Nils Claus Ihlen (24 July 1855 – 22 March 1925) was a Norwegian engineer and politician for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. He served as

Foreign Minister of Norway The Minister of Foreign Affairs ( nb, Utenriksministeren, nn, Utanriksministeren) is a Council of State (Norway), councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Norway), Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 14 October 202 ...

from 1913 to 1920.

Personal life

He was born in

Skedsmo Skedsmo was a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality was the town of Lillestrøm. About one third of the municipal population lived in Lillestrøm. ...

as the oldest son of Wincentz Thurmann Ihlen (1826–1892) and Birgitte Elisabeth Mørch (1830–1913). He was a first cousin of Christian Ihlen, nephew of Niels Ihlen and Jacob Thurmann Ihlen, great-grandson of Constitutional founding father Ole Clausen Mørch and brother-in-law of Per Lund. From August 1892 he was married to actress Constance Bruun, but she died in October 1894. In February 1898 he married Colonel's daughter Henriette Marie Lund (1870–1962). The couple had several daughters and sons. The sons

Nils Nils is a Scandinavian given name, a chiefly Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Latvian variant of Niels, cognate to Nicholas. People and animals with the given name * Nils Bergström (born 1985), Swedish ice hockey player *Nils Björk (1898–1989) ...

Joakim Joakim or Joacim is a male given name primarily used in Scandinavian languages and Finnish. It is derived from a transliteration of the Hebrew יהוֹיָקִים, and literally means "lifted by Jehovah". In the Old Testament, Jehoiakim was a ...

and Alf (Nils was the half-brother of the other two) took over the family business.

Career

Ihlen took his education at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule of Zürich, and returned to Norway in 1877 to work one year for the

Norwegian State Railways Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach s ...

. In 1878 he was hired by his father at the iron works

Strømmens Værksted Strømmens Værksted A/S was an industrial company based in Skedsmo, Norway, specialising in the production of rolling stock. Founded in 1873, it remains as a part of Bombardier Transportation. The plant is located just off Hoved Line, Hovedbanen ...

(then named ''W. Ihlen, Strømmen'') to work as a manager. In 1883 he took over as owner of the factory. He left in 1908, leaving his younger brothers in control. Ihlen first entered politics as mayor of Skedsmo municipality, serving from 1989 to 1904 and 1907 to 1910. He was elected to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

in 1907, representing the rural constituency of ''Mellem Romerike''. After one year he was appointed

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

in the

first cabinet Knudsen Knudsen's First Cabinet governed Norway between 19 March 1908 and 2 February 1910. It had the following composition: Cabinet members State Secretary Not to be confused with the modern title State Secretary. The old title State Secretar ...

. During his tenure, there were several achievements; including the opening of the

Rjukan Line , logo = , logo_width = , logo_alt = , image = , image_name = , image_width = , image_alt = , caption = SF ''Ammonia'', at Mæl, where the rail ...

and the

Bergen Line The Bergen Line or the Bergen Railway ( no, Bergensbanen or nn, Bergensbana), is a long scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied for the entire route from Bergen via Drammen to Oslo, ...

railways. His seat in parliament was taken by Martin Løken in 1908 and 1909, and Ihlen was not re-elected in 1910. The first cabinet Knudsen fell in February 1910, but when the second cabinet Knudsen assumed office on 31 January 1913, Ihlen was appointed

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

. He served through the entire

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, during which Norway balanced on a thin line of neutrality. For some days in July 1918 he had also served as Minister of Industrial Provisioning. In June 1920 Ihlen resigned along with the rest of the second cabinet Knudsen, leaving national politics. Nils Claus Ihlen died in 1925 in Kristiania.

Ihlen Declaration

The

Ihlen Declaration The Ihlen Declaration was a statement made on 22 July 1919 by the Norwegian Foreign Minister Nils Claus Ihlen on the topic of Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland. Ihlen declared verbally to the Danish minister that "the plans of the Royal anishGov ...

was a statement made on 22 July 1919 by the Nils Claus on the topic of Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland, in which Ihlen declared verbally to the Danish Minister that "...the plans of the Royal

anish The name Anish is derived from Sanskrit. It means "supreme". The name also shares references to Shiva and Vishnu. Notable people with the name include: *Anish Kapoor (born 1954), Indian sculptor *Anish Giri (born 1994), Dutch chess player *Anish S ...

Government respecting Danish sovereignty over the whole of Greenland...would be met with no difficulties on the part of Norway." The declaration became an issue when the question was raised whether the statement was binding on

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The question eventually went all the way to the

Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cent ...

in the form of the

Eastern Greenland Case Erik the Red's Land ( no, Eirik Raudes Land) was the name given by Norwegians to an area on the coast of eastern Greenland occupied by Norway in the early 1930s. It was named after Erik the Red, the founder of the first Norse or Viking settlement ...

in 1933.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ihlen, Nils Claus 1855 births 1925 deaths People from Skedsmo ETH Zurich alumni Norwegian engineers Norwegian businesspeople Mayors of places in Akershus Government ministers of Norway Members of the Storting Liberal Party (Norway) politicians