– Because it’s Norway’s birthday! NRK profile Fantorangen (known from “Barne-TV” and “Maskorama”) says host Nadia Hasnoui – broadcast on the state channel on May 17 this year – when asked if she knows why we celebrate May 17.
But apparently not everyone agrees with the popularly felt point.
A A congratulatory video has been released on social media Prime Minister Jonas Karstor (Ap) says the following about the National Day:
– This day is a day of celebration. Some call it the birthday of the country, but it is actually the birthday of the Constitution.
Dagbladet immediately saw the contours of the debate with far-reaching consequences for a true understanding of the kingdom’s origins.
Is May 17th Really “Norway’s Birthday”?
Who is right – Prime Minister or Fantorange?
– They are both partially correct. That’s a boring answer. May 17 is the date of the constitution. The text of the constitution was completed on 16 May, and many of the signatories did not complete it until 18 May. But they chose a date and that was May 17. It reads on the last page of the Constitution: “Eatswall Works, 17th May, 1814”.
– Hold the stack!
– Choose a date
That’s what Bart Friedenlund, the museum’s historian and director, says Eadswall 1814to Dagbladet.
– May 17 is the birthday of modern Norway, at least you can say that. This is not to belittle medieval and Viking-era Norway already in the 8th century, but the “birthday of modern Norway” – and that is absolutely correct.
– But if the Constitution was finalized the day before, is it really correct to say that May 17 is the “birthday of the Constitution”?
– No, some believe it is actually May 16, the birthday of the Constitution. But there’s this thing about dating. They had to pick a date and it was only the 17th. It says on the signed document – the date it was accepted by the chosen men. That makes it legal.
– So both Fantorangen and Prime Minister are basically right – but both are also slightly wrong?
– Yes. Let’s say that. The prime minister perhaps downplayed the larger national dimension by calling it “only” Constitution Day – while Fantorangen hits a bit too hard by calling it “Norway’s birthday”, says Frydenlund.
— but on a festive day like May 17, both are equally permissible, he adds.
A Europe-wide right to vote
The constitution was radical and “very modern” by 1814 standards, Friedenlund insists.
– Contemporary times are taken into account, taking into account that we were in a corner of Europe. We lived in a dictatorship, and that said one thing: only the king in Copenhagen rules, and all others are subordinate, he says.
Friedenlund says that in Denmark-Norway political freedoms were limited to absolute necessities such as property rights.
– Freedom of speech, for example, to relate what the king said at any given time. The great break occurred in 1814, with its own radical constitution, says the historian.
The Constitution granted the right to vote to all male citizens over the age of 25 – with some reservations. In cities, it applies to civil servants, merchants and property owners of a certain value. Storting’s website.
In rural areas, it applied to all men who owned or rented registered farms, on which state tax was paid. UiO’s website History of Norway.
The right to vote applies to all government officials – not women. Equally, it was the width of Europe in 1814.
The flag line of the school was cut
Old royal throne of Norway
Although they all acted as midwives in the birth of modern Norway, the Eidsvolmen were also emotionally connected to Norway before its union with Denmark.
Friedenlund cites the professor and politician Georg Sverdrup – Was a member of the Constituent Assembly and acted as President on 17 May.
– After the King of Norway is elected, he says: “In other words, before the Annimarks of Norway, the old royal throne of Norway was set up, which Nobles and Sverr closed, and they ruled old Norway with wisdom and power.” He says in a way: “The restoration of old Norway is now complete”.
Frydenlund asserts that there are multiple understandings what Norway, and many opinions about how the origin of the country should be dated.
– Battle of Hafrsfjord, Battle of Stiglestad. There are many who want to say: “It was After! This is The It’s Norway”. It’s hard to say – it’s medieval Norway, old Norway. But it’s not Norway today. It doesn’t come until the 1814 constitution.
Frydenlund believes that one should leave out both “Constitution Day” and “Norway’s birthday” in order to consider Norway (where both Jonas Kahr Storr and Fantorangen live) as the nation most people operate today.
– I think you can communicate it to a wider audience and then you can generate some pocket mail. At least it’s inside if you’re going to the kindergarten level, she says.
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