Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

is sometimes referred to as "The Neutral Ally". During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, while theoretically a neutral country, diplomatic pressure from the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

prompted the government to favour Britain highly in relation to Norway's large shipping fleet and vast fish supplies. The term was coined by Norwegian historian Olav Riste in the 1960s. In 1905, when Norway gained independence, the nation's politicians agreed that Norway should remain neutral in international conflicts. Since the

Great power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power i ...

s had no desire for unrest in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

, they signed an agreement respecting Norway's neutrality. Still, the political direction was clear: fearing

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

ambition in the north, the sentiment was that Norway should be neutral if war broke out, and rely on help from Great Britain if attacked. This affinity westwards was substantiated by international trade. In the early 1900s, Norway's merchant fleet was one of the largest in the world, and the country required vast supplies of oil, coal and steel to build and operate it. When war broke out in 1914, Norway was exporting great amounts of fish to Germans and British alike, much to the dismay of the British government. The

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

started preventing the Germans from purchasing these fish stocks by overbidding them, but trade in other areas continued. Imports of Norwegian

copper ore Following is a list of minerals that serve as copper ores in the copper mining Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical proces ...

, nickel and

pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...

were vital to the German war industry, and by the end of 1916, the Norwegian government was put under heavy diplomatic pressure from the Allies. Several agreements were made, none completely satisfying to the British government. On Christmas Eve 1916, the British government issued an ultimatum, informing the Norwegian

Foreign Minister 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 co ...

Nils Claus Ihlen Nils Claus Ihlen (24 July 1855 – 22 March 1925) was a Norwegian engineer and politician for the Liberal Party. He served as Foreign Minister of Norway from 1913 to 1920. Personal life He was born in Skedsmo as the oldest son of Wincentz T ...

, that British exports of coal to Norway would cease unless trade with Germany stopped. The Norwegian government weighed their options, and eventually agreed to the ultimatum. This coincided with Germany's expansion of

unrestricted submarine warfare Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships such as freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules (also known as "cruiser rules") that call for warships to s ...

at the beginning of 1917. In total, 436 Norwegian ships were sunk by German submarines in the period 1914–1917, out of 847 in the course of the whole war. More than 1,150 Norwegian sailors died during this period, creating an increasingly

anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as Anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is opposition to or fear of Germany, its inhabitants, its culture, or its language. Its opposite is Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment largely began wit ...

throughout the nation of Norway. Thus, both commerce and political sympathies tied Norway and Britain together during World War I, even though Norway remained officially neutral.

See also

References

Further reading