History UsefulNotes / NorwegianConstituentAssembly

* MoreDakka: A couple of times during the war in August. When the Norwegian held the river at Tistedalen for two hours, the Swedish brok through when they brought forth a ''cannon'' (and sent some men to attack from the side). Later, at Langnes, the Norwegians did the same, and thus hindered the Swedes from crossing the river Glomma.

* DavidVersusGoliath: Norway played it straight at Matrand in August, but the trope was mostly inverted because of Swedish manpower. At the defence of Fredrikstad, the Norwegians defended an island with 1100 men against 6000 Swedes. They fought bravely and lost, also being overpowered by immense cannon power from the Swedish ships.

* GenreSavvy: The greater lot of the assembly. The count of Wedel-Jarlsberg may get special attention, as well as the central 12 to make the first proposal for the constitution. The farmers also count, with the Telemark Farmer Huvestad as the most savvy. He lay forth the claim for property rights after the fashion of the old Norse standards. He got his will.

* MagnificentBastard: Carl Johan. First, he managed to maneuvre the ''entire'' set of greater powers to accept that Sweden just snatched Norway under Denmark`s nose. Then, he effectively managed to throttle both Denmark ''and'' Norway in a quick military defeat, and later on gained enough trust with the Norwegian political elite to establish a union that would last for the rest of the century. Bonus points for getting the main street of Oslo, capital of Norway, to bear his name, and the most visible statue in that capital, the only equestrian statue in that city, is a depiction of him (no other king of Norway has a similar monument). The may 17. promenade passes through the street of Carl Johan ''every fricking year''!

** Christian Frederik, leaving Norway in August, made a statement that fits the trope in ''spades''. He pointed out how the Norwegians had wanted him to be their king, conveniently forgetting how hard he worked for it himself. And pissed off som major powers on the way. NiceJobBreakingItHero.

** The Constituent Assembly likewise. One wonders how they managed to come to terms at all...
* TheRant: Carl Johan had an epic rant before war was declared, lasting for five hours. Then, after some rest, he ranted for five hours more, making his collected ranting a ten hour speech, filled with swearing, insults and epic boasts.

The premise for this, is clearly foreign politics. UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} had wavered slightly in support for Napoleon, and [[TheUnitedKingdom Great Britain]] would like to see that Denmark would be unable to support the Emperor with ships. Hence, the Royal Navy hijacked and stole the Danish fleet in a surprise attack in 1807, thus crippling Denmark considerably. What was more dramatic from a Norwegian point of view: every contact with Denmark was broken. The British instigated a NavalBlockade of Norway that same autumn, and in spite of still being in a union, Norway was on her own.

Denmark had to acknowledge this, and sent a trusted man north to rule in place of the Danish king. Christian August was quite GenreSavvy, and called in a number of Norwegians to help him. At the same time, Sweden decided to attack. A mostly Norwegian army managed to beat the Swedes back in 1809, thus bolstering a Norwegian sentiment that they actually could manage on their own, while the Swedes, embarrassed by this lack of military achievement (being beaten by a farm milita nonetheless), ousted their own king Gustaf IV and elected another one, his uncle Charles the XIII. Problem was, the man had no children, so the Swedes had to look elsewhere for a royal heir.

While the war in Europe went on, Norway hardly managed it. The crops failed in 1809, and without imported grain, starvation was at hand. The Norwegian elite had now begun their own work for independence, and some of them pointed to the sore situation and blamed the Danes for it. Others saw an opportunity for better cooperation with the Swedes, if the Swedes wished to comply. In a way, they did. They asked Christian August to fill in as heir for the Swedish king, and Christian took the opportunity. He left Norway in 1810, held a grand party, entered Sweden and died suddenly and inexplicably, falling from his horse after a stroke. {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s (Norwegian ones) blame the Danish government for this, as the king in Denmark went sour over it. He felt Christian August had betrayed him. Danish conspiracy theorists tend to blame Gustavian forces in Sweden, because he was Danish. Anyway, Sweden had to take another round of looking for a royal heir. While Sweden wavered in their support for Britain, Russia used an opportunity to invade UsefulNotes/{{Finland}} in 1809, then a part of the Swedish kingdom ''in spite of the fact that Sweden was an ally''. At the same time, and for good reason, Sweden decided to make Norway a priority, something that suited Russia well, seeking to avoid a confrontation with Sweden.

Historians have debated this issue ever since. The fallout between certain members of the assembly, from the different fractions, was so serious they never actually forgave eachother, and some were frozen out of further political discussion. The questions at hand were serious enough, concerning the question of independence, trade, foreign policies, propriety rights, voting rights, how to deal with democratic power, and then there was the issue of time. While sitting there, rumors went that Sweden assembled an army at the border, and would invade in the second half of may. Sweden also had the support of Prussian troops. News like this could make the assembly panic at times, and the constitution was made pragmatic and brief, to be finished as soon as possible.

* PeaceThroughSuperiorFirepower: The bombardment of the island of Kråkerøy close to Fredrikstad on august 4. The Swedish firepower was immense, and the treaty of Moss followed ten days later, securing peace in Scandinavia for posterity, and a union between Norway and Sweden for 99 years.

* {{Mediator}}: The factory owner Jacob Aal, who always seemed to soften {{Knight templar}}s on both sides.

* GeneralRipper: In July, Carl Johan showed himself more and more from this side, to the point where he had to recall orders for attack ''three times'', gaining scolds from Great Britain, and ''heavy'' chiding from ''Russia''! He got his war eventually, declaring it on July 25.

* GenreSavvy: The greater lot of the assembly. The count of Wedel-Jarlsberg may get special attention, as well as the central 12 to make the first proposal for the constitution. The farmers also count, with the Telemark Farmer Huvestad as the most savvy. He lay forth the claim for property rights after the fashion of the old Norse standards. He got his will.* * HairTriggerTemper: Carl Johan was ''notoriously'' known for this. When the international diplomats presented the offering of peace given by Christian Frederik, he had a RageBreakingPoint, where he flatly refused the offer, and threw a forceful tantrum in the face of the ambassador of Russia. ''Russia!'' Let alone [[UpToEleven Great Britain, Prussia, and Austria]]. War was declared within four days.
---> You just pray I keep my scabbard in my sheath!

* {{Foil}}: Most prominently Christian Frederik, king elect of Norway, and Carl Johan, king to be of Sweden. The first one was soft spoken and affable. The latter was a tough WarriorPrince, who was prone to use force over diplomacy ikf nessecary. Furthermore, he had seen action where Christian Frederik had not.

* GeneralRipper: In July, Carl Johan showed himself more and more from this side, to the point where he had to recall orders for attack ''twice'', gaining scolds from Great Britain, and ''heavy'' chiding from ''Russia''! He got his war eventually, declaring it on July 25.

* GenreSavvy: The greater lot of the assembly. The count of Wedel-Jarlsberg may get special attention, as well as the central 12 to make the first proposal for the constitution. The farmers also count, with the Telemark Farmer Huvestad as the most savvy. He lay forth the claim for property rights after the fashion of the old Norse standards. He got his will.

*** To follow this narrative a bit further, Britain saw it fit to support Norwegian independence from Sweden in 1905, and ''that'' payd off some 35 years later, when the Norwegian commercial fleet helped securing the lifeline for a Britain under German blockade during WorldWarII (although with a high personal cost). If Norway had been an "unseparable" unit under Sweden from 1814, Britain might as well have been starved out by NaziGermany.

*** To follow this narrative a bit further, Britain saw it fit to support Norwegian independence from Sweden in 1905, and ''that'' payd off some 35 years later, when the Norwegian trade fleet secured the lifeline for a Britain under German blockade during WorldWarII. If Norway had been an "unseparable" unit under Sweden from 1814, Britain might as well have been starved out ny NaziGermany.

* DysfunctionalFamily: The Anker family and their relations: Jacob Aal, who supported Count Wedel against the Prince, was the son-in-law of Peder Anker, who was the uncle of Carsten Anker, the proprietor of Eidsvold and TheObiWan of the Prince. The fact that Wedel was married to Peder`s other daughter, making him an in-law of Jacob Aal as well, makes this even more interesting. The Norwegian elite was so small that everybody knew eachother or were related. With both Peder and Carsten Anker present at Eidsvold, the assembly had shades of family feud as well.