Earlier Independence for Norway / Alternate Royal House

[Griswoldi]

During the Congress of Vienna, how possible would it be (with let's say, a King Bernadotte that stayed loyal to Napoleon or stayed neutral) for Norway to be given independence?

I think that, if this was maneuvered, perhaps the throne would not be offered to a Dane, as the wounds would still be pretty sore. Perhaps it could be offered to a Prussian, Bavarian, or Austrian? Maybe even a Russian? (If I end up throwing this together into a TL, it would continue to be a Monarchy.)

As well, would the North Sea colonies (Iceland, the Faroes? and Greenland) stick with Norway?

 

[Griswoldi]

BTW, some potential Monarch candidates I have found are:

Prince Karl Theodor of Bavaria - Second son of the King of Bavaria, never became a Monarch. Member of the House of Wittelsbach, aka the bad guys in the Napoleonic Wars. I'm not sure how likely it is that he could get the crown. Also, he is a Catholic, although I could see him changing religion in order to get the Crown, as he wasn't super-staunch.

&

William I, German Emperor - At this point, his brother is still alive and will rule Prussia for another fifty years or so, plenty of time to have issue (he probably won't, but Wilhelm doesn't know that). Wilhelm potentially could accept the candidacy, adding Norway to the Hohenzollern domain. MASSIVE butterflies, maybe no German Empire? I like this one quite a bit, I could see an interesting alternate Europe.

 

[Westphalian]

Norway was primarily taken from Denmark because Sweden (which was among the winners) wanted some compensation for Finland (which they had lost a few years before to Russia, also a winner.)
If Sweden does not or cannot force its claim, than I really think that Denmark-Norway will stay intact. No one else will be in a geopolitical sitution to care for Norway.

 

[Griswoldi]

The thing is that at this point, Denmark has already lost it, and Sweden owns it, but Sweden needs to be punished, so a Norwegian-sympathetic member of the Congress lobbies for it's independence, instead of leaving it in Swedish hands.

Mostly a 'Denmark shouldn't have it, Sweden shouldn't have it, and there is no one else nearby' sort of thing. Implausible, probably, but is it possible?

 

[JonasResende]

A bit late, but I was away this weekend. What about the house of Hesse-Kassel? They were related to the Danes, but not Danish, related to the Prussians and the British?

 

[Clandango]

It would probably be less about giving it independence than them taking it. After all, when did they give independence to any countries at that Congress? No, Norway would need to fight and do even better than what they got, which was a personal union but with seperate laws, a national legislature, a constitution...

 

[Redbeard]

From 17. of May 1814 until 10. of October 1814 Norway actually was independent, until the throne was handed over to Bernadotte. The King was Christian, a son of the Brother of King Christian VII of Denmark. In OTL this same Christion inhertided the throne of Denmark in 1840.

IOW a Norway gaining independence in 1814 under Christian will end up inhertiting Denmark too.

 

[Driftless]

The thing is that at this point, Denmark has already lost it, and Sweden owns it, but Sweden needs to be punished, so a Norwegian-sympathetic member of the Congress lobbies for it's independence, instead of leaving it in Swedish hands.

Mostly a 'Denmark shouldn't have it, Sweden shouldn't have it, and there is no one else nearby' sort of thing. Implausible, probably, but is it possible?

A bit late, but I was away this weekend. What about the house of Hesse-Kassel? They were related to the Danes, but not Danish, related to the Prussians and the British?

My underline of "British"....

Would that connection be enough for the British to diplomatically support an independent Norway, or no?

 

[Eivind]

Jean Bernadotte/Karl Johan didn´t become king of Sweden until 1818, although he was de facto regent from 1810. Still, I doubt if he would have the power to change alliance even if he wanted to. He would have to convince other powerful people as well.

 

[Eivind]

From 17. of May 1814 until 10. of October 1814 Norway actually was independent, until the throne was handed over to Bernadotte. The King was Christian, a son of the Brother of King Christian VII of Denmark. In OTL this same Christion inhertided the throne of Denmark in 1840.

IOW a Norway gaining independence in 1814 under Christian will end up inhertiting Denmark too.

Yes, that was the plan. Some people tend to call the two parties at the Eidsvoll assembly the Union Party and the Independence Party. Personally I think this is misleading and that it would be more appropriate to call them the Swedish Party and the Danish Party. They just wanted two different unions.