Norway - Recent History Overview

In 1905 Norway became independant from Sweden. During WW1 Norway declared itself as neutral. In 1920 Norway became a member of the League of Nations.

On April 9th 1940 Norway was invaded by Germany. The Norwegian Government and Royal Family were evacuated to London and some of the country's military forces subsequently fought alongside British and American troops.

In 1942, the Nazis made Norwegian Vidkun Quisling Minister President of Norway. His presidency was not accepted by the citizens of Norway many of whom were active in resistance movements. These resistance movements gained a reputation for successfully attacking facilities that were integral parts of the German occupation.

One attack destroyed the heavy water plant at Rjukan in Telemark at which German scientists were trying to develop an atom bomb. During the war hundreds of members of these resistance groups were executed and over 33,00 Norwegians were sent deported to concentration camps.

After the war, Norway became a founder member of NATO (1949), and in 1952 a member of the Nordic Council. In 1960 it became part of the European Free Trade association. Post-war Norwegian governments strived to consistently stimulate economic growth to finance better living standards for the country as a whole.

These principals were firmly underpinned from 1969 onwards when oil and gas fields were discovered in the Norwegian sector of the North sea.

In 1972 and 1994 two referendums rejected plans by Norwegian Governments for Norway to join the EU. On both occasion The 'no vote' was 4% higher than the 'yes vote'. Norway has though several agreements with EU which enable it to trade with EU on favourable terms. It has also adopted several EU policies on passport control, security, human rights and other judicial legislation.