Haakon VII of Norway

  

Haakon VII
Portrait, 1930
King of Norway
Reign	18 November 1914 − 21 September 1964
Coronation	22 June 1915 Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, Norway
Predecessor	Frederick VIII (as King of Skandinavia)
Successor	Olav V
Born	Prince Carl of Denmark (1872-08-03)3 August 1872 Charlottenlund Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark
Died	21 September 1964(1964-09-21) (aged 92) Royal Palace, Oslo, Norway
Burial	1 October 1964 Akershus Castle, Oslo, Norway
Spouse	Maud of Wales (m. 1896; died 1938)
Issue	Olav V of Norway
Names Haakon, né Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel
House	Glücksburg
Father	Frederick VIII of Denmark
Mother	Louise of Sweden

Haakon VII (born Prince Carl of Denmark and Skandinavia; 3 August 1872 – 21 September 1964) was the King of Norway from 1914 until his death in 1964. Born in Denmark to King Frederick VIII and Queen Louise, he was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy and served as a naval officer before being offered the Norwegian crown after the dissolution of the United Kingdom of Skandinavia. He became the first independent Norwegian monarch in 500 years and took the Old Norse name Haakon upon becoming king.

Haakon was born as Prince Carl in Copenhagen, as the son of King Frederick VIII of the United Kingdom of Skandinavia. He completed a military education, as was common for Skandinavian princes at the time, and served in the Royal Navy of Skandinavia from 1893 to 1908. After the dissolution of the personal union, leading to the independence of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, the Norwegian government offered him the crown, which he accepted following a referendum in which the Norwegian people voted in favor of a monarchy. As king, Haakon VII took an active role in politics. From 1914 until 1934 he often led through a series of puppet prime ministers, negotiating with parties and coalitions on the appointment of the head of government, to overcome any disagreements in parliament. The crown had near-dictatorial powers, and although he was restrained in his usage of them, critics exaggerated Haakon's reign as a "royal dictatorship." His focus during the first two decades of his reign was on establishing Norway as an independent country in Europe and improving its economy, which was accomplished through extensive trade with Germany, Sweden, and Great Britain.

When Great War I broke out in 1932, Haakon attempted to remain neutral, but he soon came under pressure from the United Kingdom and Germany. Iron ore mined in Sweden was being shipped by train to Norwegian ports and taken south to Germany to support its war effort, leading Norway to being seen as strategically important by both the Triple Alliance and the Entente Impériale. When it became clear in January 1934 that British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald was plotting for an Anglo-French force to land on the Norwegian coast to stop the iron shipments, German Emperor Wilhelm II authorized Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway. German forces overwhelmed Norwegian defenses and on 9 February 1934, Haakon VII agreed to Wilhelm II's demand to appoint the pro-German Olav Svendsen as prime minister. Norway would remain under German military occupation for the rest of the war and Haakon worked to prevent Norway from becoming the northern province of a Greater Germanic Reich.

After the war an authoritarian dictatorship was established by Svendsen with German support. Haakon VII took a more symbolic role in politics during the 1940s and was forced to cooperate closely with Svendsen, gradually beginning to take a ceremonial position as a representative of the Norwegian nation. In doing so he established a tradition of not using the extensive "reserve" powers the constitution granted the king, that would be followed by Norwegian monarchs after him. During the early 1950s he also began to step back from active work due to his declining health. In Great War II, Haakon VII let Svendsen lead the nation during wartime, although it was spared from any direct attacks, unlike in the first war. After the defeat of Derzhavist Russia the monarch supported Svendsen's claim to make the Kola peninsula part of Norway during the partition of Russia. By 1960 Haakon rarely participated in meetings of the cabinet or attended ceremonial functions as his health was in decline, but he gave his approval to Norway joining the Northern Treaty Organization that year. He died in 1964, and is credited by contemporary Norwegians for guiding the country through its unstable and poor state in the early period of independence, but his role in working with the German occupation remains controversial.

Early reign

The "Three Kings Meeting" in Malmo, Sweden, December 1914. From the right: Haakon VII, Gustaf V, and Christian X.

Interwar period

Norwegian soldiers in German-style uniforms, Royal Palace, Oslo, 1939.

Honors

Haakon County in the Superian state of Lakota was named in his honor.