Norway (or Norge in the Norwegian language and officially known as the Kingdom of Norway), is a monarchy and republic located in the western portion of the Scandinavian Penininsula.
About[]
They hold the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard. There are two independent territories that aren't considered a part of the Kingdom of Norway, they are the Antarctic Peter I Island and the Bouvet Island. There is also a claim to a section of Antarctica which is known as Queen Maud Land. Until 1814, the kingdom held the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland. Today, Iceland is independent while Greenland and the Faroe Islands are held by Denmark. Norway also once held Bohuslän until 1658 and Jämtland, Härjedalen, Shetland, Orkney, Hebrides and the Isle of Man.
History[]
Kingdom of Norway (872–1397)[]
See Kingdom of Norway (872–1397)
Norway under the Kalmar Union[]
Denmark-Norway[]
Sweden-Norway[]
First and Second World Wars[]
Throughout the First World War, Norway was in theory a neutral country; however, diplomatic pressure from the British government meant that it heavily favored the Allies during the war. During the war, Norway exported fish to both Germany and Britain, until an ultimatum from the British government and anti-German sentiments as a result of German submarines targeting Norwegian merchantmen led to a termination of trade with Germany.
Norway also proclaimed its neutrality during the Second World War, but was invaded by German forces on 9 April 1940. The reason for the invasion was because the British had violated Norwegian neutrality, like the Altmark incident and laid minefields along the Norwegian coast to prevent the German ore transport from Narvik. Although Norway was unprepared for the German invasion, military and naval resistance lasted for two months. Norwegian armed forces in the north launched an offensive against the German forces in the Battles of Narvik, until they were forced to surrender on 10 June after losing British support which had been diverted to France during the German invasion of France.
King Haakon and the Nygaardsvold government left Norway on 7 June and established itself in London. Throughout the war they sent radio speeches and supported clandestine military actions in Norway against the Germans. On the day of the invasion, the leader of the nationalist party Nasjonal Samling, Vidkun Quisling, tried to seize power, but was forced by the Germans to resign because King Haakon wouldn't approve the new national government by him. Power was wielded by the leader of the German occupation authority, Reichskommissar Josef Terboven (de). Quisling, as minister president, later formed a collaborationist government under some German control. Up to 15,000 Norwegians volunteered for combat duty on the Axis side; most were sent to the Eastern front.[1]
Post-World War II history[]
Johan Nygaardsvold resigned on 25 June 1945 when King Haakon appointed the social democrat Einar Gerhardsen to head an interim government composed of all political parties.
Gerhardsen was the 22nd prime minister of Norway for three periods, 1945–1951, 1955–1963 and 1963–1965. With totally 17 years in office, he is the longest serving Prime Minister in Norway since the introduction of parliamentarism. From 1945 to 1962, the Norweigan Labour Party held an absolute majority in the parliament.
The wartime alliance with the United Kingdom and the United States was continued in the post-war years. Although pursuing the goal of a socialist economy, the Labour Party distanced itself from the Communists, especially after the Communists' seizure of power in Czechoslovakia in 1948, and strengthened its foreign policy and defence policy ties with the US. Norway received Marshall Plan aid from the United States starting in 1947, joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) one year later, and became a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949.
The first oil was discovered at the small Balder field in 1967, but production only began in 1999. In 1969, the Phillips Petroleum Company discovered petroleum resources at the Ekofisk field west of Norway. In 1973, the Norwegian government founded the State oil company, Statoil. Oil production did not provide net income until the early 1980s because of the large capital investment that was required to establish the country's petroleum industry.
Norway was a founding member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Norway was twice invited to join the European Union, but ultimately declined to join after referendums that failed by narrow margins in 1972 and 1994.
In 1981, a Conservative Party government led by Kåre Willoch replaced the Labour Party with a policy of stimulating the stagflated economy with tax cuts, economic liberalisation, deregulation of markets, and measures to curb record-high inflation (13.6% in 1981).
Norway's first female prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland of the Labour Party continued many of the reforms of her Conservative predecessor, while backing traditional Labour concerns such as social security, higher taxes and feminism. By the late 1990s, Norway had paid off its foreign debt and had started accumulating a sovereign wealth fund.