Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - International Position, by Ebbe Hertzberg
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
important in virtue of having, formally and separately on behalf of
Norway, conferred upon the king the same «hereditary right and
absolute sovereignty» which he had some months previously
received in Denmark in a less solemn manner, — that is to say,
without the deputies having been called together.
The absolute monarchy thus established, — abolishing as it
did the Danish Senate —, reintroduced, as far as the constitution
was concerned, complete equality between the two united kingdoms,
which from that time were governed with equal absoluteness and
directness by the sovereign through his institutions and
officebearers. [[** bør beholde bindestrek?]] The general view, whether official, theoretical or
popular, tended therefore to regard the two countries as «twin
kingdoms.» Nor had the Norwegians any personal reason to complain
of being passed over in favour of the Danes. The highest
government posts in both kingdoms were open to them. Thus the post
of minister of foreign affairs, established about the middle of the
18th century, was filled in part by men who were Norwegians by
birth. It is also of fundamental and obvious significance, that
since 1641, Norway has possessed her own nationally organised
army, which, during the perpetual wars with Sweden, was
constantly proving its ability to withstand and repulse hostile
invasions.
In international negotiations too, Norway’s equality with
Denmark became often apparent in a manner which could not be
mistaken. Not only was Norway mentioned as a separate kingdom
apart from Denmark in the king’s title, while expressions such as
«the two kingdoms» &c. were frequently employed in the treaties
concluded by the king, but also, when there was special occasion
for it, Norway still made her appearance as a separate State. The
frontier treaty of 1751 with Sweden, in which the «kingdom of
Norway» appears and covenants with full outward sovereignty,
Denmark being only mentioned in the royal title, is especially
illustrative of this.
On the other hand, it was inevitable that the sovereign’s
absolute power in constitutional and international, as also in all
other relations, should have a strongly centralising effect. In
conjunction with the virtual superiority which Denmark acquired
from the fact that the king’s court and place of residence were at
Copenhagen, which thus became the seat of the government, this
circumstance exerted no inconsiderable influence on the formation
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
