NORWAY 



the best knot are his son Olaf, 

 a peaceful ruler who fostered the 



>.f tin- country, and Olafs 



1 the Cnwadcr. 



Norway ut turned to her greatest 

 iity under lluukoii I\', 

 1-_MT i.::.' who in. In. .-1 the Ice- 

 landers to acknowledge his su- 

 premaey. lii his la*st days, Haakon 

 attempted in in.iki- _."! In- . i.uiii 



ihness and tlic Helindes, 



hut his forces wen- defeated by 

 lln- ynmi'_' Scots Knr.', Alexander 

 111. at tin- l.attle of Larga in 

 and a few years later 

 Haakon's son Magnus formally 

 surrendered liis i lain. 

 was distinguished as the iiiulirr 

 of Norwegian law; Eric, who 

 succeeded linn in 1280, completed 

 tin- Mihordination of the Church. 



At the death of Eric's brother 

 and successor Haakun V. in 1319, 

 the crowns of Sweden and Norway 

 were temporarily united, the heir 

 to both being the child of Haakon's 

 daughter. Haakon VI lost the 

 Swedish crown, but married Mar- 

 garet, the daughter of Waldemar 

 IV of Denmark, with the result 

 that their child Olaf succeeded to 

 the crowns of both Denmark and 

 Norway, to which Margaret, by the 

 union of Kalmar, 1397, united the 

 crown of Sweden. From this time 

 till 1814 Norway was subordinated 

 to Denmark. Of this period we need 

 only note that in 1468 the Ork- 

 neys and Shetlands were pledged 

 to Scotland on the marriage of 

 James III to a Danish princess. 



The separation of Norway from 

 Denmark and her union with 

 Sweden took place as follows. In 

 1810 the French marshal Berna- 

 dotte was chosen to succeed the 

 childless Charles XIII on the 

 throne of Sweden, and, as Charles 



5763 



John, became crown prince, the 

 de facto ruler. Sweden wUhrd to 

 recover Finland from KuMwia ; the 

 crown prim i- preferred the idea of 

 acquiring Norway from Denmark, 

 a plan which met with the approval 



u( the t-ar Ale\;mdiT I. It Was 



Eui into execution in 1814, since 

 > -mnark in the Kuropean com- 

 plications had taken Napoleon's 

 Bide, whereas Bernadotte, between 

 whom and Napoleon no love was 

 lost, joined the allies. 



U'lien Napoleon was beaten at 

 Leipzig, the crown prince of 

 Sweden had no difficulty in com- 

 jM-lliiitf Frederick VI of Denmark 

 to surrender Norway. The French 

 Revolution had stirred up a politi- 

 cal revival in Norway, which was 

 therefore very well pleased to be 

 separated from Denmark, but 

 made a bid for independence by 

 electing a king of her own. Charles 



NORWAY 



.John, however, secured the with- 

 drawal of his rival, and the accept- 

 ance by Norway of the union with 

 Sweden, accompanied by the pre- 

 servation of the constitution which 



Norway. 1. Country children in tbeir Sunday clothes. 2. Telemarken peasant* 



at the door o! Hitterdal church. 3. Girls in a hay field. 4. Farm girls 



with a typical low-wheeled cut 



the Norwegians 

 had drawn up for 

 themselves. 



In 1818 Charles 

 XIII died, and 

 Bernadotte became 

 king of Sweden and 

 Norway as Charles 

 XIV. Democratic 

 ideas advanced 

 during his reign 

 and that of his 

 son Oscar L In 

 Norway, however, 

 there was a feeling 

 that in the joint 

 monarchy the in- 

 terests of the 

 poorer country 

 were subordinated 

 to those of the larger ; nor was 

 there any disposition to find a 

 solution of difficulties through an 

 incorporating union. The majority 

 of the Norwegian Chamber was apt 

 to find itself in opposition to the 

 government, though it could not 

 form itself into a consolidated 

 party capable of keeping the 

 government in ita own hands. 

 This unsatisfactory position lasted 

 through the reign of Oscar's sons, 

 Charles XV and Oscar II. 



The union was dissolved by 

 decree of the storting, at Chris- 

 tiania on June 7, 1905, with the 

 reluctant assent of King Oscar ; 

 and the Norwegian crown was 

 offered to and accepted by Prince 

 Charles of Denmark, the husband 

 of Princess Maud, daughter of 

 King Edward VII ; the new king 

 identifying himself with his king- 

 dom by taking the name of Haakon 

 VII. For the first time since the 



