War fought between Sweden and Norway
Swedish?Norwegian War
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Part of the
Napoleonic Wars
|
The constituent assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814
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Date
| 26 July ? 14 August, 1814
(2 weeks and 5 days)
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Location
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Result
|
Swedish victory
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Belligerents
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Supported by
:
|
Commanders and leaders
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Strength
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30,000
8 field
batteries
7 brigs
150 gunboats
|
45,523
4 field batteries
4 ships of the line
5 frigates
24 smaller ships
60 gunboats
|
100km
62miles
Kjølberg Bridge
8
Langnes
7
Rakkestad
6
Matrand
5
Fredrikstad
4
Lier
3
Tistedalen
2
Hvaler
1
The
Swedish?Norwegian War
, also known as the
Campaign against Norway
(
Swedish
:
Falttaget mot Norge
),
War with Sweden 1814
(
Norwegian
:
Krigen med Sverige 1814
), or the
Norwegian War of Independence
, was a war fought between
Sweden
and
Norway
in the summer of 1814. According to the
Treaty of Kiel
, Norway would enter a union with Sweden under
Charles XIII of Sweden
. The war resulted in Norway being forced into the
United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway
, but with its own
constitution
and
parliament
. The war marked the last time Sweden participated in an armed conflict with another nation, and its conclusion signalled the beginning of the country's long period of
military neutrality
.
Background
[
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]
Treaty of Kiel
[
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]
As early as in 1812, prior to the
Napoleonic invasion of Russia
, the Swedish Crown Prince
Charles John
(Karl Johan) ? formerly
Marshal of France
Jean Baptiste Bernadotte - had entered into an agreement with Tsar
Alexander I
that
Russia
would support a Swedish attack on Norway in order to force
Denmark-Norway
to cede its northern part to Sweden.
[1]
The Swedish attack against Norway was postponed however, due to the fluid state of the conflict between
Napoleon
and the
Sixth Coalition
. The
Swedish Army
and, incidentally, Karl Johan's skills as a general, were urgently needed against
France
in
Central Europe
. On 18 May 1813, Swedish troops re-occupied
Swedish Pomerania
and deployed against Napoleon's forces as a result of treaties between Karl Johan (on behalf of Sweden),
Great Britain
and
Prussia
, which ceded Norway to Sweden for its participation in the war, becoming effective after France and its allies (including Denmark-Norway) were defeated.
[2]
[3]
In early December, Karl Johan led an invasion of Denmark with his Allied Army of the North that included Swedes, Russians and North Germans. The Danes were outnumbered and were unable to mount a coherent defense against Karl Johan's battle-hardened army. Within a few days, the Danes were forced out of
Holstein
and into Jutland proper. By 14 December, Bernadotte agreed to an armistice and peace talks began in
Kiel
on the basis of ceding Norway to the Swedish king in return for Swedish Pomerania, additional territory in North Germany, specifics to be decided at the general peace conference following the cessation of hostilities between the Sixth Coalition and Imperial France, as well as 1,000,000
Riksdalers
. The Danish position was hopeless and by early January 1814, King
Frederick VI of Denmark
-Norway reconciled himself to the necessity of losing Norway.
[4]
[5]
By the
Treaty of Kiel
, signed on 13 January, King Frederick VI had to cede the Kingdom of Norway to the king of Sweden, by which the two nations would enter a union. However, this treaty was not accepted by the Norwegian people, who refused to be simply a bargaining chip. Elements of the Danish government also covertly supported Norway's determination for independence.
[6]
Ultimately, Denmark would pay a catastrophic price for the treaty, as Karl Johan viewed this support, no matter how covert, as betrayal and a violation of the treaty, and this would later be reflected in the final peace settlement at the
Congress of Vienna
, which voided Kiel's promise to compensate Denmark for its loss of Norway with Swedish Pomerania, various additional Northern German territory, and 1,000,000 Riksdalers.
[7]
Norwegian Constituent Assembly
[
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]
An insurrection broke out, led by Prince
Cristian Frederick of Denmark
,
heir presumptive
to the thrones of Denmark and Norway and
Governor-general of Norway
(and later King Christian VIII of Denmark). He gathered a constitutional assembly which adopted the liberal constitution of 17 May, with that constitution also electing Christian Frederick as king of an independent Norway.
As the head of the new state, Cristian Frederick desperately tried to gain support from the United Kingdom, or any of the other major powers within the
Sixth Coalition
, in order to maintain Norway's independence. However, the foreign diplomats refused to promise any outside support to the Norwegians.
Armies
[
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]
The
Norwegian Army
mustered 30,000 men, and it had taken up positions away from the border with Sweden, in the fear of being outflanked. The
Royal Norwegian Navy
had few vessels, and most of them were stationed at the islands of
Hvaler
, close to Sweden.
The
Swedish Army
consisted of 45,000 well-equipped soldiers who were veterans of the
German Campaign of 1813
. The
Swedish Navy
had a number of large vessels and a capacity for moving and landing troops as well as assistance from the British
Royal Navy
.
[8]
Major commanders
[
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]
The hostilities opened on 26 July with a swift Swedish naval attack against the Norwegian gunboats at
Hvaler
. The Norwegian army was evacuated and the vessels managed to escape, but they did not take part in the rest of the war. The main Swedish offensive came across the border at
Halden
, bypassing and surrounding the fortress of
Fredriksten
, and then continuing north, while a second force of 6,000 soldiers landed at
Krakerøy
outside of
Fredrikstad
. This town surrendered the next day. This was the start of a pincer movement around the main part of the Norwegian army at
Rakkestad
.
On the front towards
Kongsvinger
, the forces were more evenly matched, and the Norwegian army eventually stopped the Swedish advance at
Lier
on 2 August, and won another victory at
Matrand
on 5 August. On 3 August, King
Christian Frederick
reached the front at
Østfold
and was persuaded to change his strategy and use the 6,000 men stationed at Rakkestad in a counterattack against the Swedes. The order to counterattack was given on 5 August, but the order was recalled a few hours later. The Norwegian forces therefore withdrew over the Glomma river at
Langnes
in
Askim
.
[9]
The last major battle of the war was fought on 9 August at the bridgehead at
Langnes
, where the Swedish forces once more were driven back.
[10]
Sweden then attempted to outflank the Norwegian line, and successfully did so during the
Battle of Kjølberg Bridge
on 14 August. The Swedes then had a clear path to
Kristiania
, the Norwegian capital. In addition, the British blockade of Norway cut off trade and military supplies, which combined with the proximity of Swedish armies eventually made the Norwegians' military situation unsustainable.
[10]
Although the Norwegian Army had won at Langnes, it was nevertheless clear to both the Norwegian and Swedish military authorities that a defeat was inevitable.
[10]
Even as they had managed to deliver several minor offensive blows to the Swedes, it was considered impossible to try to stop the Swedes in the long run.
[10]
The Swedish offer of negotiations was therefore accepted as the war had put a heavy strain on the Norwegian finances. Every day of delay in securing Norway by the Swedes brought uncertainty to them regarding the outcome, so both parties were interested in a quick end to the war.
To the ordinary Norwegian soldier the war had seemed ill-prepared and ill-fought.
[10]
The defeat was blamed on Christian Frederick and the Norwegian general
Haxthausen
; the latter was accused of treason. For the Norwegian government it had probably
[
citation needed
]
been more of a matter of getting the best possible bargaining position, as without the support of major powers Norway's independence was impossible to secure, whereas by agreeing to talks following the victory at Langnes Norway was in a situation where it could avoid an
unconditional surrender
.
Aftermath
[
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]
On 10 August,
Charles XIV John
presented a proposal for a cease-fire. The proposal included a major concession – Charles XIV John, on behalf of the Swedish government as regent for his ill adopted father, accepted the
Eidsvoll constitution
. Negotiations started in
Moss, Norway
on 10 August, and after a few days of hard negotiations, a cease fire agreement, called the
Convention of Moss
, was signed on 14 August. Cristian Frederick was forced to abdicate as king of Norway, but Norway remained nominally independent within a
personal union with Sweden
, under the Swedish king. Its
constitution
was upheld with only such amendments as were required to allow it to enter into the union, and the two united kingdoms retained separate institutions, except for the king and the foreign service and policy.
See also
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]
References
[
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]
- Footnotes
- ^
Angell, Henrik
(1914). Syv-aars-krigen for 17. mai 1807?1814. Kristiania: Aschehoug. p. 219
- ^
Angell, p. 220
- ^
Barton, Sir Dunbar Plunket. (1925) Bernadotte Prince and King. p. 68. John Murray, London.
- ^
Scott, Franklin D. (1935) Bernadotte and the Fall of Napoleon. pp. 119?148. Harvard University Press, Boston.
- ^
Barton, Sir Dunbar Plunket. (1925) Bernadotte Prince and King. pp. 111?116. John Murray, London.
- ^
Ibid. 135
- ^
Ibid. 138.
- ^
Scott, Franklin D. (1935) Bernadotte and the Fall of Napoleon. pp. 119?130. John Murray, London
- ^
Dyrvik, Stale; Feldbæk, Ole
(1996). Aschehoughs Norgeshistorie ? Mellom brødre ? 1780?1830. 7. Oslo: H. Aschehough & Co. p. 159
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Syv-aars-krigen for 17de mai 1807?1814
(1914)
by
Henrik Angell
(1995),
ISBN
82-90520-23-9
- Literature