WW II, 1939-1945 1949-1969






Norway 1945-1949



Establishment of a Norwegian Government . Immediately after the German surrender did the Norwegian resistance begin to disarm the Germans. King Hakon returned in June. A new parliament was elected, Labour under Einar Gerhardsen forming the government.

Foreign Policy . In 1949 Norway became one of the founding members of NATO. Norwegian Trygve Lie became the first secretary general of the United Nations, indicating Norway's strong commitment to the promotion of peace and int'l cooperation. Norway also became a founding member of the Council of Europe.
In 1948, cooperation between Scandinavian countries was intensified; it would later result in the establishment of the Nordic Council in 1952. The Norwegian government was critical of the Franco-dictatorship in Spain.

The Economy . Priority was laid on reconstruction. Norway's cities had suffered damage during the war. The Finnmark region had suffered extraordinarily, as the retreating German forces (facing a Soviet invasion) pursued the scorched earth policy, significantly damaging the fragile ecosystem.
Workers voluntarily took on extra shifts in order to repair the damage and get production going again. Food rationing continued. Reconstruction was the dominant issue in 1947; imports were restricted, exports stimulated. The trade unions were banned from taking measures interrupting production. Economically the country recovered quickly; already in 1946 the production figures of 1938 were surpassed. The fact that Norway's merchant fleet, for its larger part, had survived the war, contributed to the nation's relatively quick economic recovery. The fishery and mining industries quickly could return to normal. By 1948, there was no longer a food shortage (but the food available was described as dull); Oslo still experienced a housing shortage. By 1949 Televåg, a town destroyed by the German occupation force in retaliation to two Germans being killed by the Norwegian resistance, had completely been reconstructed.
In 1949 Norway devaluated her currency, the Norwegian Krone.
In 1946 regular airline service connecting New York and Oslo was established. In Dec. 1946 Norway and the USSR signed a trade agreement. Norway became a beneficiary of the Marshall Plan (1948 and following).

Domestic Policy . Following the German surrender, Norway dealt with her collaborators; Vidkun Quisling, head of the National Samling, was executed; author Knut Hamsun (pro-German) saw his assets confiscated; war profiteers were treated similarly. C.9000 children of German fathers and Norwegian mothers (Lebensborn), in all practicality orphans, posed another problem. They were not given the attention needed, and stigmatized by society, suffering for decades.
Refugees returned from Sweden, among them members of the country's small Jewish community.
Elections held in 1945 resulted in strong gains of the Conservatives, at the expense of both Social Democrats and Communists.
With economic recovery (and bad press for the communists, due to force used in the establishment of people's democracies in Eastern Central Europe and the Berlin Blockade) the Norwegian communists failed to get any seat in the 1949 Storting election. Norway's Communists were divided in a wing supporting Moscow and a wing supporting Tito.

Culture . In 1946, the European Athletics Championships were hosted by the city of Oslo.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Liberation, in : The History of Norway, by Thor Dagre, from Norway Info (scroll down)
Norway and the EU, in : The History of Norway, by Thor Dagre, from Norway Info (scroll down)
Bibliography Marshall Plan and Scandinavia, from Univ. Leiden
German P.O.W.s held in Norway, from Kriegsgefangen.de
Biography of Einar Gerhardsen, from Wikipedia
Televåg, posted by Shetland Heritage
Efter Krigen - Gjenreisning (After the War - Resurrection), from Jøder i Norge (Jews in Norway), posted by DMT, in Norwegian
DOCUMENTS Election Poster Labour 1945 : We will build Norway's future, from Arbeiderbevegelsens Arkiv
Norwegian banknotes, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money
REFERENCE Article : Norway, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1946 pp.538-539, 1947 pp.559-561, 1948 pp.537-538, 1949 pp.474-475, 1950 pp.502-503 [G]
Article : Norway, in : Funk & Wagnall's New Standard Encyclopedia Year Book 1946 pp.309-310 [G]
Article : Norway, in : Americana Annual 1947 pp.509-510 (on events of 1946) [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on March 24th 2007

Click here to go Home
Click here to go to Information about KMLA, WHKMLA, the author and webmaster
Click here to go to Statistics