33.3 Europe: a.d. 1801 to 1900  (Page 23/27)

Simultaneous with the great medical tradition that developed in Paris in the first half of the century, a clinical investigation center arose in Dublin at Meath Hospital. Three men in particular should be named and, although trained in Scotland, they became famous as the "Irish School". They were John Cheyne, William Stokes

Scandinavia

Two completely unrelated facts about Scandinavia, as a whole, are mentioned here. First it should be noted that the Lapps, living across the north of all Scandinavia, are the sole European survivors of the old Arctic reindeer hunting cultures. They call themselves "Saami" and they pursue fishing, whaling and limited farming in some areas where there is a warming influence from the Gulf Stream system. They travel on skis, following the migrating reindeer herds. There are North, South and East Lappish people, each distinguished by the types of hats they wear. (Ref. 288 ) The second factor of note is that by mid-century there were railroad lines in all Scandinavian countries. (Ref. 19 )

Norway

At the close of the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain forced Denmark to cede Norway to Sweden, but the Norwegians ref used to accept the Treaty of Kiel, proclaimed themselves an independent nation, adopted a constitution and elected the former Danish governor, Christian Frederick, as their king. May 17, 1814 became their Independence Day. The Swedes retaliated with warfare, but in 2 weeks a settlement was made, with the king of Sweden becoming also the king of Norway, but respecting the Norwegian constitution and giving, in effect, an autonomous government. The first king of the two countries under that arrangement was Karl Johann (Charles John) Bernadotte. In 1884 true parliamentary government came into effect, although there was still much mutual irritation with Sweden. Near the end of the century, with industries and shipping growing, the desire for complete independence again became very strong and just after the turn of the century (1905) the parliament deposed the Swedish king and elected again a Danish prince to rule them as Haakon VII. Some Norwegian merchants became rich using ice for a fresh-fish industry, which replaced the old salted herring. This was the period of Henrik Ibsen, one of Norway's literary greats. (Ref. 117 , 8 , 213 )

Sweden

In the reign of Gustavus IV (1792-1809) Sweden joined the Third Coalition against France, thus giving Napoleon an excuse for seizing Pomerania and Stralsund, which were Sweden's last possessions on the mainland. (Ref. 55 ) Then in 1808 a Russian army crossed the Gulf of Bothnia on the ice and eventually compelled Sweden to cede Finland. The Riksdag deposed Gustavus IV and chose the king's old uncle, Karl (Charles) XIII to rule. Some radicals, feeling that new blood was needed in the royal house, then supplied the childless Karl XIII with an adopted crown prince, one Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, formerly one of Napoleon's marshals. As a concession from Napoleon, it was agreed that Norway should be associated with Sweden under the Bernadotte rule. We have seen above that Norway resisted this arrangement. In 1810 Bernadotte, whose wife was once Napoleon's fiancé and was a sister-in-law to Joseph Bonaparte, became Crown Prince, changing his name to Karl Johann (Charles John). Upon the old king's death in 1818 Bernadotte then became King Karl (Charles) XIV, Johann. In the interim he had had time to renounce his old emperor, join with Russia and Prussia, lead a Swedish army back on to the continent and help in the final battles against Napoleon. Five Bernadotte kings followed, all notably able, healthy and democratic. During the century the Riksdag became a two-chamber congress, industry developed and the middle and working classes became more important.