page_title: Kingdom of Norway (1814)
section_title: Seeking domestic and international legitimacy
hierarchical_section_title: Kingdom of Norway (1814) / Seeking domestic and international legitimacy
context_page_description: In August 1814, after a loss in the Swedish–Norwegian War, Kingdom of Norway was forced to join in a personal union with the Kingdom of Sweden, thereby becoming subject to a naval blockade by the United Kingdom, but remaining largely autonomous within the union. Although nationalist aspirations were not to be fully realized until the events of 1905, 1814 was the crisis and turning point in events that would lead to a fully independent Norway.
  The year contains the story of one king and two ambitious future kings in Scandinavia who may have hoped to unite Sweden, Denmark, and Norway under their throne. The Norwegian people and their leaders were caught in the middle of this rivalry, attempting to use the crisis to attain a high measure of self-determination.
  As early as 1812, the Swedish Crown Prince Charles John, with Russian support, decided to attack Norway in order to force Denmark-Norway to cede its northern part to Sweden. The attack was repulsed and Swedish forces were instead directed against France. Prior agreements between Charles John and the United Kingdom and Prussia ensured that Norway would be ceded to Sweden after France and its allies were defeated.
context_section_description: On May 22, the newly elected king made a triumphant entrance into Christiania, exactly one year after he first arrived as viceroy to Norway.  The cannons at Akershus Fortress sounded off the royal salute, and a celebratory service was held in the cathedral.  There was continuing concern about the international climate, and on May 24 the government decided to send two of the delegates from the constitutional assembly to join Carsten Anker in the UK to plead Norway's case.
  On May 25 the first council of state convened, establishing the nation's supreme court.
  On May 31, general major Johannes Klingenberg Sejersted proposed to take a stand against invading Swedish forces at the river Glomma, but some maintained that the Swedes should be stopped at the border.
  On June 5, the British emissary John Philip Morier arrived in Christiania on what appeared to be an unofficial visit. He accepted the hospitality of one of Christian Frederick's ministers and agreed to meet with the king himself informally, stressing that nothing he did should be construed as a recognition of Norwegian independence. It was rumoured that Morier wanted Bernadotte deposed and exiled to the Danish island of Bornholm.
  Christian Frederick asked the United Kingdom to mediate between Norway and Sweden, but Morier never deviated from the British rejection of an independent Norway. He offered to bring the Norwegian emissaries Niels Aall and Wilhelm Christie to the UK on his ship, but did not follow through on his promise. He demanded that Norway subject itself to Swedish supremacy, and also that his government's position be printed in all Norwegian newspapers. On June 10, the Norwegian army was mobilized and arms and ammunitions distributed.
  On June 13, Christian Frederick also ordered a census in preparation for parliamentary elections.
  On June 16, Carsten Anker sent a letter to Christian Frederick in which he made references to discussions he had recently had with a high-ranking Prussian diplomat. He learned that Prussia and Austria were waning in their support of Sweden's claims to Norway, that Alexander I of Russia (a distant cousin of Christian Frederick's) favoured a Swedish-Norwegian union but not with Bernadotte as the king, and that the United Kingdom was looking for a solution to the problem that would keep Norway out of Russia's influence.
caption: Charles John staunchly opposed Norwegian independence, only to offer generous terms of a union.
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