NationStates Jolt Archive


Kongeriket Norge (Cold War RP)

ChevyRocks
01-07-2006, 05:08
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Flag_of_Norway.svg/125px-Flag_of_Norway.svg.png

Kongeriket Norge - Kingdom of Norway
History

During the year 872 AD, it is traditionally held that Harald Fairhair became the first ruler of a united Norway, after gathering all up the various small kingdoms during the Battle of Hafrsfjord. During the next several centuries, the Viking rulers held a policy of unification and expansion, establishing settlements in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and parts of the British Isles. The Black Death wiped out a major portion of the Norwegian population in 1349, causing severe economic and social problems. The Hairfair dynasty died out during the resulting decline. Royal politics at the time resulted in close relations with the neighboring Nordic nations, and in 1397 the Kalmar Union was created between Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. In 1523, Sweden declared independence from the Union, though Denmark-Norway remained a union until 1814.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway was attacked by England, and thus it formed an alliance with France. However, as a result of being on the losing side of the war, combined with poor economic conditions, the Dano-Norwegian king was forced to cede the territory of Norway to Sweden. The opportunity thus came for Norway to delcare it's independence, and created a constitution (May 17, 1814) based on American and French models. Though they were militarily forced into a union with Sweden, the Norwegians kept their liberal constitution.

The 19th century saw an increasing disatisfaction with the union with Sweden, and the union was finally dissolved on June 7, 1905. Danish Prince Carl was offered the throne, and was unanimously elected to the position by the Parliament. He took the name Haakon VII, after the medieval kings of old. Norway remained a neutral nation during World War I, and attempted to remain neutral during World War II. However, Nazi Germany invaded on April 9, 1940, as a part of Operation Weserübung. Norwegians put up a stiff resistance, but were eventually forced to surrender in June. The King and the rest of the government fled to London, where they continued the fight against the Nazis. For five years Norway was under German occupation, and resistance groups fought against the occupiers for the rest of the war. German forces in Norway surrendered on May 8, 1945, today celebrated as V-E Day.

As a result of the occupation during World War II, Norwegians swayed away from their previous neutrality policies, turning to the idea of collective security. On April 4, 1949, Norway was one of the original twelve signatories of the North Atlantic Treaty, which created NATO.