Peter Christian Hersleb Kjerschow Michelsen (15 March 1857 –29 June 1925),better known as Christian Michelsen,was a Norwegian shipping magnate and statesman. He was the first prime minister of independent Norway and Norway's 9th prime minister from 1905 to 1907. Michelsen is most known for his central role in the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905,and was one of Norway's most influential politicians of his time.[1]
Born in Bergen,he was named after his grandfather,bishop Peder Christian Hersleb Kjerschow. He was the eldest of five siblings born into a merchant family. Michelsen attended the Bergen Cathedral School. He studied law at The Royal Frederick University and went on to become a lawyer. He later established the shipping company,Chr. Michelsen &Co.,which became one of the largest in Norway.[2][3]
Political career
He became a member of the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) in 1891,representing the Liberal Party of Norway. He considered himself mostly above petty party strifes,and one of his major aims was to create a coalition of parties reaching from the Conservative Party to the Liberal Party,which he called the Coalition Party. He served as Finance Minister in the second cabinet Hagerup,and was one of the strongest proponents of a more firm policy towards the union between Sweden and Norway. In March 1905,Michelsen replaced Francis Hagerup as Prime Minister,and immediately became the leader of the movement towards dissolution of the union (Unionsoppløsningen i 1905).[4]
The formal basis for the dissolution was King Oscar II's refusal to accept the Norwegian consular laws (Konsulatsaken). The Swedish government had for several years insisted that laws governing foreign affairs had to be a part of the union agreement,and as such,consular laws could not be passed by the Norwegian Storting without consent of the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag). The Swedes were willing to accept the Norwegian urge for separate consular affairs,but they demanded that Norway accept the precedent under which the union had operated for 90 years,namely that the Foreign Minister be Swedish. This,the Norwegians felt,acknowledged Sweden as having the upper hand in the Union. While this supremacy existed in reality,Norwegians were unwilling to accept the unequal relationship on a formal,legal basis.[5]
On 27 May 1905 King Oscar refused to sign the bill,and in response the Norwegian cabinet ministers resigned collectively. The king took no further action,probably aware that a dissolution of the Union was imminent,and the Swedish politicians did nothing,probably believing that this was another Norwegian political retreat. On 7 June,the Norwegian Storting declared that because the King had been unable to form a new government in Norway after Michelsen's resignation,he had lost the capacity to rule and hence ceased to be king of Norway. This strategic move gave the dissolution a somewhat legal basis,and was primarily the work of Christian Michelsen. He knew that the Norwegian people,after months of well-directed information in a unanimous press,was united in a way that is extremely rare in a democracy. In the referendum that proved the Norwegian will to dissolve the union,retention of the union garnered a mere 184 votes nationwide,which represented only one vote out of every 2000 cast.[6]
Michelsen greets King Haakon and prince Olav as they arrive in Norway for the first time in 1905
Michelsen,though a believer in a democratic republic in Norway,accepted that a democratic monarchy would have the greatest chances to be accepted abroad and among a majority of Norwegians. Prince Carl of Denmark became King Haakon VII of Norway after a new referendum had given the monarchy proponents approximately 79% of the votes cast.[7]
In 1906 Michelsen won the election on an "above-the-parties" ticket,which quickly alienated the leading Liberals from him. In 1907 he resigned,having tired of petty squabbles among the political leaders,and accepting that his political views had been defeated. Jørgen Løvland carried on Michelsen's work,but lacked the will to force the coalition to stand united,and in 1908 the coalition broke down. In social policy,Michelsen's time as prime minister saw the passage of the 1906 Law on Central and Local Government Contributions to Unemployment Funds,which introduced voluntary insurance.[8][9]
He was married in 1881 to Johanne Benedicte Wallendahl (1861–1910). In 1905,he was awarded the Grand Cross of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav and in 1907 he received the Collar as well.[11]
In the year 1899,Michelsen began the construction of the Gamlehaugen mansion,which was completed in 1900. The estate today functions as a residence of the Norwegian Royal Family and is open to the public.
The Chr. Michelsen Institute in Bergen
Chr. Michelsen Institute
Michelsen bequeathed most of his estate to a fund which made possible the establishment and operation of Chr. Michelsen Institute for Science and Intellectual freedom. In recent times,the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) was established as an independent centre for research on international development and policy. Founded in Bergen in 1930,CMI conducts both applied and theoretical research,and has a multidisciplinary profile anchored in four thematic research groups,namely human rights,democracy and development,peace,conflict and the state,poverty reduction and public sector reform.[12]
Sweden and Norway or Sweden–Norway,officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway,and known as the United Kingdoms,was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Sweden and Norway under a common monarch and common foreign policy that lasted from 1814 until its peaceful dissolution in 1905.
Johan Ludwig Mowinckel(22 October 1870 –30 September 1943) was a Norwegian statesman,shipping magnate and philanthropist. He served as the 16th prime minister of Norway during three separate terms.
Jørgen Gunnarsson Løvland was a Norwegian educator and civil servant of the Liberal Party who served as the 10th prime minister of Norway from 1907 to 1908.
Otto Albert Blehr was a Norwegian attorney and newspaper editor. He served as a politician representing the Liberal Party. He was the 8th prime minister of Norway from 1902 to 1903 during the Union between Sweden and Norway and from 1921 to 1923 following the Dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden.
The dissolution of the union between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte,was set in motion by a resolution of the Storting on 7 June 1905. Following some months of tension and fear of an outbreak of war between the neighbouring kingdoms –and a Norwegian plebiscite held on 13 August which overwhelmingly backed dissolution –negotiations between the two governments led to Sweden's recognition of Norway as an independent constitutional monarchy on 26 October 1905. On that date,King Oscar II renounced his claim to the Norwegian throne,effectively dissolving the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway,and this event was swiftly followed,on 18 November,by the accession to the Norwegian throne of Prince Carl of Denmark,taking the name of Haakon VII.
Gunnar Edvard Rode Heiberg was a Norwegian poet,playwright,journalist and theatre critic.
A referendum on dissolving the union with Sweden was held in Norway on 13 August 1905. Dissolving the union,which had been in place since 1814,was approved by almost 100% of voters,with just 184 voting against the proposal out of over 371,000 votes cast.
Jørgen Brunchorst was a Norwegian natural scientist,politician and diplomat.
Edvard Hagerup Bull was a Norwegian jurist and assessor of the Supreme Court of Norway. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament and government official with the Conservative Party of Norway.
Johan Castberg was a Norwegian jurist and politician best known for representing the Radical People's Party. He was a government minister from 1908 to 1910 and 1913 to 1914,and also served seven terms in the Norwegian Parliament. The brother-in-law of Katti Anker Møller,the two were responsible for implementing the highly progressive Castberg laws,granting rights to children born out of wedlock. Altogether,he was one of the most influential politicians in the early 20th century Norway.
Thomas Thomassen Heftye was a Norwegian military officer,engineer,sports official and politician for the Liberal Party. He is best known as the Norwegian Minister of Defence from June to October 1903 and March to April 1908,as well as the director of Telegrafverket. He was killed in the Nidareid train disaster.
The Moderate Liberal Party was a political party in Norway that emerged from the moderate and religious branches of the Liberal Party in 1888. The party's turn towards cooperation with the Conservative Party caused a party split in 1891,eventually sharpening its profile as a moderate-conservative party based among the low church of south-western Norway. The party was dissolved shortly after the dissolution of the union with Sweden in 1905.
Events in the year 1905 in Norway.
Peder Christian Hersleb Kjerschow was a Norwegian clergyman.
Jacob Andreas Michelsen was a Norwegian businessperson and politician,also known as the father of Christian Michelsen.
Christian Collett Hersleb Kjerschow was a Norwegian politician.
Hartvig Andreas Munthe was a Norwegian military officer,engineer and genealogist.
Peder Kjerschow was a Norwegian judge.
Christian Møinichen Havig was a Norwegian bailiff (lensmann) and Storting representative for Nordland from 1871 to 1888.
Republicanism in Norway is a movement to replace the constitutional monarchy with a republican form of government. The country has always been ruled by a monarch and has never been a republic. Since 1905 and the dissolution of the union with Sweden several republican movements and thoughts have arisen.
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