Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII of Norway, born as
Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel or
Prince Carl of Denmark (
August 3,
1872 –
September 21,
1957), was the first king of
Norway after the
1905 dissolution of the
personal union with
Sweden. As one of the few
elected monarchs, Haakon quickly won the respect and affection of his people and played a pivotal role in uniting the Norwegian nation in its
resistance of the
attack and five-year-long
Nazi occupation during
World War II.
Haakon is regarded as one of the greatest Norwegians of the
twentieth century and is particularly revered for his courage during the German invasion and his leadership and preservation of Norwegian unity during the Nazi occupation. At the time of his death at age 85 in
1957, Haakon had led Norway for 52 years.
Known in his youth as Prince Carl of Denmark (namesake of his maternal grandfather the King of Norway etc), he was the second son of the future King
Frederick VIII of
Denmark, a younger brother of the future King
Christian X of Denmark (he personally became a king before his father and his brother), a paternal grandson of King
Christian IX of Denmark (during whose reign he was prince of Denmark) and a maternal grandson of King
Charles IV of Norway (who was also King of Sweden).
Prince Carl was born in
Charlottenlund. He belonged to the
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg branch of the
House of Oldenburg. The House of Oldenburg had been the
Danish royal family since 1448, and between 1536-1814, also ruled Norway when it was part of the Kingdom of
Denmark-Norway. The house was originally from northern Germany, where also the Glucksburg (Lyksborg) branch held their small fief. The family had permanent links with Norway already beginning from late Middle Ages, and also several of his paternal ancestors had been kings of independent Norway (
Haakon V of Norway,
Christian I of Norway,
Frederick I,
Christian III,
Frederick II,
Christian IV, as well as
Frederick III of Norway who united Norway into the Danish kingdom, after which it was not independent at least until 1814).
Christian Frederick, who was King of Norway briefly in 1814, the first king of Norwegian 1814 constitution and struggle for independence, was his great-granduncle.
In
1896, Prince Carl married his first cousin
Princess Maud of Wales, youngest daughter of the future King
Edward VII of the
United Kingdom and his wife,
Princess Alexandra of Denmark, daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Princess
Louise of Hesse-Cassel. Their son, Prince Alexander, the future Crown Prince Olav and finally king
Olav V of Norway, was born on
July 2,
1903.
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The coronation of Haakon VII and Queen Maud on June 22, 1906 |
After the
Union between Sweden and Norway was
dissolved in 1905, a committee of the Norwegian government identified several members of European royalty as candidates for Norway's first king of its own in several centuries. Gradually, Prince Carl became the leading candidate. He had a son (and hence an heir to the throne) and Princess Maud's ties to the British royal family were viewed as advantageous to the newly-independent Norwegian nation.
The democratically-minded Carl, aware that Norway was still debating whether to retain its monarchy or to switch to a
republican system of government, was flattered by the Norwegian government's overtures, but declined to accept the offer without a referendum to show whether monarchy was truly the choice of the Norwegian people.
After the
referendum overwhelmingly confirmed by 79 percent majority that Norwegians desired to retain a monarchy, Prince Carl was formally offered the throne of Norway by the
Storting (parliament) on
November 18,
1905. When Carl accepted the offer the same evening, after his grandfather
Christian IX of Denmark approved, Carl became Haakon VII. In so doing, he succeeded his great-uncle,
Oscar II of Norway, who had abdicated the Norwegian throne in October following the agreement between Sweden and Norway on the terms of the separation of the union.Haakon's coronation took place in
Nidaros Cathedral in
Trondheim on
June 22,
1906.
He arranged for his heir, Crown Prince Olav, to marry a first cousin, Haakon's sister's daughter,
Märtha of Sweden.
In 1914
Haakon County in South Dakota was named in his honor.
Norway was
invaded by the naval and air forces of
Nazi Germany during the early hours of
April 9,
1940. The German naval detachment sent to capture
Oslo was challenged at
Oskarsborg fortress. The fortress fired on the invaders, causing damage to the battleship
Lützow and the sinking of the cruiser
Blücher, with heavy German losses that included many of the armed forces, Gestapo agents, and administrative personnel who were to have occupied the Norwegian capital. These events led to the withdrawal of the rest of the German flotilla, preventing the invaders from occupying Oslo at dawn as had been intended in the order of battle. The German occupation forces' delay in arrival in Oslo, along with swift action from the President of the
Storting C. J Hambro in turn created the opportunity for the Norwegian royal family, the cabinet, and most of the 200 members of the
Storting (parliament) to make a hasty departure from the capital by special train.
 |
King Haakon VII early during his reign. |
The Storting first convened at
Hamar the same afternoon, but with the rapid advance of German troops, the group moved on to
Elverum. The assembled parliament unanimously enacted a resolution, the so-called
Elverumsfullmakten (
Elverum Authorization), granting the Cabinet full powers to protect the country until such time as the Storting could meet again.
The next day, German minister
Curt Bräuer demanded a meeting with Haakon. The German diplomat called on the Norwegians to cease their resistance and stated
Hitler's demand that the king appoint Nazi sympathizer
Vidkun Quisling as prime minister of what would be a German
puppet government. Bräuer suggested that Haakon follow the example of the Danish government, which had surrendered almost immediately after the previous day's invasion, and threatened Norway with harsh conditions if it didn't surrender.
In an emotional meeting with the Cabinet in
Nybergsund, the king reported the German ultimatum to his cabinet and stated that
I am deeply affected by the responsibility laid on me if the German demand is rejected. The responsibility for the calamities that will befall people and country is indeed so grave that I dread to take it. It rests with the government to decide, but my position is clear.For my part I can not accept the German demands. It would conflict with all that I have considered to be my duty as King of Norway since I came to this country nearly thirty-five years ago.[The account and quotation were recorded by one of the cabinet members and were recounted in William L. Shirer's The Challenge of Scandinavia.]Haakon went on to say that he knew the Norwegian people and Storting had no confidence in Quisling and, in the event the Cabinet felt otherwise, the king said he would
abdicate so as not to stand in the way of the government's decision.
The government unanimously agreed with their king and announced its refusal to accept the German terms to the German emissary by telephone. In a radio broadcast that evening, the government and king's refusal to the German ultimatum were announced to the Norwegian people. The government indicated that they would resist the German attack as long as possible, and expressed their confidence that Norwegians would lend their support to the cause.
The following morning,
April 11,
1940, bomber aircraft of the
Luftwaffe attacked Nybergsund, destroying the small town where the Norwegian government was staying in an attempt to wipe out Norway's unyielding king and government. The king and his ministers took refuge in the snow-covered woods and escaped harm, continuing farther north through the rugged Norwegian mountains toward
Åndalsnes on Norway's northwestern coast. As the British forces in the area lost ground under
Luftwaffe bombardment, the king and his party were taken aboard the British cruiser
HMS Glasgow and conveyed by sea to
Tromsø where a provisional capital was established on
May 1. Haakon and Crown Prince Olav took up residence in a forest cabin in Målselvdalen valley in the interior of
Troms county where they would stay until the evacuation to the
United Kingdom. While residing in Troms the two were protected by local rifle association members armed with the ubiquitous
Krag-Jørgensen rifle.
The Allies had a fairly secure hold over northern Norway until late May, but as the Allies' position in the
Battle of France rapidly deteriorated, the British forces in northern Norway were badly needed elsewhere and were withdrawn. The beleaguered and demoralized Norwegian government were evacuated from Tromsø on
June 7 aboard the
HMS Devonshire and upon arrival in
London, Haakon and his cabinet set up a Norwegian
government in exile in the British capital. Taking up residence at
Rotherhithe in
London, Haakon was an important national symbol in the Norwegian resistance.
Meanwhile, Hitler had appointed
Josef Terboven as
Reich commissar for Norway. On Hitler's orders, Terboven attempted to coerce the Storting to depose the king; parliament declined, citing constitutional principles. A subsequent ultimatum was made by the Germans under threat of interning all Norwegians of military age in German concentration camps. With this threat looming, the Norwegian parliament's representatives in Oslo wrote their monarch on
June 27, asking him to abdicate. The king, politely replying that the Storting had acted under duress, declined the request. After one further German attempt in September to force the Storting to depose Haakon failed, Terboven finally decreed that the royal family had "forfeited their right to return" and dissolved the democratic political parties.
During Norway's five years under German control, many Norwegians surreptitiously wore clothing or jewelry made from coins bearing Haakon's "H7" monogram as symbols of resistance to the German occupation and of solidarity with their exiled king and government.
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Statue of Haakon VII, Bergen, Norway |
For his struggles against the Nazi regime and his effort to revive the
Holmenkollen ski festival following World War 2, King Haakon VII earned the
Holmenkollen Medal in
1955 (Shared with
Hallgeir Brenden,
Veikko Hakulinen, and
Sverre Stenersen), one of only nine non-Nordic skiiers to earn this honor (
Norway's
Stein Eriksen,
Norway's
Boghild Niskin,
Norway's
Inger Bjørnbakken,
Norway's
Astrid Sandvik,
Norway's
King Olav V,
Norway's
Erik Håker,
Sweden's
Ingemar Stenmark, and
Norway's
Jacob Vaage are the others.).
King Haakon VII fell in his bathroom at the estate at
Bygdøy in July 1955. This fall, which occurred just a month before his eighty-third birthday, broke the king's thighbone and, although there were few other complications resulting from the fall, the king was left confined to a wheelchair. The once-active king was said to be depressed by his resulting helplessness and began to lose his customary involvement and interest in current events. With Haakon's loss of mobility and, as the king's health deteriorated further in the summer of 1957, Crown Prince Olav was appearing on behalf of his father in ceremonial occasions and taking a more active role in state affairs. At Haakon's death in
1957 the crown prince succeeded as
Olav V.
Today, King Haakon is by many regarded as one of the greatest Norwegian leaders of the pre-war period, managing to hold his young and fragile country together in unstable political conditions. In 1927 he said "I am also the Communists' King." His loyalty to democracy proved to be crucial for
Norway's political situation during and after
World War II.
Here is a list of the styles King Haakon bore from birth to death, in chronological order:
His Royal Highness Prince Carl of Denmark
His Majesty The King of Norway
*
Separation of Norway from Sweden in 1905*
Invasion of Norway by Nazi Germany (Operation Weserübung)
*
Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany*
Norwegian resistance movement*
*
The Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav - H.M. King Haakon VII the former Grand Master of the Order*
Official Website of the Norwegian Royal Family*
The Royals – Regularly updated news coverage of the Norwegian royal family (
Aftenposten)
