At the Moss convention in Karlstad that would end up breaking up the union, a Norwegian delegate took out and placed a clock on the table, when asked why, he said he wanted to know when war broke out. Peaceful secession was not a complete given.
Had there been any hard feelings/unsolved issues over the dissolution, they were finally healed in 1929 when crown prince Olav married swedish princess Märtha.
@@tbo2307 A Norwegian Swedish war of 1905 would certainly have been a bloodbath on both sides akin to WW1, but Sweden had a lot more resources, economic and military, the Swedish military at the time were about 4 times as large. But morale plays a big part in determining wars beyond just sheer military numbers. The Norwegian side would fight for their homes and country, the Swedish side would fight a mostly detested and hated war against our fellow Nordic neighbor. It's possible Sweden could've won given Swedish determination to win didn't falter, but it'd probably do so...... The question is how the international community judges it. In the 1814 war Sweden were aided by the British Royal Navy blockading Norway, and Norway put up enough of a fight to remain mostly autonomous still.
@@Ettibridget they all marry each other. They are all of german decent. House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which again had domains all over europe. The British royal family changed their name to Windsor from Saxe-Coburg--Gotha during WW1 in order to calm cotroversy. It still says ICH DIEN(I serve) on the 2 pence coin and the prince of Wales feathers.
I feel like the independence of Norway was the final puzzle piece for Scandinavian prosperity. For as long as we've been around, we've fought each other constantly and we've spent so much money and energy on getting better at that, with Denmark getting humbled in 1864 and then mutual acceptance between Norway and Sweden with this union splitting, we all just agreed to be nice and it's been nothing but up since.
@@fike2951 om du faktisk leste kommentaren du svarte på snakker han om 1864 når tyskland tok schleswig fra dere, derav "humbled", danmark er ikke en stormakt lengre. Og dere var heller ikke "top dog" under den svenske storhetstiden.
Speaking as a Norwegian native; what an amazing video! We generally feel left out of European history books, so I am happy to get a fully dedicated video on your channel. One note: The impeachment of Selmer in 1884, which lead to Sverdrup taking charge, is considered a watershed moment in the development of Norwegian Democracy. This led directly to the implementation of parliamentarism in Norway, which still holds on in some parts to this day.
What do you mean Norwegian native? You're just Norwegian... I'm Swedish and a bit Danish so I'm kinda a Scandinavian native. My Swedish family prob goes back to the iron age. But wdym Norwegian native? You're not a Sami are you? They are not natives. They are more like Finnish people. Finnish people are a bit Swedish cuz ye history. Idk where im going here...
@@FranticSlide du er en ekkel jævel as. Han sier jo han er innfødt Norsk. Sami er ikke det samme som finsk men ok. Halve min familie er Tysk og resten er Norske. Du og meg har akkurat samme etnisitet fordeom.
There was never really going to be another swedish king. The offer was just meant as a nice gesture since everyone knew that king Oscar would never accept it. He felt personally betrayed by the norwegians because as he saw it, he had done everything he could for them. Prince Carl of Denmark was just the best candidate.
@@zap648 Selve unionen var komplett meningsløs. Det var det som var problemet. Nasjonalisme spilte også en stor del selvfølgelig, men vi hadde helt forskjellige interesser og handlet med helt forskjellige land. Det var derfor et eget konsulatvesen som jobbet for norske interesser var såpass viktig.
@@amund8821 Jo jo. Kommentaren min var egentlig bare for å nevne at Oskar-kongene var de svenskekongene som ikke direkte kjempet for en økende integrasjon mellom Norge og Sverige, i motsetning til de Karl Johan og Karl, som ønsket å bytte til en mer kongelig grunnlov eller å lage en skandinavisk union, henholdsvis. Samtidig, hele grunnen til at interessene mellom Norge og Sverige ble så forskjellige var jo fordi Norge fikk være så uavhengig fra Stockholm i cirka alt som ikke var utenrikspolitikk. Dårlig gjennomtenkt av Karl Johan, til tross for hans forsøk å fikse opp i tabben hans.
As a swede its kinda crazy to think about Swedens history because we were monsters for such a long time and then we just stoped going to war for something like 200 years and everything became quite chill. Awesome video, you deserve a larger audience!
Scandinavia was quite violent in general but then Sweden lost the last Great Nordic War and Denmark lost the Napoleonic Wars and the Schleswig Wars and that made it kinda obvious that there wasn't any future in being aggressive imperialists. I often think that it's quite lucky that our imperial ambitions were killed so long ago because it's probably why we became more inwards focused and started building the classic Nordic welfare state, which is why living here is so nice these days. Like if we compare with the UK it seems that because the population hasn't quite gotten over the fact that they're no longer a great power they keep digging themselves further and further into a hole. Plus in general it actually kinda sucks to live in a great power, like even though the US is without a doubt a super power the quality of life there is terrible, much better to live in a small country that just tries to make the best out of what it has.
@@avekat8425We got an actually competent king who realized it wasn't worth while. Ironically, one of the biggest arguments for picking Bernadotte, was that he was a competent general and that he would reclaim Finland from Russia in another war
Oh nice, a channel I found not too long ago made a video of Norway's history. Nice video! Also, just a merry mention: Despite norwegian women having been refused to participate in the 1905 independence referendum, the suffragettes still collected signatures from women, of which ended up amounting to nearly 300'000 signatures. The age of many of the signatories might not have been over the voting age, but the amount was still used as an argument for women's suffrage, which helped norwegian women gaining it a mere 8 years later in 1913.
Norway was the second nation in the world to grans women voting rights, and could be considered the first (independent) to do so since New Zealand was still a colony when it granted it in 1899.
Excellent video, but I think it downplays the tension between the two countries in the time leading up to (and including) the negotiations in Karlstad. Both countries had mobilized forces along the border, and Norway had built fortresses for the very purpose of stopping or slowing down Swedish forces if they would invade. However, there was no real popular support for war in Sweden, which was a good thing for Norway as the Swedish forces greatly outnumbered the Norwegian, and the lead negotiators for each country got along well and managed to reach a peaceful solution. Today we're all happy neighbors!
9:11. There was a diplomatic issue in Bodø in 1818. where an english smugler got arrested and the items were forfeit. the smugler got out on bail and fled to England. THEN the english demanded compensation for the goods. the swedish approved it and Norway was forced to pay repreations. that was one of the examples that the swedes didnt have Norway best interest at heart
One of the things that also helped kill the Pan-Scandinavian movement was that Sweden-Norway didn't send any troops to assist Denmark in the war of 1864, while they had done so in the previous 3 years war. In general throughout the 19th and first half of the 20th century Sweden was always more closely aligned with Germany while Denmark aligned itself with the UK and that caused quite a bit of friction at times, especially just after WWII where there was actual genuine animosity between Swedes and Norwegians over Sweden having allowed German troops to move through it. At that time if someone was hosting a dinner party they usually had to be careful to not seat Swedes and Norwegians next to each other because it'd cause an argument.
They also let Norwegians into Sweden and helped a lot of refugees from here back then. I don't think it was fair of either side to condemn the other over what had been done in the name of Neutrality.
@@Zuflux I hate Switzerland for not declaring on Germany at least after the War was past them. Shooting down allied planes is evil. Sweden on the other hand, dealt a hard hand and did well.
@@Zuflux Helping Nazi Germany at all in any willing sense is deserving of condemnation. Thousands of troops from countries that had already fallen went to fight and help their brethren, Polish troops in Norway, Norwegian troops in France, French troops in Britain, etc. Sweden's extremefied self-preservation showcased a lack of trust in the western powers, and reflected their unsavoury pragmatism. Even Denmark who surrendered in just 6 hours had thousands of troops fight on the allied fronts against the nazis, and the Swedes never even bothered to break their neutrality and declare on Germany in the end to at least show support for the western allies when the threat was quashed. 250,000 military convoys travelled across Sweden during the war... that's too much to justify. I like Sweden now, but this was a dark point in their history, when they should have been better.
A fun fact I learned while getting a tour inside the Norwegian Castle: The most important royal in Norway after gaining their independence from Sweden was not the king, but in fact the queen. She was an English princess and getting her as the queen of Norway would mean that in a possible war against Sweden they would most likely have the support of Britain. In an old painting inside of the castle you could she the queen sitting front and center off the room on her own thrown, while the king was basically shoved to the side (even though he got his own little thrown to sit on).
I really like how you tackle Scandinavian and Nordic history in times that have changed them in unique and interesting ways. 😃 Could you do the Baltics or perhaps the underground movement 1940 in Denmark and Norway? I think your detailed overview would suit that region of Europe quite well.
Scandinavianism is alive, but including Finland and Iceland today, it has simply transformed. We have a Nordic Council and deep co operation in trade, defense and really any international matter. Anyone who is a citizen in a Nordic country can work, live and move freely in any other Nordic country and we have deep connection with eachother not only through culture but through language and history. With all the co operation between us there is no need for unification, we are as close as one can be. We are fraternal nations, with all the jokes aside I know many people from Scandinavia, Iceland and Finland will agree with me when I say I would happily shed blood for my brother nation's safety and prosperity. Skål from Sweden
Karlstad has a statue to commemorate the signing in the form of a lady breaking a sword and stepping on a helmeted head to symbolize the victory of peace over war. I like to joke that the reason Norway doesn't want to join the EU is their bad history with unions in general.
There was a succession crisis in Sweden, where they tried to get a Danish heir to the Swedish throne. Sadly he - ahem - died as his horse stumbled. Or perhaps he was poisoned and fell of the horse. Nobody knows! But shortly after they elected for that dashing French general instead, Charles, of whom Napoleon Bonaparte wrote that "while he was disappointed, he didn't consider him a traitor to France."
There's a couple of things I wanna add as a norwegian native. #1 one of the most famous norwegians of the early 1900s was Fridtjof Nansen, an arctic explorer, he was very influential in the nationalist movement in Norway, (to the point where several viking kings were modelled in art on his image) and he used his popularity to convince the British specifically to support Norwegian independence. #2 Michelsen's government had already pre-planned calls for a referendum before the Riksdag's demand for a referendum, this was done so it didn't look like the referendum was being held on Stockholm's orders. #3 The reason why over 99% of the population voted for independence was entirely because of the wording, the votes didn't say "do you wish for the union to be dissolved or continued?" it was instead worded as "do you confirm the union's already been dissolved?" Worded like that it was obvious for most norwegians what to vote for. #4 Prince Carl of Denmark was the preferred candidate from the beginning, but they still asked Oscar II if any sons of his wanted the throne so they could get his response, which they predicted correctly that he would refuse, and could immediately get going on convincing prince Carl to take the throne. To conclude, this was an excellent video on the topic of the Union!
Great video! I've learned a lot of new details of this story, for example, about Prince Christian Frederick. While watching a thought occurred to me that it would be awesome to see you cover the Congress Kingdom of Poland and the November Uprising (and perhaps the January one too) in a similar way. There's hardly anything about them on RUclips (not in English, at least), and I think you would handle this topic excellently.
@@fike2951 well, he WAS danish but he did become the norwegian king and then adopted norwegian culture like today, even tho they are decendants of the danish, we see them as boneafied norwegians
Manatee as a Norwegian your channel is without a doubt the best on yt in terms of original and innovative historical content, especially from my favorite wacky 19th century (talking to the big, bloated and established channels recycling the same topics between eachother like there’s no tomorrow) and I’ll sing your and your channel’s praises to everyone I know. Truly appreciate the work you put into these and already looking forward to the next one
Cool video! This was just the last time we was under sweden. All our northen kindoms have been ruled under one crown many times. Mostly with Norway and Finland being the lesser partners. Didn't even mention Håkon was a Danish Prince.
What an excellent video agian from you, i only hoped you would have talked more about the opinion/role of denmark in all of this, or didnt they have an opinion?
It was great seeing a picture you had from the Battle of Langnes as I live just 5 min away and was in 2014 at the reenactment of the battle for it’s 200th anniversary
Honestly one of my fav unions in history, there was Poland-Lithuania, the UK, Austria-Hungary, but to me Sweden-Norway will always have a special place in my heart
After Charles XIV of Sweden also became King of Norway, he visited Fredriksten Fortress in Halden, overlooking the Norwegian border to Sweden. The king noted that all the cannons were still aimed at Sweden, so he asked the Fortress Commander why that was. The Commander then quickly came to attention, clicked his heels together, and informed the king that, "The cannons are always aimed at _the enemy,_ Your Majesty!"
There has never been a king of Sweden named "Charles" or "Charles" XXXX whatever.... Nor of Sweden-Norway .....for that matter.... There must be a limit to what lengths the English language goes in order to distort names to the ridiculous ....even personal names can not stand as they are.....
@@Dan-fo9dk What are you on about? This is common practise when it comes to royal names. Are you - a Norwegian - trying to change the world again? Man, look around you. We're being ruled by Americans and thieves from Germany and France who would rather see us freeze to death than give us the price we deserve for building the sustainable electricity grid with our blood, sweat and tears. And then idiots like YOU go and vote in traitors to our people like Erna and Støre. F U!
@@fike2951 ....what was that suppose to mean...??? I was talking about names ....and what that has to do with grammar .....I don't know. As said is it so in the English language that they distort absolutely every name out there .....and even the name of private persons. Only when distortion is the norm is the name given of the Swedish king "correct". To your information has there never been a king there with the name "Charles" ......but they have had a king with a name Karl. Is that to difficult for English speakers...???
@@Dan-fo9dk Historically it has not been unheard of to translate the names of royalty. Take for example Richard Lionheart whom most swedes would know as Rickard Lejonhjärta, Friedrich der Grosse would be known most swedes as Fredrik den store or in English Frederick the great, emperess Yekaterina the second of russia would be more commonly known as Katarina den store or in English Katherine the great and so on.
Very interesting video! A small note to add is that the first constitution of Norway was indeed quite progressive in it's constitutional setup and in how much it limited the King's powers. In other areas it was far from progressive, it explicitally banned jews and jesuits from entering the country and expelled many living there already. Norway's Constitution was at the time considered the freest in Europe, but it also became the most anti-Jewish.
It turned out all right. The union with a far more advanced and powerful country was really not a disadvantage for a poor, undeveloped Norway. One important example: The Swedes had a negotiated exemption from the British Navigation Act. The was extended to Norway and became a key element for building the vast Norwegian merchant fleet. Over all, the constitution was very liberal (except for a few bad laws), the nobility was abolished, major basic human rights were granted, and in 1884 Norway adopted a parliamentary system. Universal voting rights for men came at the end of the century, the women followed 15 years later. A Nordic union including Denmark could have survived, but that never happened. So compared to Sweden, Norway was always a junior partner. But in 1905, Norway - with a lot of help from the Swedes - had become a modern, European nation, ready to be fully independent. The more level-headed Swedish leaders accepted these facts, and our two nations remain close friends.
If Charles August had survived his ... "stroke" ... we might well live in a unified Scandinavia today. Instead Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was chosen shortly after, and the rest is history. :)
....well....I think your take on the union as "....not a disadvantage..." should only stand for your own accounts. Norway could very well have been without that kind of "help".... What Norway could have done on it's own is not something that you simply can set to zero.....
@@Dan-fo9dk What could Norway have done on its own? Do you really take pride in elites you do not know and that you have nothing to do with? Are you not a NORSEMAN, who believes only in the feats he himself can muster?
@@ralphthestrider4329 I have no idea what you are talking about.... Do you have some problem with understanding the reality of history? A country which has been invaded by a neighbour and by gunpoint forced into a marriage (also called a "union") .... would struggle to see the "advantages" of such ....and that kind of help was certainly nothing Norway needed. If you or anyone think that being raped and than forced into a marriage with the perpetrator is an "advantage"....then you need immediate help.
@@Dan-fo9dk You call it very emotional things like rape, meanwhile Swedes, Danes and Norwegians (and Icelanders and Faroe Islanders) are pretty much _the same_ people genetically and culturally. Then you purport some idea of what "Norway needed" like a country can have a need. There were elites, and there were peasants. There were different things they needed. Some benefitted form the unions, others didn't.
Nice video as a Norwegian this is really interesting to learn about in our schools they don’t say much about the union between Norway and Sweden sadly most of the time just skip it I learned a lot for your video Thanks👍🇳🇴🫵
@@llstuff Elsker sånne flagg. Den Norske løven, Svenske kronene og de tre Danske løvene i lag! Har et standard Kalmar union flagg hjemme men uten våpenskjoldene på. En dag blir vi sammla!
That initial quip about the referendum result being so one-sided that even Kim-Jong Un would blush is not a joke - only 184 votes for continuing the union were cast. My (Swedish) speculation is that that must be the lower limit for how small a fraction of voters get the meaning of yes/no confused...
saying norway in practicality gained independence in 1814 pretty much summarizes it. its not completely true, but because of what happened that year it really enabled the building of institutions like the parliament and a national school system. both very important to strengthen the sense of an independent nationality.
I have to applaud your attempt at saying Christian Michelsen at 11:10 it was slightly endearing how you literally cut the name in half with your pronounciation of Mich-elsen, yes the ch/k part is a hard pronounciation/emphasis in the name, but you did it waaaaaaaaaaaaay to hard and to long pause, again, it was endearing.
One important think i feel like you may have missed is that Swedens economy simply couldn't handle a war, and strikes would have been called would a war begin. Otherwise the king would have wanted to
Norway: Gib Jemtland, Herjedalen, Idre, Serna and Båhuslen back, and the Vallhund won't get watersprayed 🐶🔫 Sweden: You are trying to claim what I have rightfully stolen 😠
A VERY good video, a relief after many rubish videos and even embarasing contributions during the 100 years jubilee in 2005. As I iunderstand it, the principal weaknes of of this video is lack of showing the importance of the sweedish crown prince in 1814. His name was Jean Baptiste Bernadotte. I belive he was both a major contributor to the allied victory in 1813 and the skilful politician that probably saw the very weak union beeing in his own interest. Yours Jens Erik, Oslo Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was a former french marchal, one of the few who could outperform Napoleon tactically, and definitely was the better strategist. He secured the Sweedish general aim of "taking over" Norway, so far the Sweedes were happy. As I understand it, he did not push for a real takeover. Most Sweedes did probably not understand the arrangement with the weak union, Bernadotte might even have seen it as his life-insurannce. Should the Sweeds sack him as king, he could still have a kingdom. This arrangement spared the Norwegians of having a Swedes moving in as a new overclass. By skiflul politics, Bernadotte became a very popular kong in Norway under the name Carl Johan. -And I belive also so in Sweden.
banger videos man how much bitcoin would I have to send you to make a whole video series on the former German ethnic communities in Eastern Europe? This summer, I’m going to Transylvania to see the remnants of the Siebenbürger Sachsen culture and I find the history so fascinating. I’d love to see some content about lesser known German communities such as those in Banat, Bessarabia, the Black Sea, the Caucasus, etc…
Incredible video. You really did justice to our history books. Kinda weird to see our forefathers voting in favour of a monarchy, considering the situation now a days with the inheritance..
It's relevant to point out that the reason Sweden told Denmark to hand over Norway was largely because Denmark was seen as an accomplice in Sweden losing Finland to Russia. The video makes it seem like "gib us Norge" came out of nowhere. 😀 In short, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway made a Union in 1397. It quickly came to effectively mean Sweden and Norway were Danish more than being an actual union. Norwegians were fine with this, the Swedish nobility wasn't (I assume it somehow meant less money for them), and the result was hundreds of years of wars of Denmark trying to take back power in Sweden. In the 1600s Sweden started winning and won parts of Denmark, like Skåne, Gotland, etc. And after that, Denmark tried to win those parts back. Russia invaded in February 1808, and Denmark invaded shortly after, and Sweden had no chance to keep a war up on two fronts, and was basically forced to choose between losing Finland to Russia, losing Sweden to Denmark, or both. So they accepted defeat to Russia and then took the army to kick out the Danes. And a few years later, when the Napoleonic wars were over, Sweden invaded Denmark, won very quickly and decisively, and basically demanded Norway as compensation for losing Finland. So effectively, Denmark's 1808 plan to get Skåne and other parts back from Sweden by cooperating with Russia backfired, and they lost Norway as a result. Denmark hasn't attacked Sweden since.
Your history "lesson" on why Sweden took control over Norway .....does not explain anything ..... It was just a summary of some historic events but nothing of what really was behind it. Yeah, Russia took over Finland. .....and than what....???? ....that gave the Swedish the right to take control over Norway as a "compensation"....??? That the Swedes had been attacking Norway was nothing new in 1814. The Swedes had been doing so for hundreds of years .....again....and again ....and again ....all the way since the 1100's ....so don't blame the Russians for what had been going on for 6-700 years. The only reason was nothing else than an imperial madness that grew and grew .....and grew.... Do I need to remind you about the Swedish imperial dreams leading them to go into Finland, Baltic, Russia, Poland, Germany (of today) even all the way into today's Ukraine. Do I need to mention Poltava 1709. The Swedish had nothing of rights to be any of such places..... The Swedes had also absolutely nothing in Norway to do ....and had no right for claims there of any kind.... Norway ...and Norwegians....had absolutely no saying and responsibility for whatever Denmark did during it's time as a colony power. So the invasion in Norway in 1814 and forcing the country into submission ...and a forced marriage....was only the last spasms of Sweden's imperial wet dream madness. It is hard to say which of Norway's neighbours is worse ......Sweden ....who stole around 65000 sq. km of land which today is called Swedish territory or Denmark who depleted Norway for around 450 years ...and who also stole Greenland, Iceland and Faero islands from Norway.
Electing prince Carl to be king Haakon VII proved to be an extraordinarily good choice. His respect for democracy was never in doubt, not even when an outgoing conservative government adviced him to disregard it because the main opposition was the socialdemocratic Arbeidpartiet. And his steadfast resistance against the German invasion in 1940 earned him the grudning respect even among Communists of the land.
UK wanted Norwegian independence to get a Scandinavian ally. From the independence up until the first World War the Swedish military were fearful of a Norwegian invasion backed by Britain.
With all due respect , swedes have trust issues. We should ignore unions and perhaps do babysteps instead , lets see where this united air defence policy goes first.
@@matso3856 nah, a nordic union of states, much like the american system, with federal law and ruling, common foreign policy and defence etc, with the individual states retaining much of their own autonomy. Their own holidays, national days, anthems etc. I also think it should be a part of the european union. Norway has been in a union with sweden and denmark, separately and simultainously, neither was fair or free, this time it would not be a forced union where one nation tries to assimilate the other but a union of sisters and brothers who respect each other.
@@Simmelimme. Maybe Sweden could live with having another country's foreign minister and let that country manage foreign policy? It was not a dream for us. Living under a colonial power was not our dream.
@@Simmelimme. That train has run. Distrust of Sweden would have become too great after being robbed of our rights. It was a union where the countries had completely different premises, so we wanted our freedom. Perhaps that is why you hardly ever hear a Norwegian talking about or believing in a union with Sweden. History is not forgotten, for better or for worse.
@@maidsua4208 Indeed that train has run. Im sorry for what my countrymen did 200 years ago. Idag är vi bästevänner med väldigt dypt militärt samarbete o partnership. Vi är samma folk o må vi aldrig kriga mot varandra igen.
@@Simmelimme. Du kan ikke ta ansvar for noe som skjedde for så lenge siden. Men mistenksomheten sitter nok i et folk lenge. Og nei, vi skal aldri krige mot hverandre. Samarbeid går bra uten å gå inn i en union eller i annet samarbeid som gir ulik balanse :).
The question is not why the Union between Sweden and Norway was ended in 1903, but how it had actually survived for almost one century without ever erupting a civil war.
In 1905, many American newspapers editorialised how wonderful it was that Norway was joining the ranks of enlightened republics. They were deeply disappointed when the Norwegian people chose monarchy instead.
Yeah.. its altso very good sign of shifting frome autocraty to democrasy!? It was this.. sweden lost Finnland to Russia in 1809, but later get allied to Russia in another war, so sweden have to be compensated! And Denmark was on the losing side, so we got Norway, whitout Iceland and Greenland! In anyway after some short skirmishes Norways parliment gives in and accept a dual monarchy.. parlamentarism was alredy growing as a rule of goverment in Europe! However.. despite scandianism in an intelectual elite, there was not that much trade and cooperation between sweden and norway! Sweden traded mostly with Germany and Norway with GB/Denmark/all over the place! Then the Norway parliment resigned there goverment, and when the swedish king couldnt form a new goverment he get ousted, as a king of Norway! And then there was war mongers that didnt accept this.. but parlamentary democracy have then come that long that both sides parliment did negotiated and come to a solution to end the double monarchy! Anyhow.. after that we have lived togheter as siblings kind of!
I find it amazing that only 180 people voted to remain in the union. That's on par with the number of people who vote for the "Donald Duck" party in a typical Swedish election.
Id say it was good for Sweden! Considering the opinions about Sweden and the union at the time, the fact that Sweden didn't make a fuss about the dissolution of the union was an important moment in cementing the friendship between our countries. Yes, you lost a subject but you gained a friend! 🇳🇴🇸🇪 And I think that's better for everyone than continued conflict
@@kolen0421 didn't really refer to the end of the empire in itself. Don't really care about that since, as you said, it was inevitable. It was more about the way it happend. The homeland were pretty much defenceless from danish and Russian raids for several years since the main army had been destroyed by the kings vanity of first humiliating Poland and then marching towards Moscow. So many men were lost which were a important part of their local communities as professional soldiers. Several regiments were utterly wiped out or captured. There was also an outbreak of plague for good measure
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Good video
Norway: We want independence.
Sweden: Understandable, have a nice day.
At the Moss convention in Karlstad that would end up breaking up the union, a Norwegian delegate took out and placed a clock on the table, when asked why, he said he wanted to know when war broke out. Peaceful secession was not a complete given.
Had there been any hard feelings/unsolved issues over the dissolution, they were finally healed in 1929 when crown prince Olav married swedish princess Märtha.
@@Anonymous-zu7dhyes, and he could do so with confidence because Norway was militarily strong.
@@tbo2307 A Norwegian Swedish war of 1905 would certainly have been a bloodbath on both sides akin to WW1, but Sweden had a lot more resources, economic and military, the Swedish military at the time were about 4 times as large. But morale plays a big part in determining wars beyond just sheer military numbers. The Norwegian side would fight for their homes and country, the Swedish side would fight a mostly detested and hated war against our fellow Nordic neighbor. It's possible Sweden could've won given Swedish determination to win didn't falter, but it'd probably do so...... The question is how the international community judges it. In the 1814 war Sweden were aided by the British Royal Navy blockading Norway, and Norway put up enough of a fight to remain mostly autonomous still.
@@Ettibridget they all marry each other. They are all of german decent. House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which again had domains all over europe. The British royal family changed their name to Windsor from Saxe-Coburg--Gotha during WW1 in order to calm cotroversy. It still says ICH DIEN(I serve) on the 2 pence coin and the prince of Wales feathers.
I feel like the independence of Norway was the final puzzle piece for Scandinavian prosperity. For as long as we've been around, we've fought each other constantly and we've spent so much money and energy on getting better at that, with Denmark getting humbled in 1864 and then mutual acceptance between Norway and Sweden with this union splitting, we all just agreed to be nice and it's been nothing but up since.
Next step is working closer together for our goals.
Next step is unification, to the future together as brothers
we were top dog for over 800 years, humbled my ass
@@fike2951 om du faktisk leste kommentaren du svarte på snakker han om 1864 når tyskland tok schleswig fra dere, derav "humbled", danmark er ikke en stormakt lengre. Og dere var heller ikke "top dog" under den svenske storhetstiden.
@@sucloxsucloxsson yes!
Charles XIV eventually became quite beloved in Norway, and the main street of Oslo is still named after him: Karl Johan.
Speaking as a Norwegian native; what an amazing video! We generally feel left out of European history books, so I am happy to get a fully dedicated video on your channel.
One note: The impeachment of Selmer in 1884, which lead to Sverdrup taking charge, is considered a watershed moment in the development of Norwegian Democracy. This led directly to the implementation of parliamentarism in Norway, which still holds on in some parts to this day.
We only Get attention when it comes to the viking age
Alle skal lære om America nå vettu
traitors to a great scandinavian union
What do you mean Norwegian native? You're just Norwegian... I'm Swedish and a bit Danish so I'm kinda a Scandinavian native. My Swedish family prob goes back to the iron age. But wdym Norwegian native? You're not a Sami are you? They are not natives. They are more like Finnish people. Finnish people are a bit Swedish cuz ye history. Idk where im going here...
@@FranticSlide du er en ekkel jævel as. Han sier jo han er innfødt Norsk. Sami er ikke det samme som finsk men ok. Halve min familie er Tysk og resten er Norske. Du og meg har akkurat samme etnisitet fordeom.
There was never really going to be another swedish king. The offer was just meant as a nice gesture since everyone knew that king Oscar would never accept it. He felt personally betrayed by the norwegians because as he saw it, he had done everything he could for them. Prince Carl of Denmark was just the best candidate.
The Oscars were unusually decent to us compared to the Karls.
@@zap648 Selve unionen var komplett meningsløs. Det var det som var problemet. Nasjonalisme spilte også en stor del selvfølgelig, men vi hadde helt forskjellige interesser og handlet med helt forskjellige land. Det var derfor et eget konsulatvesen som jobbet for norske interesser var såpass viktig.
@@amund8821 Jo jo. Kommentaren min var egentlig bare for å nevne at Oskar-kongene var de svenskekongene som ikke direkte kjempet for en økende integrasjon mellom Norge og Sverige, i motsetning til de Karl Johan og Karl, som ønsket å bytte til en mer kongelig grunnlov eller å lage en skandinavisk union, henholdsvis.
Samtidig, hele grunnen til at interessene mellom Norge og Sverige ble så forskjellige var jo fordi Norge fikk være så uavhengig fra Stockholm i cirka alt som ikke var utenrikspolitikk. Dårlig gjennomtenkt av Karl Johan, til tross for hans forsøk å fikse opp i tabben hans.
As a swede its kinda crazy to think about Swedens history because we were monsters for such a long time and then we just stoped going to war for something like 200 years and everything became quite chill.
Awesome video, you deserve a larger audience!
Cause you lost a war and had a mental breakdown after
@@avekat8425 lmao true
Scandinavia was quite violent in general but then Sweden lost the last Great Nordic War and Denmark lost the Napoleonic Wars and the Schleswig Wars and that made it kinda obvious that there wasn't any future in being aggressive imperialists. I often think that it's quite lucky that our imperial ambitions were killed so long ago because it's probably why we became more inwards focused and started building the classic Nordic welfare state, which is why living here is so nice these days. Like if we compare with the UK it seems that because the population hasn't quite gotten over the fact that they're no longer a great power they keep digging themselves further and further into a hole. Plus in general it actually kinda sucks to live in a great power, like even though the US is without a doubt a super power the quality of life there is terrible, much better to live in a small country that just tries to make the best out of what it has.
@@hedgehog3180 A superpower must stretch out its resources to maintain their status, where a small country can mainly focus on itself.
@@avekat8425We got an actually competent king who realized it wasn't worth while. Ironically, one of the biggest arguments for picking Bernadotte, was that he was a competent general and that he would reclaim Finland from Russia in another war
DUDE. IM FROM NORWAY AND TWO DAYS AGO I WANTED TO FIND A VIDEO ABOUT THIS TOPIC. AND THERE U CAME. GOD BLESS YOU
Just in time I guess xD
Oh nice, a channel I found not too long ago made a video of Norway's history. Nice video!
Also, just a merry mention:
Despite norwegian women having been refused to participate in the 1905 independence referendum, the suffragettes still collected signatures from women, of which ended up amounting to nearly 300'000 signatures. The age of many of the signatories might not have been over the voting age, but the amount was still used as an argument for women's suffrage, which helped norwegian women gaining it a mere 8 years later in 1913.
If you were to count those extra yes votes from women then you could argue that 140% voted in favor of independence.
Norway was the second nation in the world to grans women voting rights, and could be considered the first (independent) to do so since New Zealand was still a colony when it granted it in 1899.
These videos are super, as a Swede I really appreciate this topic. Keep doing what you are doing!
Excellent video, but I think it downplays the tension between the two countries in the time leading up to (and including) the negotiations in Karlstad. Both countries had mobilized forces along the border, and Norway had built fortresses for the very purpose of stopping or slowing down Swedish forces if they would invade. However, there was no real popular support for war in Sweden, which was a good thing for Norway as the Swedish forces greatly outnumbered the Norwegian, and the lead negotiators for each country got along well and managed to reach a peaceful solution. Today we're all happy neighbors!
Tbf. I highly dislike Swedes, the have betrayed us many times just like in ww2
9:11. There was a diplomatic issue in Bodø in 1818. where an english smugler got arrested and the items were forfeit. the smugler got out on bail and fled to England. THEN the english demanded compensation for the goods. the swedish approved it and Norway was forced to pay repreations. that was one of the examples that the swedes didnt have Norway best interest at heart
One of the things that also helped kill the Pan-Scandinavian movement was that Sweden-Norway didn't send any troops to assist Denmark in the war of 1864, while they had done so in the previous 3 years war. In general throughout the 19th and first half of the 20th century Sweden was always more closely aligned with Germany while Denmark aligned itself with the UK and that caused quite a bit of friction at times, especially just after WWII where there was actual genuine animosity between Swedes and Norwegians over Sweden having allowed German troops to move through it. At that time if someone was hosting a dinner party they usually had to be careful to not seat Swedes and Norwegians next to each other because it'd cause an argument.
so about the dinner party... if there are ONLY Swedes and Norwegians, how would that work for the seating arrangement?😂
@@NoctLightCloud empty buffer chairs
They also let Norwegians into Sweden and helped a lot of refugees from here back then. I don't think it was fair of either side to condemn the other over what had been done in the name of Neutrality.
@@Zuflux I hate Switzerland for not declaring on Germany at least after the War was past them. Shooting down allied planes is evil. Sweden on the other hand, dealt a hard hand and did well.
@@Zuflux Helping Nazi Germany at all in any willing sense is deserving of condemnation. Thousands of troops from countries that had already fallen went to fight and help their brethren, Polish troops in Norway, Norwegian troops in France, French troops in Britain, etc. Sweden's extremefied self-preservation showcased a lack of trust in the western powers, and reflected their unsavoury pragmatism. Even Denmark who surrendered in just 6 hours had thousands of troops fight on the allied fronts against the nazis, and the Swedes never even bothered to break their neutrality and declare on Germany in the end to at least show support for the western allies when the threat was quashed.
250,000 military convoys travelled across Sweden during the war... that's too much to justify.
I like Sweden now, but this was a dark point in their history, when they should have been better.
A fun fact I learned while getting a tour inside the Norwegian Castle: The most important royal in Norway after gaining their independence from Sweden was not the king, but in fact the queen. She was an English princess and getting her as the queen of Norway would mean that in a possible war against Sweden they would most likely have the support of Britain. In an old painting inside of the castle you could she the queen sitting front and center off the room on her own thrown, while the king was basically shoved to the side (even though he got his own little thrown to sit on).
I really like how you tackle Scandinavian and Nordic history in times that have changed them in unique and interesting ways. 😃
Could you do the Baltics or perhaps the underground movement 1940 in Denmark and Norway? I think your detailed overview would suit that region of Europe quite well.
Thanks, mate :) and yes, I could do that ;D
Reason: Sweden liked Surströmming, whereas Norway peferred Rakfisk
The only two types of people
Rakfisk is obviously superior. Also far less smelly. Ok then, Swedes! The Surströmming obviously has a superior smell!!1
@@ralphthestrider4329 it is our secret weapon when Russia decide to invade.
It does make Al Pitcher to vomit ruclips.net/video/X9htB2hDAgM/видео.html&ab_channel=CanalDigitalSverige
You can see the cultural differences here
Scandinavianism is alive, but including Finland and Iceland today, it has simply transformed.
We have a Nordic Council and deep co operation in trade, defense and really any international matter. Anyone who is a citizen in a Nordic country can work, live and move freely in any other Nordic country and we have deep connection with eachother not only through culture but through language and history.
With all the co operation between us there is no need for unification, we are as close as one can be.
We are fraternal nations, with all the jokes aside I know many people from Scandinavia, Iceland and Finland will agree with me when I say I would happily shed blood for my brother nation's safety and prosperity.
Skål from Sweden
Karlstad has a statue to commemorate the signing in the form of a lady breaking a sword and stepping on a helmeted head to symbolize the victory of peace over war. I like to joke that the reason Norway doesn't want to join the EU is their bad history with unions in general.
You joke, but I remember this rhetoric being used in the 1995 campaign.
There was a succession crisis in Sweden, where they tried to get a Danish heir to the Swedish throne. Sadly he - ahem - died as his horse stumbled. Or perhaps he was poisoned and fell of the horse. Nobody knows! But shortly after they elected for that dashing French general instead, Charles, of whom Napoleon Bonaparte wrote that "while he was disappointed, he didn't consider him a traitor to France."
I still consider it a shame that a continental foreigner was elected. We lost our line of Swedish royal blood
Very well done sir, keep up the good work🇸🇪🇸🇯
There's a couple of things I wanna add as a norwegian native.
#1 one of the most famous norwegians of the early 1900s was Fridtjof Nansen, an arctic explorer, he was very influential in the nationalist movement in Norway, (to the point where several viking kings were modelled in art on his image) and he used his popularity to convince the British specifically to support Norwegian independence.
#2 Michelsen's government had already pre-planned calls for a referendum before the Riksdag's demand for a referendum, this was done so it didn't look like the referendum was being held on Stockholm's orders.
#3 The reason why over 99% of the population voted for independence was entirely because of the wording, the votes didn't say "do you wish for the union to be dissolved or continued?" it was instead worded as "do you confirm the union's already been dissolved?" Worded like that it was obvious for most norwegians what to vote for.
#4 Prince Carl of Denmark was the preferred candidate from the beginning, but they still asked Oscar II if any sons of his wanted the throne so they could get his response, which they predicted correctly that he would refuse, and could immediately get going on convincing prince Carl to take the throne.
To conclude, this was an excellent video on the topic of the Union!
Great video! I've learned a lot of new details of this story, for example, about Prince Christian Frederick.
While watching a thought occurred to me that it would be awesome to see you cover the Congress Kingdom of Poland and the November Uprising (and perhaps the January one too) in a similar way. There's hardly anything about them on RUclips (not in English, at least), and I think you would handle this topic excellently.
Thanks for your feedback ans your suggestions :) there will be more videos on Poland coming up soon ;)
@@SirManateee That's great! Can't wait. 😁
An earlier Swedish-Norwegian union under king Magnus Eriksson had already been dissolved in 1355.
Rly wholesome that the new Norwegian king wanted to be elected before accepting the throne, which the Norwegian ppl did in the end.
its sorta one of the reasons we love their family
Danish* but yea
@@fike2951 well, he WAS danish but he did become the norwegian king and then adopted norwegian culture
like today, even tho they are decendants of the danish, we see them as boneafied norwegians
Manatee as a Norwegian your channel is without a doubt the best on yt in terms of original and innovative historical content, especially from my favorite wacky 19th century (talking to the big, bloated and established channels recycling the same topics between eachother like there’s no tomorrow) and I’ll sing your and your channel’s praises to everyone I know. Truly appreciate the work you put into these and already looking forward to the next one
Thank you so much for those kind words :) the 19th century really is the most interesting time period of them all
Such a great job covering such an "obscure" topic!🎉
You have just earned my demand of a video about the Personal union between Russia and Finland, or commonly known as Grand Duchy of Finland.
Thanks for shedding light on this topic :D
Very informative video ! Thanks for informing us about history.
Cool video! This was just the last time we was under sweden. All our northen kindoms have been ruled under one crown many times. Mostly with Norway and Finland being the lesser partners. Didn't even mention Håkon was a Danish Prince.
My man with the vpn sponsorship, making the bread well done
As a Norwegian, I approve of this video, a very informative and well-made video on a somewhat overlooked part of European history.
1:57 Realm is a better translation than imperial.
This is the best video about this particular topic I've ever seen.
I even learned a new thing or two.
Haakon's wife, Queen Maud, was of course the youngest daughter of Britain's King Edward VII.
So glad you made this video. One of my favorite political unions to research. Danke noch mal
Another great video! cant wait for your next video on Poland ♥
It will come soon ;)
I was just thinking about you today while I was in class. Nice to see you uploading. I hope that you can become more popular.
Sir Manatee posts:
Good day.
What an excellent video agian from you, i only hoped you would have talked more about the opinion/role of denmark in all of this, or didnt they have an opinion?
It was great seeing a picture you had from the Battle of Langnes as I live just 5 min away and was in 2014 at the reenactment of the battle for it’s 200th anniversary
Honestly one of my fav unions in history, there was Poland-Lithuania, the UK, Austria-Hungary, but to me Sweden-Norway will always have a special place in my heart
as a proud norwegian that union can go fuck itself with a loaded shotgun.
It wasn't really a union. They were basically separate kingdoms that only shared King and foreign policy.
@@hawkevick9184Which is very similar to Austria-Hungary. So... a union
@@oddjonsson2815 did Hungary have it's own army?
Kalmar is superior, Scandinavian unity and isolationism!❤🎉
After Charles XIV of Sweden also became King of Norway, he visited Fredriksten Fortress in Halden, overlooking the Norwegian border to Sweden. The king noted that all the cannons were still aimed at Sweden, so he asked the Fortress Commander why that was. The Commander then quickly came to attention, clicked his heels together, and informed the king that, "The cannons are always aimed at _the enemy,_ Your Majesty!"
There has never been a king of Sweden named "Charles" or "Charles" XXXX whatever.... Nor of Sweden-Norway .....for that matter....
There must be a limit to what lengths the English language goes in order to distort names to the ridiculous ....even personal names can not stand as they are.....
@@Dan-fo9dk What are you on about? This is common practise when it comes to royal names. Are you - a Norwegian - trying to change the world again? Man, look around you. We're being ruled by Americans and thieves from Germany and France who would rather see us freeze to death than give us the price we deserve for building the sustainable electricity grid with our blood, sweat and tears. And then idiots like YOU go and vote in traitors to our people like Erna and Støre. F U!
@@Dan-fo9dk He is using proper grammar mate
@@fike2951 ....what was that suppose to mean...??? I was talking about names ....and what that has to do with grammar .....I don't know. As said is it so in the English language that they distort absolutely every name out there .....and even the name of private persons. Only when distortion is the norm is the name given of the Swedish king "correct". To your information has there never been a king there with the name "Charles" ......but they have had a king with a name Karl. Is that to difficult for English speakers...???
@@Dan-fo9dk Historically it has not been unheard of to translate the names of royalty. Take for example Richard Lionheart whom most swedes would know as Rickard Lejonhjärta, Friedrich der Grosse would be known most swedes as Fredrik den store or in English Frederick the great, emperess Yekaterina the second of russia would be more commonly known as Katarina den store or in English Katherine the great and so on.
Very interesting video! A small note to add is that the first constitution of Norway was indeed quite progressive in it's constitutional setup and in how much it limited the King's powers. In other areas it was far from progressive, it explicitally banned jews and jesuits from entering the country and expelled many living there already. Norway's Constitution was at the time considered the freest in Europe, but it also became the most anti-Jewish.
Good
As a Norwegian with Jewish ancestry, thank you for leaving this comment:-)
7:33 Finland isn't a part of Scandinavia though, it is a Nordic country instead.
Same with Iceland: Nordic, but not Scandinavian.
I am a Norwegian my self and i think this video was pretty good
Great video, thanks
thank you for this great video/ tack för den bra videon mycket intressant.
fucking delicious that you uploaded this just before my exam on nordic histor 1750-2010
Best of luck to you ;)
Just remember to mention source.
It turned out all right. The union with a far more advanced and powerful country was really not a disadvantage for a poor, undeveloped Norway. One important example: The Swedes had a negotiated exemption from the British Navigation Act. The was extended to Norway and became a key element for building the vast Norwegian merchant fleet. Over all, the constitution was very liberal (except for a few bad laws), the nobility was abolished, major basic human rights were granted, and in 1884 Norway adopted a parliamentary system. Universal voting rights for men came at the end of the century, the women followed 15 years later. A Nordic union including Denmark could have survived, but that never happened. So compared to Sweden, Norway was always a junior partner. But in 1905, Norway - with a lot of help from the Swedes - had become a modern, European nation, ready to be fully independent. The more level-headed Swedish leaders accepted these facts, and our two nations remain close friends.
If Charles August had survived his ... "stroke" ... we might well live in a unified Scandinavia today. Instead Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was chosen shortly after, and the rest is history. :)
....well....I think your take on the union as "....not a disadvantage..." should only stand for your own accounts.
Norway could very well have been without that kind of "help".... What Norway could have done on it's own is not something that you simply can set to zero.....
@@Dan-fo9dk What could Norway have done on its own? Do you really take pride in elites you do not know and that you have nothing to do with? Are you not a NORSEMAN, who believes only in the feats he himself can muster?
@@ralphthestrider4329 I have no idea what you are talking about.... Do you have some problem with understanding the reality of history? A country which has been invaded by a neighbour and by gunpoint forced into a marriage (also called a "union") .... would struggle to see the "advantages" of such ....and that kind of help was certainly nothing Norway needed. If you or anyone think that being raped and than forced into a marriage with the perpetrator is an "advantage"....then you need immediate help.
@@Dan-fo9dk You call it very emotional things like rape, meanwhile Swedes, Danes and Norwegians (and Icelanders and Faroe Islanders) are pretty much _the same_ people genetically and culturally. Then you purport some idea of what "Norway needed" like a country can have a need. There were elites, and there were peasants. There were different things they needed. Some benefitted form the unions, others didn't.
Nice video as a Norwegian this is really interesting to learn about in our schools they don’t say much about the union between Norway and Sweden sadly most of the time just skip it I learned a lot for your video Thanks👍🇳🇴🫵
Nydelig flagg i bakgrunnen!
spyverdig flagg.
Takk har lagga det skal fåre stille et samla scandinavia
@@llstuff Elsker sånne flagg. Den Norske løven, Svenske kronene og de tre Danske løvene i lag! Har et standard Kalmar union flagg hjemme men uten våpenskjoldene på. En dag blir vi sammla!
@@LøvæFråNordn Sannerligen! Jag hoppas att våra brödraländer åter går samman till ett.
That initial quip about the referendum result being so one-sided that even Kim-Jong Un would blush is not a joke - only 184 votes for continuing the union were cast. My (Swedish) speculation is that that must be the lower limit for how small a fraction of voters get the meaning of yes/no confused...
More Swedish and Norwegian history please, gj may man
AS A NORWEGIAN ITS MY HONOUR TO BE THIS EARLY TO YOUR VIDEO! JA VI ELSKER DETTE LANDET! ALT FOR KONGEN!
Kongen selv ville vi skulle si Alt for Norge, ikke alt for kongen.
@@Dimitrishuter Ja, denne Kongen. Men jeg tenker mer på Karl Frederik, Alt for Norge, men på 1800 tallet, trengte vi Kongen for å gi oss en identitet
saying norway in practicality gained independence in 1814 pretty much summarizes it. its not completely true, but because of what happened that year it really enabled the building of institutions like the parliament and a national school system. both very important to strengthen the sense of an independent nationality.
Jeg elsker deg, Norge! From a Romanian studying in the UK! 🇷🇴❤️🇳🇴
you should talk about the Swedish-Polish-Lithuanian union
well done
The Herring salad flags both have a British diplomatic flag in its canton. They are both vassal states of Britain.
1:45 9:34 5:06
14.45 I have never seen them smile ...
I have to applaud your attempt at saying Christian Michelsen at 11:10 it was slightly endearing how you literally cut the name in half with your pronounciation of Mich-elsen, yes the ch/k part is a hard pronounciation/emphasis in the name, but you did it waaaaaaaaaaaaay to hard and to long pause, again, it was endearing.
Cilly question - it was a demand from the Norwegian people in a election
Kim Yong Un be jealous about those 99.95% results
About the "Herring Salad" flag, it's almost there. Like, it's almost a cool flag. But something about it is just off enough that it's so not.
Great video as expected but as a swede I'm quite interested in why King Oscars II did not put one of his other sons on the Norwegian throne
As a Norwegian I wondered why Norway where treated like a colony.
As someone in both camps, I can tell you that red tins of Norwegian Oscar II Herring still sells well all over Europe!
@@ralphthestrider4329 Ah yes, the most powerful lingering remnant of the union that!
One important think i feel like you may have missed is that Swedens economy simply couldn't handle a war, and strikes would have been called would a war begin. Otherwise the king would have wanted to
Norway: Gib Jemtland, Herjedalen, Idre, Serna and Båhuslen back, and the Vallhund won't get watersprayed 🐶🔫
Sweden: You are trying to claim what I have rightfully stolen 😠
Jämtland är svenskt
@@charliepettersson7329 Nei ;)
@@charliepettersson7329 Jemtland er norsk.
Jämtland är Jämtländskt!
A VERY good video, a relief after many rubish videos and even embarasing contributions during the 100 years jubilee in 2005.
As I iunderstand it, the principal weaknes of of this video is lack of showing the importance of the sweedish crown prince in 1814. His name was Jean Baptiste Bernadotte. I belive he was both a major contributor to the allied victory in 1813 and the skilful politician that probably saw the very weak union beeing in his own interest. Yours Jens Erik, Oslo
Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was a former french marchal, one of the few who could outperform Napoleon tactically, and definitely was the better strategist. He secured the Sweedish general aim of "taking over" Norway, so far the Sweedes were happy. As I understand it, he did not push for a real takeover. Most Sweedes did probably not understand the arrangement with the weak union, Bernadotte might even have seen it as his life-insurannce. Should the Sweeds sack him as king, he could still have a kingdom. This arrangement spared the Norwegians of having a Swedes moving in as a new overclass. By skiflul politics, Bernadotte became a very popular kong in Norway under the name Carl Johan. -And I belive also so in Sweden.
It's a good thing it ended!
banger videos man how much bitcoin would I have to send you to make a whole video series on the former German ethnic communities in Eastern Europe? This summer, I’m going to Transylvania to see the remnants of the Siebenbürger Sachsen culture and I find the history so fascinating. I’d love to see some content about lesser known German communities such as those in Banat, Bessarabia, the Black Sea, the Caucasus, etc…
Incredible video. You really did justice to our history books. Kinda weird to see our forefathers voting in favour of a monarchy, considering the situation now a days with the inheritance..
As a norwegian I really appreciate your coverege
you know that they love been united when they began to plan war on each other
Yes, it was Norway's good fortune that we came from the union with Sweden.
Endlich wieder etwas interessantes. Die letzten 3 Videos waren eher langweilig…
The union dissolvement is the reason why Norwegians celebrate hard the constitutional day.
It's relevant to point out that the reason Sweden told Denmark to hand over Norway was largely because Denmark was seen as an accomplice in Sweden losing Finland to Russia. The video makes it seem like "gib us Norge" came out of nowhere. 😀
In short, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway made a Union in 1397. It quickly came to effectively mean Sweden and Norway were Danish more than being an actual union. Norwegians were fine with this, the Swedish nobility wasn't (I assume it somehow meant less money for them), and the result was hundreds of years of wars of Denmark trying to take back power in Sweden. In the 1600s Sweden started winning and won parts of Denmark, like Skåne, Gotland, etc. And after that, Denmark tried to win those parts back.
Russia invaded in February 1808, and Denmark invaded shortly after, and Sweden had no chance to keep a war up on two fronts, and was basically forced to choose between losing Finland to Russia, losing Sweden to Denmark, or both. So they accepted defeat to Russia and then took the army to kick out the Danes. And a few years later, when the Napoleonic wars were over, Sweden invaded Denmark, won very quickly and decisively, and basically demanded Norway as compensation for losing Finland.
So effectively, Denmark's 1808 plan to get Skåne and other parts back from Sweden by cooperating with Russia backfired, and they lost Norway as a result. Denmark hasn't attacked Sweden since.
Interesting! In Finland the Finnish War is always discussed very seldomly and it’s relation to Denmark and Norway never.
Your history "lesson" on why Sweden took control over Norway .....does not explain anything ..... It was just a summary of some historic events but nothing of what really was behind it. Yeah, Russia took over Finland. .....and than what....???? ....that gave the Swedish the right to take control over Norway as a "compensation"....???
That the Swedes had been attacking Norway was nothing new in 1814. The Swedes had been doing so for hundreds of years .....again....and again ....and again ....all the way since the 1100's ....so don't blame the Russians for what had been going on for 6-700 years. The only reason was nothing else than an imperial madness that grew and grew .....and grew.... Do I need to remind you about the Swedish imperial dreams leading them to go into Finland, Baltic, Russia, Poland, Germany (of today) even all the way into today's Ukraine. Do I need to mention Poltava 1709. The Swedish had nothing of rights to be any of such places.....
The Swedes had also absolutely nothing in Norway to do ....and had no right for claims there of any kind....
Norway ...and Norwegians....had absolutely no saying and responsibility for whatever Denmark did during it's time as a colony power. So the invasion in Norway in 1814 and forcing the country into submission ...and a forced marriage....was only the last spasms of Sweden's imperial wet dream madness. It is hard to say which of Norway's neighbours is worse ......Sweden ....who stole around 65000 sq. km of land which today is called Swedish territory or Denmark who depleted Norway for around 450 years ...and who also stole Greenland, Iceland and Faero islands from Norway.
Bizarre that the UK government supported the sundering of the Swedish-Norwegian union when they're so resistant to the independence of Scotland.
Perfidious Albion, i know i live there
Have a comment so the algorithm thinks this is really good stuff, because it is!
Thank you so much for making a video about Sweden❤️🇸🇪❤️
Jävla förrädare, hur fan kan du stödja Ryssland? Ryssen har aldrig varit en vän för Sverige.
Are You a Historian, or a Current History Student
❤❤
Electing prince Carl to be king Haakon VII proved to be an extraordinarily good choice. His respect for democracy was never in doubt, not even when an outgoing conservative government adviced him to disregard it because the main opposition was the socialdemocratic Arbeidpartiet. And his steadfast resistance against the German invasion in 1940 earned him the grudning respect even among Communists of the land.
he ran away...
UK wanted Norwegian independence to get a Scandinavian ally. From the independence up until the first World War the Swedish military were fearful of a Norwegian invasion backed by Britain.
The most slandern king in Swedish history is Gustaf IV Adolph even more then King Erik XIV.
As a norwegian, please, danes, swedes, finns and all other peoples of the nordics, cant we all just unite into a new kalmar union?
With all due respect , swedes have trust issues. We should ignore unions and perhaps do babysteps instead , lets see where this united air defence policy goes first.
@@matso3856 nah, a nordic union of states, much like the american system, with federal law and ruling, common foreign policy and defence etc, with the individual states retaining much of their own autonomy. Their own holidays, national days, anthems etc. I also think it should be a part of the european union.
Norway has been in a union with sweden and denmark, separately and simultainously, neither was fair or free, this time it would not be a forced union where one nation tries to assimilate the other but a union of sisters and brothers who respect each other.
Ja! Skandinavien bör enas till ett nordiskt rike enligt mig. Vi är brödrafolk
Why am I not surprised that you play paradox games 😂
Only EU4 tho ;)
Vary sad they left the glorious union 😢
We were denied our own foreign policy. Is it a country to be in union with do you think?
@@Simmelimme. Maybe Sweden could live with having another country's foreign minister and let that country manage foreign policy? It was not a dream for us. Living under a colonial power was not our dream.
@@Simmelimme. That train has run. Distrust of Sweden would have become too great after being robbed of our rights. It was a union where the countries had completely different premises, so we wanted our freedom. Perhaps that is why you hardly ever hear a Norwegian talking about or believing in a union with Sweden. History is not forgotten, for better or for worse.
@@maidsua4208 Indeed that train has run.
Im sorry for what my countrymen did 200 years ago. Idag är vi bästevänner med väldigt dypt militärt samarbete o partnership. Vi är samma folk o må vi aldrig kriga mot varandra igen.
@@Simmelimme. Du kan ikke ta ansvar for noe som skjedde for så lenge siden. Men mistenksomheten sitter nok i et folk lenge. Og nei, vi skal aldri krige mot hverandre. Samarbeid går bra uten å gå inn i en union eller i annet samarbeid som gir ulik balanse :).
The text machine gives many wrong words, but the commentator is okay.
The Norwegian Monarchy is probably the most popular in the world.
The question is not why the Union between Sweden and Norway was ended in 1903, but how it had actually survived for almost one century without ever erupting a civil war.
1903.....????
Yes yes 😊
Comment for the algo
In 1905, many American newspapers editorialised how wonderful it was that Norway was joining the ranks of enlightened republics. They were deeply disappointed when the Norwegian people chose monarchy instead.
Haha, that's funny. Americans don't understand the glory of a monarchy.
As a swedish person I just wanna point out that we still claim Norway as ours.
No. You don't.
@@exentr I just did?
@@anarchyintheuk5474 That's what I am saying. You didn't.
@@exentr take your ”didnt” up the ass
Svenskejævler.
My degree thanks you
Lucky for Norway, otherwise there would be the same problems there as in Sweden with clan wars
Yeah.. its altso very good sign of shifting frome autocraty to democrasy!?
It was this.. sweden lost Finnland to Russia in 1809, but later get allied to Russia in another war, so sweden have to be compensated!
And Denmark was on the losing side, so we got Norway, whitout Iceland and Greenland!
In anyway after some short skirmishes Norways parliment gives in and accept a dual monarchy.. parlamentarism was alredy growing as a rule of goverment in Europe!
However.. despite scandianism in an intelectual elite, there was not that much trade and cooperation between sweden and norway!
Sweden traded mostly with Germany and Norway with GB/Denmark/all over the place!
Then the Norway parliment resigned there goverment, and when the swedish king couldnt form a new goverment he get ousted, as a king of Norway!
And then there was war mongers that didnt accept this.. but parlamentary democracy have then come that long that both sides parliment did negotiated and come to a solution to end the double monarchy!
Anyhow.. after that we have lived togheter as siblings kind of!
I find it amazing that only 180 people voted to remain in the union. That's on par with the number of people who vote for the "Donald Duck" party in a typical Swedish election.
The loss of Norway in 1905 is the second biggest tragedy in Swedish history after the loss Finland in 1809.
Would say that Poltava and what came afterwards, were worse then losing Norway
@@oddjonsson2815 The fall of our Empire was sadly enough inevitable, therefore I did not count it but yes of course that was a huge tragedy.
Id say it was good for Sweden! Considering the opinions about Sweden and the union at the time, the fact that Sweden didn't make a fuss about the dissolution of the union was an important moment in cementing the friendship between our countries.
Yes, you lost a subject but you gained a friend! 🇳🇴🇸🇪 And I think that's better for everyone than continued conflict
@@kolen0421 didn't really refer to the end of the empire in itself. Don't really care about that since, as you said, it was inevitable. It was more about the way it happend. The homeland were pretty much defenceless from danish and Russian raids for several years since the main army had been destroyed by the kings vanity of first humiliating Poland and then marching towards Moscow. So many men were lost which were a important part of their local communities as professional soldiers. Several regiments were utterly wiped out or captured. There was also an outbreak of plague for good measure
@@oddjonsson2815 That is true