page_title: Republicanism in Norway
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Republicanism in Norway / History
context_page_description: Republicanism in Norway is a movement to replace the constitutional monarchy with a republican form of government. The country has always been ruled by a monarch and has never been a republic. Since 1905 and the dissolution of the union with Sweden several republican movements and thoughts have arisen.
context_section_description: The Kingdom of Norway has existed for 1,148 years. According to the Norwegian lexicon SNL, it is believed that the country was united as one kingdom by Harald Hårfagre in 872. There was no political system or institutions in this kingdom. In 1380 the country went into a union with Denmark and was ruled under the Danish king for over four hundred years. In 1814 the union was dissolved, and Norway went into a personal union with Sweden. This union was dissolved in 1905 and Norway was an independent country. Norway did not have a king of its own and the Norwegian Prime Minister Christian Michelsen suggested the Swedish Prince Carl as the new Norwegian king.  The country crowned Danish Prince Carl instead, who changed his name to Haakon and became King Haakon VII of Norway. Christian Michelsen was the leader of the Liberal Party and had broad support as a republican, but he deemed it too radical to suggest transitioning into a republic.
  The thought of a republic had reached Norway after the dissolution of the union with Denmark almost one hundred years earlier. France had transitioned into a republic after Napoleon died, and Norwegian authors Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Arne Garborg voiced their opinions in support of a republic in the late 19th century. The beginning of the dissolution of the union with Sweden at the end of the 19th century strengthened a distrust of the monarchy. The current monarch in Norway was from Sweden, and members of Parliament voiced their discontent about the monarchy in 1905. 44 of these members signed a petition on the 16th of October in 1905 to promote the republic. The dissolution of the union between Norway in Sweden happened in June 1905, three months before the republican petition. Christian Michelsen was important for the decision to resolve the union. He was a republican but wanted to keep the monarchy and wanted a king from either Sweden or Denmark. He told the Norwegian Parliament about his plans to ask Prince Carl of Sweden to become King of Norway. He did not tell anyone besides his cabinet members about his plan to ask Prince Carl of Denmark to become the new Norwegian king. The Parliament did not vote against the offer to give the crown to Prince Carl of Sweden. King Oscar II of Sweden declined the offer from Norway and did not want his son on the Norwegian throne. Michelsen contacted the Danish royal family, and Danish Prince Carl accepted the offer if the Norwegian government and people wanted him as king.
  In 1905 the Norwegian Parliament consisted of 117 representatives. The moderates from the Left Party had joined forces with the entire Conservative Party, and they were led by Prime Minister Michelsen. The Michelsen's Cabinet was republican but supported the Danish Prince Carl. The Prime Minister threatened to resign if the Danish prince was not voted as King of Norway. The 9th of October 1905, ten men from the Liberal Party proposed a republic as a form of government. They gained more supporters and became 24 men in total. The group of 24 men were called the republicans (in Norwegian: venstrerepublikanerne). Another group of republicans in the Parliament consisted of five men from the Labour Party. In total there was between eighty to one hundred republicans in the Norwegian Parliament at the time. Michelsen gained support in his mission to crown Prince Carl of Denmark as king of Norway. Michelsen met resistance from Parliament and from politicians within his own cabinet. Members of the Parliament that supported the republic argued that Norway had been fine without a king since the decision to exit the union with Sweden. Minister for Finance Gunnar Knudsen would rather resign than to go along with Michelsen's plan to give the crown to Prince Carl of Denmark. Prime Minister Michelsen wanted to avoid a referendum if possible. The monarchists in Parliament and the republicans that supported Michelsen and Danish Prince Carl was scared that Norway as a republic would pose as a threat to other European monarchies. The remaining republicans in Parliament did not share this view and sugg
caption: Prince Carl of Denmark after he changed his name to Haakon and became King Haakon VII of Norway.[7]
exif: {}