The Swedish-Norwegian Union Crisis Part 15

A Sovereign power of this kind I must characterize as being in strife with the Union between the Kingdoms as confirmed by the Act of Union

It has been My constant endeavour to give Norway that position within the Union to which it has a just claim. My Royal duty has forced Me, even in conflict with general opinion in Norway, to try to maintain the legal principles of the Union.

My coronation oath and the good of the United Kingdoms prompted My Decree concerning the settlement of the Consular question, but in this I have been met, not only by the Norwegian Cabinet's refusal of Countersignature, but also the resignation of its members. When I declared, As it is clear to Me, that no other government can now be formed therefore I cannot consent to the resignation of the Cabinet, the Cabinet answered by the threat that the Norwegian who a.s.sented to My Decree would in the same moment lose all national rights. I was therefore placed in such a situation that I must either break the oaths I took under the Act of Union, or expose Myself to being without Ministers. I had no choice. After having in conflict with the fundamental law, tried to undo the King's lawfully made resolution, the Council, by resigning their office at the Storthing, have left the King without advisers. The Storthing has approved of this breaking of the law, and by a Revolutionary proceeding declared that the lawful King of Norway has ceased to reign, and hat the Union between the Kingdoms is dissolved.

It now becomes the bounden duty of Sweden and Myself as King of the Union to decide whether Norway's attack on the existing Union shall lead to the legal dissolution of the same.

May the opinions of our contemporaries and also those of posterity judge between Me and the People of Norway!

28.

The Norwegian Storthings doc.u.mentary address to the King. Dated Christiania June 19th 1905.

To the King's Most Excellent Majesty!

Norway's Storthing appeals, in all humility, to Your Majesty and through the Your Majesty to the Diet and the People of Sweden to be allowed to express the following:

That which has now happened in Norway is the necessary results of the late events in Union politics, and cannot be undone. And as it is certain that the nation does not wish to return to the old conditions of the Union, the Storthing considers it impossible to resume negotiations on the different const.i.tutional and state-law questions, which in Your Majesty's address to the President of the Storthing are referred to, in connection with the settled decisions, and on which the Storthing and Government have previously fully expressed themselves. The Storthing fully understands the difficult position of Your Majesty, and has not for a moment doubted that Your Majesty's decree is made with the full conviction that Your Majesty has considered it to be the right and duty of Your Majesty.

But it is the desire of the Storthing to address an appeal to Your Majesty, to the Swedish Diet and Nation, to a.s.sist in a peaceful arrangement for the dissolution of the Union, in order to secure relations of friendship and cooperation between the two peoples of the Peninsula. From statements made in Sweden, the Storthing finds that the resolution the Storthing considered it its duty towards the fatherland to adopt, by declaring the Union between the United Kingdoms to be dissolved, has, in its form and the manner of carrying it out, been looked upon as an insult to Sweden. This has never been our intention.

What has now happened and must happen in Norway, was simply done in order to maintain Norway's const.i.tutional rights. The nation of Norway never intended an insult to the honour of Sweden.

Your Majesty having on the 27th May declared it impossible to sanction the unanimous decision of the Storthing to establish a separate Norwegian Consulate, and as no Norwegian Government could be formed by Your Majesty, the const.i.tutional situation became out of joint, so dislocated that the Union could no longer be upheld. The Norwegian Storthing therefore found the position untenable and was forced to get a new government for the country. Every other resource was excluded, so much the more so as the Swedish government of Majesty had already in April 23:rd emphatically refused fresh negotiations, he alternative of which was the dissolution of the Union, if new regulations for the continuance of the Union could not be arranged.

The Storthing has already, before hand, stated that the Norwegian people do not entertain any feelings of bitterness or ill-will towards Your Majesty and the people of Sweden. Expressions to the contrary which may possibly on different occasions have been heard, have alone been caused on the grounds of the displeasure of Norway at her position in the Union.

When the cause of this bitterness and ill-will on account of the dissolution of the Union has been removed, its effects will also disappear. A ninety years' cooperation in material and spiritual culture has inspired in the Norwegian people a sincere feeling of friendship and sympathy for the Swedish people. The consequences will be, that when Norway no longer stands in a position so insulting to its national sense of independence, a friendship will be established that will serve to confirm and increase the mutual understanding between the two peoples.

With the confidence that the Swedish people will also share these opinions, the Storthing appeals to the authorities of State in Sweden, in acknowledging the new situation in Norway, and its rights as a Sovereign State, to consent to the negotiations which are necessary for the final agreements in connection with the now dissolved Union. The Storthing is ready, on its part, to accede to any fair and reasonable wish, that, in this respect, may contribute to the guarantee of self dependence and integrity of the two Kingdoms.

In a legislative sense the two peoples are hereafter separated. But the Storthing has a certain conviction that happy and confidential relations will arise to the benefit of the interests of both. If the above statement can find support, without prejudice and without bitterness, the Storthing is firmly convinced that what has now happened will be to the lasting happiness of Europe. On behalf of the welfare of the countries of the North, the Storthing addresses this appeal to the people who, by their magnanimity and chivalry, have won such a prominent place in the ranks of Nations.