History of Scandinavia
Part of a series on |
Scandinavia |
---|
The history of Scandinavia is the history of the geographical region of
Prehistoric age
Little evidence remains in Scandinavia of the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, or the Iron Age except limited numbers of tools created from stone, bronze, and iron, some jewelry and ornaments, and stone burial cairns. One important collection that exists, however, is a widespread and rich collection of stone drawings known as petroglyphs.
Stone Age
During the Weichselian glaciation, almost all of Scandinavia was buried beneath a thick permanent sheet of ice and the Stone Age was delayed in this region. Some valleys close to the watershed were indeed ice-free around 30 000 years B.P. Coastal areas were ice-free several times between 75 000 and 30 000 years B.P. and the final expansion towards the late Weichselian maximum took place after 28 000 years B.P.[1] As the climate slowly warmed up at the end of the ice age and deglaciation took place, nomadic hunters from central Europe sporadically visited the region, but it was not until around 12,000 BCE before permanent, but nomadic, habitation took root.[citation needed]
Upper Paleolithic
As the ice receded, reindeer grazed on the flat lands of Denmark and southernmost Sweden. This was the land of the Ahrensburg culture, tribes who hunted over vast territories and lived in lavvus on the tundra. There was little forest in this region except for arctic white birch and rowan, but the taiga slowly appeared.
Mesolithic
From c. 9,000 to 6,000 B.P. (Middle to Late Mesolithic), Scandinavia was populated by mobile or semi-sedentary groups about whom little is known. They subsisted by hunting, fishing and gathering. Approximately 200 burial sites have been investigated in the region from this period of 3,000 years.[2]
In the 7th millennium BC, when the reindeer and their hunters had moved for northern Scandinavia, forests had been established in the land. The
During the 6th millennium BC, southern Scandinavia was covered in
Neolithic
During the 5th millennium BC, the Ertebølle people learned pottery from neighbouring tribes in the south, who had begun to cultivate the land and keep animals. They too started to cultivate the land, and by 3000 BC they became part of the megalithic Funnelbeaker culture. During the 4th millennium BC, these Funnelbeaker tribes expanded into Sweden up to Uppland. The Nøstvet and Lihult tribes learnt new technology from the advancing farmers (but not agriculture) and became the Pitted Ware cultures towards the end of the 4th millennium BC. These Pitted Ware tribes halted the advance of the farmers and pushed them south into southwestern Sweden, but some say that the farmers were not killed or chased away, but that they voluntarily joined the Pitted Ware culture and became part of them. At least one settlement appears to be mixed, the Alvastra pile-dwelling.
It is not known what language these early Scandinavians spoke, but towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC, they were overrun by new tribes who many scholars think spoke
Nordic Bronze Age
Even though Scandinavians joined the European
From this period there are many mounds and fields of
The Nordic Bronze Age was characterized by a warm climate comparable to that of the Mediterranean which permitted a relatively dense population, but it ended with a
Pre-Roman Iron Age
The Nordic Bronze Age ended with a deteriorating, colder and wetter climate. This period is known for being poor in archaeological finds.
This is also the period when the
Initially iron was valuable and was used for decoration. The oldest objects were needles, but swords and sickles are found as well. Bronze continued to be used during the whole period but was mostly used for decoration. The traditions were a continuity from the Nordic Bronze Age, but there were strong influences from the
Roman Iron Age
While many
In Scandinavia, there was a great import of goods, such as
There are also many
Through the 5th century and 6th century, gold and silver became more common. Much of this can be attributed to the ransacking of the Roman Empire by Germanic tribes, from which many Scandinavians returned with gold and silver.
Germanic Iron Age
The period succeeding the fall of the Roman Empire is known as the
During the fall of the Roman empire, there was an abundance of gold that flowed into Scandinavia, and there are excellent works in gold from this period. Gold was used to make
After the Roman Empire had disappeared, gold became scarce and Scandinavians began to make objects of gilded bronze, with decorations of interlacing animals in Scandinavian style. The early Germanic Iron Age decorations show animals that are rather faithful anatomically, but in the late Germanic Iron Age they evolve into intricate shapes with interlacing and interwoven limbs that are well known from the Viking Age.
In February 2020, Secrets of the Ice Program researchers discovered a 1,500-year-old Viking arrowhead dating back to the Germanic Iron Age and locked in a glacier in southern Norway caused by the climate change in the Jotunheimen Mountains. The arrowhead made of iron was revealed with its cracked wooden shaft and a feather, is 17 cm long and weighs just 28 grams.[5][6][7]
Sami peoples
Since prehistoric times,
The Sámi have a complex relationship with the Scandinavians (known as Norse people in the medieval era), the dominant peoples of Scandinavia, who speak
Petroglyphs and archeological findings such as settlements dating from about 10,000 B.C. can be found in the traditional lands of the Sami.
The Sami have been recognized as an indigenous people in Norway since 1990 according to ILO convention 169, and hence, according to international law, the Sami people in Norway are entitled special protection and rights.
Viking Age
During the Viking Age, the Vikings (Scandinavian warriors and traders) raided, colonized and explored large parts of Europe, the Middle East, northern Africa, as far west as Newfoundland.
The beginning of the Viking Age is commonly given as 793, when Vikings pillaged the important British island monastery of
Age of settlement
The age of settlement began around 800 AD[
Relation with the Baltic Slavs
Before and during this age, the Norsemen significantly intermixed with the
Christianization
Viking religious beliefs were heavily connected to
Christianity in Scandinavia came later than most parts of Europe. In Denmark
The
Sweden required a little more time to transition to Christianity, with indigenous religious practices commonly held in localized communities well until the end of the eleventh century. A brief Swedish civil war ensued in 1066 primarily reflecting the divisions between practitioners of indigenous religions and advocates of Christianity; by the mid-twelfth century, the Christian faction appeared to have triumphed; the once resistant center of
Middle Ages (1100–1600)
Union
The Kalmar Union (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish: Kalmarunionen) was a series of personal unions (1397–1520) that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden under a single monarch. The countries had given up their sovereignty but not their independence, and diverging interests (especially Swedish dissatisfaction over the Danish and Holsteinish dominance) gave rise to a conflict that would hamper it from the 1430s until its final dissolution in 1523.[25]
The Kalmar War in 1611–1613 was the last serious (although possibly unrealistic) attempt by a Danish King (Christian IV) to re-create the Kalmar Union by force. However, The Kalmar War ended with a minor Danish victory and not the total defeat of the Swedes. No more Danish attempts would be made to re-create the Kalmar Union following this war.
Reformation
The
17th century
Thirty Years War
The
The Danish intervention began when
The Swedish intervention began in 1630 and lasted until 1635. Some within
Gustavus Adolphus, like Christian IV before him, came to aid the German Lutherans to forestall Catholic aggression against their homeland and to obtain economic influence in the German states around the
Rise of Sweden and the Swedish Empire
The Swedish rise to power began under the rule of Charles IX. During the Ingrian War Sweden expanded its territories eastward. Several other wars with Poland, Denmark-Norway, and German countries enabled further Swedish expansion, although there were some setbacks such as the Kalmar War. Sweden began consolidating its empire. Several other wars followed soon after including the Northern Wars and the Scanian War. Denmark suffered many defeats during this period. Finally under the rule of Charles XI the empire was consolidated under a semi-absolute monarchy.[27]
18th century
Great Northern War
The
Colonialism
Both Sweden and Denmark-Norway maintained a number of colonies outside Scandinavia starting in the 17th century lasting until the 20th century.
19th century
Napoleonic Wars
Scandinavia was divided during the Napoleonic Wars.[28] Denmark-Norway tried to remain neutral but became involved in the conflict after British demands to turn over the navy.[29] Britain thereafter attacked the Danish fleet at the battle of Copenhagen (1801) and bombarded the city during the second battle of Copenhagen (1807). Most of the Danish fleet was captured following the Second Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. The bombardment of Copenhagen led to an alliance with France and outright war with Britain, whose navy blockaded Denmark-Norway and severely impeded communication between the two kingdoms and caused a famine in Norway. Sweden, allied with Britain at the time, seized the opportunity to invade Norway in 1807 but was beaten back. The war with Britain was fought at sea in a series of battles, Battle of Zealand Point, Battle of Lyngør, and Battle of Anholt, by the remnants of the Danish fleet in the ensuing years, as the Danes tried to break the British blockade, in what became known as the Gunboat War. After the war, Denmark was forced to cede Heligoland to Britain.
Sweden joined the Third Coalition against
Sweden decided to join the alliance against France in 1813 and was promised Norway as a reward. After the battle of
Sweden and Norway
On 14 January 1814, at the
The Swedish king rejected the premise of an independent Norway and launched a military campaign on 27 July 1814, with an attack on the
In the peace negotiations, Christian Frederik agreed to relinquish claims to the Norwegian crown and return to Denmark if Sweden would accept the democratic Norwegian constitution and a loose personal union. On 4 November 1814, the Norwegian Parliament adopted the constitutional amendments required to enter a union with Sweden, and elected king Charles XIII as king of Norway.
Following growing dissatisfaction with the union in Norway, the parliament unanimously declared its dissolution on 7 June 1905. This unilateral action met with Swedish threats of war. A
Finnish War
The
Industrialization
Industrialization of Sweden experienced a boom during the First World War. The construction of a railway connecting southern Sweden and the northern mines was of primary importance.
The modern use of the term Scandinavia rises from the
Emigration
Many Scandinavians emigrated to Canada, the United States, Australia, Africa, and New Zealand during the later nineteenth century. The main wave of Scandinavian emigration occurred in the 1860s lasting until the 1880s, although substantial emigration continued until the 1930s. The vast majority of emigrants left from the countryside in search of better farming and economic opportunities. Together with Finland and Iceland, almost a third of the population left in the eighty years after 1850. Part of the reason for the large exodus was the increasing population caused by falling death rates, which increased unemployment.[30] Norway had the largest percentage of emigrants and Denmark the least.
Between 1820 and 1920 just over two million Scandinavians settled in the United States. One million came from Sweden, 300,000 from Denmark, and 730,000 from Norway. [1] The figure for Norway represents almost 80% of the national population in 1800. The most popular destinations in North America were Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas, Wisconsin, Michigan, the Canadian prairies and Ontario.[31]
Monetary Union
The
The union provided fixed exchange rates and stability in monetary terms, but the member countries continued to issue their own separate currencies. Even if it was not initially foreseen, the perceived security led to a situation where the formally separate currencies were accepted on a basis of "as good as" the legal tender virtually throughout the entire area.
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 brought an end to the monetary union. Sweden abandoned the tie to gold on 2 August 1914, and without a fixed exchange rate the free circulation came to an end.
20th century
First World War
All three Scandinavian countries remained neutral throughout the First World War. The war did have a significant impact on the economy of the area, primarily as a result of the British blockade of Germany. However, they were able to work around that with trade agreement with Britain. Norway's large merchant marine delivered vital supplies to Britain but suffered huge losses in ships and sailors because of indiscriminate attack by the German navy. Denmark called up much of its military, but Germany still violated Danish sovereignty to some extent, for example by mining the Øresund. A relatively large number of ethnic Danes from southern Jutland fought in the German army.[33][34]
Development of the welfare state
All three countries developed social welfare states in the early to mid-20th century. This came about partially because of the domination of the social-democrats in Sweden and Denmark, and the Labour party in Norway.
Second World War
Near the beginning of World War II in late 1939, both the
The nations reacted quite differently.
Denmark's strategy proved the more beneficial in the short run. It was one of the factors that led Germany to grant the Danes a high degree of autonomy. Another reason was that they had no real agenda in Denmark. After invading, they simply did not want to relinquish it, seeing it as a permanent part of their empire. Also, Danes were considered fellow Nordics and Aryans by Nazi ideologues, which further helped the country. For all these reasons, Denmark was able to retain their parliament, king, and much of their normal domestic function. However, bitterness towards Germany grew, and small sabotages directed against Germany became commonplace. Germany eventually reacted by eliminating Denmark's representative government and imposing martial law.
Norway was treated much more harshly throughout their occupation. Opposition parties were eliminated and Nasjonal Samling ("National Unity"), the Norwegian fascist political party, appointed all government officials. Vidkun Quisling was installed as Minister-President, a puppet to Berlin's High Command. Labor unions could only exist if they accepted Nazi control. These repressive measures ensured that the cooperation was small. About ten percent supported the Nazi party. Nevertheless, there was a hostile relationship, with an occupation force of almost one German for every ten Norwegians.
Denmark and Norway were also unlike in their cooperation with Germany's genocidal policy. Norwegian police, controlled by the Quisling government, aided in the capture of Norwegian Jews in 1942. However, brave Norwegians managed to save over half of the Jewish population from Nazi death camps and help them to escape to safety in Sweden, even though they ran the risk of being severely punished for aiding Jews. The Danish Jews avoided German persecution until 1943, and Denmark was thus better prepared when the Germans struck. Danes were notable for their devoted efforts to protect Danish Jews. More than 96% of the Jewish population was boated to safety in Sweden, while others found refuge with Christian Danish families and organizations.
Alone out of the three Scandinavian countries, Sweden was not invaded and remained nominally neutral during the war. They successfully cultivated peace with the Germans, supplying them with needed raw materials. The Swedish government was very careful to avoid inflaming the Nazis, going so far as to persuade newspaper editors to censor articles, and letting the Nazis move supplies through Sweden and into Norway all the way up to 1943. However, they would occasionally aid the Allies. They granted the Jews that escaped from Denmark asylum and gave notable aid to Finland during the Winter War.
Post-war
After the war, all of the Scandinavian countries agreed that some form of mutual defense policy was necessary. They began to discuss a
European integration
The Nordic countries established the
See also
- Baltic states
- Baltoscandia
- History of Denmark
- History of Finland
- History of Iceland
- History of Norway
- History of Sweden
- Nordic-Baltic Eight
Notes
- ^ Mangerud, Jan (1 January 1991). "The Last Ice Age in Scandinavia". ResearchGate. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
- ISSN 0003-598X.
- S2CID 219430892.
- ISBN 978-0-85115-923-2. Length: 297 pages. Page 131
- ^ Bailey, Stephanie (26 February 2019). "Climate change reveals, and threatens, thawing relics". CNN. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ^ Ramming, Audrey (6 March 2020). "Photo Friday: Norwegian Glacial Ice Preserves Ancient Viking Artifacts". GlacierHub. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ^ Curiosmos (9 March 2020). "1,500-Year-Old Viking Arrowhead Found After Glacier Melts in Norway". Curiosmos. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ^ Korpijaakko-Labba, Kaisa (1994). L Om samernas rättsliga ställning i Sverige–Finland. En rättshistorisk utredning av markanvändningsförhållanden och -rättigheter i Västerbottens lappmark före mitten av 1700-talet. p. 17.
- ^ Korpijaakko-Mikkel, Sara (22 March 2009). "Siida and traditional Sami reindeer herding knowledge". Northern Review. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-9788460-6-0.
- ^ "IPS Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat". Arctic Council. 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
- ISBN 9780190231972.
- ^ "The ski-going people – Early history". Galdu:Resource Centre for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Archived from the original on 22 November 2010.
- ^ Martin Arnold, The Vikings: culture and conquest (Hambledon Press, 2006)
- ^ a b c d "Viking Woman Warrior May Have Been Slavic". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ Barford 2001, pp. 89–90.
- (PDF) from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ISBN 978-90-04-16189-4. Archivedfrom the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- Britannica. Archivedfrom the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ISBN 9113015249. Archivedfrom the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- Britannica. Archivedfrom the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ "Christianity comes to Denmark". National Museum of Denmark. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- ^ Nora Berend, Christianization and the Rise of Christian Monarchy: Scandinavia, Central Europe and Rus' c.900–1200 (2010).
- ^ "Thorgeir Ljosvetningagodi – Conversion to Christianity". The Saga Museum. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
- ^ Harald Gustafsson, "A state that failed? On the Union of Kalmar, especially its dissolution." Scandinavian journal of history 31.3–4 (2006): 205–220.
- ^ Ole Peter Grell, Scandinavian Reformation: From Evangelical Movement to Institutionalisation of Reform (1995), 218p. covers 1500 to 1699.
- ^ Erik Thomson, "Beyond the Military State: Sweden's Great Power Period in Recent Historiography," History Compass (2011) 9#4 pp 269–283. covers 1618 to ca 1700. DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2011.00761.x.
- ^ Charles Esdaile, Napoleon's Wars: An International History (2009).
- ^ Ole Feldbæk, "Denmark in the Napoleonic Wars: A Foreign Policy Survey." Scandinavian Journal of History 26.2 (2001): 89–101. online Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Scandinavian Roots – American Lives – The Story of the Great Emigration (Archive link)
- ^ Hans Norman and Harald Runblom, Transatlantic connections: Nordic migration to the New World after 1800 (Oxford University Press, 1988)
- ^ Ingrid Henriksen and Niels Kærgård. "The Scandinavian currency union 1875–1914." in Jaime Reis, ed., International Monetary Systems in Historical Perspective. (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1995) pp. 91–112.
- ^ Olav Riste, The neutral ally: Norway's relations with belligerent powers in the First World War (Universitets-forlaget, 1965).
- ^ Johan den Hertog and Samuël Kruizinga, eds. Caught in the Middle: Neutrals, Neutrality, and the First World War (Amsterdam University Press, 2011.)
- ^ Henrik S. Nissen, ed. Scandinavia during the Second World War (Universitetsforlaget, 1983)
- ^ Richard Petrow, The bitter years: the invasion and occupation of Denmark and Norway, April 1940 – May 1945 (1974).
Sources
- Barford, Paul M (2001). The Early Slavs: Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-3977-3.
Further reading
- Arnold, Martin. The Vikings: culture and conquest (Hambledon Press, 2006)
- Bagge, Sverre. Cross and Scepter: The Rise of the Scandinavian Kingdoms From the Vikings to the Reformation (Princeton University Press; 2014) 325 pages;
- Bain, R. Nisbet. Scandinavia: A Political History of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1513 to 1900 (2014) online Archived 12 November 2023 at the Wayback Machine
- Barton, H. Arnold. Scandinavia in the Revolutionary Era 1760–1815, University of Minnesota Press, 1986. ISBN 0-8166-1392-3.
- Berg, Roald. "Denmark, Norway and Sweden in 1814: a geopolitical and contemporary perspective." Scandinavian Journal of History 39.3 (2014): 265-286.
- Birch J. H. S. Denmark In History (1938) online
- Cronholm, Neander N. (1902). A History of Sweden from the Earliest Times to the Present Day.
- Clerc, Louis; Glover, Nikolas; Jordan, Paul, eds. Histories of Public Diplomacy and Nation Branding in the Nordic and Baltic Countries: Representing the Periphery (Leiden: Brill Nijhoff, 2015). 348 pp. ISBN 978- 90-04-30548-9. online review Archived 6 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- Derry, T.K. “Scandinavia” in C.W. Crawley, ed. The New Cambridge Modern History: IX. War and Peace in an age of upheaval 1793–1830 (Cambridge University Press, 1965) pp 480–494. online
- Derry, T.K. A History of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland. (U of Minnesota Press, 1979. ISBN 0-8166-3799-7).
- Helle, Knut, ed. The Cambridge History of Scandinavia: Vol. 1 (Cambridge University Press, 2003)
- Hesmyr, Atle: Scandinavia in the Early Modern Era; From Peasant Revolts and Witch Hunts to Constitution Drafting Yeomen (Nisus Publications, 2015).
- Hodgson, Antony. Scandinavian Music: Finland and Sweden. (1985). 224 pp.
- Holmila, Antero, and Karin Kvist Geverts 1. "On forgetting and rediscovering the Holocaust in Scandinavia: Introduction to the special issue on the histories and memories of the Holocaust in Scandinavia." Scandinavian Journal of History 36.5 (2011): 520-535.
- Horn, David Bayne. Great Britain and Europe in the eighteenth century (1967) covers 1603–1702; pp 236–69.
- Ingebritsen, Christine. Scandinavia in world politics (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006)
- Jacobsen, Helge Seidelin. An outline history of Denmark (1986) online
- Jonas, Frank. Scandinavia and the Great Powers in the First World War (2019) online review Archived 11 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- Lindström, Peter, and Svante Norrhem. Flattering Alliances: Scandinavia, Diplomacy and the Austrian-French Balance of Power, 1648–1740 (Nordic Academic Press, 2013).
- Mathias, Peter, ed. Cambridge Economic History of Europe. Vol. 7: Industrial Economies. Capital, Labour and Enterprise. Part 1 Britain, France, Germany and Scandinavia (1978)
- Milward, Alan S, and S. B. Saul, eds. The economic development of continental Europe: 1780–1870 (1973) online; PP 467–536.
- Moberg, Vilhelm, and Paul Britten Austin. A History of the Swedish People: Volume II: From Renaissance to Revolution (2005)
- Nissen, Henrik S., ed. Scandinavia during the Second World War (Universitetsforlaget, 1983)
- Olesen, Thorsten B., ed. The Cold War and the Nordic countries: Historiography at a crossroads (University Press of Southern Denmark, 2004).
- Otté, Elise C. (1894). Scandinavian History.
- Price, T. Douglas. 2015. Ancient Scandinavia: An Archaeological History from the First Humans to the Vikings Archived 4 October 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Oxford University Press.
- Pulsiano, Phillip. Medieval Scandinavia: an encyclopedia (Taylor & Francis, 1993).
- Salmon, Patrick. Scandinavia and the great powers 1890–1940 (Cambridge University Press, 2002).
- Sejersted, Francis. The Age of Social Democracy: Norway and Sweden in the Twentieth Century (Princeton UP, 2011); 543 pages; Traces the history of the Scandinavian social model after 1905.
- Treasure, Geoffrey. The Making of Modern Europe, 1648–1780 (3rd ed. 2003). pp 494–526.
Historiography
- Downham, Clare. "Viking ethnicities: a historiographic overview." History Compass 10.1 (2012): 1-12.
- Hatton, Ragnhild. "Some notes on Swedish historiography." History 37.130 (1952): 97-113. online Archived 11 June 2023 at the Wayback Machine
- Skovgaard-Petersen, Karen. "Historical writing in Scandinavia." in The Oxford History of Historical Writing: Volume 3: 1400-1800 (2012): 449+ online Archived 12 November 2023 at the Wayback Machine.
- van Nahl, Jan Alexander. "Medieval Scandinavian Studies—Whence, Whereto, Why." Humanities 11.3 (2022): 70+ online.