Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/751

NORWAY. 639 NORWAY. doni3 on the death of his father in 1.380. Thi^5 young king. «ho exercised only a nominal sway under the guidance of his mother, Queen Margaret (q.v. ). the only child of Valdcniar iV. of Den- mark, died without heirs in l;!87. The ambitious and capable ifargaret succeeded to the thrones of Denmark and Norway, and in 1.38!l she became mis- tress also of Sweden, and the three kingdoms were bound together by the Union of Calmar in 1397. From the Union of Calmar till 1814 Xorway continued united with Denmark; but while it shared in the general fortunes of the latter State, it retained its own constitutional mode of government, and exercised its riglit of elect- ing the sovereign until, like the sister king- dom, it agreed of its own free will to relinquish this privilege in favor of hereditary succession to the throne. (.See De.m.vi:k.) Xorway lU'cliiicil in prosperity and energj' after the fourteenth century, in the middle of which the Black Death swept over it, leaving the land exhausted and partially depopulated. Oppressed by Den- mark, her colonies and her eonuneree lost, there seemed to be little left of the national life. The Napoleonic wars severed the union which had existed for more than 400 years: for Denmark, after having given imequivwal proofs of adhesion to the cause of Bonaparte, was compelled, after the triumph of the Allies, to purchase peace by aban- doning its sovereignty over Norway. Crippled in her resources and also bankrupt, she saw her- self constrained to sign the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, by which it was stipulated that she should cede Norway to Sweden, receiving by way of indemnity Swedish Pouierania and the island of Kiigen. which were sulisecniently cxclianged with Prussia for Lauenburg. The Norwegians refused to admit the validity of the Treaty of Kiel, and a National Diet, assembled at Eidsvold. tendered the crown of Norway, as an independent kingdom, tn the Danish Crown Prince Christian Frederick the future Christian VIIT.). This .ssembly drew u]i a constitution based on the f^rench Con- stitution of 1791. These measures found, how- ever, neither supporters nor sympathizers among the other nations; and with the sanction of the Great Powers, Bernadotte, Crown Prince of Swe- den, led an array into Norway, and after taking Frederikstad and Frederikshald. threatened Christiania. Denmark being unable to support the cause of Prince Christian, and Norway being Titterly destitute of the means necessary for prosecuting a Avar, resistance was of no avail, and the Norwegians were glad to accept the proposals made to them by the Swedish King for a union with Sweden on the understanding that they should retain the newly promulgated Constitution, and enjoy full liberty and independence within their own boundaries. These conditions were agreed to. and strictly maintained ; a few unim- portant alterations in the Constitution, necessitat- ed by the altered conditions of the new union, being the only changes introduced in the nuichin- ery of government. Norway has firmly resisted every attemjit on the part of the Swedish monarch.s to infringe upon the constitutional prerogatives of the nation, and the feeling of national aut(momy has been intensified by a striking ditTerence between the democratic population of Norway and the more conservative population of Sweden, where the aristocracv still exercises considerable influence on the Government. The national movement, I which continued throughout the nineteenth cen- tury in spite of repealed attempts on the part of llie sovereign to mediate between the Nor- wegian ami Swedish parliaments, had as its ultimate aim the reduction of the bond between the two kingdoms to a mere personal union. Conservative, Liberal, and Kadical ministries succeeded each other in rapid alternation, but while the two former parties were too weak to ell'ect any" permanent arrangement, the Radi- cals, who were as a rule in a decided majority, failed in their policy against the resolute re- sistance of the Swedish Jjandsthiug. The Nor- wegian Parliament, the Storthing, for some time before 1890, sought to enforce its policy l)y refus- ing to vote adequate supplies for the defense of the united kingdoms, and attempted to organize the military strength of the nation in the form of a militia and volunteer corps, on whose sympathy the Storthing might depend. After 1890 the i)olicy of the Pvadical Party, which in secret was aiming at complete .separation from Sweden, crystallized in the demand for a s])ecial Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Norway as well as a distinct diplo- matic and consular service. This, however, the sovereign refused to concede. A temporary truce was concluded in IS'.)."), when a new law regu- lating the commercial relations of the two coun- tries went into elTect, and a joint committee composed of Swedish and Norwegian representa- tives was intrusted with the execution of its provisions; but in the election of 1897 the Radical Party gained an overwhelming vii-tory, and the conflict was renewed with increased ardor. In 1899 King Oscar II. finally gavi' his consent toa law removing the emblem of Sweden from the flag of Norway, which thus resumed the u.se of its old ensign. A bill, however, tending toward the final establishment of a separate consular ser- vice for Norway failed of the royal approval in 1900. In 1898 a law providing for direct elec- tion to the Storthing by universal manhood suf- frage went into effect. This was supplemented by a law in 1901 dealing with communal electors, by which the suffrage was granted to all adult males and such women as ]iaid a tax on an in- come of more than 300 kroner. BiBLioGRApnv. In additiiui to the numerous ofiieial publications, all printed in the Norwegian language, yorway, printed in English by the Government in 1900 for the Paris Exposition, is one of the fullest and most accurate sources of infomiation. Other works are: Forbes, Xor- ivdij and Its GJacicrs (London, IS.'iS) : Enault, La Xorrcge (Paris, 18.^7): Bowden, Xoricay; Its People. Products, and Inslitiitionis (London, 18f!7) ; De. Mombvncs, C<iiixlitiitluns curopeennes (Paris, 1881): Du Chaillu. The Land of the Midnifiht Sun (New York. 1882); Ballon. Due Xorth, or Olimpses of Scnndinaria and Russia (Boston, 1887); Collet, Bird Life in Arctic yorirnif (London, 1894); Bradshaw. Xoricay: Its Fjords. Fields, and Fosses (ib.. 1890) : Chap- m.an. TTi'W yocKxii/ (ib., 1897) : Seignobos. II is- toirc politique de VEurope contempurnine (Paris, 1897) ; Hyne. Through Arctic Lapland (London, 1899) : Lee, Peaks and Pines (ib.. 1899) ; Ruge. Xoru-er/en (Leipzig, 1899) ; Quillardet. Sui'dois ct Xorreyiens ohez eux (Paris. 1899) ; Gandolphe, La vie et I'art des Scandinores (ib., 1899) ; Konow and Fischer. Xoruay (Christiania. 1900) ; Spender. Two Winters in Noriray (London, 190-2).