Christian Michelsen and his Role in the Norwegian History

Abstract

The article analyzes the place and role of the figure of the Norwegian politician Christian Michelsen in the history of Norway. In 1905, the Swedish-Norwegian union was unilaterally dissolved by the Norwegian government. The accumulated contradictions between Sweden and Norway over the previous years led to an extreme aggravation of relations between the two countries. The events of 1905, rapidly succeeding each other, required the Norwegian authorities to quickly adapt and make the same swift decisions in sometimes uncertain and full of anxiety and doubt situations. The Prime Minister of Norway in 1905, Ch. Michelsen, received the status of a national leader and hero even during his time in power. The author sets himself the task of revealing the degree of influence of the personality of the Norwegian politician on the course of historical events at the indicated time. As sources, materials from the Russian archives were used, as well as publications of documents from the Storting and verbatim abstracts of the Karlstad Conference. Based on the source and historiographic, it is concluded that, due to a number of personal qualities, the figure of Michelsen largely met the needs of the time, and he undoubtedly had a strong influence on the political line chosen by the Norwegian authorities. However, it is doubtful that Michelsen followed a well-thought-out plan of action that determined the development of history.