History of Norway
Vikingskip
The Viking era
We call the time period between 800-1100 AD the Viking era. At that time, Norway was not a united state, but it was several states that each ruled a king. In 872 the Viking Harald Horferge became king over all of Norway. Many Vikings traveled to other countries, some of them dealt with commerce, dealt with the sale and purchase of goods, some were warriors, and they were robbed and killed. We usually think about warriors when we talk about Viking. In the 11th century, the Christian religion spread in Norway, and the Christian religion replaced the old Norse myths and legends
Borgund stavkirke
Unity between Norway and Denmark
Danish influence increased gradually over Norway in the fourteenth century. In 1397, Norway was in a formal union with Sweden and Denmark. The union had a common property. After Sweden withdrew from the union, the Norwegian-Danish union continued until 1814. Politics was run from Denmark, Copenhagen was the cultural center of the union, the Norwegians read and wrote in Danish, and the Norwegian peasants paid taxes to the king in Copenhagen.
Dissolution of the Union and the new Union
Eidsvoll1814 - © Stortingsarkivet / foto: Teigens fotoatelier as 1814 is an important year in the history of Norway. On 17 May, Norway obtained its own constitutional law. There were many wars in Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. There was a war between England and France. Denmark, Norway, and Denmark stood side by side with France. When France lost the war, the Danish king was forced to give up Norway for Sweden, which was on the side of England. The union between Norway and Denmark was dissolved in 1814. Many Norwegians hoped Norway would become an independent state after the dissolution of the Union. Some influential people gathered together in the city of Edsfeld, in the province of Akarhus, and wished to write a constitutional law for the independent Norwegian state . Norway was forced in any case to enter into a union with Sweden, which became a reality in November 1814. This association with Sweden was weaker than its predecessor with Denmark. Norway retained its constitutional law with some amendments, it also had internal autonomy, foreign policy was administered by Sweden, and there was a sovereign Swedish king. Eidsvollsbygningen
National romance and Norwegian identity
In the middle of the 19th century, Europe flourished in art and culture, or what we call national romance. It is important to mention, exaggerate and beautify the distinctive national things. In Norway it was obvious to highlight its beautiful nature, and the peasant community was seen as a "Norwegian peculiarity". National romance can be applied to literature, paintings and music, and at that time the Norwegians became more aware of their national identity. Many of them have boasted of being Norwegian, which gave rise to a strong desire for independence. After being in union with Denmark for hundreds of years, the language written in Norway was Danish, and the language we currently know in modern Norwegian (Bokmål) is a later development. In the period of national romance many expressed their desire to have a written language for Norwegians that was not derived from the Danish language. Thus, linguist Evar Osan (1813-1896) traveled about Norway and collected linguistic examples of different dialects. From these examples he created a new written language, the language of local dialects (nynorsk). Modern Norwegian (bokmål) and nynorsk have evolved significantly since the 19th century, but Norway still has two official Norwegian languages,
Norway has become an industrialized country
In the mid-19th century, about 70 percent of the population in Norway lived in rural areas and worked mostly in agriculture and fishing. Life has been harsh for many of them. The population has increased and there is no longer enough land or jobs for all. At the same time there was a big change in the cities. Many factories were established, many moved from the countryside to the cities to find work, and life was hard for many working families. The working day was long and housing conditions were poor. Of children. It was natural for many families to take part in a small apartment. Many children had to work in factories so that the family could survive and tried a lot to find success abroad. Between 1850 and 1920, more than 800,000 American.
Independent free state
In 1905 the union was dissolved with Sweden. There was a permanent disagreement between the Norwegian Parliament and the Swedish King. At the beginning of the 20th century many began to call for Norway to become an independent free state. On June 7, 1905, the Parliament declared that the Swedish King was no longer the property of Norway, and that the union with Sweden had been dissolved. Sweden reacted violently and almost started a war between Norway and Sweden and through a referendum held twice during the same year, To dissolve the union with Sweden, and that the nascent Norwegian state would be a monarchy. Prince Carl was chosen as the new king of Norway, and the name of Hokun was taken as a new Norwegian monarchy. King Yukon VII ruled Norway from 1905 until his death in 1957