Escalation of Swedish-Norwegian Conflict in 1895 According to the Documents of Russian Diplomats

Abstract

The Swedish-Norwegian conflict, which resulted in the dissolution of the union in 1905, was accompanied by outbursts of tension in relations between political forces and the public of the two countries. In 1895, when the crisis reached its peak, rumours about the threat of a war between the “fraternal peoples” were circulating among the Swedish and Norwegian public. The purpose of this work is to analyze the reports of Russian representatives in the United Kingdom of Sweden and Norway, to identify the events in 1895 that attracted the attention of diplomats and the degree to which their attitudes towards opposing political forces influenced the formation of the general picture in the Russian Foreign Ministry. The research is based on documents from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire. They contain a sufficient amount of information allowing one to identify the causes, course, stages, and evolution of the Swedish-Norwegian conflict as well as the driving forces behind it. The author concludes that, firstly, diplomatic reports suggest that Russian diplomacy took the threat of an armed clash between Sweden and Norway in 1895 quite seriously; secondly, the correspondence between the Russian ambassador and the Foreign Ministry contains a generally sober assessment of the political situation in Sweden and Norway The author concludes that, firstly, the threat of an armed conflict between Sweden and Norway in 1895 was taken quite seriously by Russian diplomacy, secondly, the correspondence between the Russian ambassador and the Foreign Ministry contains a generally sober assessment of the political situation in Sweden and Norway, and the actions of Norwegian radicals are openly condemned by the former on the pages of his reports; at the same the difficult situation in which the Swedish–Norwegian king Oscar II found himself aroused sympathy, and the monarch’s position in the conflict – respect.