Chapter 19 Dependencies of the Kingdom of Sweden and the Kingdom of Norway

The origins of Scandinavia must have been clear to those who lived in the happy mythical world of the Middle Ages.Legend has it that after God's masterpiece of creation was completed, the devil came to spy on what God had done.When the devil saw that the world was fresh, lovely and full of vigor, he became furious and threw a boulder to the new home of mankind.The boulder flew to the Arctic Ocean and became today's Scandinavia.This "big rock" is too barren and barren for human survival.But God remembered that when he shaped the other continents, there was still some fertile soil left over, so he scattered this fertile soil on the mountains of Norway and Sweden, but this was far from enough. earn a living.That's why large swaths of Sweden and Norway are still dominated by cave trolls, land gods, and werewolves.

This "creation story" also has a modern version, but the modern version of the creation story is more scientific, and it is based on observed facts.Geologists believe that there was once a very vast and ancient continent that stretched across the Arctic Ocean from Europe to America long before coal was formed.Scandinavia is part of this continent. We all know that today's continents are "recently" born—the continents are still moving like leaves in a pool of water.All the land was once a whole until it was divided into several continents by the sea.The land on the side where Norway and Sweden are located gradually sank, leaving only the easternmost edge——the Scandinavian Mountains. The only remnants of this continent left on the water are Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Shetland. The islands and Scotland, while the rest of the continent lay dormant at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean.Maybe one day it will, and the Arctic Ocean may bulge and become solid land, and Norway and Sweden will be vast oceans where whales and fish play.

Norwegians don't mind this possible change; how to make a living is their biggest concern.Norway has less than 4 percent of its total land area (4,000 square miles) under agricultural arable land.Although Sweden has slightly more agricultural land than Norway, accounting for 10 percent of the total area, it is still severely scarce. However, the Creator also compensated these two countries.Forests cover more than 50% of Sweden, and pine and fir trees cover 25% of Norway.They know that because their country does not have favorable conditions for developing agriculture, they have carried out planned felling of these trees to make the most scientific use of this resource.The glaciers that once covered the entire peninsula from the North Cape to Lindesnais are to blame for the lack of resources here.The soil on the ridges was stripped away by these glaciers, and the whole peninsula became a plate licked by a hunting dog.The hard-earned soil on the mountains (it takes millions of years to make the soil cover the entire land) was not only eroded by glaciers, but also carried by glaciers to the European continent, and their deposits were found throughout the Nordic Great Plain.

The Asian pioneers who invaded Europe 4,000 years ago must have known about the situation in Scandinavia.At that time, these eastern invaders crossed the Baltic Sea and came to this peninsula, and found that some nomads with Finnish blood lived here.These Finnish tribes were easily driven into the wilds of northern Lapland by the Asians.But how do these latecomers survive here? There are several ways to earn a living.First, they can go to sea to fish.When the ancient glaciers slid down into the ocean, deep grooves were left on the rock formations along the coast, and large and small bays and fjords appeared. Therefore, the coastline of Norway today is more tortuous than a straight one. The coastline is 6 times longer.To this day, Norwegians still make a living from fishing.All the harbors here are protected by the warm Gulf Stream, and even the northernmost Hammerfest is a year-round ice-free port.The Lofoten Islands are adjacent to the Arctic Ocean. Its coast is rich in cod. The sea water in the Arctic Ocean is cold and clean, and cod seems to like it very much. They swim here to breed every year. Therefore, there are at least 100,000 fishermen who have found a way to make money here. as much.In addition, when their tugboats returned with a full load, there were as many as 100,000 people dedicated to canning on the island.

If they don't like fishing, go pirate.Large and small islands dot the coastline of Norway, and their total area accounts for 7% of the country's territory.Numerous shallow bays, sand dunes, fjords and bays separate the islands, and the route is complicated. In order to ensure the safety of the steamboat from Stavanger to Wald, two navigators are required to lead the ship every six hours. once. There were no buoys, buoys and lighthouses in this area of ​​waters in the Middle Ages (the first lighthouse in Norway was Lindensna, but this is still a recent thing), and it is completely impossible for outsiders to approach this dangerous coast.There is a terrible story about the great vortex on the west coast of Norway. Although the story is a bit exaggerated, the great vortex is indeed a maze on the water. Without local guides, even the most experienced captain can't get through.Because of this, the pirates took full advantage of the natural advantages of their homeland, turning this intricate waters into their base, with nothing to fear.In order to be able to hit England, Ireland and Holland in one fell swoop, these pirates also improved their ships and improved their operating level.They are exploring the way forward step by step; they are expanding their sphere of influence bit by bit.Finally, France, Spain, Italy, and even Constantinople began to feel uneasy.Returning merchants often report seeing Viking dragon banners in the sea near their country.

Paris was sacked by these Vikings at least three times in the early 9th century.These Vikings traveled up the Rhine to Cologne and Mainz.In England, in order to fight for the ownership of this country, different tribes from Norway are fighting fiercely, just like the European countries are now fighting for an oil production area.At the same time, the Vikings also discovered Iceland, established the first Russian state, and ruled in Northern Europe for more than 700 years.Later, they organized an expeditionary force with as many as 200 ships (the small boat can be carried on land as long as necessary), and they attacked from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. The whole Constantinople was panicked. Therefore, the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire hurriedly incorporated this group of Vikings into an army and promoted them as the emperor's special guard.

The Vikings broke into the Mediterranean from the western front and established their countries in Sicily, Italy and the coast of Africa. In the end, they fell at the feet of the Pope and served as the number one lackey of the Holy See to fight against the heretics. Norway was glorious in the past, but what about now? The country of pirates is a thing of the past, and today's small kingdom of Norway is well respected.The Norwegians fished and exported large quantities, and engaged in ocean shipping.In addition, they fought hard over which language should be the official language.If the Norwegian government hadn't had that terrible problem—names of important cities and railway stations are changed every two or three years—this political struggle in their country would not have been noticed by the whole world.

When it comes to Norwegian cities, they are nothing more than overblown villages.In cities, even everyone's dogs know each other.Trondheim is a good natural port and was once the capital of the ancient country of Norway. When the Baltic Sea was frozen, most of Sweden's exported timber could only leave here to go to other parts of the world. On the ruins of an old Norwegian settlement, the Norwegians founded today's capital, Oslo.This ancient settlement was destroyed by fire.Oslo was originally built by King Christian IV of Denmark. At that time, the city was called Christiana. Later, the Norwegians decided to change all place names with Danish colors to Norwegian names, so "Oslo" came into being.Oslo is close to the Oslo Fjord, and is located in the most developed agricultural area in Norway.Beyond the fjord is the Skagerrak Strait, a wide strait that separates Denmark from Norway, and is actually a fork in the Atlantic Ocean.

Norwegian cities like Stavanger, Alsand and Kristiansand wait until the whistle blows at 9 o'clock every morning to show a little life.Bergen was once the seat of the Hanseatic League, an ancient Nordic business association, and the commercial activities along the coast of Norway were once dominated by She presides over, now, a railway linking Bergen with Oslo.Trondheim also has a direct railway line to Sweden's Baltic coast.Narvik is a port located within the Arctic Circle, and the iron ore produced in Swedish Lapland is specially transported from this port.The fishy smell perpetually wafts from the cities of Tromso and Hammerfest.After all, it is extremely rare that human beings can still live in such a comfortable way in areas above latitude 70 degrees, so these port cities are mentioned.

This is a magical land, a hard and miserly land.The people couldn't bear their fate, so they left their hometowns and left their homes, resigned to their fate, and wandered on the vast sea, wandering the ends of the world.Even so, the nostalgia and loyalty to the hometown, the sons and daughters of this land will always remain in their hearts.If you have a chance, get a boat and go to the north to see it! The places you pass are similar.A few decayed grasses that are only enough to feed a sheep are nestled in the ground, two or three villages are dilapidated, five or six houses are scattered, and a few dilapidated boats are crumbling by the sea.The steamer came only once a week, and when it came into port again, there were tears in the eyes of the people here—at last they saw the ship again.But they still live here, because this is their homeland, because they are tied to their homeland.

Between people, family affection is an elusive dream. But in Boulder or Ward, two faraway places, things tend to take a wonderful turn. When the entire great arctic plain disappeared in the blue waves of the Atlantic, only Sweden—a country very different from Norway—remained on the other side of the Scandinavian mountains.People often ask: Why don't these two countries simply merge into one?This saves a lot of overhead.In theory, this brilliant idea is practical, but the geographical profiles of the two countries turn this idea into a hollow one.Because of the warm care of the Gulf Stream, Norway's climate has always been mild, with more rain in summer and less snow in winter (in Bergen, if a horse sees someone without an umbrella and raincoat, it will be frightened and run away); Sweden is a typical example It has a continental climate with cold and long winters and abundant snowfall.Norway has many deep and wide fjords, extending to the interior; while Sweden has a low and straight coast. Although there are several natural ports, the only one worth mentioning is Gothenburg, which is more important because it faces the Kattegat. .Norway has few natural resources, while Sweden's iron ore deposits are the richest in the world.Due to the lack of coal resources, Sweden had to export a large amount of iron ore to Germany and France.But in the past 20 years, Sweden has developed and utilized several important waterfalls and built several hydropower stations, gradually changing the situation of completely relying on coal for power generation.A large area of ​​forest covers the land of Sweden. The match industry is very developed because of this precious wealth, and the paper industry is famous all over the world because of this. The inexhaustible potentiality of man is a firm belief of the Swedes, as of the Norwegians, Danes (and, perhaps, of all peoples of Germanic origin except the English).The Swedish scientists were able to give full play to their ingenuity, and consequently many important inventions and important improvements have been made by chemists out of the scraps of woodworking.Turn waste into treasure, creating motion picture film and rayon from wood waste.The Scandinavian mountains bisect the peninsula, and on the cold, exposed side is Sweden, which, despite its harsh climate, is slightly more agriculturally developed than Norway.Because of the cold, the Swedes have a special love for flowers.Every home is decorated with flowers and green shrubs in order to have a bright spring in the long winter nights. There are many other differences between Sweden and Norway.With the elimination of the Black Death, Norway's former feudal system also disappeared, and the Black Death, a disaster that occurred at the end of the Middle Ages, suddenly eroded the ambition and vitality of the Nordic people.In Sweden, the royal family --- the country's largest landowners still retain the huge benefits brought about by the high concentration of land.Now, although the leader of the country is the Socialist Party (like most European countries), Oslo and Copenhagen are highly democratized cities, but Stockholm has always been an aristocratic city, and the elegant court etiquette has been strictly maintained. , so that there is a stark contrast between the two. Perhaps, the development of Sweden's political system is a direct product of her geographical environment.Neighboring Norway is facing a vast Atlantic Ocean, but what she faces is only an inland sea. Sweden's national economy, people's livelihood, history and culture are closely connected with the Baltic Sea. When Scandinavia was still wild and sparsely populated, there was no difference between the Norwegians in the west and the Swedes in the east. To the outside world, they were all called Scandinavians. "Good God, deliver me from the wrath of the Scandinavians!" is a famous prayer, and what part of the Scandinavian world is the poor fellow saying? The Navians made them terrified?They don't think about it. But after the 10th century, the situation changed.At that time, the Swedes lived in Svealland in the north (its capital is located on Lake Mälaren, and the Swedish capital Stockholm is on the shore of this lake), and the Goths lived in Gotland in the south. An unprecedentedly fierce civil war was fought between the two. broke out.These two peoples have a very close blood relationship and worship the same god (the location of the god's worship city is today's Uppsala, and the oldest and most important university city in Northern Europe is Uppsala), but this The civil war lasted for more than two hundred years.The war greatly weakened the power of the king, while the power of the nobles was greatly enhanced.During this period, Christianity spread to Scandinavia, priests and monks just supported the nobility (but in most countries, the situation is just the opposite), and finally, the Swedish royal family declined, and the Danish royal family ruled Sweden for 150 years. up. At this time, Europe almost forgot about the existence of Sweden. Until 1520, the whole western world was shocked by a horrific and unforgivable murder, and even the whole human being was ashamed by this crime.In order to resolve all the conflicts between the King of Denmark and his dear Swedish subjects once and for all, in this year, King Christian II of Denmark held a grand grand banquet, and all the heads of Swedish nobles were invited to attend.As soon as the banquet was over, the heads of the Swedish aristocrats, who were the guests just now, suddenly became prisoners, beheaded, or drowned.Of all the Swedish nobles, only Gustav survived, but his father Eric Vasa had been beheaded by Christian II a few years earlier.At that time, Gustav was taking refuge in Germany. After hearing the bad news of the bloody massacre, he immediately set off to return to his motherland.In his homeland, Gustav initiated a peasant revolution, which eventually drove the Danes out of Sweden and sent them back to their nests. Therefore, Gustav became the king of Sweden and became the new king of Sweden. Since then, New Sweden, a poor and backward small country, has been brilliantly and brilliantly on the international stage.The strongest defender of Protestantism in Europe is New Sweden, and the last bastion against the ever-increasing Slavic invasion is also New Sweden.After hundreds of years of obscurity, the Russians suddenly embarked on a crusade.They yearn for the sea, and continue to march towards the sea. So far, the Russians have not stopped moving forward. Apparently, Sweden is the only country that feels a strong threat from the Russians.Therefore, for 200 years, the Swedes have devoted all their energy to dealing with the Russians, trying to block the Russians inland and keep the Russians away from the Baltic Sea.But the Swedes failed in the end.The Russians' aggressive westward advance was only delayed for decades, and they finally reached the Baltic Sea.And all the financial resources of Sweden were also exhausted by this protracted war.Once the war ended, Sweden was reduced to a second-tier state, lost most of its access to the Baltic Sea, and ruled over Finland, England (where Leningrad is today), Estonia, Levenland, and Pomerania.Its territory is only 173,000 square miles (between Arizona and Texas in size), and its population is even smaller than that of New York State (6,141,671 compared to 6,930,446 in New York). Forests cover more than half of Sweden's territory, and almost 50% of the timber in continental Europe comes from Sweden.The Swedes felled trees in winter and dragged them from the snow to nearby rivers until spring and threw them into the valley.When summer comes, the snow melts and the river swells, bringing these inland logs to the downstream bends. The river first served as a transport of logs and then powered the sawmill.These sawmills turn logs into a wide variety of finished products—everything from 4-inch-thick lumber to tiny matchsticks.The Baltic Sea had now thawed, and ships could only enter various parts of the east coast, so these processed wood products were loaded on steamers and shipped to all parts of the world.The cost of processed wood products was very low, their cost was only the wages of loggers and sawmills, and steamboat was the cheapest mode of transportation, as long as time was available. These steamers were also double carriage.When they return to Sweden, they must return with a full load. Of course, they will not bring back expensive goods, so Sweden has always maintained a reasonable trade surplus.They do the same in the iron ore import trade.The quality of Swedish iron ore is particularly good, so even countries rich in iron ore also purchase Swedish iron ore in large quantities.The width of Sweden's territory is only 250 miles. Relatively speaking, it is relatively easy for the interior to approach the sea.The Creator bestowed rich iron ore reserves on Sweden. Near Kiruna and Gelivad in Lapland in the north of Sweden, there are two low hills, which are iron ore accumulated magically on the surface.Iron ore is shipped to Luleå in the Gulf of Bothnia (northern Baltic Sea) in summer, and to the Norwegian port of Narvik when Luleå freezes in winter.Because of the protection of the warm Gulf Stream, Narvik Harbor is not frozen all year round. Sweden's highest peak, Kebner (7,000 feet), is not far from the iron mines, and one of the most important power stations in Europe is built here.Even though the plant is located within the Arctic Circle, electricity doesn't seem to mind latitude.The power station is providing a steady stream of cheap electricity to railroads and mining machinery. Southern Sweden is the most fertile and densely populated area of ​​the entire peninsula, due to the fact that some of the soil scraped away by glaciers from northern Scandinavia is carried southward.Sweden is the "Kingdom of Lakes" second only to Finland, with lakes all over the territory, covering an area of ​​14,000 square miles.The Swedes dug canals between the lakes, and the cheapest mode of transportation was provided to Sweden by a dense network of canals.This not only brought huge benefits to industrial centers like Berkoping, but even important ports like Gothenburg and Malmö also benefited a lot from it. In some countries, human beings are completely driven by nature, and eventually become servants of nature; The mother who created everything must also destroy everything.There are also some countries where human beings have learned to understand and respect nature, and to safeguard each other's interests.If you want to find the latter, go north and visit the three Scandinavian countries!