|
Page 1 of 2
HISTORY
The first settlers of Norway arrived more than 10,000 years ago with the end of the Ice Age. As the glaciers retreated north, these early hunters and gatherers followed, pursuing migrating reindeer herds.
Norway's greatest impact on history was during the Viking Age, a period usually dated from the plundering of England's Lindisfarne monastery by Nordic pirates in 793. Over the next century, the Vikings made raids throughout Europe and established settlements in the Shetland, Orkney and Hebrides islands, the Dublin area, and in Normandy. Viking leader Harald Fairhair unified Norway around 900 and King Olaf, adopting the religion of the lands he had conquered, converted Norway's people to Christianity a century later.
The Viking Age ended in 1066 with the defeat of the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in England. In 1380 Norway was absorbed into a union with Denmark that lasted over 400 years.
Denmark's ill-fated alliance with France in the Napoleonic Wars resulted in its ceding of Norway to Sweden in January 1814 under the Treaty of Kiel. Tired of forced unions, on 17 May 1814 Norway adopted its own constitution, though its struggle for independence was quickly quelled by a Swedish invasion.
In 1884 a parliamentary government was introduced in Norway and a growing nationalist movement eventually led to a peaceful secession from Sweden in 1905. By referendum Norwegians voted in favour of a monarchy over a republic. Having no royalty of their own, Norway's parliament selected Prince Carl of Denmark to be king. Upon acceptance, he took the title Hakon VII and named his infant son Olav, both prominent names from Norway's Viking past.
Norway stayed neutral during WWI. Despite restating its neutrality at the start of WWII, the country was attacked by the Nazis on 9 April 1940 and, after a two-month struggle, fell to the Germans. In one of the most renowned sabotage efforts of WWII, Norwegian Resistance fighters destroyed the German heavy-water plant at Rjukan in southern Norway, shattering Germany's efforts to develop an atomic bomb. During their retreat at the end of the war, the Nazis torched and levelled nearly every town and village in northern Norway.
The royal family returned to Norway in June 1945. King Hakon died in 1957 and was succeeded by his son, Olav V, a popular king who reigned until his death in January 1991. The current monarch is Harald V, Olav's son.
Norway joined the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1960 but has been reluctant to forge closer bonds with other European nations. In 1972 Norwegians voted against joining the European Community (EC). In 1994 a second national referendum was held, this time on joining the EC's successor, the European Union (EU), and voters rejected that as well. North Sea oil fields, discovered on the Norwegian continental shelf in the 1960s, have brought prosperity to Norway, which has one of the world's highest per capita incomes.
|
