WHY SWEDEN AND NORWAY DID NOT FIGHT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 31 August 1907, Page 3

WHY SWEDEN AND NORWAY DID NOT FIGHT.

Professor Poulus Fahlbeek, a member of the Swedish Upper Jlouse, explains, in the Deutsche Kevue, why Sweden and Norway did not go to war over the crisis in 1005. During the crisis the European press, he writes, never ceased to publish variations of the theme, "A Peaceful Solution of the Conllict." Why did the two countries not go to war? Professor Fahlbeck makes answer; Because the IClng did not wish it. In Sweden the monarch alouc decides ou war and pence. It is therefore not easy for the people or the Parliament to oppose the definitely expressed will of the King. To go to war contrary to the wishes of "the Sovereign, public opinion must be united and strong. In Sweden this was not the case. Nor were those who wanted war with Norway united as to what should happen afterwards. There was no public opinion which clearly wanted an appeal to the ultima ratio of war. King Oscar knew this, and the knowledge of it served to strengthen his own personal opinion. Satisfaction without war was the wish of the people. Nothing could have been more purposeless than a war; there was no great political scheme to justify such an extreme measure. In conclusion, the writer says the union with Norway was a crutch which prevented Sweden from using her own legs. Without foreign policy, without responsibilities, a nation becomes demoralised. What Sweden lost externally by the union she has regained in inner force.