Kingdom of Norway (1814)

Kongeriget Norge
Kingdom of Norway

Unrecognized state

←

1814

→

Motto
Gud og fædrelandet
God and the fatherland

Anthem
Norges Skaal
Norway's Toast

Capital

Christiania

Government

Constitutional monarchy

King

- 1814

Christian Frederik

First Minister

- 1814

Frederik Gottschalck von Haxthausen

Legislature

Storting

History

- January 14, 1814

Treaty of Kiel

- February 16, 1814

Notable meeting

- May 17, 1814

Constitution

- August 14, 1814

Convention of Moss

- November 4, 1814

Charles II elected king

Population

- 1814

885,000

Currency

Norwegian rigsbankdaler

Kingdom of Norway (Denmark–Norway)

Sweden-Norway

Norway

v

The Kingdom of Norway (1814) was an unrecognized state in Northern Europe.

History[]

After a union of nearly 400 years between Norway and Denmark, the Danish king, Frederick VI., without consulting the Norwegians, ceded Norway to Sweden by the treaty of Kiel (January 14, 1814). Some time previously Sweden had joined the allies in their struggle against Napoleon, while Denmark had, unwisely, sided with the French. In 1813 the Swedish crown prince, Bernadotte, afterwards King Carl XIV., proceeded to Germany and took command of one of the armies of the allies. After the power of Napoleon had been broken he was elected heir to the Swedish throne, in succession to the childless king Carl XIII, who died in 1818.

After the battle of Leipzig, he advanced against Denmark, and King Frederick soon saw himself compelled to accede to the cession of Norway, which had long been the aspiration of the Swedes, especially after the loss of Finland in 1809. In the treaty of Kiel Frederick VI. absolved the Norwegians from their oath of allegiance, and called upon them to become the loyal subjects of the Swedish king. But the Norwegians, who had not been consulted in the matter, refused to acknowledge the treaty, declaring that, while the Danish king might renounce his right to the Norwegian crown, it was contrary to international law to dispose of an entire kingdom without the consent of its people. A meeting of delegates was convened at Eidsvold, not far from the Norwegian capital, where, on the 17th of May 1814, a constitution, framed upon the constitutions of United States, of France, and of Spain, was adopted. Among its most important features are that the Storthing, or National Assembly, is a single-chamber institution, and that the king is not given an absolute veto, or the right to dissolve the Storthing. The Danish governor of Norway, Prince Christian Frederick, was unanimously elected king. Soon afterwards the Swedes, under the crown prince, invaded Norway. The hostilities lasted only a fortnight, when Bernadotte opened negotiations with the Norwegians. A convention was held at Moss, where it was proposed that the Norwegians should accept the Swedish king as their sovereign, on the condition that their constitution of the 17th of May should remain intact, except with such alterations as the union might render necessary. An extraordinary Storthing was then summoned at Christiania, and on the 4th of November 1814 Norway was declared to be "a free, independent, and indivisible kingdom, united with Sweden under one king." A month previously Prince Christian Frederick had laid down his crown and left the country.^[1]