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Scandinavism

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A 19th century image of Scandinavism. From left to right: A Norwegian, Danish and Swedish soldier joining hands.
A meeting of Scandinavian students in Uppsala, Sweden, 1856. Parade marching next to Svandammen.

Scandinavism (also called Pan-Scandinavianism)[1] and Nordism are literary and political movements that support various degrees of cooperation between the Scandinavian or Nordic countries.

As terms for the literary, linguistic and cultural movement that focuses on promoting a shared Nordic past, a shared cultural heritage, a common Nordic mythology and a common linguistic root in Old Norse, and which led to the formation of joint periodicals and societies in support of Scandinavian literature and languages,[2] Scandinavism and Nordism are interchangeable terms. However, political Scandinavism and political Nordism are two distinct political movements which emerged at different points in time.

Political Scandinavism

Political Scandinavism paralleled the 19th century unification movements of Germany and Italy.[3] As opposed to the German and Italian counterparts, the Scandinavian state-building project was not successful and is no longer pursued.[1][3] It was at its height in the mid-19th century and supported the idea of Scandinavia as a unified region or a single nation, based on the common linguistic, political and cultural heritage of the Scandinavian countries Denmark, Norway, Sweden. (These three countries are referred to as "three brothers" in the sixth stanza of the national anthem of Norway.)

The movement was initiated by Danish and Swedish university students in the 1840s, with a base in Scania.[4] In the beginning, the political establishments in the two countries, including the absolute monarch Christian VIII and Charles XIV with his "one man government", were suspicious of the movement.[4] The police in Denmark therefore kept the proponents of Scandinavism under close guard. However, when Oscar I became king of Sweden and Norway in 1844, the relationship with Denmark improved and the movement started to gain support in liberal newspapers like Fædrelandet and Aftonbladet, which saw it as a way to counter the conservative powers that be. During the war between Denmark and Prussia in 1848, Sweden (then in union with Norway) offered support in form of a Norwegian-Swedish expeditionary force, though the force never actually saw combat. The movement received a blow from which it never fully recovered after the second Danish-German war over Schleswig, when the Swedish government refused to jeopardize its future by joining in an alliance against the rising German power on the continent.

Political Nordism

Political Nordism was introduced with the Nordic Association which started through Swedish initiatives in 1919.[3] The movement also includes Finland, Iceland and the Danish territories Greenland and Faroe Islands and has an ideological base in Nordic economic co-operation and integration supported by the Nordic Council. It has been described as "collaborative nationalism".[5]

Scandinavism and Nordism today

Modern Nordism and Scandinavism has played a part in the close cooperation among the five Nordic countries, examples include the Nordic Passport Union, the Scandinavian Airlines System and the Royal League. It also surfaces amongst Danes and Swedes in criticism of the EU, saying a Nordic union between Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Iceland would have been better. According to a poll in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, "a slim majority of voters in Norway and Sweden is in favour of a Nordic, rather than European, union. A slight majority of Danish voters favour the EU, but would support closer ties to a Nordic union, if a partnership with the EU on free cross-border movement and free trade would be arranged." [6]

Scandinavian unity in literature

  • The Sherlock Holmes story A Scandal in Bohemia mentions a fictional "King of Scandinavia" whose daughter is about to marry the (also fictional) King of Bohemia, a major protagonist in the story.
  • The hope of a Nordic political union is the topic of a poem by Danish poet Kaj Munk: Norden: Fra hvor Isen kroner Jorden (The North: From whence Ice crowns the Earth)

References

  1. ^ a b "Pan-Scandinavianism". (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 29, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
  2. ^ The Literary Scandinavism. Øresundstid, 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
  3. ^ a b c Ola Tunander (1999). "Nordic cooperation", UDA085ENG. In Nytt fra Norge, ODIN - Information from the government and the ministries, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway. See also Tunander, Ola (1999). "Norway, Sweden and Nordic cooperation". In The European North - Hard, soft and civic security. Eds. Lassi Heininen and Gunnar Lassinantti. The Olof Palme International Center/Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, 1999. pp. 39-48. ISBN 9516346901.
  4. ^ a b The Students. Øresundstid, 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
  5. ^ Waever, Ole (1992). "Nordic Nostalgia: Northern Europe after the Cold War". International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), Vol. 68, No. 1 (Jan., 1992), pp. 77-102.
  6. ^ http://www.cphpost.dk/get/78657.html
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