Norway Despite centuries of foreign rule by Denmark and Sweden, Norway remained distinct from its Scandinavian neighbours, not least through its social, cultural, and religious diversity. Partly because of remote, foreign rule, and also because of its mountainous geography which made communication between its cut-off regions and valleys difficult, Norway had become relatively fragmented by the beginning of the twentieth century: linguistically, between Bokmaal (formerly referred to as Riksmal), the language formerly spoken and still written in the towns, and Nynorsk (Landsmal); religiously, between pietism in the south and west and other variants of Protestantism elsewhere; socially, as urban communities experienced some degrees of urbanization and social change, which their more isolated rural communities were spared. Politically, the country developed with close reference to Sweden. During its imposed union with Sweden (1814–1905), politics developed inversely from Sweden, enabling Norwegians to articulate their difference from their dominant neighbour. In contradistinction to Sweden, Norway became extremely progressive, adopting a constitution in 1814, establishing parliamentary rule in 1884, and introducing universal male suffrage in 1898 (extended to women in 1913). In 1905 it gained independence, with Prince Charles of Denmark elected King as
Haakon VII on 18 November 1905.
Despite the differences within Norwegian society, at first politics remained stable, thanks to a 1906 electoral reform which allowed the Liberals to take 65 per cent of the parliamentary seats with 33 per cent of the popular vote. During World War I, together with its Scandinavian neighbours it remained neutral. After World War I, even the most arbitrary electoral boundaries could not guarantee a clear majority for any party. Encouraged by the economic difficulties of the 1920s, the party system began to fragment as political groups sought to represent the particular interests of their constituencies. The divisions within society came to the fore on the controversial issue of temperance, debates over which led to two referendums, three general elections, and four governments, 1920–5. In this period the Labour Party became more radical, while a Communist Party was established in 1923. It was only in the wake of the Great
Depression that a social, economic, and political consensus was found in 1935 by the Social Democrats, in imitation of their peers in Sweden (
Social Democratic Labour Party, Sweden). It involved an agreement between agricultural and urban workers, whereby the former would benefit from debt restructuring for farmers, rural tax relief, and agricultural import tariffs, while the latter would gain social welfare benefits and public works. Urban workers accepted higher food prices in return for benefits, which would be paid for through high taxation. The money in circulation shot up by over 25 per cent in 1936 alone, while subsidies in agriculture increased fourfold, 1930–8. These policies were interrupted by World War II, in which Norway was invaded by Germany, partly for strategic reasons, and partly for its mineral deposits. The King and his government fled to London, and the country was administered with the help of
Quisling, who in reality was never more than a German pawn.
After the war, the Social Democratic consensus was resumed under Einar Gerhardsen, who dominated Norwegian politics until the 1960s (Prime Minister 1945–51, 1955–65). Social security was improved,
trade unions became an important pillar of the economic order, and agriculture remained heavily subsidized. In foreign policy, the government jettisoned its traditional commitment to neutrality and joined
NATO in 1949. It joined
EFTA in 1960, but despite its reluctance to join a more closely knit union, internal debates soon began about membership of the much stronger EEC (
European integration). In 1963 it failed in its bid for EEC membership, while in 1972 the successfully negotiated agreement for membership was voted down in a referendum. Social Democratic domination led to Labour governments, 1971–2 and 1973–81. During this period, conservative opposition became more united. After the Labour Party failed to overcome the economic recession induced by the 1979
oil price shock, the conservative parties dominated government from 1981 to 1986. Their attempts to reduce government spending, which entailed a challenge to important aspects of the welfare state, returned the Labour Party under
Brundtland to its traditional dominance.
Brundtland also undertook necessary cuts in budget expenditure and social welfare, yet she reinforced other trends of social democracy. In particular, she took up the country's traditional commitment to international affairs, which had led to prominent Norwegian involvement in the
League of Nations under
Nansen, and in the
UN under Trygve
Lie. The Norwegian government continued to be one of the world's largest per capita donors in aid to less developed countries. Brundtland herself became a prominent world figure on women's rights, the environment, and the division of affluence between the developed and developing countries (north–south conflict).
Brundtland failed in a second attempt to persuade Norwegians to enter the European Community, which was rejected in another referendum in 1994. The main reason for this was the country's economic heterogeneity, particularly the coexistence of a large, wealthy oil-producing sector with a large agricultural and fisheries sector. The predominance of the former enabled the continuation of the social welfare state and effective subsidizing of the agricultural sector at a time when this was no longer possible even in Sweden. As a result, the majority of Norwegians preferred to hang on to their model of large-scale state intervention, which would have been under threat from the
Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union. In 1997, elections resulted in a defeat for the Labour Party, although they remained the country's largest party. The new Prime Minister, the conservative Kjell-Magne Bondevik, embarked on careful market-oriented reforms without fundamentally challenging Norway's economic and social model. His minority government relied on the support of the right-wing populist Progressive Party, led by Carl Hagen. The elections had manifested a deep popular unease among some sections of society against Norway's traditionally tolerant stance towards immigration. Bondevik resigned in 2000 over disputes on environmental policies. Despite a continuing slide in the popularity of the Labour Party, confirmed in the local elections of that year, Jens Stoltenberg of Labour proceeded to form a new minority government.
