The Bodø affair was a diplomatic scandal involving

Sweden-Norway Sweden and Norway or Sweden–Norway (; ), officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and known as the United Kingdoms, was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Sweden and Norway under a common monarch and common foreign poli ...

(then a dual monarchy) and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, which lasted from 1818 to 1821. The affair arose over the illegal trading activities of an English company in the Norwegian port of Bodø, where Norwegian officials in 1818 seized a large cargo of contraband belonging to the company and arrested one of its owners, who had attempted to smuggle it into Norway. He later with violence managed to escape. The

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

foreign ministry, which handled the foreign affairs of Norway at that time, seemed unreasonably favorable to British claims over the Bodø incident, thereby angering Norwegians and arousing their

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

. In 1821 a large (for the Norwegian state) compensation was paid, over Norwegian objections, to another British company which had falsified documents regarding ownership of the goods. While of minor importance in itself, the incident led to lasting distrust among Norwegians of the Swedish foreign ministry.

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* Political scandals in Norway Diplomatic crises of the 19th century Political history of Norway 1818 in Norway Sweden–United Kingdom relations Norway–United Kingdom relations United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway {{Norway-hist-stub