Dissolution of Union with Sweden

On June 7, 1905, the Storting passed a resolution dissolving the union.The Swedish-Norwegian Union of 1814-1905 was a state-legal association of Sweden and Norway on the basis of a real union. Imposed on Norway by Sweden by force of arms as a result of the Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814, entered into force on 4 November 1814 with the election of King Charles XIII of Sweden as King of Norway.

Relations between the parties in the union were regulated by the "State Act" (Riksakt) of August 6, 1815, adopted by the parliaments of both states. Sweden and Norway had a common diplomatic department, each retaining its own laws, administration, courts, and church. The Norwegian army (the officers are Norwegians only) was under the command of the king, but its use outside Norway required the sanction of the Norwegian Storting (a decree adopted by the three convocations of the Storting took effect despite the king's two-fold suspension veto).

The appointment of members of the Norwegian government by the king was carried out on the recommendation of the Storting, which also retained the right to manage the finances of the country, to grant Norwegian citizenship. The Storting became the center of the struggle of the Norwegians against the union, its dissolution was facilitated by the favorable attitude of Russia and Great Britain towards Norway.

On June 7, 1905, the Storting passed a resolution dissolving the union. During the plebiscite in Norway (Aug. 13, 1905), about 369,000 votes were cast for the break of the union (184 votes for its preservation). The dissolution of the union was formalized by the Swedish-Norwegian Carlstad Agreements of 1905.