(no subject)
So, 1814 really, really sucked. Unless you like drama or something.
There's an adage to the effect of 'don't anger a short person; s/he've got a temper to compensate.' Okay, it's not quite like that, but there should be, because it's kind of true.
In Scandinavia's case, it didn't ever really anger Napoleon. It just got sucked up in his drama.
Let's start in 1800, when the two states of the North-the kingdom of Sweden (and Finland, and everything else he owned) and the kingdom of Denmark-Norway (including, Iceland, Faeroes, and Greenland)-opted to join in the Armed Neutrality League with Russia and Prussia. The purpose of this clique was basically, “let's stay neutral!” This seemed like a pretty smart move, especially for Denmark, considering that neutral countries got to trade with both sides in the conflict. Politics, though, weren't as simple as math.
On 2 April, 1801, England, in a move justified by war and self-interest, attacked Copenhagen. He was not happy with Denmark trying to be neutral. Though England was the primary maritime power at this time, Denmark managed to put up a pretty decent fight, especially considering that a lot of his navy was dismantled. Even after peace was negotiated and concessions made, he got to keep his neutral trading rights. A pretty sweet deal to be sure, but it probably contributed to a certain atmosphere that lacked the appropriate urgency and caution. The corrective lesson would come.
To appreciate completely the consequences of what happened next, it must be understood that Sweden and Denmark had spent the century before last constantly at each others' throats. In the last century they had fought, sure, but their sibling rivalry had cooled some, and they had focussed more on internal issues. Though Sweden-especially due to a party known as the Hats-had been in a kind of on-off state of war with Russia.
In 1805 the Swedish king, Gustav IV, who despised Napoleon with a passion, joined the Third Coalition against him. So, Sweden went to war. However, as soon as 1806, the Swedish war effort met its end in Swedish Pomerania.
Russia and France then negotiated in July of 1807, the results of which was the Peace of Tilsit. This peace indirectly held consequences for Norway-Russia was promised Finland. So, it was decided that Sweden would lose him, which he did in 1809, which would create feelings in some that Norway would be a good replacement. Or something. Anyway, even though this promise wasn't made public, Gustav IV still denounced this armistice. And then he sided with England.
This new alliance had a lot to do with what happened next:
On 2 Sept, 1807, England attacked Copenhagen once more, intent that Denmark be forced to give up his neutrality. This time, however, there was no mercy and as such, until 1914 such destruction of a European city would not be seen. What part of Denmark's navy wasn't destroyed, England carried off.
This move set off a political firestorm. Even England's people were repulsed by such a flagrant violation of Denmark's neutrality. Frederik IV, Denmark's boss at the time, had actually been kind-of-sorta leaning towards the British side if push had come to shove. But, now that Denmark had been attacked, Denmark had no choice but to join with Napoleon and France.
So, as part of Denmark, this put Norway in the war. From the beginning, he wasn't exactly thrilled by the decision to side with Napoleon, and this discontent was amplified when his people-and himself-began to starve. Yeah. England had blockaded. He could not get grain from Denmark, and his own exports of timber and fish suffered. Only in 1809 did things get better when Denmark, wary of possible Norwegian discontent, worked out a deal with England. Norway was allowed to export timber to England, and in return England exempted vessels taking Danish grain to Norway. This deal was screwed over in 1812, however, and soon enough famine (and peasant uprisings) were back. What's worse, there were crop failures in Norway.
So. Norway was upset, sure, but not quite raring for independence. Some of his people were for it, but not the majority.
Meanwhile, Sweden had a change of government. And then Sweden's new Crown Prince and unofficial Dude-With-the-Power, Karl Johan, made Sweden's foreign policy pretty much “forget Finland, we're going for Norway.” Basically, Sweden got weird and realised, oh hey, Norway, let's take him from Denmark because
→ 1) he deserves it
→ 2) a united Scandinavian peninsula is more strategically sound than having Finland
→ 3) Denmark sucks
→ 4) YAY ROMANTIC DELUSIONS OF SWEDISH EMPIRE GRANDUER. Sort of. This Crown Prince dude was actually a foreigner so, more than anything, he was probably interested in the strategical advantages getting Norway had.
So, Sweden's joining with England, Austria, and Russia got Norway promised to him.
So, in October of 1813, when the war was drawing a close, Sweden broke his troops away and marched up to Denmark, led by a boss who knew not to trust political promises. Sweden threatened to invade Jutland, stuff happened, and Denmark knew that he wasn't going to be able to keep Norway.
On 14 January, 1814, the Treaty of Kiel was signed, in which Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden, while keeping Iceland, Greenland, and Faeroes. Norway was expected to just join with Sweden.
The floodgates were opened.
Well, sort of. What happened next wasn't exactly revolutionary, but emotions certainly ran high. And Norway was not happy being given over like that. Sort of like “hello, uh, I exist.” Having spent 434 years in a union with Denmark he was neither eminent, nor screaming for a chance to express some kind of repressed national identity. The one thing that was clear was that he really wasn't cool with just being handed to Sweden.
To be honest, part of him would have preferred to stay with Denmark. Before Sweden took him, that was actually pretty much the lines he thought along-he was part of Denmark, was ruled through Copenhagen, fought wars with Denmark, depended on Denmark for grain, and minded his business and prospering timber trade otherwise. Although, he had been whining for a few things from Denmark, including a national bank and a Norwegian university, the latter of which he did get in 1811.
Still, led by the Danish viceroy and men of various interests, the events of 1814 unfolded. Hey, hey, and just so you know: this viceroy, Christian Frederik, probably wasn't the great patriot that he might seem. First of all, HE WAS DANISH. Second of all, he was probably just looking to take part in the ensuing shitstorm so that Sweden didn't hold of Norway. No really, and afterward Frederik probably would've taken Norway back to Denmark, especially since popular opinion at the time favoured Denmark to Sweden. Relevant historical fact: when Frederik went on to be the Danish king, he was so conservative that people walked into the palace demanding a constitutional change. Which ended up happening almost overnight.
The first major climax came on 16 (or 17th, officially) May, when a Norwegian Constitution was signed, Norway was declared an independent nation, a governmental body called Storting was provided for, and the Danish viceroy was declared king.
Of course, this whole time Sweden was not amused by Norway not listening and coming to live with him. After all, that is what the Treaty of Kiel-and the bigger nations-had told him to do. When Norway looked to England to give legitimacy to his claims of sovereignty, England refused to acknowledge Norwegian independence. Still, Norway was not about to roll over. His boss said that giving up would be treason to the Norwegian people.
So, on 29 July, Sweden invaded Norway. Kind of awkward for the both of them, really. Despite being a greater military power, Sweden wasn't able to immediately overwhelm Norway, and the Norwegians even won a few important tactical victories. Still, Sweden wasn't going to be stopped. On 7 August, Sweden presented a ceasefire that called for a personal union, saying that the Norwegian constitution would be considered as a base for negotiations. On 10 August the Convention of Moss convened for negotiations regarding the ceasefire, and was over by the 14th. The outcome of this was effectively Norway completely coasting around the Treaty of Kiel, while agreeing to settle into a union with Sweden.
Norway, by this point, knew he was going to have to join Sweden in a union-and he had probably realised it as early as April, when the convention to write his Constitution was convened. The thing was, it was pretty obvious that he would not beat Sweden. He was hungry, vaguely threatened by a Danish occupation and grain embargo, tired, weary, and already 'successful,' having managed to do more than was expected of him, considering that he was a country on the fringe. For most of his history, everything that had happened to him had been the result of what others had done, rather than what he had done himself. So, it wasn't a question of if he'd come to an agreement with Sweden. The question was, what would this agreement be?
Norway's boss stepped down, with the understanding that Norway would get his say. This all worked for Sweden, too, since it looked better if Norway negotiated into a union, rather than if he was forced. Or annexed. So, in this, Norway's resistance before and during the war kind of sort of paid off; even if he was forced into the union he-by his own will and with the help of outside forces-was able to actually have a say.
On 7 October, Norway called a special session of Storting-so that he could begin the actually process of the union. Some of his Constitution would need to be changed if the union with Sweden was going to work out. So, he worked on amendments. One of the powers he surrendered to Sweden was a foreign council-essentially, the power to conduct foreign policy.
Things aren't exactly over yet, of course, since there are always more details to iron out, like the actually binding process of the union, but Norway's not going to get there-he would come to Discedo on 3 November, before Sweden's king became his own. You see, the king had declared himself king of Norway and Sweden, but Norway had yet to recognise or declare him as such.
So.
What a wedding, right?
Except now Norway's kind of got cold feet because of Discedo. TO ILLUSTRATE THIS, BECAUSE I HAVE NO SHAME EVER:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr102My19TU
ALSO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY1ahFCYT5k
This is a very edited version of my AP expository essay (OBVIOUSLY I WOUND NOT TURN THIS IN). What is Norwegian nationalism? THE PRODUCT OF SHIT HAPPENING, AT LEAST BEFORE THE 1800s. The BURSTING, GLORIOUS uprising is a lie.
Anyway, what this means for anyone this is relevant to: Norway will not keep his memories of what has happened in Discedo, since this is technically a reset. So, yes, he's going to be pretty much "hi, my name is Norway, would you be so kind as recognise me?" Something to that effect, at least.
In the meantime, I'm going to pretend I care about Econ.
Anyway, uh, Tagforce 4 came out. Like. Even in English. I kind of want to play it...! Though SoulSilver and HeartGold will be coming out soonish, and I kind of want to play those. Probably Gold. I also heard something about Birth of Sleep. IT IS FINALLY COMING OUT AHA.
Also: the coldest natural!temperature recorded ever was -89.2 degree centigrade.
There's an adage to the effect of 'don't anger a short person; s/he've got a temper to compensate.' Okay, it's not quite like that, but there should be, because it's kind of true.
In Scandinavia's case, it didn't ever really anger Napoleon. It just got sucked up in his drama.
Let's start in 1800, when the two states of the North-the kingdom of Sweden (and Finland, and everything else he owned) and the kingdom of Denmark-Norway (including, Iceland, Faeroes, and Greenland)-opted to join in the Armed Neutrality League with Russia and Prussia. The purpose of this clique was basically, “let's stay neutral!” This seemed like a pretty smart move, especially for Denmark, considering that neutral countries got to trade with both sides in the conflict. Politics, though, weren't as simple as math.
On 2 April, 1801, England, in a move justified by war and self-interest, attacked Copenhagen. He was not happy with Denmark trying to be neutral. Though England was the primary maritime power at this time, Denmark managed to put up a pretty decent fight, especially considering that a lot of his navy was dismantled. Even after peace was negotiated and concessions made, he got to keep his neutral trading rights. A pretty sweet deal to be sure, but it probably contributed to a certain atmosphere that lacked the appropriate urgency and caution. The corrective lesson would come.
To appreciate completely the consequences of what happened next, it must be understood that Sweden and Denmark had spent the century before last constantly at each others' throats. In the last century they had fought, sure, but their sibling rivalry had cooled some, and they had focussed more on internal issues. Though Sweden-especially due to a party known as the Hats-had been in a kind of on-off state of war with Russia.
In 1805 the Swedish king, Gustav IV, who despised Napoleon with a passion, joined the Third Coalition against him. So, Sweden went to war. However, as soon as 1806, the Swedish war effort met its end in Swedish Pomerania.
Russia and France then negotiated in July of 1807, the results of which was the Peace of Tilsit. This peace indirectly held consequences for Norway-Russia was promised Finland. So, it was decided that Sweden would lose him, which he did in 1809, which would create feelings in some that Norway would be a good replacement. Or something. Anyway, even though this promise wasn't made public, Gustav IV still denounced this armistice. And then he sided with England.
This new alliance had a lot to do with what happened next:
On 2 Sept, 1807, England attacked Copenhagen once more, intent that Denmark be forced to give up his neutrality. This time, however, there was no mercy and as such, until 1914 such destruction of a European city would not be seen. What part of Denmark's navy wasn't destroyed, England carried off.
This move set off a political firestorm. Even England's people were repulsed by such a flagrant violation of Denmark's neutrality. Frederik IV, Denmark's boss at the time, had actually been kind-of-sorta leaning towards the British side if push had come to shove. But, now that Denmark had been attacked, Denmark had no choice but to join with Napoleon and France.
So, as part of Denmark, this put Norway in the war. From the beginning, he wasn't exactly thrilled by the decision to side with Napoleon, and this discontent was amplified when his people-and himself-began to starve. Yeah. England had blockaded. He could not get grain from Denmark, and his own exports of timber and fish suffered. Only in 1809 did things get better when Denmark, wary of possible Norwegian discontent, worked out a deal with England. Norway was allowed to export timber to England, and in return England exempted vessels taking Danish grain to Norway. This deal was screwed over in 1812, however, and soon enough famine (and peasant uprisings) were back. What's worse, there were crop failures in Norway.
So. Norway was upset, sure, but not quite raring for independence. Some of his people were for it, but not the majority.
Meanwhile, Sweden had a change of government. And then Sweden's new Crown Prince and unofficial Dude-With-the-Power, Karl Johan, made Sweden's foreign policy pretty much “forget Finland, we're going for Norway.” Basically, Sweden got weird and realised, oh hey, Norway, let's take him from Denmark because
→ 1) he deserves it
→ 2) a united Scandinavian peninsula is more strategically sound than having Finland
→ 3) Denmark sucks
→ 4) YAY ROMANTIC DELUSIONS OF SWEDISH EMPIRE GRANDUER. Sort of. This Crown Prince dude was actually a foreigner so, more than anything, he was probably interested in the strategical advantages getting Norway had.
So, Sweden's joining with England, Austria, and Russia got Norway promised to him.
So, in October of 1813, when the war was drawing a close, Sweden broke his troops away and marched up to Denmark, led by a boss who knew not to trust political promises. Sweden threatened to invade Jutland, stuff happened, and Denmark knew that he wasn't going to be able to keep Norway.
On 14 January, 1814, the Treaty of Kiel was signed, in which Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden, while keeping Iceland, Greenland, and Faeroes. Norway was expected to just join with Sweden.
The floodgates were opened.
Well, sort of. What happened next wasn't exactly revolutionary, but emotions certainly ran high. And Norway was not happy being given over like that. Sort of like “hello, uh, I exist.” Having spent 434 years in a union with Denmark he was neither eminent, nor screaming for a chance to express some kind of repressed national identity. The one thing that was clear was that he really wasn't cool with just being handed to Sweden.
To be honest, part of him would have preferred to stay with Denmark. Before Sweden took him, that was actually pretty much the lines he thought along-he was part of Denmark, was ruled through Copenhagen, fought wars with Denmark, depended on Denmark for grain, and minded his business and prospering timber trade otherwise. Although, he had been whining for a few things from Denmark, including a national bank and a Norwegian university, the latter of which he did get in 1811.
Still, led by the Danish viceroy and men of various interests, the events of 1814 unfolded. Hey, hey, and just so you know: this viceroy, Christian Frederik, probably wasn't the great patriot that he might seem. First of all, HE WAS DANISH. Second of all, he was probably just looking to take part in the ensuing shitstorm so that Sweden didn't hold of Norway. No really, and afterward Frederik probably would've taken Norway back to Denmark, especially since popular opinion at the time favoured Denmark to Sweden. Relevant historical fact: when Frederik went on to be the Danish king, he was so conservative that people walked into the palace demanding a constitutional change. Which ended up happening almost overnight.
The first major climax came on 16 (or 17th, officially) May, when a Norwegian Constitution was signed, Norway was declared an independent nation, a governmental body called Storting was provided for, and the Danish viceroy was declared king.
Of course, this whole time Sweden was not amused by Norway not listening and coming to live with him. After all, that is what the Treaty of Kiel-and the bigger nations-had told him to do. When Norway looked to England to give legitimacy to his claims of sovereignty, England refused to acknowledge Norwegian independence. Still, Norway was not about to roll over. His boss said that giving up would be treason to the Norwegian people.
So, on 29 July, Sweden invaded Norway. Kind of awkward for the both of them, really. Despite being a greater military power, Sweden wasn't able to immediately overwhelm Norway, and the Norwegians even won a few important tactical victories. Still, Sweden wasn't going to be stopped. On 7 August, Sweden presented a ceasefire that called for a personal union, saying that the Norwegian constitution would be considered as a base for negotiations. On 10 August the Convention of Moss convened for negotiations regarding the ceasefire, and was over by the 14th. The outcome of this was effectively Norway completely coasting around the Treaty of Kiel, while agreeing to settle into a union with Sweden.
Norway, by this point, knew he was going to have to join Sweden in a union-and he had probably realised it as early as April, when the convention to write his Constitution was convened. The thing was, it was pretty obvious that he would not beat Sweden. He was hungry, vaguely threatened by a Danish occupation and grain embargo, tired, weary, and already 'successful,' having managed to do more than was expected of him, considering that he was a country on the fringe. For most of his history, everything that had happened to him had been the result of what others had done, rather than what he had done himself. So, it wasn't a question of if he'd come to an agreement with Sweden. The question was, what would this agreement be?
Norway's boss stepped down, with the understanding that Norway would get his say. This all worked for Sweden, too, since it looked better if Norway negotiated into a union, rather than if he was forced. Or annexed. So, in this, Norway's resistance before and during the war kind of sort of paid off; even if he was forced into the union he-by his own will and with the help of outside forces-was able to actually have a say.
On 7 October, Norway called a special session of Storting-so that he could begin the actually process of the union. Some of his Constitution would need to be changed if the union with Sweden was going to work out. So, he worked on amendments. One of the powers he surrendered to Sweden was a foreign council-essentially, the power to conduct foreign policy.
Things aren't exactly over yet, of course, since there are always more details to iron out, like the actually binding process of the union, but Norway's not going to get there-he would come to Discedo on 3 November, before Sweden's king became his own. You see, the king had declared himself king of Norway and Sweden, but Norway had yet to recognise or declare him as such.
So.
What a wedding, right?
Except now Norway's kind of got cold feet because of Discedo. TO ILLUSTRATE THIS, BECAUSE I HAVE NO SHAME EVER:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr102My19TU
ALSO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY1ahFCYT5k
This is a very edited version of my AP expository essay (OBVIOUSLY I WOUND NOT TURN THIS IN). What is Norwegian nationalism? THE PRODUCT OF SHIT HAPPENING, AT LEAST BEFORE THE 1800s. The BURSTING, GLORIOUS uprising is a lie.
Anyway, what this means for anyone this is relevant to: Norway will not keep his memories of what has happened in Discedo, since this is technically a reset. So, yes, he's going to be pretty much "hi, my name is Norway, would you be so kind as recognise me?" Something to that effect, at least.
In the meantime, I'm going to pretend I care about Econ.
Anyway, uh, Tagforce 4 came out. Like. Even in English. I kind of want to play it...! Though SoulSilver and HeartGold will be coming out soonish, and I kind of want to play those. Probably Gold. I also heard something about Birth of Sleep. IT IS FINALLY COMING OUT AHA.
Also: the coldest natural!temperature recorded ever was -89.2 degree centigrade.