a calculated risk. "Either I will be Court-martialed or I will be a war hero. Fire".
I hope this channel only continues to succeed, so that we can continue to get these amazing videos!! I watch almost every video even if I don’t know who The protagonist is/like them. Your voice, personality, and sense of humor always just grabs my attention. The amount of information and research squeezed in to a single video is amazing! So, thank you Simon! Love your videos!
At the age of 25 i learned that my ancestors did not surrender at once, but fought for their freedom and country. I always made a light-hearted joke about how King Haakon was the reason my town was bombed. But seeing the kind of character he had, made me even more grateful and patriotic. Thank you for the learning experience, and Happy new year.
Great vlog as always. His brother Carl X of Denmark had no say. He woke up to a gun pointing at his head and was asked to surrender. He did. For the rest of the war he rode his horse thru the streets of Copenhagen with no bodyguards. Queen Maud had the smallest waist in Oslo, 33 cm! In 1955 Haakon VII got a hip fracture, and did not manage to recover. Now you know!
In answer to the last question, The Danish King stayed in Denmark during the occupation of the nazis. FYI when the germans demanded that the jews of Denmark wear the Star of David, the king said if one Dane must wear the star then all Danes should wear the Star. The germans rescinded the order when all the people followed the kings example.
Im Norwegian so thank you for making a video of my king and his past and his family and how he came to be now i know more about my king and his family thanks👍🥳🇳🇴
Adam Robinson it was more like they told the Germans that they would surrender but to please let them put up a symbolic resistance for a couple of days. The Germans obliged and there were no heavy fighting and Denmark took the opportunity to ship off all the Jews to Sweden.
Also Leopold III of Belgium, although in his case it caused quite a big controversy (so big it eventually led to his abdication, 6 years after the end of the war).
@@adamrobinson2509 It was only about 2 hours, not that he really had any real choice, at the time of the surrender, the tiny danish airforce had already been wiped out completely. There were no tanks in the army, no real antitank weapons, only a light field artillery gun that could destroy light tanks, which was done a few times, the navy hadn't been mobilised (the army and navy used different systems of alerts and readiness, and due to some misunderstanding, they had not been put on alert). The germans outnumbered the danish army by about 10:1 and flew large numbers of bombers over copenhagen and were ready to do a repeat of the then recent bombings of Warsaw, so at the advise of the PM, FM and DM he and the government decided to surrender under protest, given that the germans offered a, for nazis, very generous deal. The alternative would have been a Copenhagen, and many more cities in ruins, thousands of civilians dead and a much harsher occupation to fight a war the army could at best have fought for the rest of the day.
King Christian wishes to fight as did the minister of defence. But there was no choice but to surrender in the face of the overwhelming opposition. Don’t blame the king nor soldiers. The vast majority wanted to resist and do so until ordered to lay down their arms. It was the politicians who in the years leading up to the war had tried to maintain a policing of non aggression and neutrality but were all too naive in their belief that maxi Germany would respect it.
There seems to be a lot of people here believing that the King's motto "Alt for Norge" should be translated into "Everything for Norway", this is incorrect. The correct translation is "All for Norway" as "everything" is a pronoun meaning "all the things", whereas "all" here is used as a noun with a possessive pronoun and means: "Everything that one is capable of". King Haakon would give everything he was capable of for his country, he would give it all! All for Norway.
Great video, my late maternal grandfather who was from Oslo worked for the Royal Family before World War I, he later served in the Norwegian Army as an artillery man. My. Grandfather made a favorite desert of mine for the Norwegian Family that was passed down to my late mother who passed it down to me. I haven’t made it in years. King Haakon VII & I happen to have the same favorite desert.
@@BarkingShark I think it's easier than that. At times it feels like they just picked at random from a Norwegian phone book and a anglicised a few of the more difficult ones.
My uncle was a captain in the Danish navy. When Germany overran Denmark on the 9th of April, 1940, the the Germans did encounter resistance from Danish soldiers at the Danish / German border. But these young guys were no match for battle hardened German troops. Denmark ceased resistance pretty quickly. However, the Navy was adamant that the Germans not get their hands on the small Danish Navy so the sailors sank the entire Navy fleet, thus it wouldn’t fall into the hands of the Germans. Many Danes were abroad on various merchant ships, contributing to the allied cause in their own way. The Danish government at the time chose a collaboration policy in order to protect the Danish population as much as possible. Nor was Germany interested in destroying Denmark. To them Denmark was just a northern extension of their own country. And it was a farming country. The Germans expected the Danes to send them produce. The government had no love for the Germans, but they played the game of collaboration. For three years, things were relatively calm. In 1943, the Germans demanded that they be able to shoot saboteurs, but the Danish government refused to sanction such actions, and all collaborations ceased.
as a norwegian, i loved hearing you go for the norwegian words XD . entertaning but yet not too bad! . Heard way worse from people who have residency here !
Haakon had to leave Norway. If he’d remained, the Germans would’ve eventually placed him under house arrest. He wouldn’t have been able to encourage any resistance to the occupation-as he would’ve been closely monitored by German intelligence. He would’ve had a dreary, depressing existence.
Thanks for this! Norway strikes me as a wonderful country in so many ways. Haakon seems to have been a good choice for the then new/ancient country. He was clearly devoted to his new homeland and its constitution! your quiz: I like to think i would have carried on the fight in London or Washington. But i feel sorry for King Leopold of the Belgians who stayed through the German occupation! i.e. to share the fate of soldiers he had commanded. his action, however genuinely motivated, were not well received by Belgians after the war.
From someone of Scandinavian heritage, Skol and thanks for the video! Keep up the great work! (Suggestion for a new Biographics video: King George VI of England, or Lionel Logue)
Yes, we love and hate each other in equal measure and have done so for a millennium - we each think the others language is hilarious but we understand each other ok ( when we choose to;-) ), Sweden ( I am Swedish) used to regard itself as the big brother but in the last decades the Norwegians have got their revenge - billions in oil and gas and their Krona is valid more than one and a half of the Swedish Krona- so on the border to Sweden there are these large supermarkets where rich Norwegians go and buy meat and alcohol as that is enormously expensive in Norway ( even for a Norwegian salary...). Now Swedish teenagers go to Norway to work in jobs the Norwegian teenagers deem to "low" for themselves, like working in cafes etc. And the worst of all- the Norwegian cross country skiing......Sweden used to be by far the better nation, but since the 1980-is the Norwegians have total monopoly in winning, it used to be fun watching skiing, now I cannot be bothered as it is more of the national Norwegian championships than the cross country skiing World Cup... ( mind you, they use loads of astma medicine...so when a Norwegian cross country skier got caught using doping it cheered Sweden up no end!) But as I said- love and hate in equal measure;-)
Tusen takk! I am a PROUD Norwegian! You saying several times that: "They are no pushovers!" brings tears to my eyes.. Indeed those who fought agains the German tyranny were absolutely no pushovers.. We have alot to thank them for, and His Majesty Haakon VII really did the right choice by leaving! Though I felt you kind of missed out on telling about the resistance force/groups in Norway.. The homecoming of His Majesty Olav V was missed out and how Max Manus and his group of saboteurs should have been mentioned.. But all in all a very great video! As a proud Norwegian.. Tusen takk! :)
I had the great honor of shaking King Olav's hand when he visited Concordia College in my hometown in Minnesota in the time I was a student there about 50 years ago. The school was founded by Norwegian settlers in my area in 1891.
I love all of your broadcasts... You should have some sort of warning that your shows are seriously addictive. I've spread the word about you guys to all of my mates, plus my 8yr old son has to his mates. Keep up the awesome work!
2. verdenskrig er kanskje ikke en stor del av Sveriges nasjonalhistorie, men jeg trodde Håkon og motstandsbevegelsen i Norge skulle være ganske kjent i hele skandinavia. Jeg bor for tiden i Stockholm og jeg må si... Inntrykket mitt er at Stockholmere er helt out of touch med skandinavia. Jeg vet ikke hvordan det er med resten av sverige, men det er jo dere som snakker om "norden" i nasjonalsangen deres, uten å nevne sverige. Jaja..
Actually, even with the ties that our royal family have with the swedish royal family ... King Olav never forgave that his wife and children (who was swedish royal) had to push themself into sweden as sweden first denied them access to flee there. The rest of his life he had a strained relationship with the swedish royal family.
@@arcticblue248 I actually didn't know that. Interesting. Sweden had problems regaining trust following the war. That might be partly why they don't talk about that part of history.
@@stianberg5645 Ja, kong Harald har selv fortalt hvordan det var, og han var jo der så. Kong Olav var bitter etter krigen for det, jeg kan godt forstå det men man må også huske at Sverige tok mange nordmenn også norske jøder så det skal man jo tross alt være glade for. Og jeg er sikker på at også Kong Olav var takknemlig for det. Faren min var en av svenskeungene, altså unger fra Finnmark som etter krigen ble sendt til Sverige mens foreldrene begynte oppbyggingen av Finnmark....
Small side note, on the sinking of Blücher. The fortress was underarmed and outdated, and not everyone stationed even knew how to properly operate the torpedoes. Another fortress had already fired warning shots, and sent word to Oscarsborg Fortress about this. The commander at Oscarsborg, Colonel Birger Eriksen, decided that they would fire at the ships with live ammunition without warning. Upon spotting it, he supposedly uttered the following quote: «Visst fanden skal der skytes med skarpt! Enten blir jeg stilt for krigsrett eller jeg blir behandlet som krigshelt. Fyr!» This translates (very roughly) to: "Yes we're fucking firing live rounds! Either I will be court-martialed, or I will be treated as a war hero. Fire!" They sank the Blücher, saving the government and the king from being captured.
Check out Blinkist: www.blinkist.com/biographics
Great video man
awesome
Can you guys cover Ethiopian emperor Halie Selassie next??
Do one on Wittgenstein!
I even like your comercials
It was the old Danish King Christian who remained at his post, riding daily through Copenhagen. When a stupid SS man said that it was a disgrace that the king rode alone with no one to protect him, someone replied, "All of us in Copenhagen protect him." That's respect.
The best part is because of Hitler's massive respect for the Scandinavians Viking background the Danes were the only nation (I believe) who had basically no military presence until the Danish government was dissolved in '43.
He had big huevos, that's for sure.
What happened to that stupid SS man?
Actually the Danes rescued all their jewish people sending them over to Sweden
6 hours
The favourite pick-up line in European royal society: "Hey, you look familiar"
reigninoel When the family tree is a circle.
Their gene pool is shallower than their bathtubs.
or did you mean... familial? xD
Noice, incest joke 😂😂😂
The best pick-up line at Habsburgs Family Meet-ups
When you aknowledged Norway was "no pushover" holding the line against germany for 2 months, longer than any other invaded country - a tear came to my eye. As a nurse I know a lot of people that lived during the war. It means alot. Thanks
That's actually incorrect. Of alle the continental countries, Greece lasted the longest at 219 days of resistance, and they fought against 4 countries at once... Norway lasted only 62 days against Germany alone.
Håkon Mo Flataker But you see when Germany invaded Norway Germans took the majority losses with over 5,000 dead and only 2,300 Norwegians died during the invasion while in Greece Germany lost 1,099 men while Greece lost 13,408 men.
@@JMinuteman We're talking length of resistance, not loss of soldiers. According to historical record, Greece resisted for a total of 219 days against Italy, Germany, Bulgaria and Albania between October 1940 and April 1941 when the nazis launched a final, massive attack. It would only make sense that Greece had more casualties, as they had to fight more invading forces than Norway.
Håkon Mo Flataker But you can’t really compare the resistance of both countries since Greece has a bigger population and had more available manpower and also counting that Norway had no idea of such invasion while Greece had known more since they had already been invaded by Italy and had more available manpower and troops while Norway not having an idea wasn’t able to mobilize enough to put up a better resistance so I’m just saying comparing the resistance of Norway and Greece against Germany is quite an unfair comparison.
Emperor Puyi This is still not a legitimate argument. You see, OP said Norway held the longest. They didn’t. Greece did.
When Haakon VII faced criticism for appointing a Labour majority to govern after winning the election with fears of revolution, he dispelled doubts by saying "I'm also King of communists.” The Labour Party subsequently dropped republicanism from their platform......
“His Majesty, with his great statesmanship, tactfulness and belief in democracy, completely disarmed even us who are principal republicans” - Christopher Hornsrud, first Labour Prime Minister, appointed by Haakon VII in 1928, speaking about the king following his death in 1957
And he was. In the weeks following the German occupation, communist veterans from Spain were among the volunteers defending an guarding the king, with their lives and weapons. My mother-in-law grew up in northern Norway - in her childhood home, pictures of Lenin and Haakon was hanging side by side.
@@mochtegerndane7097 And lets not forget that for those of from norther norway, the red army was our liberators.
@@bokvarv1926 Got Nazi problems? Call 1-900-RED-ARMY to speak with a service representative.
@@SilverTongueTied Side effects may include annexation, being turned into a puppet state, attempted communist coups and an overabundance of red decorations.
An interesting fact is that the very last act Haakon VII did before leaving for exile in 1940 was that he, personally, took the Norwegian crown and buried it in a cave outside the city of Narvik, stating that “though I may leave, the crown must never leave Norway”. 5 years later, after the liberation, the crown was dug up from that same cave, where I had remained safe and hidden throughout the war
I'm from Narvik and I've never heard of the king burying his crown here, been looking for sources for this, do you have one?
@@ChrisAndrePettersen I cant remember which exact documentary it was, however in a documentary on the British expedition to Norway during WWII on the BBC they stated it, and one of Haakon VII’s British bodyguards, who was interviewed, specifically talked about it. If I find it again I’ll send you the name
@@ChrisAndrePettersen I've never heard of this before. However, after some research I think I found Lord Dim's source. I can't link to the video because of RUclips's overzealous spam filters, but if you search for "Viking: King Haakon of Norway’s Daring Escape in WWII" here on RUclips you should find the video. Skip to about 3 minutes you will find the nephew of at the time the British ambassador Michael Dormer telling a story about king Haakon buried his crown in a cave before he left Tromsø.
I must admit that I have a doubt that this is actually true as I can't find any other sources that support this story. WW2 has been a lifelong interest of mine and I have read countless books about WW2 in Norway, and I've never read or heard anything about this before.
But hey! It might be a hidden gem of a story so I will continue to search to either verify or disprove this story.
@Thomas Gabrielsen it's a very poetic story so I hope it is true.
Beautiful fairytale, but there is no historic backing for that. As far as we know, the Crown Jewels of Norway was stored in the Bank of Norway`s vaults in Trondheim. Unknown to the German occupants, luckily. But noone knows for certain, it is a blank in the history books🤷♂️
No pushovers indeed, much respect to the norwegians.
Also respect to haakon, he was a great king who really cared for his people a rarity in kings.
He was compared to some of the English kings, or in his time the Kaiser in Germany, or Nicolas the II of Russia, who was stubborn and bullheaded and believed he was appointed by God, we know where that got him. Haakon was better because he grew up not expecting to be king. He did not believe he was entitled to the position, and never expected any special treatment. He realized as king he was responsible to the people, and never let his ego take control. He was indeed a rare breed, a honest leader.
Our forefathers fought greatly!
You should check out his son; King Olav the fifth and our current king, King Harald the fifth. They are also known for the love they have for their people.
We indeed are a lucky bunch.
@@homla8116 It goes both ways. We owe nothing to our royal family, so they sit uneasily, but the love they show is enough for us to allow them to continue their reign.
We, the Norwegian people, surely do tolerate, and respect, our royal family. Especially our king and crown prince. Never have they let us down, and we trust that they never will.
@@TheSystemaSystem I remember watching King Haralds speech on the memorial service a month after Utøya and the bombs in Oslo. It was comforting to feel his love for us that day and through it all. We are lucky to have him and I have faith in Haakon as well. Especially after the whole Verret case. 😅
The film 'The King's Choice'(2016) depicts our King Haakon's dilemma during the Nazi invasion in 1940; stay and yield to German demands, or flee to England and continue the resistance. The film includes scenes of the sinking of 'Blücher' and the German attempts to kill the King. A good watch, if you're a history buff. Personally I think the film should have been longer, and included a scene where he embarks the 'Devonshire' in Tromsø and leaves his kingdom. Must have been tough and emotional for him, I imagine.
Just watched it a couple of days ago. A brilliant film. It's still available to watch on BBC iplayer for about a week.
@@deanstuart8012 It's also on Amazon Prime.
🇳🇴It’s a great movie🇳🇴
It's annoying to me that it's called the King's choice in english considering the movie is actuially and (to me more fittingly) named The King's "no" which refers to him obviously telling the germans off for occupying Norway
@@williamzinedineh well as the maker of the movie joked "kongens nei spoiler på en måte filmen" so hehehe
Sometimes the right person comes along at the right time to take on a role that was essential for their country, Haakon VII was one of them, to be honest all three of Norways kings since independence have been exceptional rulers. Better that he fled and remained a symbol of resistance from abroad rather than risking giving Quisling and Terboven a veneer of legitimacy. Christian X was in a different situation in that Denmark had no chance of resisting the invasion and knew he could use his position to leverage better treatment for the Danes
Haakon and Christian were an amazing brother duo for their part in their own countries.
Christian also had his own little rebellion against the Germans. Christian was a cavalry man, and for many years he had taken a morning ride through Copenhagen every day. After the occupation, he kept that up, just him and his horse, no escorts, wearing his Danish cavalry uniform. Even the German soldiers saluted him with respect, tho he never acknowledged them. Unfortunately in late 1942 he took a serious fall from his horse, that he never fully recovered from.
They were truly remarkable, both fully dedicated to serving their country and their ppls. Their families have also remained very close.
Christian X of Denmark decided to stay. He became a symbol for riding his horse through Copenhagen almost every day as a silent protest and to remind the people they were still Danish and still had their king.
Context: It was during the Nazi occupation.
Our King Christian X also was notorius for turning his back om german soldiers giving The military salute When he was ridning by
Indeed Christian X stayed in Denmark during German occupation, and became as much a symbol of resistance here, as Håkon did in Norway, but then again the situation was very different in the 2 countries, with the Danish government initially cooperating with the occupation.
@@henleinkosh2613 As if you had a choice. Being land-locked to Germany you never stood a chance. We don't hold it against you.
@@TheSystemaSystem *squeaks happily*
To be fair our country is kinda small and cute in that sense, its almost like, if you invade us, your automatically getting a bad reputation, simply because at that point its just bullying a bunch of defenseless potato farmers :3
"I'll just stop there before I get sent to Hell"
It wouldn't be too bad, Hell is just a small cozy village half an hour drive from Trondheim :)
It's close to Trondheim, and yet it's literally hot as hell. Even compared to the south where I'm from.
There's also a town in Michigan, USA called "Hell." It freezes over at least once a year.
Lol, I was rolling. Lol
I believe that there's also a place called Paradis, also in Norway, so you can visit both Hell and Paradis in one day
@@russellfitzpatrick503 paradis is in Bergen, so yes, you are right 😊
Minor detail: While "Alt" often translates into "All", in this case it translates into "everything"
That's correct. All or Everyone in Norwegian is "Alle" and not "Alt" which is Everything
Thank you Norway for creating Mossad!/Greetings from Tel Aviv
And "all" can mean "everything", so it's still correct.
In English 'All' can mean both 'everything' and 'everyone', so while it may not be the best translation to convey the sense of the phrase clearly, it isn't really incorrect.
I disagree. All is the right translation, as "everything" is a pronoun meaning "all the things".
Whereas "all" here is used as a noun with a possessive pronoun and means: "Everything that one is capable of". King Haakon would give everything he was capable of for his country, he would give it all! All for Norway.
I am a simple Norwegian, I see anything about Norway. I click.
and that is probably why you were recommended this video
As you should
As a fellow norwegian I do the same.
One thing Simon Whistler has taught me - one does not simply catch up on Biographics vids.
Nor with his other youtube channels in that regard 😅😅😅😅
He's like Justin Y if he made RUclips videos
Maybe you should try Blinkist . . .
It's not that hard if you watch nothing else 16h a day 7 days a week.
Something tells me the youtube algorithm recommended this to me cause i'm norwegian.
My family is Swedish. It was recommended to me too
Wow, Biographics makes my country's history SO much more interesting.
I’m half. Mom was full despite the fact that she was 2nd generation American (if I remember correctly). My paternal great grandmother was born 101 years before me. Mom never her any of her grandparents because they were all dead before she as born.
Same
I mean it recommended it to me while I was listening a sabaton song while my only youtube viewings are music and ww1 related channels so the algorithms recommendation idea is a bit... diverse
"Everything for Norway" would be a better translation. Also the g in Norge is hard, not soft
Thank you, I was using English teacher rules til I could learn better.
Yes. 'All for Norway' sounds more like everyone for Norway, but the meaning was that he would give it all, or everything he got for his new homeland. Nice to hear the pronounciation of Norge was corrected when referring to the yacht gifted to the king after the war :)
Eeema giv it aaalll fer Noooorrrrrgggeeewaaaay. hort hort hort
Yeah, I agree. It's in the context of sacrifice, duty and greatness.
Alt for fakkings Norge
I'm Norwegian (yes, I know I don't look like one) And my grandmother told me that during WW2 they would hide radios in the attic and listen to King Håkon ❤ I'm glad he left
TBF, what does looking like a Norwegian even mean these days? We're all part of the same people. :D
@@InForTheLonghaul Eh no. Ethnical norwegians have pale skin, blond hair, and blue eyes.
Edit 2021: Greit, ser at det er et par nordnemenn og skandinavere som stiller seg uenig til at _alle_ nordmenn har blondt hår og blå øyne. Jeg refererte til den norske etniske steriotypen. Men hvis du e hvit, så vil du jo passere for etnisk norsk 😇
@@angelgray8899 So someone has brown hair and brown/grey/green eyes isn't ethical norwegian, despite having lived in norway their whole life, both of the parents are nowegian, so is the grandparents (on both sides), great grandparents and so forth, is that what you think?
Guess we're gonna have to agree to dissagree. I was adopted to Norway at 3 months old from Latin-Amerina. Ofc I _am_ a norwegian. My culture is norwegian, my language, family, citizenship, and passport is norwegian. And that's cool. But my _ethnicity_ wil always be mestizo, not norwegian. So yeah, on the inside I'll always be norwegian, but on the outside I'll always look like a latin american. And that's great.
@@angelgray8899 Well i guess it makes sense, at least in your case, you just made it seem that you have to be blonde,pale and blue-
eyed to be considered etnically a norwegan, which is obviously false. It was that statement i reacted to
As a Norwegian, I thought this was a very good and comprehensive video. Well done! I also forgive the mispronunciations due to the valiant effort ;-)
Fleeing was the right thing to do for Haakon,his brother also did the right thing staying as it was diffrent situations,also the germans underestemated the norwigans loyalty to their king badly as they tought with Haakon fleeing he be seen as coward but instead Haakon became a beekon for resistanse agenst them
So tru not to mention the king was chosen by the pepol and lived up to his motto and was extreamly populer,Hitlers chose Quisling was hated even by the germans and peticarly Trehoben(not sure how to spell it)so basicly bonud to fail
Beacon
Thanks for that correction english not first,also thanks for not beeing a ***** beeing grammar policeing you know😊
Wenche Wenche if you want more, diffrent is spelled different, norwigansnis spelled norwegians, resistanse is spelled resistance, agenst is spelled against, tru is true, pepol is people, extreamly is extremely, populer is popular, in this case, in your case its choice not chose and peticarly is particularly.
Thank
One of the few Kings that deserved his power and influence by the sound of things. Just a good man.
"Im just gonna stop there before I get sent to hell" *He says with a smirk*
Never change
Bang is acctually not an uncommen name in Norway
In Denmark also.
@@madslorenzen3459 Bishop Bang was of the Norwegian Church, a branch of Lutheranism and therefore not celebrate. in fact he was married and had at least one son Thanks for another great post
@@kimbonzky era tea WA ET Wiissswss22 see wasssss3 see sweaa2sss Etty w
There is actually a place in Norway called Hell, just a couple of kilometres north of Trondheim.
0:34 Sorry I'm a history buff and can't help but commenting.
_"One of the youngest (...)"_ Norway is one of the oldest countries in Europe, in terms of when its identity or "formation" first happened, which is around 880... that's way long before England, Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia, Baltics, Poland, Turkey, Morocco, Spain, etc etc etc....
_"(...) and smallest"_ In terms of area, it's one of the biggest (and always was)... in terms of population I can agree, at least when comparing to contemporary states before colonial times and after Rome's fall.
Alright, now that is out of the way, on we go!
_continues to watch_
Thoroughly excellencently done, thank you!
By youngest he meant it's one of the most recent new countries in Europe. Norway was it's own country before the Dannish union (and all other unions that followed). Norway as it's own country didn't really exist between the 1300s and 1905 and therefor is now a really young country. Despite it existing in the past.
Thank you
Thank you!
Norway has also participated in countless wars throughout history, so it's not one of the most peaceful nations either.
I know alot of ppl in youtube comment sections tell tall tales about their relatives deeds during this time, BUT my grandfather was an actual Norwegian war hero. When I was a kid I remember other old ppl on the street would take of their hats to shake his hand..I was so proud. When i got older i realised how broken he was from the war and he was very difficult to have a relationship with. My dad says he would scream and cry at night and that he was particularly bothered by a young german he had killed during an operation on a bridge called "svartufsbroen" in the area where we are from. He is even mentioned by name(and picture) in a few books about the war here in my area.
I met a Norwegian dude while travelling Europe and he was amazed that I'd heard of the playwright Henrik Ibsen. He assumed English speaking people had never heard of him.
Which to be fair, most of you haven't
@@thickpee1493 To be fair, speak for yourself.
@@jamesclendon4811 what an intellectual you are
I find this weird, as most Norwegians should know Ibsen's plays are performed world wide. It's basically like saying someone from Britain not knowing Shakespeare is known outside the UK.
Did he also not know that A-Ha performed outside Norway?
@@raokland yeah true maybe he was just humouring me by pretending to be impressed haha
Alt for norge translates to "Everything for Norway", in the context of you will give everything for your country.
I disagree. All is the right translation, as "everything" is a pronoun meaning "all the things".
Whereas "all" here is used as a noun with a possessive pronoun and means: "Everything that one is capable of". King Haakon would give everything he was capable of for his country, he would give it all! All for Norway.
@@BlueMasteress2012 Well yes and no.
Some things are more natural to use in certain types of context, given that this one is a translation it is rather hard.
"All for Norway" alone is not something you would say. You would have to elaborate something along the lines of "Give your all for Norway", but even then it's just an idiom.
"Everything for Norway" solves this problem completely, as it directly translates the context and meaning of the saying.
I would have still probably fled if I were in his position. Even though I may be leaving my people behind, I can do more good for them from England than from a Nazi jail cell
I'd agree.
Didn't the King of Belgium elect to say in Nazi his occupied country? Effectively powerless and under house arrest. You may have to leave but continue to be a thorn in the enemies side.
And even if you manage to live on the run, hiding in cabins on the mountains or whereever, how can you lead the resistance effectively? He did the right thing, and I am sure it was hard for him.
Another side of this is that having the head of state seeking refuge in britain gives legitimacy to the allies, and who knows, it might have been good for their motivation to keep on the war efforts
@@stianberg5645 Absolutely, every movement of any kind needs a figure head, a leader, someone who symbolises what the struggle is for. Haakon certainly did that, as did Charles De Gaulle and many others during World War II.
The formula is true even today, this is why so much emphasis was placed on capturing of killing Bin Laden and even more recently Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
Unless they could really, really convince the norwegians that Haakon is very bad for the nation, there's pretty much no way in hell they would put him in an actual jail cell.
Glorified security, or effectively house arrest would probably be more likely.
As a Norwegian dude, i find this very interesting. I love history, but ive never learned much about the royal familys history. Great work and you definitely deserve a sub from me! 🙌
Great video as always, however the Narvik Campaign were ended as a result of the Battle of France, and having to divert resources.
The Norwegians and the expeditionary force had the upper hand on the germans, and the retreat came as a huge disappointment to the soldiers who were there. My grandfather expressed anger in his field notes from the battle.
Up till then it was Hitlers first setback in the war. Narvik has streets named after it in France, England, Poland and Holland, so it is not seen as a defeat, but a missed victory.
Yes, those were the actions on land.
But there were also two naval battles at Narvik, in which the Nazi Kriegsmarine suffered badly at the hands of the Royal Navy - losing 10 destroyers, 7 cargo ships and a U-boat.
The Kriegsmarine also had other warship sinkings during the Norwegian invasion, to the extent that they never really recovered from these losses.
@@VincentComet-l8e And it was those naval losses that in turn influenced the German efforts at an invasion of the UK itself following the fall of France. So in a way the Norwegian Campaign helped spare the UK the ravages of an invasion.
(yes, i know the German invasion of the UK would never have succeeded, but it would have further affected the UK's efforts in the war if they had to rebuild their infrastructure following a prolonged ground invasion)
He's a pretty wholesome king, ain't he?
He was indeed.
His currently ruling grandson is just as awesome, and an oasis of tempered rationality.
His son will make just as good of a King, if not better.
Listening to their speeches, they embody the calm,rational,humble, and goodhearted of norway's beloved royal house.
Thank you for this episode. My family fled Norway as we had members active in the resistance and had kill orders put on them and have revered Haakon as an example of a great leader even in times of trouble. We give our all for Norway
Im a swede and a quarter norwegian. Proud that my grandmother were from norway. She escaped to Sweden in 1944. She was brave.
@Sander Skovly The nazis invaded Norway near Narvik. She lived close to a town south of Narvik called Mo i Rana. Close enough to not feel safe so she and her mom and dad fled to Sweden
Perennial Coma no hate on your grand mother, but i doubt she left becouse she lived close to Narvik. Mo i Rana aint even remotely close to Narvik
@@Wesely66 It was easier to say close than 400km, in any case, she did flee because of the invasion.
@Sander Skovly yeah, something like that
If she fled in 1944 she escaped 4 years after the battles araound Narvik. 100K Norwegians fled to sweden during the war. She didnt need any more reason then to want to live in a free nation. I would have fled had i had the chance.
Simon Whistler has grown to be my favourite speaker, ever. He's interesting, he's got a magnificent beard and moustache, and his voice is just incredibly nice to listen to
that said, Simon, keep it up!
So proud of the Norwegian royal family! Thank you for doing this episode on the kings defiance!
lol idk how *norwegian* the family was at the time
Ejwa TaIliss
I mean yeah, but they became Norwegians 😁
@@TTaiiLs you could say he was norwegian .. and his son King Olav (who later became the one we called Folkekongen (Peoples king)), being norwegian does not require being born in Norway only a citizen (and well they where)... :-)
@@arcticblue248 i think a better way to put it is (being (country) does not require being born in (country) only being at heart with the culture.) because in colonial countries like me for example i consider my self to be french and english but my english routes date back to 1902~ and my french go back to 1600-1630~ but i do not consider my self to be first nation even though my route is only from 1920~ my great grand mother because i do not know/do most things from that culture. the only thing i do from my first nation route is not cutting my hair unless their's a big change in my life even then i do not stick to it 100%. i consider my self english and french and canadian and french ontarian. which the french ontarian is just an extantion of france because of the fact that its how i got my french ontarian culture
tldr you do not need to live in a country to be called someone of that country. home is were your heart is not were you are
Hi, would first just like to mention that because of the sponsor highlight, the subtitles are off.
Secondly I would also like to add that both Håkons son Olav, and his(Olav's) son Harald have also been beloved kings. Olav was especially known for taking the tram with everyone else and being well known for being down to earth. Harald gave an amazing speech and was a unifying figure in the dark days after the Utøya massacre. In general we seem to have been very lucky with our kings so far. Will be interesting to see how the crown prince(also called Håkon) will do in time, but as it currently stands there seems to be little interest in changing from a monarchy to a republic. Although somewhat archaic at times, I still think there is a place for good monarch in modern day europe. Acting as ambassadors, having mostly symbolic power, but still some power, and in general being responsible for most of the national ceremonies. Looking at most presidents around the world I think we will keep our king for a good while still ;) Great video as always :)
I see sooo much King Olav in Crownprince Haakon Magnus, you can see how he is going to be a good king, as a royalist here in Norway I must say that I rather follow a king than some random guy called president that atleast half the people did not vote for.
Atleast the king is everyones king, despite what side of politics you are at, he is not a political person, and he would comfort a right winger as a left winger ...
King Olav once said when asked about if he was not worried about his security taking the tram. "Security ? I have 4 million guards" ... meaning he knew he was loved by his people, why would they harm him ?
That famous photo of him demanding to pay for the ticket taking the train .. its priceless... and was so much him :-) I miss him dearly, I remember christmas siting infront of TV lissening to his speech as a child ...
Also I believe from what I have seen Princess Ingrid Alexandra doing I believe one day she will become a good Monarch... when it is her time, her father and mother is good teachers and I am pretty sure that our King and Queen also are good teachers and role models for what to be.
Very recommendable! Fascinating Norway! Norwegians, descendants of the Vikings, definitely are no pushovers!
Thomas Bingel we are Vikings just smarter and with nationalism but not that of the fascist and the nazis
"The king of the North!" - classic
"The King in the North" though...
There is a funny story about King Haakon. When he was in exile in the UK, he made regular broadcasts to Norway, courtesy of the BBC World Service. These broadcasts were announced with a Royal fanfare. But not this time. A mix-up meant that instead of a fanfare, there was the sound of a *funfair*. Oops. But King Haakon just smiled, and the first words out of his mouth was "Roll up, roll up, all the fun of the fair" and managed adroitly to incorporate the funfair reference into his speech. After the speech ended, he told his producer it was all he could do to avoid bursting into laughter, which led to a friendship that lasted until Haakon's death. So, not only a great man, but one with a nice sense of humour.
Fun fact I've heard from my mom: We were supposed to breed/raise a dog/few dogs for Queen Maude (this is way back, so we're talking my great-grandfather at least), but they were poisoned and died because someone else was jealous that the task was given to him.
@Sander Skovly Big oof for the doggos, indeed.. 😔
Hi Simon and Shell, keep up your tremendous work!!!: I find this channel one of the most interesting and important on RUclips because you introduce and thoroughly explain the lives of people of history to your viewers. I was wondering if you could please do one on Mikhail Gorbachev. It’s no secret that your audience is interested in history, and I feel like many people who weren’t alive in the late ‘80s don’t know who he is or how influential he was. He is I.M.O. one of the most important and controversial figures of the 20th century, who saw the fall of the Soviet Union when it was not expected and he has a very unique life to tell, and an odd relationship with a U.S. president that was quite bizarre. Keep up the terrific work!
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I read your name at the excact moment he said «the luftwaffe» in the video.
I remember in 6th grade we read a novel about Norwegian school kids who transported Norway's gold to waiting ships, sledding it down the mountains to a fjord. I thought they were they most brave and patriotic kids ever; I held them in such high regard.
Is this a true story??? Do you remember the name of the book?
@@brandonholmes8485I think the book he is taking about is calld "Snow Treasure" according to wikipedia on this book: "The characters and some of the events described are fiction, but the story may have some basis in fact. A cargo of gold bullion, worth $9,000,000, arrived by the freighter Bomma in Baltimore on 28 June 1940. The ship's captain reported that the gold was smuggled past the Germans by Norwegian children on their sleds. The book is often described as being "based on a true story.""
Basically the same happened with Dutch queen Wilhelmina. She and her family fled too and she became a symbol of the resistance. The king of Belgium stayed and he was vilified after the war. I don't know. It always struck me as a bit odd. Also it's easier to be brave from a distance. But I can also see how a state symbol as a monarch falling in enemy's hands can be problematic
Well, the Danish king also stayed, tho he didnt have much choice, as Denmark was overrun, and Livgarden (the King's Garde) were exchanging gunfire with the Germans outside the palace, while the King and Crown Prince were meeting inside with the government on whether to fight and die or try to leverage a surrender.
King Christian, an old cavalry man, had always gone on a ride around Copenhagen every morning, when in residence. He kept that up after the German occupation, just him and his horse, wearing his old Danish cavalry uniform. A quiet rebellion against the Germans and a great inspiration to the Danish ppl. Even the German soldiers saluted him with respect, tho he never acknowledged them.
I dont know anything about the Belgian king, maybe he was not seen to be doing something to inspire the ppl or be a gathering force?
Thank you for an excellent history lesson. I have a new found respect for the people of Norway and their royal family.
As a native Norwegian, I can attest that your pronaunciation of Norwegian is really very good, sir! :) And thank you for this excellent video on our first, modern age, king.
Thank you Simon! This video caused me to recognize "The King's Choice" while browsing Amazon Prime, and excitedly watch it. I really enjoyed this lesser-known story of WW2 resistors, and was reminded of "Snow Treasure", which I read as a kid, (was also about Norwegian resistance to Nazis). Without your video, I may have flipped past an obscure non-Hollywood foreign film, so Thanks again!
"May the Lord bless your going in and your going out now and forever more" - Bishop Bang
It's a standard phrase in the liturgy of the Norwegian church. At least it was, I'm not sure if it's still in the new edition
Deuteronomy 28:6
First Quizling, now Kong Haakon VII! Stark differences, that's for sure! 😅
Indeed my brother.
Quzling was a trator haakon was a grait king. Alt for norge
The worst man in Norway at the time, followed by the best.
Thank you for this! The northern kings are rarely hailed for their hard work in the last century.
Next time do his older brother, King Christian X of Denmark! One of the greatest kings Denmark ever had!
He also stayed after the German invasion and helped save the danish Jews among other things.
Appelon he was a great hero!
Excellent video. The Norwegian monarchs' motto has "always" been "Everything for Norway".
Six minutes after uploading and 14 comments. This is the quickest I've found a Biographics video.
And it's another monarch! Sweet!
At 12:10, King Håken did *not* start the tradition of the annual children's parade on the national day, 17 May. Henrik Wergeland is considered the "King of 17 May" for his popularization in the 1820's to 1840's of celebrating the 1814 signing of the constitution and by including children in those celebrations. However, while Matthias Conrad Peterson was the first to organize a public celebration in Trondheim (including a community parade), it was Peter Qvam with publicity assistance from Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who started already in 1870 what we know today as the children's parade, going from Akershus festning to the Castle. In fact, it was the 17th of May children's parade that inspired the founding of the first school band at Møllergata Skole in Oslo in 1901, which first marched and played in the parade in 1902, which is the format we still have today (school bands followed by additional kids from that school). The King further popularized and promoted the children's parade, but he did not start that tradition.
The Swedish House of Bernadotte was descended from a French general of Napoleon, who got adopted by the King of Sweden because there was no clear heir to the throne.
This man deserved his title. He was a worthy King for his people. And so was his brother, the King of Denmark, and Haakon's son Olav. Whatever their upbringing was, they learned how to lead. Olav wanted to stay in Norway and lead the resistance, and his father had to order him to leave for Britain.
As Olav was a single child, securing succession was important. This dilemma for the King and Crown Prince is dramatized in the movie "The Kings choice!".
One of my classmates played one of the prince’s daughters in the “King’s Choice” movie.
I would LOVE to see queen Wilhelmina of Netherlands here as well. She was also a great resistance leader during WWII. I believe Churchill even called her the only man within exiled leaders.
Sir Winston said of her "The only King in Europe is the Queen of the Netherlands."
Couldn't hold yourself up with Bishop Bang aye? Lmao.
1:05 - Chapter 1 - Prince carl
4:05 - Chapter 2 - Aakon
8:00 - Mid roll ads
9:55 - Chapter 3 - A chosen son for an independent kingdom
13:40 - Chapter 4 - The neutral ally
16:55 - Chapter 5 - Between 2 wars
19:00 - Chapter 6 - The voice of the resistance
24:00 - Chapter 7 - Return of the chosen son
I love how Simon over emphasises the Bishop's name. BANG
Also. Fish Stock was. Out of. Stock.
I honestly snorted
Amazing video! My grandfather was part of the Norwegian government and fled with king, saving the Norwegian gold reserves from getting into Nazi hands. And you cracked me up with your Bishop Bang comment!
Can you do a video on Klaus Barbie? He was the head of the Gestapo in Lyon, France, and was recruited by the U.S. for counterintelligence work (aka spreading anti-communism in Europe) after World War 2.
He also wrote the song "Barbie Girl" by Aqua.
@@evilubuntu9001 Thank you for this info, very cool!
"Ålt for Norgj"
.................I've heard worse
Henrik Kjuus i agree
Funfact about the sinking of Blücher.
We didnt know who was coming, if they were friend or foe. No orders or messages had told the fortresses. They had no orders to shoot. The men in Oskars borg were mostly new recruits. The Colonel that gave the order to shoot made a calculated risk. "Either I will be Court-martialed or I will be a war hero. Fire".
skyt for faen
I hope this channel only continues to succeed, so that we can continue to get these amazing videos!! I watch almost every video even if I don’t know who The protagonist is/like them. Your voice, personality, and sense of humor always just grabs my attention. The amount of information and research squeezed in to a single video is amazing! So, thank you Simon! Love your videos!
Things out of stock:
1) Fish
2) Fish Stock
3) Bad puns that involve the word stock
At the age of 25 i learned that my ancestors did not surrender at once, but fought for their freedom and country. I always made a light-hearted joke about how King Haakon was the reason my town was bombed. But seeing the kind of character he had, made me even more grateful and patriotic. Thank you for the learning experience, and Happy new year.
I’ve actually subscribed to Blinkist and it is amazing so far. Simon, thank you for recommending a genuinely useful thing!
Great vlog as always. His brother Carl X of Denmark had no say. He woke up to a gun pointing at his head and was asked to surrender. He did. For the rest of the war he rode his horse thru the streets of Copenhagen with no bodyguards. Queen Maud had the smallest waist in Oslo, 33 cm! In 1955 Haakon VII got a hip fracture, and did not manage to recover. Now you know!
Thank you so much for doing a history of Norway! Tusen Takk!
In answer to the last question, The Danish King stayed in Denmark during the occupation of the nazis. FYI when the germans demanded that the jews of Denmark wear the Star of David, the king said if one Dane must wear the star then all Danes should wear the Star. The germans rescinded the order when all the people followed the kings example.
Im Norwegian so thank you for making a video of my king and his past and his family and how he came to be now i know more about my king and his family thanks👍🥳🇳🇴
Thank you soo much for doing a video about our late beloved Freedom's King
A European Royal who stayed after his country was invaded: Haakon's brother Christian X of Denmark
Adam Robinson it was more like they told the Germans that they would surrender but to please let them put up a symbolic resistance for a couple of days. The Germans obliged and there were no heavy fighting and Denmark took the opportunity to ship off all the Jews to Sweden.
Also Leopold III of Belgium, although in his case it caused quite a big controversy (so big it eventually led to his abdication, 6 years after the end of the war).
@@adamrobinson2509 It was only about 2 hours, not that he really had any real choice, at the time of the surrender, the tiny danish airforce had already been wiped out completely. There were no tanks in the army, no real antitank weapons, only a light field artillery gun that could destroy light tanks, which was done a few times, the navy hadn't been mobilised (the army and navy used different systems of alerts and readiness, and due to some misunderstanding, they had not been put on alert). The germans outnumbered the danish army by about 10:1 and flew large numbers of bombers over copenhagen and were ready to do a repeat of the then recent bombings of Warsaw, so at the advise of the PM, FM and DM he and the government decided to surrender under protest, given that the germans offered a, for nazis, very generous deal. The alternative would have been a Copenhagen, and many more cities in ruins, thousands of civilians dead and a much harsher occupation to fight a war the army could at best have fought for the rest of the day.
@@marinusvonzilio9628 in world war 1 it was king Albert I who stayed and fight in Belgium
King Christian wishes to fight as did the minister of defence. But there was no choice but to surrender in the face of the overwhelming opposition. Don’t blame the king nor soldiers. The vast majority wanted to resist and do so until ordered to lay down their arms. It was the politicians who in the years leading up to the war had tried to maintain a policing of non aggression and neutrality but were all too naive in their belief that maxi Germany would respect it.
King Haakon sounds like one of those kings you would loyally serve not because he was a king but because he was a pretty cool dude. :3
A movie to watch about king Håkon's escape during the invasion of ww2 is: Kongens Nei or The Kings Choice
There seems to be a lot of people here believing that the King's motto "Alt for Norge" should be translated into "Everything for Norway", this is incorrect.
The correct translation is "All for Norway" as "everything" is a pronoun meaning "all the things", whereas "all" here is used as a noun with a possessive pronoun and means: "Everything that one is capable of". King Haakon would give everything he was capable of for his country, he would give it all! All for Norway.
Do one on Ozzy Osbourne. He is not a royal, he is the prince of darkness.
Great video, my late maternal grandfather who was from Oslo worked for the Royal Family before World War I, he later served in the Norwegian Army as an artillery man. My. Grandfather made a favorite desert of mine for the Norwegian Family that was passed down to my late mother who passed it down to me. I haven’t made it in years. King Haakon VII & I happen to have the same favorite desert.
❤
Y'all used Skyrim music I hear it
Is that the music at 0:58?
Senile Scribbles fans
Skyrim is basically a Norway simulator, so it seems quite apt.
Probably a reference to Harkon, the vampire Lord. They may have gotten the name from this individual
@@BarkingShark I think it's easier than that. At times it feels like they just picked at random from a Norwegian phone book and a anglicised a few of the more difficult ones.
As a young American he sounds Exaclty like the type of leader we need right now
Bang is a pretty common surname in Norway but mostly come in connection with another surname like 'Bang-Hansen'
Which is not to be an implied action on said subject!
My uncle was a captain in the Danish navy. When Germany overran Denmark on the 9th of April, 1940, the the Germans did encounter resistance from Danish soldiers at the Danish / German border. But these young guys were no match for battle hardened German troops.
Denmark ceased resistance pretty quickly.
However, the Navy was adamant that the Germans not get their hands on the small Danish Navy so the sailors sank the entire Navy fleet, thus it wouldn’t fall into the hands of the Germans.
Many Danes were abroad on various merchant ships, contributing to the allied cause in their own way.
The Danish government at the time chose a collaboration policy in order to protect the Danish population as much as possible. Nor was Germany interested in destroying Denmark. To them Denmark was just a northern extension of their own country. And it was a farming country. The Germans expected the Danes to send them produce.
The government had no love for the Germans, but they played the game of collaboration. For three years, things were relatively calm. In 1943, the Germans demanded that they be able to shoot saboteurs, but the Danish government refused to sanction such actions, and all collaborations ceased.
as a norwegian, i loved hearing you go for the norwegian words XD . entertaning but yet not too bad! . Heard way worse from people who have residency here !
Haakon had to leave Norway. If he’d remained, the Germans would’ve eventually placed him under house arrest.
He wouldn’t have been able to encourage any resistance to the occupation-as he would’ve been closely monitored by German intelligence.
He would’ve had a dreary, depressing existence.
I would love to see a Biographics video on Marshal Mannerheim, one of the great military leaders during WW2 who is unfortunately often forgotten.
The fact that you had to clarify adding the last two entries on the 'list of qualifications' says so much.
Thanks for this! Norway strikes me as a wonderful country in so many ways. Haakon seems to have been a good choice for the then new/ancient country. He was clearly devoted to his new homeland and its constitution!
your quiz: I like to think i would have carried on the fight in London or Washington.
But i feel sorry for King Leopold of the Belgians who stayed through the German occupation! i.e. to share the fate of soldiers he had commanded. his action, however genuinely motivated, were not well received by Belgians after the war.
From someone of Scandinavian heritage, Skol and thanks for the video! Keep up the great work! (Suggestion for a new Biographics video: King George VI of England, or Lionel Logue)
I think you mean "skål" right?
@@Ettibridget Whoops, sorry. 🤦 That's what I get for watching so much Minnesota Vikings football XD
Norway and Sweden sounds like Scotland and England but with dignity
Yes, we love and hate each other in equal measure and have done so for a millennium - we each think the others language is hilarious but we understand each other ok ( when we choose to;-) ), Sweden ( I am Swedish) used to regard itself as the big brother but in the last decades the Norwegians have got their revenge - billions in oil and gas and their Krona is valid more than one and a half of the Swedish Krona- so on the border to Sweden there are these large supermarkets where rich Norwegians go and buy meat and alcohol as that is enormously expensive in Norway ( even for a Norwegian salary...). Now Swedish teenagers go to Norway to work in jobs the Norwegian teenagers deem to "low" for themselves, like working in cafes etc. And the worst of all- the Norwegian cross country skiing......Sweden used to be by far the better nation, but since the 1980-is the Norwegians have total monopoly in winning, it used to be fun watching skiing, now I cannot be bothered as it is more of the national Norwegian championships than the cross country skiing World Cup... ( mind you, they use loads of astma medicine...so when a Norwegian cross country skier got caught using doping it cheered Sweden up no end!) But as I said- love and hate in equal measure;-)
:>)
As a Norwegian, who follows this channel, i am humble and entertained by this video :)
Thank you Simon
Can you please do a video on king Christian X of Denmark!
Meg McCarthy that king, he is interesting but he could have warned Haakon before surrender
@@Rasmusnilsenbie he woke up with a gun pointed to his head, he couldn't have done anything.
@@nilswettlin2012 never knew that.
Tusen takk! I am a PROUD Norwegian!
You saying several times that: "They are no pushovers!" brings tears to my eyes..
Indeed those who fought agains the German tyranny were absolutely no pushovers..
We have alot to thank them for, and His Majesty Haakon VII really did the right choice by leaving!
Though I felt you kind of missed out on telling about the resistance force/groups in Norway..
The homecoming of His Majesty Olav V was missed out and how Max Manus and his group of saboteurs should have been mentioned.. But all in all a very great video! As a proud Norwegian.. Tusen takk! :)
I had the great honor of shaking King Olav's hand when he visited Concordia College in my hometown in Minnesota in the time I was a student there about 50 years ago. The school was founded by Norwegian settlers in my area in 1891.
I love your videos can you do one on Cory Aquino: The Housewife to end a Dictatorship, Lech Walesa: The Union Trade Leader who freed Poland
Cory Aquino also basically returned all political power to the hands of her country's ancestral oligarchs--namely her relatives.
I love all of your broadcasts... You should have some sort of warning that your shows are seriously addictive. I've spread the word about you guys to all of my mates, plus my 8yr old son has to his mates. Keep up the awesome work!
Thank you so much for this! Even as a Swede, I’ve never heard this story.
2. verdenskrig er kanskje ikke en stor del av Sveriges nasjonalhistorie, men jeg trodde Håkon og motstandsbevegelsen i Norge skulle være ganske kjent i hele skandinavia.
Jeg bor for tiden i Stockholm og jeg må si... Inntrykket mitt er at Stockholmere er helt out of touch med skandinavia. Jeg vet ikke hvordan det er med resten av sverige, men det er jo dere som snakker om "norden" i nasjonalsangen deres, uten å nevne sverige.
Jaja..
Actually, even with the ties that our royal family have with the swedish royal family ... King Olav never forgave that his wife and children (who was swedish royal) had to push themself into sweden as sweden first denied them access to flee there. The rest of his life he had a strained relationship with the swedish royal family.
@@arcticblue248 I actually didn't know that. Interesting.
Sweden had problems regaining trust following the war. That might be partly why they don't talk about that part of history.
@@stianberg5645 Ja, kong Harald har selv fortalt hvordan det var, og han var jo der så.
Kong Olav var bitter etter krigen for det, jeg kan godt forstå det men man må også huske at Sverige tok mange nordmenn også norske jøder så det skal man jo tross alt være glade for. Og jeg er sikker på at også Kong Olav var takknemlig for det.
Faren min var en av svenskeungene, altså unger fra Finnmark som etter krigen ble sendt til Sverige mens foreldrene begynte oppbyggingen av Finnmark....
Amazingly a man that absolute power did not corrupt.
Haakon did not have absolute power - nor did any European monarchs.
Thanks for doing a video on Håkon :D sincerely, A Nordgwegyan
@@automaticninjaassaultcat3703 aa = å
Small side note, on the sinking of Blücher. The fortress was underarmed and outdated, and not everyone stationed even knew how to properly operate the torpedoes. Another fortress had already fired warning shots, and sent word to Oscarsborg Fortress about this. The commander at Oscarsborg, Colonel Birger Eriksen, decided that they would fire at the ships with live ammunition without warning.
Upon spotting it, he supposedly uttered the following quote: «Visst fanden skal der skytes med skarpt! Enten blir jeg stilt for krigsrett eller jeg blir behandlet som krigshelt. Fyr!»
This translates (very roughly) to: "Yes we're fucking firing live rounds! Either I will be court-martialed, or I will be treated as a war hero. Fire!"
They sank the Blücher, saving the government and the king from being captured.
...we Germans built our capital ships for one-way use in those days...! ;-) :-(
He didn't flee ! He retreated to regroup.
He was right
Les H Mahagow yes he was. And sending his family to the United States was another smart move on his part.
I need to stop watching history videos before bed, night.
SKYRIM BELONGS TO THE NORDS
@orangutangu the orange lover the forest belongs to the fire
Your god damn right it does 😤
Skyrim is a buggy game they never fixed and boring.
Is the song in 3:58 from Skyrim? I've played Skyrim for so long but I don't remember hearing that song... Do you know what song that is?
@@medina5129 Okay lol