King of Sweden and Norway
He succeeded his brother Charles XV and IV on 18 September 1872, and was crowned as king of Norway in the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on 18 July 1873. At the accession he adopted as his motto Brödrafolkens väl / Broderfolkenes Vel ("The Welfare of the Brother Peoples"). While the King and the Royal Court resided mostly in Sweden, Oscar made the effort of learning to be fluent in Norwegian and from the very beginning he realized the essential difficulties in the maintenance of the union between the two countries.
The political events which led up to the peaceful dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905 could hardly have been attained but for the tact and patience of the king himself. He was dethroned on 7 June 1905 by the Norwegian Parliament and renounced the Norwegian throne on 26 October. He declined, indeed, to permit any prince of his house to become king of Norway, but better relations between the two countries were restored before his death, which occurred in Stockholm on 8 December 1907.
Read more about this topic: Oscar II Of Sweden
Famous quotes containing the words king of, king and/or norway:
“I, who am king of the matter I treat, and who owe an accounting for it to no one, do not for all that believe myself in all I write. I often hazard sallies of my mind which I mistrust.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
““The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then queen died of grief” is a plot.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“Such was the very armor he had on
When he the ambitious Norway combated.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)