The northern regions of Europe began to be inhabited by people already from the 10th-9th centuries BC. The early history of Norway is associated mainly with the settlement of the Scandinavian Peninsula by various Germanic tribes. In Western Europe they were called Normans or Vikings.

VIII-IX centuries in Norway fall on the Viking Age, which had a huge impact on the military and political traditions of the country. The ancient Norwegians are a nation of sailors and discoverers. Thanks to their success in shipbuilding and navigation, they discovered the Shetland, Orkney, Hebrides, Faroe Islands, the Isle of Man, Iceland, Greenland, and also reached the shores of North America (they called it Vinland) long before Columbus. The objects of Norwegian colonization were also British Isles and the north of France, and there the Scandinavians were gradually assimilated by the local population, converted to Christianity and began to lead a settled way of life.

In the 8th-9th centuries, on the territory of modern Norway, there was a large number of small proto-state formations. Due to geographical and topographic features, the process of unification of the Norwegian lands was quite lengthy and took about two centuries. In 882, King Harald the Fair-Haired won an important victory in the battle of Hafrsfjord, which actually marked the beginning of the unification of the Norwegian lands around the Viken region. The unification process ended by the middle of the 11th century. The Icelandic and Norwegian sagas name Olaf the Holy (1015-1028) as the first king to rule all of Norway. In the years 1028-1035, Norway was under the control of Denmark.

During the reign of kings Hakon the Educator Æthelstan (933-959), Olaf Tryggvason (955-999) and Olaf Haraldson the Holy (1015-1028), Norway adopts Christianity, and the Viking raids on the rest of Europe gradually cease. Norway reached its maximum territorial gains by 1265, after which their reduction began. The Hebrides and the Isle of Man were ceded by Norway to Scotland in 1266, and Orkney and Shetland in 1468. Iceland and the Faroe Islands were ceded by Norway to Denmark in 1814.

The Norwegian society of the Middle Ages differed in its structure from other European countries in that the overwhelming majority of the population were free landowners - bonds, who, together with the nobility, decided all administrative and political issues at regional legislative assemblies - tings, which gathered all free people in the district, regardless from social status. In the middle of the 10th century, an interregional body, the Lagting, was formed, which united representatives of different regions.

The Middle Ages in Norway were marked by long internecine wars, which lasted with short breaks for about 100 years (from 1130 to 1227), the gradual strengthening of the power of the monarch, as well as the development of cities and trade and economic relations. Already by the beginning of the 13th century, Norway had developed legislation: King Magnus the Corrector of Laws (1263-1280) codified local laws and brought them together in 1274 into the Code, which determined the development of the country's legal system for about 400 years ahead.

From 1319-1320 until 1536, a peculiar political institution, the Riksrod, functioned in Norway, which represented the interests of the elite and acted on behalf of the state. It consisted of 20-30 members and served as a collective adviser to the monarch. Unlike Denmark and Sweden, in Norway, royal power was hereditary, so Riksrod's power was more limited than that of a similar Danish body.

In the 14th century, a demographic crisis broke out in Norway due to a plague epidemic, which caused desolation in agriculture. According to historians, the plague claimed 40-50% of the country's population. By that time, the largest landowner in the country was the church, which controlled 40% of the land (50% after 1350). All this led to the impoverishment of the population and weakened the power of the king. The rise of the Hanseatic League, which enjoyed numerous benefits in trade, intensified the decline of Norway's foreign trade.

Norway began to free itself from the ice cover about 14,000 years ago, and, according to some estimates, parts of it have already been inhabited for at least 11,000 years. At first, people began to settle in the coastal strip, from where the glacier retreated, and by 9300 BC. e. settlements are already found in the Far North, up to the island of Magerøya (Finmark county), near the North Cape. The oldest finds of the Stone Age of the so-called Komsa culture, dating back to the 7th millennium BC. e., found in the Far North, in Tromsø and Finnmark, while in the south of the country the hunter-gatherer cultures of Nestvet and then Fosna became widespread. Agriculture appeared only in the IV millennium BC. e.

The Saami, one of the indigenous peoples of Northern Europe, settled in the north of Norway, according to some estimates, as early as 4000 years ago, moving from the east to the north of Russia, to Finland, Sweden and Norway.

Viking Age

From the end of the 8th century until the middle of the tenth century. Scandinavian peoples begin to play a prominent role in Europe. The Viking Age is coming. If the Swedish Vikings in their campaigns were mostly limited to the east, then the Norwegian and Danish Vikings rushed to the west, founding trading posts and settlements. Norwegian Vikings settled Shetland and Orkney, a significant part of Great Britain and Ireland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland. They even reached Greenland and what is now Newfoundland in Canada. If at first the Vikings staged ordinary raids on seaside or coastal settlements, then they soon began to winter in conveniently located places, thereby moving to settled life, and by the middle of the 9th century. they already ruled over the vast lands of Northern Europe, with their capital at Jorvik (now York in England).

Centuries-old trade ties with Britain began. When the Vikings appeared as a formidable force to be reckoned with, Norway at that time, as we now know, consisted of numerous princely possessions, constantly at war with each other in the struggle for supremacy.

The first king to begin the unification of Norway is traditionally considered Harald the Fair-Haired, who ruled in the coastal and southern lands of Norway in 872-930.

Unification of Norway

The Vikings visited many European lands, getting acquainted with different peoples and cultures, and at the same time with Christianity. Until the 10th century the country remained pagan: the Vikings worshiped their gods. The beginning of the change was laid by the son of Harald Horfager (Fair-haired) Hakon, nicknamed the Good, who converted to Christianity in Britain. However, he himself did not decide to force his own faith on his subjects, so it fell to one of his successors, Olaf Haraldson, known as Olaf the Saint, who was then recognized as the patron saint of the country, to convert the Norwegians to Christianity. It was not religion that primarily drove Olaf's aspirations, but the desire to unite the people, so that he became the first king to rule Norway almost in its current borders, including the north and the lands stretching to the east.

He fell in the Battle of Stiklestad near Trondheim in 1030, and after his death was canonized. By the end of the century, the Christianization of the country was completed, and no religion was allowed here anymore.

Danish influence

The 13th century was a kind of golden age. Under Hakon VI, the kingdom and the Christian faith are further strengthened, the rise of such cities as Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim begins. The islands of Orkney, Shetland, Faroe, Hebrides and the Isle of Man belonged at that time to Norway, and in addition, she had an alliance with Greenland and Iceland. At the same time, royal sagas began to be created in Norway and Iceland, but at the same time the Viking era with leaders and fief (land) possessions ended, and in the united kingdom all the sons of the king, including illegitimate ones, were endowed with the same right to the paternal throne. It's time civil wars, vassalage and related marriages, in order to somehow secure their own power.

After the marriage of King Hakon VI to Margarita, the daughter of the Danish king, his son Olaf in 1376 becomes the Danish king, and after the death of his father in 1380, the king of Norway. A long era of unions (unions) of the Scandinavian countries began.

In particular, the union of Norway with Denmark lasted almost continuously until 1814.

The plague epidemic, the so-called Black Death, was brought to Norway by ship from England, and it made real devastation here, reducing the country's population by two-thirds in three years, from 1349 to 1351.

The deserted and bloodless region enters into a long period of decline. Queen Mother Margaret of Denmark succeeded in uniting Norway, Denmark and Sweden in 1397. This union lasted almost 140 years, until Sweden fell away in 1536. Norway remained in alliance with Denmark for almost 300 years. During this period, there is a further weakening of Norwegian independence and the influence of Denmark is growing stronger. The Danish supreme power in Norway was represented by governors elected by the Danish king. From the end of the XVI to the beginning of the XVIII century. Europe was shaken by wars, and as a result, the Norwegian-Danish alliance had to cede lands to Sweden, the sworn enemy of Denmark.

The French Revolution and the American War of Independence intensified in Norway, as elsewhere in the world, the aspirations for independence, but the future has prepared for the country another test before such aspirations come true.

Union with Sweden, 1814-1905

After the coalition of Denmark and Norway during the Napoleonic Wars was defeated in 1814, Denmark was forced to cede Norway to Sweden, which was not very welcome in Norway itself, where over the past forty years the desire to gain independence has become even stronger. Therefore, the Norwegians decided to proclaim the independence of the country in Eidsvoll, adopting their own constitution on May 17, 1814. This date is now celebrated as Constitution Day. Sweden opposed, followed by a brief war, after which Sweden agreed to adopt a democratic Norwegian constitution and agree to a voluntary union with Norway, on the condition that the Danish prince Christian Frederik, who supported the Norwegians, abdicates the Norwegian throne.

After the agreements reached on November 4 of the same year, the Norwegian parliament, the Storting, agreed to elect the Swedish king as the ruler of Norway.

Independence

However, the awakened thirst for independence could no longer be drowned out. In 1905, 90 years after the conclusion of an alliance with Sweden, it collapsed without any bloodshed. But the event itself was preceded by several years of political disputes between the two states, but after collecting 250 thousand signatures in support of secession from the union, Sweden finally recognized the independence of Norway. But even earlier, a scientific and cultural upsurge begins in the country, writers such as Bjornstjerne Bjornson and Henrik Ibsen (who died a year after independence), the composer Edvard Grieg and the polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen appear, who forced the whole world to pay attention to Norway.

Laying the foundations of modern society

During the First World War, Norway was neutral, and it was in the early years of independence that industry began to grow stronger, laying the foundations of the welfare state and modern Norwegian society. The growth of industrial production and the economy continued into the interwar period, but when the Second World War, Norway failed to remain neutral, and Germany, which invaded the country, occupied it from 1940 to 1945. The Norwegian National Socialist Vidkun Quisling collaborated so actively with the Third Reich that his name became associated with a traitor or anyone who collaborates with the occupying authorities. Many areas of Norway were badly damaged by the war, and the northern cities of Narvik and Bodø were heavily bombed. The war, with its consequences, apparently forced Norway to abandon neutrality forever, and when the NATO military bloc was formed in 1949, it was one of the first to join it. In addition, in 1959 it joined the EFTA (European Free Trade Association).

Luck again accompanies Norway when oil is found in the North Sea in the late 1960s. Oil fields make it possible to further improve the standard of living, and in 1972, during a national referendum, the Norwegians with a small majority voted against the country's entry into the European Union, and they will confirm this decision a little over 20 years later, in 1994.

At the beginning of the XX century. the country was busy with state building, then she had to endure all the hardships of the war, and then the country took an active part in European and world politics in maintaining peace. The current policy of Norway is aimed at supporting a long-standing working tradition that combines social democratic and liberal values. This approach stimulates the development of industry and at the same time encourages government intervention in the economy and the strengthening of the general welfare through heavy taxes. The country, cherishing its independence, pursues a hard line regarding alcohol and does not abandon whaling, which has been practiced here for more than one century, especially in the north. Norway has one of the highest standards of living in the world in terms of education, income and life expectancy, and is also ranked second in terms of gender equality according to the World Economic Forum.

Norway. The beginning of the story

On one of the days of the last third of the IX century. the North Norwegian chieftain Ottar visited King Alfred of England. He told the king about his homeland and his wanderings. Alfred ordered the story to be written down (this record in Old English has survived to this day).

Ottar said that he lives "to the north of all the other Normans" - it is now believed that his settlement was somewhere in the Malangen region in South Troms. From there he sailed south past Nordmanna land (Land of the Normans) to Skiringssal, a port in South Vestfold. Ottar called the Land of the Normans Nordweg - "northern path" or " northern region". It is from this word that the modern name “Norway” (Noreg, Norge) came from, and we owe Ottar the first known story about Norway and the Norwegians.

Ottar describes Norway as a country with a very extended territory. To the north was the Land of the Finns, or Sami, later called Finnmark, and to the south, Denamearc (Denmark), which lay on the port side when he sailed from Skiringsal to the port of Hedeby at the base of the Jutland peninsula. This suggests that at that time Denmark included the current western coast of Sweden up to Svinesund in the north, and possibly further. To the east of Norway, according to Ottar, was the Land of the Swedes - Svealand (Sweoland), and to the north of it, around the Gulf of Bothnia - Cwena land, the Land of the West Finnish Kvens. Ottar did not know about any permanent settlements to the north and east of his native places up to the Land of Finnish-speaking Bjarmians near the White Sea. In Finnmark and on the Kola Peninsula, the Saami tribes roamed - hunters and fishermen. They often traveled to the plateaus inland, far south of Finnmark.

Ottar said that he was the leader of one of the tribes in his homeland, in Halogalanna (the ancient name of Norway north of Trønnelag), although his farm looked modest by English standards: “no more than” 10 cows, 20 sheep and 20 pigs, as well as a small plot of arable land, which he cultivated with a plow pulled by horses. The main source of his wealth was hunting, fishing, whale fighting and the tribute paid to him by the Finns and Sami. One day he traveled north to see how far his country stretched and to get walrus tusks and skins. For fifteen days, Ottar sailed along Finnmark and the Kola Peninsula to the Land of the Bjarms near the western bay of the White Sea. The voyage south to Skiringssal took over a month, although the wind was favorable as the ship anchored for the night. It took five days to get from there to Hedeby.

This is how Norway and the Norwegians appear on the historical stage, standing out against the general background of Northern Europe - a people with its own territory, stretching from South Troms to the Oslo Fjord, or Vik, as it was then called.

People settled in Norway long before Ottar. Eleven - twelve thousand years ago, when the last ice age ended and the ice receded, hunters and fishermen began to settle along the Norwegian coast. Around 4000 BC large and small tribes already roamed the country. By the same time, the beginning of the cultivation of the land, but only in the extreme south. On the western and northern coasts, pastoralism spread fairly quickly, but arable farming did not take root very soon. However, having become a habitual activity, it made it possible to feed more people than raising livestock, and to tie them more closely to a certain territory. What distinguished these people from "pure" hunters was the possession of real property - they had livestock and cultivated land. There were more settlements, they acquired a permanent character and a hierarchical structure.

By the end of the Late Stone Age, around 1500 BC, agriculture had long since become the main occupation of the inhabitants of Southern Norway, more important than hunting and fishing. In the north, by contrast, hunting and fishing continued to play a primary role. But as agriculture spread "up" along the coast as far as South Troms, a cultural demarcation took place between the inhabitants of these territories and the hunters and fishers of the Far North. By the time of Ottar in northern Norway, the Normans and the Sami had developed two distinct cultures, and it can be assumed, although there is no evidence for this, that the culture of hunters and fishermen in its purest form was only Sami from the end of the Stone Age.

We do not know how long ago the Normans settled the rest of Norway and what the words "Norman" and "Norwegian" mean. The prerequisite for the emergence of the Norwegian folk community was the language spoken by the "northern people". Runic inscriptions testify that starting from about 200 AD. there was a single northern European language, from which the current national languages ​​​​of the countries of Northern Europe subsequently developed. This basic northern European "dialect" probably arose no later than the beginning of the Christian era. In Ottar's time, dialects had already emerged in Norway that differed from those that had spread in the south and east of Scandinavia; it is possible that such a situation has developed much earlier.

The Normans were also bound by a common religion. Norwegian toponymy testifies that they worshiped the same deities for several centuries. The construction of wooden ships, a technology invented in the Iron Age, made it possible to make regular voyages along the entire Norwegian coast. It is very likely that it was this coastal route that gave the country its name: the "northern route", or Norway. In any case, together with land routes, it united the country. Since ancient times, trade has been carried out along these routes, smoothing out the differences between the economies of individual regions of the country and helping to strengthen ties with overseas lands. In parallel with the economic ones, social and cultural ties were also established.

It is safe to say that in this way, by the time of Ottar, Norway became Norway. However, the language and religion hardly sharply distinguished the Norwegians from the rest of the Scandinavians. But still, the Swedes and Norwegians in the east were separated by high plateaus and dense forests, and perhaps it was these geographical features, if you look at them from the point of view of the Danes, that is, from the south, that gave rise to the names "Norway" and "Norwegians ". This suggests that in the eyes of their neighbors, the Norwegians were somehow different from the rest. And although it was still far from the creation of a real society, they, apparently, had a certain ethnic and cultural identity.

In the time of Ottar, the main unit of the settlement was a kind of manor or farmstead, called a gard (gard, gard). It consisted of permanent dwellings and livestock quarters located close to each other within a fenced or otherwise designated area of ​​cultivated land. The surrounding area - forest, pastures, etc. - was less clearly defined. The estates had their own names dating back to the early Roman Iron Age (c. 0-400 AD).

Probably, in many agricultural settlements, which received their names at that time and in subsequent centuries, which we define as estates, a large patriarchal family lived. It not only represented a socio-economic community, but was also united by the cult of ancestor worship. In addition, tribal ties were the most important element of the emerging more broad organization society.

We have no proof of all this, and, as we shall see later, the then low life expectancy left little chance for the emergence of vertically extended families, numbering two or more generations of adults. Therefore, the need for labor force for extensive farming (which formed the basis of larger agricultural settlements) could hardly be satisfied by a purely related community. Thus, one can rightly speak of the presence of a sufficient number of dependent agricultural workers on the estate, and, consequently, of a less egalitarian social structure of the settlement than the thesis of the “big family” suggests. Many of these workers may have been trells, or slaves, as reflected in some of the ancient names of the estates.

The earliest Norwegian legal texts - the "regional laws", which give an idea of ​​the state of affairs in the 12th century - paint a picture of a society where kinship was inherited through both male and female lines. Most likely in the early Iron Age the situation was different. Such a "two-sided" system, which recognized a person's belonging to both the paternal and maternal lines, did not contribute to the formation of clearly structured tribal communities. Nevertheless, kinship played an important social role. It provided everyone with security and protection, and also united individuals and families into larger groups. The rights of such a community to economic resources were to some extent stronger than the rights of the individual or family, which was later expressed in the right of the odal (odelsrett). They were also of decisive importance in other areas - legal, political, religious. However, this does not mean that during the Iron Age (that is, until about 1050) the society was tribal, although such statements are often found. After all, if this is so, the ancestral ties should have been powerful enough to subjugate other elements of the social order, and this was hardly the case in reality.

Toponymic and archeological data suggest that the settlements (bygder), which consisted of several family estates, represented larger social associations connected by common religious, legal and defensive interests. It also seems that such an organization to some extent extended to wider areas. In this case, of course, something more than ancestral ties was required.

The Gothic chronicler Jordanes mentions several peoples who inhabited Scandinavia (about 550 AD). As far as Norway is concerned, we can with a high degree of probability single out among the distorted Latinized names such "peoples" as the Ranrikings, Raumerikings, Grens, Egdas, Rugs and Chords. Of certain significance is the fact that the first two peoples are associated with their own territories and "kingdoms" (riker, or riks). In addition to Ranriki (the area owned by the Rens, the current Bohuslen) and Raumariki (the territories of the Raums), several more such counties (regions of residence of a particular “people”) can be traced in modern toponyms: Hedmark, Hadeland, Ringerike, Grenland (Land of the Grens), Telemark, Rogaland (Land of the Rugavs), Hordaland (Land of the Chords), Emtlann and Halogalann. The association of a people's name with a territory suggests, at least in some cases, the presence of an organized community. For example, both toponymy and archaeological finds provide indirect evidence of the existence in prehistoric times of a single religious and defensive organization in Raumariki (Country of Raums).

Some researchers argue that in some areas of the country, especially in Eastern Norway and in the interior of Trønnelag, territorial organization arose primarily from the need for association among peasants who had more or less equal social status and lived in hereditary estates. But much indicates that such an organization everywhere depended on the power of the leaders and had a more pronounced aristocratic character. It is rather about the institution of leaders - both political and religious leaders, with whom people were connected by ties of personal loyalty.

Most likely, these chieftain-led communities were constantly contesting territory and resources with each other; they could quickly change both their rulers and their "base" territory. Geographically, the conditions for such a social organization existed along the entire Norwegian coast with natural centers in suitable Agriculture areas or where large rivers and fjords intersect with coastal shipping lanes. The leader of the central region sought to take possession of the coast on both sides of the fjord, as well as inland lands along the banks of the rivers to the very mountains. Along the full-flowing Estlanna rivers with their numerous tributaries, where the distance from the coast to the mountains was considerable, or where large lakes and vast agricultural areas extended far into the interior of the country, there was enough space for several territorial communities. The lands along the great fjords of Vestland were suitable for associations, but here the rugged terrain created favorable conditions for smaller social units. In Central Norway, numerous large agricultural areas were connected by the Trondheimsfjord. To the north, catching and fishing played a leading role. At the same time, the North Norwegian leaders had great opportunities to subjugate the Saami or simply to trade with them. Ottar belonged to such leaders.

In all probability, natural conditions Norway contributed to the development at an early stage in the history of more or less large regional communities headed by chiefs. In this way, several counties could unite. The tendency towards expansion inherent in these communities contributed to the creation of ever larger social associations.

The nature of the power of the leaders can be judged quite definitely in the Viking Age (c. 800-1050). Several factors allow explaining the North European overseas expansion of that time. The Vikings followed traditional trade routes where they knew their riches awaited. Often their goal was robbery, but peaceful trade also took place, as can be seen from the example of Ottar. Internal political unrest could also contribute to the aggressive aspirations of the Vikings - this is exactly what the Icelandic chroniclers of the 11th-12th centuries thought, but, in all likelihood, the rapid growth of the population and, as a result, the increased pressure on natural resources played a much more important role. This situation inevitably gave rise to a thirst for adventure and the need to search for new lands, which explains the fact that many Vikings created peasant settlements in the conquered territories.

The campaigns of the Vikings can be understood only on the basis of the hierarchy of society that existed at that time, which assumed the presence of a wealthy layer - the "aristocracy". Most likely, only chieftains - headings and "big people" (stortepp) could prepare ships, equipment and attract the manpower necessary for such travels. As far as one can judge, many of those who went on a campaign with the leaders, and in their homeland, were with them in dependent, patronal-client relations. Gradually, as the campaigns grew in scope, their own military leaders emerged from among the Vikings. The most influential of them managed to establish kingdoms both in Norway and abroad. Obtaining through robbery and trade in the wealth of the Vikings became an effective means of "acquiring supporters", increasing power and prestige within the social order, where the exchange of gifts was one of the ways to establish ties between people.

The first Viking campaigns known to us at the end of the 8th century. were nothing more than predatory raids on the British Isles. The migration of the Normans to Shetland and Orkney probably also began no later than this period and led to the complete domination of the Vikings over the peoples of the conquered archipelagos. The Faroe Islands and Iceland to the north were colonized partly from Norway itself, and partly from the Norman territories further from the continent to the south of them. Norman settlements appeared in Iceland at the end of the 9th century, and from there, about 100 years later, migrants reached Greenland. They also reached North America (Vinland), but did not establish permanent settlements there.

During the ninth century the Normans moved from predatory raids on the British Isles to the colonization of Northern Scotland, the Hebrides, about. Maine and Ireland. After some time, Norman kingdoms were founded with centers in Dublin and on about. Maine. At the beginning of the X century. Norman migrants from Ireland settled in North West England. From there they reached Northumberland and Yorkshire, and for some time kings of Norman origin ruled over these areas from their capital at York. However, in the raids of the Vikings on East Anglia, continental Western Europe and the Mediterranean, the inhabitants of Danish lands participated primarily, and the "throw" through the Baltic and further along the Russian rivers to the Black and Caspian Seas was mainly carried out by people from the Swedish regions.

The Scandinavians had an impact on those areas where they created numerous settlements and founded kingdoms and counties. At the same time, it was during the Viking Age that Scandinavia truly “opened up” to Europe. The sprouts of Christianity brought from Europe eventually led to a cultural reorientation. It was also important that the Scandinavians got acquainted with more complex forms abroad. political organization society - princely or royal rule. Among other things, they also realized the role of urban centers.

The last two or three decades of the ninth century were not only the time of Ottar's campaigns and the beginning of the Norman settlement of Iceland. In the same period, the famous battle of Havrsfjord took place in Rogaland. According to the skaldic poetry of the time, King Harald Halfdanarson (later nicknamed Fair-Haired) won a victory here, which, according to the poetic text, brought him power over Rogaland, and possibly over Agder. Icelandic and Norwegian authors of sagas and chronicles since the 12th century. they call him the first king who ruled all of Norway. And Snorri Sturluson, in the set of sagas about kings (kings), “The Circle of the Earth” (“Heimskringla”), dating back to about 1230, notes that Harald conquered one region after another until he won a decisive victory at Havrsfjord.

The history of the unification of Norway is told by Snorri much later than the events he describes. But there are probably still reasons why Harald left a more lasting mark on history than previous Norwegian warlords. It seems that the center of the kingdom of Harald and the dominions of his successors was in the southwest of the country, from where their power extended northward, including Hordaland. Here, along the coastal sea route, royal estates were located - temporary places of residence of the king and his hird, or squad. They traveled from estate to estate, accepting treats from local residents who organized joint feasts, the so-called "weizls", as well as other gifts, that is, they lived off various taxes from the local population and natural products that the land provided. It was the only way to effectively implement royalty until a permanent local administration arose.

Of course, Harald's power at times extended to other areas of the country. However, it is not clear, and it is unlikely that we will ever know, how strongly his presence was felt there. The traditional view that Harald belonged to the dynasty of the kings of Uppland (the inner highlands of Estlann) is highly controversial. Given the condition of the roads and instruments of power, and the level of political organization of the time, it is hard to believe that he exercised permanent, direct control far beyond the central part of the kingdom. If it can be said that he ruled other regions of the country, then this most likely happened through the intermediary of petty independent leaders.

Harald Fairhair may be considered the first ruler to take an important step towards the unification of Norway, but not the only great "collector of the kingdom". The unification of the kingdom is a long process during which the Norwegian territory came under the rule of one royal family and was organized as a political unit.

The unification of Norway was part of a deeper change. It went in parallel with the pan-European events that led to the formation of a system of small and medium-sized states based on territorial unity under royal or princely power. Thus, in Scandinavia, the unification of Denmark and Sweden took place around the same period as Norway.

The processes taking place in Scandinavia had serious consequences for the rest of Europe, and vice versa. Viking raids in some lands led to the necessary consolidation of power for defense. In turn, the Scandinavians received useful lessons in the field of political organization from those foreigners whom they sought to subjugate. In addition, in overseas campaigns, hövdings and other noble Vikings enriched themselves and honed their military skills - both of which came in handy when they returned home. The power of some of the first Norwegian kings was based on their own experience and wealth, obtained during the "Viking past".

Thus, the three Scandinavian kingdoms were formed under the influence of similar circumstances. In the course of the struggle for political leadership, each of the warring parties often turned to neighboring kingdoms for help. In addition, the "gatherers of kingdoms" competed to some extent for possession of territories. In the Viking Age, the Danish conquering kings held the upper hand. They had territorial claims to both Norwegian and Swedish lands and influenced the political development of both countries.

The unification of Norway was a military-political process that took more than three hundred years to complete. In general terms, it is divided into two stages. We can seriously talk about the beginning of the first stage in relation to the period of the reign of Harald the Fair-Haired. Until the middle of the XI century. the kingdom centered on the west coast, with varying success, tried to control the near and far regions of the country. King Olav Haraldsson the Fat (after his death, canonized as Olaf the Saint), who apparently ruled from 1015-1028, was the first to directly subjugate most of the country. However, his reign was only an episode in the period when the Danish kings had power over various, larger or smaller, regions of Norway, primarily over Vik, the region of the Oslofjord closest to Denmark.

Only after the death of King Knut the Mighty in 1035 and the collapse of the North Sea empire of the Danes did the Norwegian kings manage to establish permanent control over the main part of Norway. In the XI century. under kings Magnus Olavsson and Harald Sigurdarson (Severe Ruler), Norway for some time led an offensive against its neighbors. In the south, they increased their possessions from Ranriki up to the river. Göta-Elv; at the same time, Harald the Severe Ruler brought to an end the plan of his half-brother Olav Haraldsson, subjugating the entire kingdom, including the rich agricultural regions of Trønnelag and Upplann (Estlann's interior).

A period of relative political stability and peace followed. But sometimes two or more kings ruled simultaneously in Norway, relying on centers of power in various areas country is clear evidence that its political unification was far from complete. After the death in 1130 of King Sigurd the Crusader, the claims of his son Magnus to the role of sole ruler turned into a struggle for the throne. It continued for the next hundred years and later became known as the "civil wars".

The civil wars constituted the second and final stage of the unification process. They ended with the victory of the "Birkebeiner" kingdom, founded by Sverrir and his descendants, and the establishment of their autocracy throughout the country. Trønnelag was originally the center of this kingdom. The victory over Magnus Erlingsson allowed Sverrir in the 1180s. master Westlann. In the final period of his reign and the first years after his death (1202), there was a conflict between the Birkebeiners ("bast shoes") and Baglers ("churchmen"), primarily for control over Estlann. Finally, in the 1220s under Hakon Hakonarson, the Birkebeiners took possession of this area, which put an end to the struggle to unite the Norwegian territory under the rule of one king.

All that remained now was to complete the Norman colonization of the northeastern lands along the coast of Finnmark. It took place during the High and Late Middle Ages. From the time of Sverrir, Jämtland was also under the rule of the Norwegian crown. But its population, associated with the parishes located in Sweden, was never fully incorporated into the Norwegian community. To the south, the kingdom extended to the mouth of the river. Göta-Elv; it was at this point that the possessions of the three medieval kingdoms of Scandinavia converged.

Initially, the national monarchy was established through conquest. The realms of the first kings were united mainly under their personal and sometimes short-lived authority. The authority they wielded had more to do with control over subordinate populations than over territory as such. And power was largely built on the personality of a particular monarch and his energy. He secured support for himself with gifts and good deeds, as well as punishing enemies and troublemakers. At that time, there was still no permanent administrative apparatus that would maintain stability in the state after the death of the conquering king.

The territorial unification of the country was slow due to the long process of forming a socio-political organization and an ideology associated with it, capable of soldering the kingdom together and to a certain extent independent of the personality of the king. This organizational process of unification really began only in the middle of the 12th century. Nevertheless, already at its first stage, some important steps in the struggle for the assembly of the state.

The creation of a single kingdom, covering the entire territory of the country, largely depended on the relationship between the king and the secular aristocracy. The theme of the conflict between the king and the "great people" never disappeared from skaldic poetry and sagas. Nevertheless, the formation of the Norwegian nobility, with influence at the local and regional levels, was a necessary prerequisite for the unification of the kingdom. In order to extend power beyond their traditional domains, Harald Fairhair and his immediate successors had to ally with the leaders and "big people" of those lands that were not subject to the king. By binding such people to himself through interdependent relationships, the king forced them to exercise official power on his behalf and provide military assistance in exchange for a share in the royal income and royal patronage. But such an administrative structure was always a double-edged sword: the headings "cooperated" with the king only as long as it was in their own interests.

As for Olav Haraldsson (Saint), he pursued a more thoughtful policy of subjugating the old nobility. One way was to appoint local hevdings as managers of royal estates (appepp), also endowed with official powers. Another way was to win the support of the local "big people" as a counterbalance to the power of the heading aristocrats. In Olaf's time, and perhaps even earlier, the monarchy sought to strengthen ties with hövdings and other "big people", appointing them as landmen, who received in exchange for a vassal oath and royal service royal lands or estates. However, Olav Haraldsson did not manage to "tame" the hevding-aristocrats. Ultimately, he failed to defend his power in the fight against the King of Denmark and England, Knut the Mighty, who entered into an alliance with those Norwegian "big people", whose influence Olav limited. But his son Magnus and half-brother Harald Sigurdarson destroyed or expelled from the country the most recalcitrant representatives of the old hevdings. The first stage of the struggle for territorial unification ended when some of the "big people" were destroyed, and the rest were tied to the king with the status of landmans.

The relationship of the king with the church and the clergy developed much more successfully than with the secular aristocracy. During the Viking Age, thanks to contacts with Europe, Christianity quickly spread in the coastal regions of Norway. But it was kings like Hakon Æthelstan's Disciple (adopted son of King Æthelstan of Wessex), Olaf Tryggvason, and Olaf Haraldsson who Christianized most of the population, decisively eradicated pagan cults, and introduced the first elements of church organization.

The missionary church was led by a king. He also built the first cathedrals and secured their property. Royal offerings also laid the foundation for church possessions, which subsequently increased significantly. Missionary bishops were members of the hird, or royal retinue; they were still appointed by the king, even when, starting from the reign of Olaf the Quiet (1066-93), they had permanent residences - in Nidaros (the name of Trondheim as a religious center), Bergen and, probably a little later - in Oslo.

The missionary kings were converted to Christianity during their visits to overseas countries, where they also learned the system of interaction between the monarchy and the church, which, naturally, they sought to transfer to Norway. Obviously, it was not only for religious reasons. The new religion could serve to destroy the old pagan social organization that opposed the king. This is exactly what happened in Trønnelag and Uppland (South and Central Norway). Here, the unification of the country, along with the adoption of Christianity, seems to have led to the confiscation of the possessions of the wealthy rural nobility, who worshiped pagan gods, and the transfer of a large part of their property to the church.

Conversion to Christianity everywhere resulted in the reorganization of local societies and their subordination to royal power. Gradually the whole country was covered with a network of churches, more and more controlled by the bishops. As a result, a church apparatus was created, designed to become the first mechanism for unifying the social system on a national scale. Through this apparatus, a single religious doctrine was spread, the main provisions of which were rooted in the minds of most people. Rules for the observance of Christian rites were adopted, creating a common pattern of behavior.

As patron and head of the church, the king simultaneously gained power and rose above society. Among the clergy, he found people like no other suitable for the role of his advisers and assistants. They knew how to read and write, maintained close contacts with other countries, and therefore were familiar with a more advanced organization of society. In a broad sense, the clergy defended the cause of the king before the people. Christian doctrine easily mobilized itself in support of the more stable, secular organization of society that royal power aspired to.

Even though the aristocracy and the clergy played a major role in the creation of a unified kingdom, Norwegian society was a peasant (bond society) and continued to be so throughout the Middle Ages. Any official power could be formed only with the support of public opinion. The need for bonds at least in relative peace and tranquility, legal and political stability was an important feature of the political and administrative development of the country. This need was met by the king as a guarantor of the observance of laws and a military leader. Thus, he took on social functions that created the conditions for the preservation and support of the monarchy as an institution. The skaldic poetry of that time extols the first kings - Harald the Fair-Haired, Hakon the Pupil of Æthelstan and Olaf Haraldsson - for their harsh persecution of thieves and rapists; the last two are also sung as creators and keepers of laws. Maintaining the rule of law eventually began to generate income in the form of fines and confiscations; gradually developed and the administrative-legal apparatus, which became the stronghold of royal power.

As a military leader, the king concluded agreements with bonds from different regions of the country for constant economic and military assistance in times of crisis. It was in this way that the leidang, or naval militia, was formed - a conscription army led by the king, for whom the bonds jointly equipped warships, supplied soldiers, food and weapons. In the middle of the 10th century, during the reign of Hakon the Pupil of Æthelstan, such an army was created in Vestlann and, most likely, in Trennelag. Later, with the spread of royal power, it appeared in other coastal areas.

Of great importance for the development of relations between the king and the peasantry was the popular assembly, or ting. General meetings of all free people (Althingi) probably originated in prehistoric times; they settled disputes, resolved economic and some political issues of common interest. Later, in the Middle Ages, such assemblies survived as local bodies both in cities and in the countryside. Some of them have purchased special meaning, because they had the authority to proclaim the king: the applicant was recognized as king during the legal ceremony of the exchange of obligations between him and the participants. Only the king, proclaimed at the Things, enjoyed authority, so all pretenders to the throne aspired to such recognition.

In the sources relating to the first stage of the territorial unification, the Lagtings are mentioned for the first time. These collections occupied a higher position than the ancient Althingi, since they covered the population of larger territories. The old “regional laws” that have survived to this day reflect the legal situation of the 12th century, although some of their provisions date back to earlier periods. Here, the Lagtings act as the highest legal assemblies of the country, the only ones that had the right to ratify laws. The regional codes of the two oldest assemblies - Gulating in Western Norway and Frostating in Trønnelag - testify to the strong influence of the interests of the royal power and its more effective legal control. We first learn about the other two ancient lagtings - Eidsivating and Borgarting in Estlanna - from the national code of laws adopted by King Magnus the Corrector of Laws - "Landslova" 1274.

The Lagthings enjoyed the support of the royal power, which is quite understandable. Through them, administrative communication was carried out between the inhabitants of the country and the most important initiatives of the authorities in the form of a law. It was in this way that Christianity and the basic elements of church organization were adopted in the rural areas of Norway, and a naval militia was introduced. As the highest courts, the Lagthing maintained law and order in accordance with the legal norms that provided for the administration of justice by the royal power, and also brought income to the king in the form of judicial fines and confiscations. It is believed that lagthings originated in prehistoric times, but no clear evidence of their existence before the reign of Harald the Fair-Haired has been found. It is quite possible that it was the royal power that established them, at least in such a progressive form as the representative bodies of the largest regions.

The organizational development of the monarchy required the creation of more permanent and secure military administrative bases than the old estates along the sea route. It is in this connection that the contribution of the royal power to the creation of the first Norwegian cities should be assessed. In the cities, the king and his entourage could secure a quieter and more comfortable life than the one they led by constantly moving from place to place; besides, it was easier to control nearby territories from the city

Appeared in the Stone Age. The ancestors of modern Norwegians lived on this land several thousand years ago, as evidenced by archaeological finds and rock paintings.

Early Middle Ages

The heyday of the early Norwegian state began in the Viking Age. Historically, this era covers a three-hundred-year period that fell on the VIII-XI centuries of our era. The main occupations of the Vikings were navigation, trade and robbery. But they became famous not only for robberies. It was the Vikings who founded a large number of cities in Northern Europe, including the current capital of Ireland, Dublin, and the Duchy of Normandy, today part of France. Also thanks to the Vikings, the development of new northern territories, including the islands of Greenland, largely took place.

The Vikings had a significant influence on Ancient Rus', since their trade routes - "from the Varangians to the Greeks" - passed precisely through its territory. Runic writings found during excavations on the territory of our country in fairly large quantities indicate a close connection between the people of Rus' and the Vikings. There is an opinion that the very origin of the word "Rus" is Scandinavian, since according to one version the legendary Rurik came from the Scandinavian town of Roslagen.

The turn of the 9th-10th centuries is one of the main milestones in the history of Norway. It was at this time that the unification of 29 disparate lands into single state, in which the main role was played by King Harold Horfager, who also captured the Orkney and Shetland Islands, to which a significant number of Norwegian residents later moved. At the end of the 10th century, Viking ships reached the shores of North America. Their settlement existed on the land of the modern United States for several decades, which was proved by excavations of the 60s of the last century.

Late Middle Ages

The decline of the Viking empire coincided with the beginning of Norway's conversion to Christianity. This process lasted for about 200 years, and the Norwegian king Olaf Trygvasson played a major role in it. He ruled the country at the beginning of the 10th century and turned it into an absolute monarchy, which caused discontent among the majority of nobles. Olaf was forced to flee to Rus', but in 1030 he returned to his homeland and in the same year was killed in the bloody battle of Siklestad. More than a hundred years after his death, Olaf was canonized and today he is considered the patron saint of Norway.

Olaf's young son, Magnus, whom King Olaf brought with him to Rus', remained there at the insistence of his mother's half-sister, the wife of the Russian ruler Yaroslav the Wise. Magnus was adopted by Yaroslav and brought up in his family as his own child. When King Knud the Great died in Norway in 1035, Magnus, who at that time was only 11 years old, was proclaimed the new king of Norway - this happened largely due to the support of the same Yaroslav the Wise. In addition, Scandinavian mercenaries lived at the court of the Russian prince, for whom magnificent stone mansions were built, trimmed with silks and velvets. Among them was another hero of the Norwegian sagas - the Viking Eymund.

The end of the 11th century was marked by a large number of wars with Sweden, Ireland and Scotland. In the end, these wars led to the fact that 3 people became the rulers of Norway at once. Such polyarchy continued until the 2nd half of the 12th century, when in 1163 Magnus Erlingsson, who at that time was only 7 years old, became the first officially crowned ruler.

The 13th century was one of the most prosperous in the history of medieval Norway. The country's borders expanded significantly, it included Greenland and Iceland. A large number of fortresses were built on the territory of the state. The next century, XIV, on the contrary, became one of the most tragic in the history of this Scandinavian country - more than half of its population was exterminated by an epidemic of plague. On the threshold of the 15th century, Norway was under the rule of the Kalmar Union, which united the three countries of Scandinavia - Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The main goal of the union was to protect Scandinavia from the power of the all-powerful Hanseatic League, in practice, this led to the fact that many territories of Norway - more than 40% - were under the rule of the Danish king.

new time

The Kalmar Union lasted until the beginning of the 16th century, when Sweden withdrew from it, gaining the right to own some Norwegian territories. Norway remained at the same time actually a part of Denmark. This situation remained until the Napoleonic Wars. early XIX century. The wars affected Norway in the worst way - hunger and devastation reigned in the country. However, it was this war that eventually brought independence to the country - in 1814 it withdrew from the union with Denmark. In the same year, 1814, a new religion, Lutheranism, was legally established in Norway. The Norwegians joined the new union with Sweden - this time completely voluntarily. Norway had its own laws and parliament, but the actual power belonged to the Swedish king Charles XIII. The union lasted until 1905, when, following a referendum, Norway received the status of an independent state and Haakon VII was proclaimed its king. It was during the union in Norway that a massive outflow of the population took place - about ¾ million people left for the USA.

recent history

The beginning of the 20th century is the era of the beginning of the rise of the Norwegian economy. The rise was mainly due to the development of the fishing industry, however, in many economic indicators, Norway lagged far behind its European neighbors. Almost all large mining enterprises were owned by foreigners, but in 1906 a law was passed to transfer them into the hands of the Norwegian authorities, which significantly increased the level of income of the state treasury. At the beginning of the century, the famous expedition of the Norwegian Roald Amundsen also came, which for the first time conquered South Pole Earth.

In the 1st World War, Norway did not take part, observing the actual neutrality. However, at that time, several spy scandals took place in the country, which received wide resonance in the world. In Norway, a German spy Baron von Rosen, a Swede by nationality, was arrested, in whose presence anthrax spores were found. In 1915-1929, the country experienced a new economic upsurge, culminating in the worldwide crisis of the early 1930s.

In the late 30s, the crisis subsided, but already in the early 40s, the world was engulfed by the Second World War, which became a period of occupation for Norway, ending only on May 8, 1945, during which the country's government was in exile. Many inhabitants of the country during this period were sent to concentration camps or killed, bombings destroyed several cities in Norway. During the war, a powerful partisan movement operated in the country.

Norway joined NATO in 1949 and was one of the founding members of the UN. It was its citizen Trygve Lie who became the first General Secretary of this organization. In the late 1960s, large deposits of gas and oil were found in Norway, which gave a strong impetus to the development of its economy. Today, the country ranks third in the world in terms of oil and gas exports. Norway is not a member of the EU - the referendum on this issue failed twice.

prehistoric period

There are two periods of Viking expeditions: in the first, the Norwegians sail across the sea in small detachments, attack only the shores and islands and retire home for the winter; in the second, they gather in large troops, go deep into the territory, stay for the winter in the country that they rob, build fortifications there and, in the end, settle in them. In some of the lands visited by the Vikings, this period begins earlier, in others - later: in Ireland and at the mouth of the Loire - in 835, in England and along the lower reaches of the Seine - in 851. The Vikings visited almost all parts of Europe: they sailed around the Iberian Peninsula, plundered the Baltic states, landed in the Apennines, traveled around Kievan Rus, and even served in the Varangian guard of the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.

Harald Fair-Haired is considered the first king of the country. His descendants ruled the country until 1319. However, Icelandic tradition refers to his reign as a tyranny. Snorri Sturluson, who wrote his sagas three hundred years later, even claims that the king took the lands from the bonds and returned them only on the rights of a fief (the so-called "taking away the odal"). However, historians believe that in this case we are talking only about the introduction of a tax on land property by tax, while Harald did not interfere in the form of land relations.

Harald left behind many sons, two of whom became kings of Norway. Even during his lifetime, he appointed his son Eirik, nicknamed the Bloody Axe, as co-rulers. After the death of Harald, Eirik had to fight with his brothers for supremacy in Norway. First, he defeated two brothers who fell in battle. However, soon another one appeared in the country, the youngest son of Harald - Hakon, born from a concubine. He was brought up by the English king Æthelstan. Hakon promised the Bonds to restore their ancient rights and quickly gained their support. As a result, Eirik was forced to leave Norway and go to England, where he found his death.

After coming to power, Hakon, brought up at the English court in a Christian spirit, tried to introduce Christianity in Norway, but met with a serious rebuff from the bonds. He did not become zealous, so the country remained pagan for several decades. The reign of Hakon, who received the nickname "Good", was accompanied by constant clashes with the sons of Eirik. In the last of these, at the battle of Fitjar, despite the victory, Hakon was mortally wounded. The dying king, who had no sons, handed over power to his rival, Eirik's son Harald Grayskin.

The new king had to fight the jarls of Hladir, who did not want to obey the central government and enjoyed the support of the Danish kings. In the end, Harald died, lured into a trap by the Danes. After that, power in Norway passed to the Danish king Harald Sinezuby. He appointed Jarl Hladir Hakon the Mighty as his henchman. He, however, soon broke with Harald Sinezuby after the Danes tried to introduce Christianity in Norway. Hakon was an ardent pagan and broke off relations with Harald, and after the battle he won at Hjörungavag, he actually became an independent ruler of the country. Despite the fact that, in general, the reign of Hakon is characterized positively, at the end of his life he aroused the dissatisfaction of the bonds with his dissolute behavior. They supported the new pretender to the throne - Olaf Tryggvason, a paternal descendant of Harald the Fair-Haired, and in 995 Hakon was killed.

Olaf Tryggvason succeeded in what his predecessors failed to baptize Norway. However, this caused massive dissatisfaction with the bonds, led by the sons of Hakon the Mighty. They again turned to the Danes for help, and then to the Swedes. Olaf fell at the Battle of Svolde in 1000. At the same time, Norway remained a Christian country, but the Danish kings again reigned in it. Hakon's sons, Svein and Eirik, ruled on their behalf.

The next Norwegian king was Olav Haraldsson, canonized after his death. Subsequently, he was given the title of "Eternal King of Norway". Olaf came to power amid dissatisfaction with the local population over the dominance of the Danes. He united all of Norway under his rule, rebuilt Nidaros, founded by Olaf Tryggvason and then destroyed, and made it the capital of the state. Olaf the Holy resolutely fought against paganism, planted a new faith everywhere and pursued a policy of strengthening the power of the king. This led to a break with the powerful bonds and a new uprising. After an unsuccessful military expedition to Denmark, Olaf fled to Sweden in 1028, gathered a new army, returned to Norway two years later, where he suffered a final defeat and died in the Battle of Stiklastadir. Norway came under the rule of the Danish king Knut the Mighty, who appointed his son Svein as his governor.

However, the Norwegian bonds again quickly got tired of the Danish order. The same people who participated in the Battle of Stiklastadir on the side of the Danes brought from Novgorod the ten-year-old son of St. Olaf - Magnus and proclaimed him king. At first, Magnus was eager to get even with the killers of his father, but in the end, in the interests of the unity of the country, he abandoned this idea, for which he received the nickname "Good". In 1042, Magnus inherited the crown of Denmark. Shortly before the death of Magnus, the half-brother of St. Olaf Harald the Severe, who served in the Varangian squad, arrived in the country. Magnus and Harald showed prudence, did not conflict and divided the country. Soon Magnus died without issue, and Harald became the ruler of all of Norway. In 1048 he founded Oslo.

The name of Harald the Severe is associated with the last major Viking invasion of England. In 1066, under the pretext of an agreement on the succession to the English throne, Harald landed with a large army in Northern England. Having won a number of victories, the Norwegian king fell into a trap and was killed in the battle of Stamford Bridge with the Anglo-Saxon troops, led by King Harold Godwinson. The latter, in turn, died less than a month later, repelling the attack of William the Conqueror.

Middle Ages

After this came the more peaceful reign of Olaf the Quiet, who ruled Norway peacefully for 27 years. During his reign, Norway achieved considerable prosperity. After the death of Olaf, in the city, Norway was again divided into two states, and endless strife arose again, until one of the kings, Magnus III, became again the sovereign of a united Norway. He made expeditions to foreign countries, conquered the Hebrides and Orkney Islands and the English Isle of Man, and fell in Ireland in the city. He was succeeded by his sons, Eric and Sigurd. The first wise rule contributed to the peaceful annexation of new regions to Norway, built churches, monasteries, etc. Sigurd, on the contrary, was distinguished by the brave, restless spirit of the ancient Vikings. In - gg. he undertook a crusade to the Holy Land and returned with many looted treasures. In Jerusalem, he pledged to the patriarch to establish a bishopric in Norway and establish a church tithe, which he did.

From this came the hostile attitude towards the dominion of foreign kings and a whole series of troubles arose; the people refused to submit to foreigners and vigorously resisted all sorts of encroachments on local laws and customs. Troubles in Denmark gave the Norwegians the opportunity to defend their independence and turn the union into a personal and equal (g.). Each state retained its separate name and its laws, was governed by its compatriots, had its own separate finances and treasury. Karl Knudson, chosen by the Norwegians as king, ceded his rights to the Danish king Christian I. It was decided that Norway would always have a king in common with Denmark; the choice of the king must take place in Halmstadt, and if the king of the Christians leaves behind his sons, they must first of all be subject to election. Since then, Norway had kings in common with Denmark.

Swedish-Norwegian Union

In November 1905, Michelsen submitted a proposal to the Storting to set the civil list of the Norwegian king at 700,000 crowns for the entire duration of his reign (until now, the civil list was set for a year). The extreme left protested both against doubling the size of the civil list and against fixing it for a long time. Nevertheless, both measures were passed by a majority of 100 votes to 11.

First years of independence (1905-1914)

At the beginning of the 20th century, the young independent state experienced the same problems as its Scandinavian neighbors: on the one hand, they experienced a period of rapid economic development, on the other hand, they lagged behind the most developed countries of that time and were not among the powers that decided the fate of the world politicians.

Concession Law

In accordance with the Law on Concessions, the ban of 1906 was lifted, but the concessions became urgent, the period was set at 60-80 years, after which the rights to water arteries again passed to the state. In addition, the government reserved the right to gratuitously alienate in favor of the state all constructed structures after this period.

According to Høire and Frisinnede Venstre, this law violated the principles of private property, but the conservatives could not force the Knudsen government to revise this law.

Norway in World War II

Norway has been under military occupation since the 9 April 1940 invasion. German troops and the German civil administration in cooperation with the pro-German puppet government. The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany ended on 8 May 1945 after the surrender of German forces in Europe.

Norway after 1945

• 1945, June 7 - King Haakon VII returns to his homeland after five years of exile
• 1945 - Establishment of the Council of Economic Coordination; political parties agree on a "Common Program" for economic recovery
• 1946 - The volume of GNP and individual consumption reaches the level of 1939; establishment of the National Housing Bank; foundation of the university in Bergen; the introduction of child benefits received by the mother; creation of the CAC airline; agreement on the establishment of production committees at the level of individual enterprises; groundbreaking of the state-owned enterprises Norsk Jernverk (steel plant in Mo i Rana) and Ordal Werk (aluminum plant)
• 1947 - Industrial production and fishing reach 1939 levels; foundation of the State Bank for Education Loans; increasing the duration of vacation up to 18 working days; development of the first macroeconomic "national budget"; adoption of the law on sectoral committees; "Leke Brufoss": the establishment of state control over prices and production; the beginning of economic assistance under the "Marshall Plan"
• 1948 - Agricultural production reaches 1939 levels; developed the first long-term program economic development; Norway joins