The Treaty of Kiel, was a settlement between Sweden and Denmark-Norway on January 14 1814, whereby the Danish king, a loser in the Napoleonic wars, ceded Norway to the king of Sweden, in return for the Swedish holdings in Pomerania. However the treaty signed in Kiel would never come into force. Sovereignty over Pomerania passed to Prussia, and Norway declared its independence, adopted a constitution and elected prince Christian Frederik as king. After a short war with Sweden, Norway accepted in the Convention of Moss to enter into a personal union with Sweden. The treaty of Kiel did not include the ancient Norwegian dependencies of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, which remained within the Danish kingdom.

The United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway

Main article: Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway

On hearing news of the treaty, the Prince of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway, Christian Frederik, the resident vice-roy in Norway, founded a Norwegian independence movement with the surreptitious goal of re-uinification with Denmark. The independence movement was successful, partly due to support from the Danish Crown, but also because the desire for independence was strong in Norway. On April 10, a national assembly met at Eidsvoll to decide on a constitution. Norway eventually declared independence on May 17 1814, electing Christian Frederik as King. A short war with Sweden later that year led to the ousting of Christian Frederik, and the Norwegian Storting electing Karl XIII of Sweden as King of Norway, creating the union between Sweden and Norway.

See also

• History of Norway
• Scandinavia