THE first Storthing (Parliament), after the union had been accomplished, remained in session a year, and together with the Swedish Diet adopted the “Act of Union,” or Rigsakt (1815), based upon the Norwegian Constitution and defining the terms of the union. At the same time the Supreme Court of Norway was established in Christiania. The Bank of Norway was established at Throndhjem in 1816. At the death of Charles XIII., in 1818, Charles John ascended the throne of both countries as Charles XIV. John.

On several occasions there was friction between the king and the Norwegian Storthing. At the treaty of Kiel, Charles John had promised that Norway would assume a part of the Norwegian-Danish public debt; but as the Norwegians had never acknowledged this treaty, they held that it was not their duty to pay any part of the debt, and declared besides that Norway was not able to do so. But as the powers had agreed to help Denmark to enforce her claims, a compromise was effected in 1821, by which the Storthing agreed to pay three million dollars, the king relinquishing his civil list for a certain number of years. The same Storthing adopted the law abolishing the nobility in Norway. This step was also strongly opposed by Charles John, but as it had been adopted by three successive Storthings, the act under the Constitution became a law in spite of any veto. It was believed by many that the manoeuvres of Norwegian and Swedish troops and the Swedish fleet, which was collected at Christiania at the time that these matters were under consideration, had been called together by the king in order to intimidate the Storthing.

For a number of years there existed a want of confidence between the king and the Norwegian people. The king did not like the democratic spirit of the Norwegians, and the reactionary tendencies of his European allies had quite an influence upon his actions. In 1821 he proposed ten amendments to the Constitution, looking to an increase of the royal power, among which was one giving the king an absolute instead of a suspensive veto; another giving him the right to appoint the presidents of the Storthing, and a third authorizing him to dissolve the Storthing at any time. But these amendments met the most ardent opposition in the Storthing, especially from the former cabinet-minister, Christian Krogh, and were unanimously rejected by the Storthing in 1824. The king renewed these propositions before several successive Storthings, but they were each time rejected.

When the Norwegians commenced to celebrate the anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution (May 17), the king thought he saw in this a sign of a disloyal spirit, because they did not rather celebrate the union with Sweden, and he forbade the public celebration of the day. The result of this was that “Independence Day” was celebrated with so much greater eagerness. The students at the university especially took an active part under the leadership of that champion of liberty, the poet Henrik Wergeland (born 1808, died 1845). The unwise prohibition was the cause of the “market-place battle” in Christiania, May 17, 1829, when the troops were called out, and General Wedel dispersed the crowds that had assembled in the market-place. There was also dissatisfaction in Norway, because a Swedish viceroy (Statholder) was placed at the head of the government, and because their ships had to sail under the Swedish flag.

The French July Revolution of 1830, which started the liberal movement throughout Europe, also had its influence in Norway. Liberal newspapers were established at the capital, and the democratic character of the Storthing became more pronounced, especially after 1833, when the farmers commenced to take an active part in the elections. Prominent among them was Ole Gabriel Ueland. The king was so displeased with the majority in the Storthing of 1836 that he suddenly dissolved it; but the Storthing answered this action by impeaching the Minister of State, LÖvenskiold, for not having dissuaded the king from taking such a step. LÖvenskiold was sentenced to pay a fine. The king then yielded and reconvened the Storthing. He also took a step toward conciliating the Norwegians by appointing their countryman, Count Wedel-Jarlsberg, as viceroy. This action was much appreciated in Norway. During the last years of this reign there existed the best of understanding between the king and the people. Charles John’s great benevolence tended to increase the affection of the people, and he was sincerely mourned at his death, March 8, 1844, Charles XIV. John being then eighty years old.

Charles John was succeeded by his son, Oscar I., who very soon won the love of the Norwegians. One of his first acts was to give Norway her own commercial flag and other outward signs of her equality with Sweden. His father had always signed himself “King of Sweden and Norway”; but King Oscar adopted the rule to sign all documents pertaining to the government of Norway as “King of Norway and Sweden.” During the war between Germany and Denmark, King Oscar gathered a Swedish-Norwegian army in Scania, and he succeeded in arranging the armistice of Malmoe in 1848. The war broke out anew, however, the following year, and he then occupied northern Schleswig with Norwegian and Swedish troops, pending the negotiations for peace between Germany and Denmark. During the Crimean War, King Oscar made a treaty with England and France (1855), by which the latter powers promised to help Sweden and Norway in case of any attack from Russia. General contentment prevailed during the happy reign of King Oscar, and the prosperity, commerce and population of the country increased steadily. These satisfactory conditions did not, however, result in any weakening of the national feeling, and the Storthing, in 1857, declined to promote a plan, prepared by a joint Swedish and Norwegian commission, looking to a strengthening of the union. After a sickness of two years, during which his eldest son, Crown Prince Charles, had charge of the government as prince-regent, King Oscar I. died in July, 1859, at the age of sixty years. He was married to Josephine of Leuchtenberg, daughter of Napoleon’s stepson, Engene Beauharnais.

Charles XV. was thirty-three years old when he ascended the throne. The progress in the material welfare of the country was continued during his reign, and, like his father, he was very popular. Numerous roads and railways were started, all parts of the country were connected by telegraph, and the merchant marine grew to be one of the largest in the world. In 1869 a law was passed providing for annual sessions of the Storthing instead of triennial as heretofore.

The first Storthing under Charles XV., with only two negative votes, resolved to abolish the right of the king to appoint a viceroy (Statholder) for Norway. This action of the Storthing enraged the ruling party in the Swedish Diet, who claimed a right to be consulted in this matter, in which they considered that Sweden had an interest, and they demanded a revision of the terms of the union. A serious conflict was avoided for the time being, the king vetoing the resolution of the Storthing. Not till 1865 were negotiations opened for a revision. A joint committee was appointed to prepare a plan; but the question was not solved, for the Storthing, in 1870, rejected the plan proposed by the committee.

Charles XV. died September 18, 1872, and, having no sons, was succeeded by his younger brother, Oscar II. The king and the Storthing at first showed themselves mutually accommodating. The Storthing appropriated the necessary funds for the expense of the coronation at Throndhjem (July 18, 1873), while the king sanctioned the bill abolishing the office of Statholder. But in 1880 the difference between the Storthing and the ministry had brought on a sharp conflict. The liberal majority of the Storthing, in order to introduce parliamentarism, had three times adopted an amendment to the Constitution admitting the cabinet ministers to participation in the debates of the Storthing, and each time the measure had been vetoed by the king. The king, supported by the conservative party and by the opinion of the faculty of law of the university, claimed that the Constitution was a contract between the people and the royal house, and could not, therefore, be changed without the sanction of the king, who thus had an absolute veto in the matter of amendments to the Constitution. The liberal party claimed that in constitutional amendments, as well as in the matter of ordinary laws, the king had only a suspensive veto; and on the 9th of June, 1880, the Storthing adopted a resolution declaring that the amendment providing for the attendance of the cabinet ministers at the meetings of the Storthing was law in spite of the veto. The conflict steadily grew sharper, and in 1883 the members of the ministry (headed by Minister of State Selmer) were impeached for failure to promulgate the resolution of June 9, 1880. The ministers were found guilty and removed from office in the spring of 1884. The king once more tried a ministry which was not in accord with the majority of the Storthing, the so-called April Ministry, headed by Schweigaard; but the latter soon resigned, and in June, 1884, the king finally called upon Johan Sverdrup, the acknowledged leader of the liberal majority (the Left), to form a ministry.

The king now signed the constitutional amendment, and Sverdrup and his colleagues took their seats in the Storthing. For a time the legislative and the executive power worked in harmony, and several liberal reforms were introduced. A reorganization of the army in accordance with the views of the majority was brought about, the suffrage was extended, and trial by jury was introduced. In 1887, however, when the government introduced a bill for a new church-law, a division in the party of the left had taken place, and Sverdrup found himself without a majority in the Storthing. He retained office until after the elections of 1888, which resulted in three legislative parties, the “Left,” the “Moderate,” and the Conservative, or “Right.” Neither of them had a majority in the Storthing. Sverdrup resigned (July, 1889), and the Conservative leader, Emil Stang, formed a new ministry. At the elections in 1891, the “pure left,” having made a separate consular service independent of Sweden the main issue of the campaign, again obtained a majority, and their leader, Rector Steen, became the chief of the new ministry. The principal occasion of this movement was the rapid increase in Norwegian commercial interests, which, as was claimed, were imperfectly protected by a joint consular service.

The Steen Ministry resigned in May, 1893, and a ministry from the minority was formed by Stang. On June 7, 1895, the Storthing adopted a resolution declaring that, with a ministry possessing the confidence of the Storthing, it would be willing to negotiate with Sweden for a peaceable settlement of the matters in dispute. A coalition ministry, consisting of members from each of the three political groups and headed by Hagerup, was appointed in October, 1895, and a joint Swedish and Norwegian Union Committee was chosen to adjust disputed points. This committee, having failed to reach any agreement, was discharged in 1897.

At the elections of 1897 the left obtained an increased majority in the Storthing, and, in February, 1898, the Hagerup Ministry resigned, and Steen was again placed at the head of a ministry. The Storthing of 1898-99 adopted a constitutional amendment extending the suffrage to all male citizens who have attained the age of twenty-five years. A bill was also passed, for the third time, removing from the Norwegian merchant flag the “union jack,” the symbol of the union with Sweden. This bill was twice vetoed by the king; but, after its third passage, was promulgated, having been passed, according to the Constitution, over the royal veto.

The secession movement was largely in abeyance during the years 1900-1902, owing to the popular fear of a Russian invasion. However, in 1903, the anti-union sentiment again came strongly to the front, reaching an acute stage in March, 1905, when a new cabinet, headed by Peter Christian Michelson, was formed. A bill demanding separate consular service was again passed by the Storthing, only to be vetoed by the Swedish crown. Compromise measures were proposed and rejected. In June the cabinet offered its resignation, which was refused by the King on the ground that a new ministry could not be formed in the existing state of feeling in Norway. The cabinet, thereupon, delegated its powers to the Storthing, which immediately passed a resolution declaring the dissolution of union between Sweden and Norway on the ground of the King’s inability to conduct the government and his constructive relinquishment of authority. At the same time a letter was addressed to the King of Sweden expressing Norway’s desire for the continuation of peaceful relations, and asking that a prince of the royal house of Sweden be designated as King of Norway. The latter request was refused, but other matters were adjusted by a joint commission.

The crown was finally offered to Charles, Crown Prince of Denmark, and son-in-law of King Edward of England, who was elected by a popular majority of 259,563 against 69,264, and assumed the throne November 20th under the name Haakon VII.