Norway,nto Sweden: We’re independent of you!
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nSweden,nto Norway: No, you’re not!
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nThat’snbasically what was happening in Scandinavia during the year 1814. Younsee, Norway had been in political union with Denmark for hundreds ofnyears, but Denmark-Norway was on the losing side during thenNapoleonic Wars. Norway was “taken away from” Denmark and “givennto” Sweden, in January of 1814.
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nNorwegiansnprobably resented being traded like possessions, and soon theyndecided to pull away from everyone else and stand alone, just Norway.nSome Norwegians wrote a constitution and, on this date in 1814, theynwaved their completed constitution to the world and declared Norwaynindependent.
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nApparently,nthe Swedish king was not happy with that. He ordered an attack onnNorway. By August of 1814, it was obvious that neither side couldndecisively win. Norway kept its constitution and most of itsngovernmental institutions, but the Norwegian Parliament “elected”nthe Swedish king as ruler of Norway. With this compromise, Norway andnSweden formed a union for almost a century. n
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nInn1905, Norway completed a peaceful process of becoming fullynindependent of Sweden.
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| Norway is known for its natural beauty. This particular fjord, glacier, and waterfall are just tiny samples of all the splendors of the Scandinavian nation! |
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n…Now,nwhat about that holiday?
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nManynpatriotic Norwegians celebrated the anniversary of the adoption ofntheir constitution in 1814, but for some years the King of Sweden andnNorway tried to discourage or even forbid these celebrations. Byn1833, however, Norwegians become more bold about the celebration, andnby 1864, they were establishing traditions such as a children’snparade. The celebrations are different than many nations’ patrioticncelebrations, because the Norwegians’ holiday parades are verynnon-military in nature. Even after World War II ended in Norway, byncoincidence, just a few days before the Constitution Day of 1945, thenparades are made up of children with flags and homemade banners, andnschool marching bands, rather than armies and tanks. As the variousnparades wind through their various communities, the children oftennmake stops to visit senior citizens, say, or honor a war memorial.nThe parade in Oslo passes by the Royal Palace, and the royal familyngreets their people from the balcony.
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nLearnnmore about Norway…
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nYouncan find coloring pages, a puzzle, recipes, fun facts, and storiesnabout Norway at A to Z Kids Stuff.
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nPlannAhead…
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards of Maynholidays,nhistoricalnevents in May,nand Maynbirthdays.nn
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nAlsonon this date:
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nPirate Barti Ddu’s birthday
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nAnniversarynof the discovery of Jupiter’s belts
nAnniversarynof the discovery of Jupiter’s belts
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nGaliciannLiterature Day