The Ice Flow

By Red Sox Steve

On the northern part of continental Europe, the end of the Neolithic period in approximately 5000 BCE is marked by the adoption of agriculture by the Germanic tribes. From this time until after the start of the first millennium, it is thought that the Germanic tribes occupying Scandinavia (Sweden and Denmark) were generally isolated from each other. Roman ties with northern Germanic tribes were thought to have been established during the first half of the first millennium CE. When the Roman empire had expanded to its full reach, and lost its ability to conquer more lands, it sought out relationships with the Scandinavians to obtain the slave labor it needed to maintain economic growth.

After the end of the Neolithic era, Scandinavians began to import tin ore, copper and amber, transitioning to what was later called the Bronze Age. Evidence has been found in tools and other artifacts that iron then supplanted bronze, even before the Romans had reached Scandinavia. It was the Celtic tribes that brought the Iron Age to Scandinavia from present-day Germany and France. By about 400 CE, Roman influence all over Europe was on the decline, allowing Germanic iron technology to spread into Scandinavia and other places. Germanic influence later gave way to the first historical period that can be considered uniquely Scandinavian: the Viking Age.

By the end of the 8th century, Scandinavians had developed trading relationships with dynasties like the Carolingian (France) and Abbasid (Iraq). Scandinavians (Denmark, Sweden, Norway) were able to gain great wealth serving as a conduit between Asia and western Europe for the movement of furs and precious metals. At the same time, the iron technology that had been adopted for agricultural uses increased food production, contributing to population growth. Germanic tribes in the region had taken to fishing and ocean based trading centuries earlier. At the close of the 8th century, political troubles in Iraq dried up the silver trade and Norway found itself made up of 30 smaller kingdoms. Because of the natural advantages in Scandinavia, a decentralized feudal structure and awareness of the riches found in foreign countries, Vikings were able to aggressively conquer and trade in many parts of Europe.

Before the end of the 8th century, Vikings had attacked coastal England and Dublin. They made further progress to France and through the Strait of Gibraltar in the second half of the 9th century. Many coastal Scandinavian towns and farms were isolated from each other in the early part of this era; as Viking influence expanded, trade and wealth back home also increased, leading to further development of dense population centers. Although much of Viking lore discusses militaristic conquest, there is evidence that women played a significant role in this era as well. Women accompanied men on journeys of conquest and provided support for the army by cooking and nursing the wounded. Furthermore, there is evidence that aristocratic women had full authority over dependents and slaves, taking responsibility for the home when their husbands were away.

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The 11th century saw a steady the decline of Viking dominance in Europe, and by the end of the century, Viking influence was subdued by a number of other forces. Because the Vikings had previously been able to conquer England, the king of both Denmark and Norway had also become the king of England. However, a challenge to successive authority wrought conflict between England and Norway, and after 1066, the Vikings were never able to conquer England again. Furthermore, the spread of Christianity throughout continental Europe had found its way to Scandinavia. As Norsemen settled Europe through the 10th century, many had converted to Christianity. Centralized royal and religious authority, as it had in the rest of Europe, was increasing in population and economic centers that still exist in Scandinavia today (e.g. Oslo in Norway; Lund in Sweden; Odense in Denmark). As these nations became further integrated with Europe, Viking raids had ended, and by the end of the 12th century, all Scandinavian nations had become Christian.

Norway emerged as a sovereign nation during the Viking era. Harald I, who had inherited three kingdoms within the fractured nation, began an era of conquest that drove some of his opponents as far away as Iceland. In order to defeat his challengers in the British Isles, he allied with Anglo-Saxon king Athelstan. He was also able to encourage further conquest of England and continental Europe during his reign and was recognized as the first monarch of a united Norway in about 900, dying in 940.

Before his death, Harald had divided Norway into three parcels, to be given to each of his three sons, according to royal succession practices stating that all sons of the king had the same right to inherit from their father. One son, Eric (later known as Eric I Bloodaxe) conquered the other two parcels, executing his brothers, and ruling a united Norway until 945 when he was removed from power. Although subsequent rulers inherited a nation thriving as a result of Viking conquests, the situation in Norway was turbulent as monarchs continuously tried to implement Christian doctrine. Olaf I (r. 995–1000) and Olaf II (r. 1015–30) continued to build their nation around Christianity, and pursued the forced conversion of pagans to Christians to further their efforts. After defeating Olaf II, the Danish king Canute II tried to incorporate Norway under his rule, however successive Norwegian kings were able to repel this effort and maintain independence.

During the second half of the 11th century, Norway entered a period of relative stability. Its Viking era was over and Christianity started to take hold, all while some of its major cities continued to flourish. However, because of the rules of succession, the period from 1130-1240 is known as a time of civil war. After King Sigurd the Crusader died in 1130, the rule of his only apparent son was challenged by Sigurd's brother who had emerged from Ireland. This touched off a conflict that lasted for multiple generations - siblings and heirs from both factions had challenged each other, until 1239 when Håkon Håkonsson's royal authority was threatened by his father-in-law, Earl Skule Bårdsson. King Hakon defeated Earl Skule, and executed him the following year. Before Hakon's death in 1263, he was able to obtain Iceland and Greenland for Norway, pushing the kingdom's boundaries to their furthest extent.

Before the 13th century came to an end, Norway sought a more extensive role in international politics. The monarchy married into the kingdoms of Castile (Spain) and Scotland, and in 1295, Norwegian King Eirik II formed an alliance with France and Scotland against England. King Haakon V became monarch in 1299 and it was his heir that would build a union between Norway and Denmark that would last for two centuries. When Haakon died, his only heir to the throne was his daughter's son, Magnus Eriksson, the King of Sweden. This resulted in a personal union between Sweden and Norway, and Magnus' son Haakon inherited the Norwegian throne. Haakon passed the throne to his son Olaf, already the King of Denmark; Olaf became King of Norway in 1380 on his father's death and ruled both Denmark and Norway as King Olav IV.

During the 14th century, Olav IV's mother, Queen Margaret, was to engineer a union with Sweden and Denmark that would last for nearly two centuries. Because Olav IV died in 1387, Norway was without a king until Margaret adopted her sister's grandson, Bogislav, a son of prince Vartislav of Pomerania (a region currently divided between Germany and Poland). Margaret changed her new son's name to Erik, and he became king of Norway in 1389. Because of the struggle for power in Sweden going on at the time, Margaret used her influence both there and in Denmark to organize a military campaign against the Swedish king. By 1397, Denmark, Norway and Sweden had united under Margaret's adopted son, Erik, ruling as Eric VII of Pomerania. The agreement they reached was known as the Kalmar Union (signed at Kalmar, Sweden) and it created a united Scandinavian front against threats from Germany and other alliances in the region.

By the early 1500s, Scandinavia, still under the union, had fought in various conflicts to protect both commerce and territory. Although there were three member nations, conflicts between Sweden and Denmark for union control dominated the relationship and had been going on for decades. By the early 1520s, rebellion in Sweden overturned the monarchy and expelled Danish forces. Sweden seceded from the union by 1523. In 1536 the Danish Privy Council declared Norway a Danish province. As a result, Norway was able to retain some national institutions and its legal system, but Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands became Danish possessions. Denmark effectively controlled Norway's affairs for nearly three hundred years thereafter.

Early in the 17th century, tension between Sweden and the Danes flared up again, bringing Norway into alliance with the Danish side, in a conflict known as the Kalmar Wars. The threat of the Habsburgs (the ruling dynasty of Spain and Austria) against much of Northern Europe drew Denmark-Norway into the Thirty Years War during this period as well. Sweden's Charles X, who had already entered into military conflict with Poland and Russia, sought territory in Denmark and Norway, leading to a three year conflict known as the Northern War (1655-1658), in which Sweden was unable to gain much progress in furthering its own kingdom.

By the end of the 17th century, Sweden's role in the region and in Europe was expanding. It had been able to control part of Pomerania and Denmark and much of the Baltics, all to the consternation of its neighbors. Furthermore, Sweden, under Charles X had been able to conquer much of the Holy Roman Empire, and by mid-century controlled the third largest amount of territory in Europe (after Russia and Spain), however because of the persistent and expensive war Sweden fought, its economy and military were weakened. By the time Charles XII came to power as a 14 year old in 1697 after the death of his father Charles XI, Sweden's opponents thought it a much diminished nation.

Just after the turn of the century, Norway was able to gird its borders against further invasion by Sweden and restructure its bureaucracy. Although Norway still fell under Danish rule, Baron Løvendal, Governor of Norway from 1710 - 1713, began the construction of civil and military services to an extent never before seen. Charles X, although repelled by Russia and forced into exile, returned to power and by 1716 sought to invade Norway. After a period of attacks, regrouping and then attacks, the conflict started to draw to a close when Charles X was killed in 1718. The war that lasted over 20 years, known as the Great Northern War, was over in 1721.

The kingdom of Denmark-Norway flourished for the majority of the 18th century. The monarchy abolished tax exemptions for nobility, the kingdom established colonies overseas, and efforts were put forth which stimulated shipping, commerce, and industry. At the same time ideas about individual liberty and social reform which grew out of the Enlightenment movement permeated the Scandinavian social consciousness. Serfdom was abolished, turning peasants into landowners, while free trade and universal education were introduced by the government. Censorship was relaxed and Danish nationalism developed, increasing hostility against Germans and Norwegians.

The Norwegians grew inspired by revolutionary movements in France and the United States. Norway, although it was asserting its desire for national independence, was ultimately unable to gain sovereignty. Denmark allied with France against Britain in the Napoleonic wars, and after Napoleon's defeat in 1814, Denmark granted Norway to Sweden. Although Norway resisted this at first, by the end of the year, the Norwegian parliament (the "Storting") recognized the Swedish king as its ruler as well.

Under the union with the Swedes, the Norwegians were allowed to conduct their own internal affairs, however any foreign policy efforts were handled by the Swedish government. The interests of these two nations diverged as the 19th century wore on. Norway's economy and international relationships were unique with respect to Sweden's and Norway's liberal Parliamentarian orientation clashed with Sweden's monarchical conservatism. Norwegian governments continued to petition the Swedish crown for the right to establish Norwegian consular offices overseas; the king continued to reject this request, for fear of undermining the authority of the throne in determining foreign policy.

In 1905, a coalition formed within the Norwegian government seeking to establish a separate consular corps. As expected, Swedish King Oscar II refused to accept the laws, and the Norwegian government resigned, creating a constitutional crisis.

"...the Storting hereby authorizes the cabinet that resigned today to exercise the powers held by the King in accordance with the Constitution of Norway and relevant laws - with the amendments necessitated by the dissolution of the union with Sweden under one King, resulting from the fact that the King no longer functions as a Norwegian King."

- excerpt from the declaration of dissolution of the union as of June 7, 1905

A Norwegian referendum was requested by the King in order to start the process of negotiating an end to the union. On August 13, over 99% of Norwegians voted in favor of dissolution. By October 26, after a tense period of negotiations, Oscar II renounced his authority over Norway, and any of his descendants' claims to the Norwegian throne.

In the summer of 1905, a Norwegian delegation offered the throne to Prince Carl of Denmark, the second son of the Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark. Not only did he already have a son, but he was also married to Maud of Wales, British King Edward VII's daughter. The support of the British monarchy for independence was highly sought after by the Norwegians. Later that year, after voting for dissolution of the union, Norwegians voted in favor of a monarchy over a republic by about 79% to 21%. The parliament offered Prince Carl the Norwegian throne on November 18, and he accepted before the end of the day. He chose to rule with the name Haakon - the most recent king with that name was Haakon VI, who died in 1380. The new king became Haakon VII, and his two year old son Alexander became Crown Prince Olav. Haakon VII was sworn in on November 27, 1905.

During World War I, Norway remained neutral, however it managed to lose over 800 ships and 2,000 sailors. Furthermore, because of its close ties with Britain and a pervasive anti-German sentiment (Sweden had had close ties with Germany for a number of years), Norway provided supplies to the British in exchange for coal.

Between the end of WWI and the start of WWII, Norway sought a policy of neutrality, most especially because it did not want to oppose Britain. As things in Europe started to heat up, Norwegian policies promoting fiscal control, pacifism, and neutrality met more and more opposition. Just after the declaration of war on the Germans by the British and French started World War II, the Nazis invaded a number of nations, including Norway. In April 1940, the Germans attacked major Norwegian port cities and in one battle, the Norwegian army, with assistance from the British, French and Polish managed to repel the invaders for 2 months. This resistance gave the King and government enough time to leave the country with the treasury and form an exile government in London.

The Nazis, however, were able to subdue the resistance and take control of much of Norway by early May. Their nominal leader in Norway, Vidkun Quisling, sought to both ensure economic stability and ameliorate the effect the occupation had on Norwegians. The Nazis faced stiff resistance by banning all political parties except one ("Nasjonal Samling" - means National Gathering) and forcing unions and other organizations to be led by National Gathering leaders.

The resistance to Nazi occupation was supported by the British. One of the key victories achieved by the Norwegian resistance working with British special operations was to destroy the Vemork "heavy water" plant in Rjukan, possibly preventing the Germans from building an atom bomb. Furthermore, during the occupation, about 12,000 children were born to Norwegian women and German soldiers. After the war ended, most of the women and children suffered severely as a result, and many children were sent away to homes or used as test subjects for medical experiments.

Norway was liberated from German occupation in May 1945 by Norwegian troops being trained using Swedish facilities and weapons. During the liberation, over 20,000 were captured, sentenced and imprisoned for various offenses. Thirty-seven people were executed between 1945 and 1948. Vidkun Quisling, the leader of the only political party allowed to remain in power by the Nazis, was executed on Oct. 24, 1945, for a number of offenses, assistance with the deportation of Jews among them.

After World War II, as a result of its occupation by the Germans, Norway has sought an approach to foreign policy and economic development known to some as the "Norwegian model". In 1949, Norway became one of the founding members of NATO, and the first secretary general to the United Nations was Trygve Lie, a Norwegian. Additionally, in the 1960s, large oil reserves were discovered off its coast, leading to a period of economic prosperity. In both 1972 and 1994, however, Norway rejected joining the European Union, though it chose to remain part of the European Economic Area. It is currently the only Scandinavian country that is not a member of the EU, although it has retained very strong ties with both the UK and other Nordic Council nations (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland).

The Labor Party (left), led by current Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has been in power for much of the last half century. The Labor Party ruled Norway as a majority administration (held the majority of Parliamentary seats) until 1981. The conservative government then took over as a minority administration, building to a majority in 1983 by adding two additional parties to its coalition. Twice, soon after the conservative party formed parliamentary coalitions, the Labour party was able to regain power - once in 1986, and again in 1990. In 1997, Labour removed itself from power, giving way to a centrist coalition - Christian Democrats, the Liberal Party and the Center Party. This coalition made up 25% of parliament, but was ousted in 2000 by the Labour Party and new Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg before it was able to complete a full term.

In October 2001, Labor and PM Stoltenberg gave up power to a centre-right coalition of the Conservatives, Christian Democrats and the Liberal Party. This new government was headed by former PM Kjell Magne Bondevik. One of the keys to pushing the government's agenda was cooperation by the conservative Progress Party. The continuous attempts by the Progress Party to exploit their position to dictate policy started to agitate more centrist members of the coalition, weakening the coalition and bringing Labor back into power. Current PM Stoltenberg has held office since October 2005 and has been Labor leader since 2002. He has assisted in the formation of the current ruling party of the government, the center-left coalition with the Socialist Left Party and the agrarian Centre Party. Mr. Stoltenberg's personal approval ratings have remained high, while the coalition seeks another term in the general election to be held in September 2009.

Norway remains one of the most peaceful and stable democracies in the world. It has used the wealth gained from fossil fuels to support its very progressive social welfare system, and at the same time is highly dependent on hydroelectric power based on its access to rivers and mountains. It also has one of the highest rates of broadband penetration in the world integrated within a very modernized telecommunications infrastructure. Through the hard-earned experience of WWII occupation, Norway has taken an enlightened view of international conflict, and has managed to serve as both mediator and peacekeeper in many theaters of conflict around the world. Although there is some dissent on both sides of the political spectrum about its relationship to NATO and the EU, Norway maintains peaceful relations with all its neighboring nations. Norway continues to function as diplomat, business partner and ally to many nations in Europe and around the globe while maintaining a stable and productive society based on its rich and unique history.