Post by missilebird on Jul 4, 2010 23:34:32 GMT -5
Nation: The Kingdom of Norway [Kongeriket Norge]
Name: Niels Eríksen
Gender: Male
Appearance of Age: Around twenty-two.
Hair Colour: A light - almost platinum – shade of blond.
Eye Colour: An indigo colour – not quite blue or violet.
Height: 167.6 cm tall [approximately 5’6” tall]
Weight: 55 kg [approximately 121.25 pounds]
Appearance:
Personality: Quite often described as “that quiet, mysterious guy”, Niels lives up to such a title – oftentimes opting out of social interaction. However, if prodded and pestered enough, he can be made to interact with other humans.May the Gods forbid it! This typically isn’t the best of environments for our lovely Norwegian – he is easily overwhelmed by groups of people; large or small, it matters not. In this case, Niels may become snappy and irritated; though around a select few people he tends to be much less standoffish – even perhaps pleasant to be around.
Niels isn’t exactly the most… Expressive of people. Typically, his facial expressions consist of a slight pout, a frown, a carefully arched eyebrow; or well, nothing at all. He lives to please no one besides himself, and he is sure to make that visibly known. In rare cases – and I do mean rare cases, Niels can be made to smile. Though typically it is due to the involvement of his lillebror, or when something unfortunate – but terribly amusing – happens to that obnoxious Danish acquaintance of his.Norge is never going to allow you to live those FIFA losses down, Danmark. Never.
Despite his, well, aversion to people; Niels also has very highhopes expectations for those close to him; always silently cheering them on and wishing them well. He constantly observes others – be it from a distance or nearby – surveying and mentally judging their doings; unbeknownst to those being watched. Yes, this means you as well, Danmark. Shocker there, right?
Likes:
+ His Nordic brethren
+ Nisse and other supposedly “mythical” beings
+ Reading [He especially enjoys Icelandic sagas – don’t tell Ísland though.]
+ Orderliness
+ Plush animals in general [Though, Niels does show a bit of favoritism towards his pink rabbit.]
+ Occasionally flaunting his status as an elder brother
+ Black metal
+ Fish and other various types of seafood
+ Woodcarvings – especially when they’re well polished
+ Relaxing in a peaceful environment
+ Playing handball, football, and going Nordic skiing whenever he has unused spare time
Dislikes:
- A certain Dane’s ridiculous antics
- Whenever someone’s speech cannot be understood clearly
- When others deny the existence of so-called “imaginary” creatures
- Hat hair
- Having his curl pulled[This means you, Danmark.]
- Being referred to as childish or immature [It’s happened before, much to his surprise.]
- The annoyingly catchy nicknames that are made for him
- When someone refuses to call him storebror, as he rightfully should be
- Being excluded by others [If he wants to be excluded, he’ll do so himself – he likes having the ability to decide.]
- Stress [But then again, who doesn’t?]
Fears:
~ Laughing in public
~ Parties
~ Feeling trapped or being in an enclosed area
~ Abandonment
~ Being exploited
Strengths:
+ Open-mindedness: Having much belief in otherworldly beings and spirits, Niels tends to respect the ideals and thoughts of others; wholeheartedly believing their word. He tends to garner much information from this – sometimes even being seen as approachable. However, this can also be something of a downfall as well – he will believe any lie you tell him; though if it’s a bit too ridiculous, he may be a bit skeptical.
+ Resourcefulness: Materially, he doesn’t really need much to sustain himself. Niels can take whatever he has and make do with it – this has proved to be quite handy in times of famine and war. He can craft some of the best made weaponry from naught but a tree branch.
+ Creativity: Be it a lie or a fable involving creatures of yore, Niels has quite a way with words – when he decides to use them. He can fabricate the finest of wares and is in no way afraid to demonstrate his talents. He knows that when he creates something, that it is of reasonably good quality - and he expects praise for his works. After all, who doesn't love having their ego stroked on occasion?
+ Expressiveness: Thanks to his expressiveness – or lack thereof – Niels has quite the poker face. Though he is in actuality quite sensitive, he manages to brush it off with a blank stare; seemingly unaffected. This comes in handy on a regular basis - especially when idly bickering with Danmark, as he often mentions very sensitive issues - the last thing Norge wants, is for him to know how upset he is. It would be the end of him.
+ Determination: Once given a task, if is within reason; Niels will set off to accomplish whatever it may be. He will employ any and all tactics necessary to garner the wanted result – and will stop at absolutely nothing to ensure that all peoplethat matter are involved are pleased.
Weaknesses:
- Sensitivity: No matter what is said, if it’s directed toward him and he finds it offensive, Niels will take it personally. Very personally. Like, enough to dwell on it for days, months; perhaps even weeks. He will become more grouchy and emotional – and well… It’s just not a very pleasant experience to cross paths with a scorned or generally upset Niels.Face it man, he’s just like a hormonal chick. Very, very unpleasant at times. Like, hide-under-a-table-if-you-wish-to-have-a-face-tomorrow unpleasant.
- Awkwardness: Niels has the social capacity of a rock. That is to say that he has very few social capabilities, if any at all. He may be abrasive or offensive without even knowing it – he is in essence, clueless as how to respond to certain circumstances.
- Attitude: Quite frequently, Niels will snap or find himself horribly frustrated with someone; be it family, close friends, or just some random bystander. He doesn’t know why, but sometimes he just feels… Dreadful, and he feels the need to take out this feeling out on others. Be it the haphazardness of someone’s attire, an awkward angle to their gait; or just a general dislike of a person – he is very easily irritated.
- Pride: Shamelessly, he will praise his own works. “…You do know that I invented that paper clip you’re using, right? Mmmm. Amazing, I know.” Like so. He’s quite proud about the invention of the paper clip.Even though the variety that we commonly use was actually invented elsewhere. The one he invented was quite impractical, especially if you shifted the papers the clip was holding even the tiniest bit. Everything would fall to the floor, and yeah. Not very well designed, aha.
- The Hair Curl: ...This one should be obvious enough. Being absolutely flustered and embarrassed is never pleasant - especially with what that blasted curl actually does.
History:
The Viking Era: 800 - 1066
During this period, well, Norway was pretty awesome. The Norwegians (along with the Swedes and Danes, but this isn’t about them, man) would often go out on longships to raid, trade, explore, settle, or just generally interact with the rest of the world; though mainland Europe was a favourite.
During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Norwegian (and Icelandic) scholars wrote many historic pieces which are known today as the kings’ sagas. They were basically a documentation of all of the fighting, warring, and other nonsensical things that were occurring at the time. The Pagan religions of Scandinavia seemed to be a popular topic as well.
King Harold Fairhair the First (who presumably had fair, blond hair) is considered to be the first king to unify the various Norwegian kingdoms and tribes into a single kingdom. According to those previously mentioned kings’ sagas, Harold ruled from the year 872 to 930, about. After his death, however, the unity of Norway kinda disintegrated – and parts of Norway were ruled by descendants of King Fairhair, various earls; ah, and some guys from Danmark.
It was around this time that Christianity was introduced to Norway (from Iggy, but of course), and well, the first king of Norway to accept this Christian nonsense in a world of Paganism; was King Haakon the Good – who was well, pretty awesome. He didn’t force his subjects to adopt this foreign religion; and well, all was cool in Norway, man.
However, his successors Olaf Traggvasson and Olaf Haraldsson (also known as the patron Saint Olav), were not nearly as open-minded or awesome. They used forceful and often brutal measures to convert the once Pagan people of Norway to Christianity, and life was tumultuous and violent. But Haraldsson, well, once you got past the slaughtering of innocent people; was actually a pretty cool guy. He annihilated any and all competition, ruled much of present-day Norway, raided Danmark frequently (always with much success), and ended up engaged to his daughter – before deciding to marry her half-sister. Oh, and well – he died a gruesome, bloody death – though managed to spread Christianity all over Norway before the end of the eleventh century.
Anyways, after our lovely Saint Olav died, Danmark (ever the insistent one) took control of Norway – until the Danish king of the time, King Knut the Great was usurped by the successor of Saint Olav – Magnus the Good. Magnus contributed to the expansion of Norway and regulating and whatnot; he really didn’t have any monumental contributions. But his successor, King Harald Hardrada attempted to invade England; failed, died, and ended the Viking Age. What an arse, man.
The High Middle Ages: 1066 - 1380
Halfway through the eleventh century, and the Norwegian kingdom had finally developed – oh boy! However, they had a very insufficient administrative system – which was eventually established- along with the three great cities of Norway; Oslo, Trondheim, and Bergen – ah, and let me not forget the ever important Tønsberg. The Church of Norway developed quite a bit more, and the king Olaf Kyrre was the first fully literate king of Norway. The Faroe Islands, Orkney, and Shetland were subjects of the Norwegian kingdom by this point; thanks to King Magnus Barefoot around the early twelfth century.
According to the practices of the time, all sons of the king had an equal right to inherit land and title from their father – and this lead to several kings reigning of Norway all at once. Due to tension, confusion regarding succession laws, and the kingdom dividing every other day; civil war eventually broke out in Norway – this lasted from about 1130 to 1240.
After the unfortunate death of King Sigurd the Crusader in 1130, well… Let’s put it this way; things became even more confusing. In the sixties (1160’s, not the 1960’s, man), the Church was like, “This is too confusing – screw it; Erlingsson is the king now.” Shortly following the crowning of Magnus Erlingsson, the first succession laws were written – what an accomplishment! Basically, illegitimate children of the king? Yeah, any of their birth rights were rendered null and void. And well, this didn’t go over too well with Sverre Sigurdsson; he killed Magnus before the law even came into force – and ensured that it never did. And the Church pulled an “Oh no, he di’n’t,” and decided that well, psssssht. “King Sverre? Man, we’re not going to acknowledge him!” And so they excommunicated him. And man, Sverre was not about to take this – he spent the rest of his life fighting off pretenders and kicking arse – a sort of “Eff you,” gesture to the Church until his death in 1202. Let’s not forget to mention that he died a peaceful, natural death; the first Norwegian king to have done so, since 1130.
By this time, the warring parties had already divided into the birchlegs (supporters of King Sverre) and the bagler (supporters of the Church). Eventually, the factions signed a peace treaty – and the nation was divided in two from 1208 to 1217. After the kings of both parties had died, they finally agreed to re-unify and have King Haakon Haakonsson as king. In 1240, Haakon personally killed the final threat to the newly peaceful era – ending the civil war in 1240.
And well, after these occurrences – all was peaceful and good in Norway. There were marriages between Norwegian kings and queens of other nations, Norway was better unified, those pesky succession laws had been straightened out, and all was lovely in the North Land. …Until someone decided to marry the wrong person, and then… BAM! Norway suddenly found itself ruled by Danmark. This union remained until its forceful dissolution by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814. What a devoted wife Norway is, hmmm?
The Union Era: 1396 – 1905
Well, with the Black Death and all, life in Europe sucked to say the least. Bubonic, septicaemic, and phlegmatic plague sound fun to you? …I thought not. Damned fleas.
Ah, the Kalmarunionen. T’was pretty cool – if you were a Swede or a Dane. For the Norwegians, it was just another period of weakening and being told what to do by others. It lasted from 1396 to 1536, until Sverige decided to wreck it all and leave. I mean, it was only the Stockholm Bloodbath and one hundred and eighty years of oppression – psssht, wimp.
The next two centuries were pretty cool – to Danmark. The Norwegians continued to become more and more reliant upon the Danish; dealing with lost wars here and there, choosing all of the wrong sides and whatnot.
Prior to 1814, Norway had accidentally gotten itself involved in the Napoleonic War; eventually losing its entire fleet. Seeing as they had sided with France, Iggy was bitter and decided to create a naval barrier – cutting any contact between Norway and Danmark off. The Norwegians were panicky and tense – there were famines in the years 1812 and 1813 and goddamnit, Norge needed to re-establish contact with Danmark.
On the seventh of January in 1814, the Danes were trapped by the Swedes, Russians, and Germans – eventually forced into signing a peace treaty and giving Norway over to Sweden. The Danes weren’t too keen on this division – though they were allowed to take Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the more recently acquired Greenland from Norway. This served as a poor sort of condolence.
…As less than a month later, the Danish prince Christian Frederik was determined to reclaim Norway. After all, Norway had been taken by his rival nation, Sweden! This simply would not do. However, after the Swedes declared war and invaded their newly claimed Norway, the Norwegians rebelled – successfully driving off the Swedes and supporting the unrest amongst the people. Frederik had been supporting the Norwegians, all the while hoping for another personal union with Norway. He encouraged the Norwegians to adopt a democratic constitution – which they did, eventually resulting in a peaceful dissolution of the Union of Norway and Sweden in 1905.
The Years of Independent Monarchy: 1905 – present day
In World War I, the Norwegians maintained neutrality – though 829 Norwegian ships were sank nevertheless. Norway went to great lengths to supply the British with needed materials; thanks to British pressure and an anti-German atmosphere.
World War II was not much different; toward the beginning; however on April 9th, 1940; the Nazis invaded and quickly took control of the major port cities of Norway. However, in the Oslofjord, the Norwegian Army maintained a hold on a single fort; sinking a German cruiser. After two months of resistance, the Norwegians were forced to surrender on June 7th – before fleeing to Britain to form an exiled government on the very same day.
Due to development of an atomic bomb, the Norwegian resistance managed to smuggle themselves across the Norwegian Sea and parachute into Norway; successfully destroying a heavy water plant – and most of the world’s supply of heavy water. This is the reason behind Germany’s not developing an atomic bomb during WWII. Throughout the war, the Norwegians worked closely with the British – and they, too, were counted as victorious in the war.
Present day, well, Norway is pretty chill – the 1960’s brought much fortune when oil was discovered; and this as well as many other factors has caused Norway to be the nation with the highest standard of living. However, in their spare time, the Norwegians fend off invitations into the European Union – opting to keep out of it and hang out with Iceland and Liechtenstein instead; the only other European nations who haven’t joined the EU as of yet.
Allies: Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, England and the rest of Great Britain, America
Enemies: Russia, Germany, Sweden (on some occasions)
Sample Post:
Did you read the rules? Yepyep, I did indeed~
"...So much fun! But I'm tired! I'm going to rest now~
To the last, I'm so cool!"
Name: Niels Eríksen
Gender: Male
Appearance of Age: Around twenty-two.
Hair Colour: A light - almost platinum – shade of blond.
Eye Colour: An indigo colour – not quite blue or violet.
Height: 167.6 cm tall [approximately 5’6” tall]
Weight: 55 kg [approximately 121.25 pounds]
Appearance:
Personality: Quite often described as “that quiet, mysterious guy”, Niels lives up to such a title – oftentimes opting out of social interaction. However, if prodded and pestered enough, he can be made to interact with other humans.
Niels isn’t exactly the most… Expressive of people. Typically, his facial expressions consist of a slight pout, a frown, a carefully arched eyebrow; or well, nothing at all. He lives to please no one besides himself, and he is sure to make that visibly known. In rare cases – and I do mean rare cases, Niels can be made to smile. Though typically it is due to the involvement of his lillebror, or when something unfortunate – but terribly amusing – happens to that obnoxious Danish acquaintance of his.
Despite his, well, aversion to people; Niels also has very high
Likes:
+ His Nordic brethren
+ Nisse and other supposedly “mythical” beings
+ Reading [He especially enjoys Icelandic sagas – don’t tell Ísland though.]
+ Orderliness
+ Plush animals in general [Though, Niels does show a bit of favoritism towards his pink rabbit.]
+ Occasionally flaunting his status as an elder brother
+ Black metal
+ Fish and other various types of seafood
+ Woodcarvings – especially when they’re well polished
+ Relaxing in a peaceful environment
+ Playing handball, football, and going Nordic skiing whenever he has unused spare time
Dislikes:
- A certain Dane’s ridiculous antics
- Whenever someone’s speech cannot be understood clearly
- When others deny the existence of so-called “imaginary” creatures
- Hat hair
- Having his curl pulled
- Being referred to as childish or immature [It’s happened before, much to his surprise.]
- The annoyingly catchy nicknames that are made for him
- When someone refuses to call him storebror, as he rightfully should be
- Being excluded by others [If he wants to be excluded, he’ll do so himself – he likes having the ability to decide.]
- Stress [But then again, who doesn’t?]
Fears:
~ Laughing in public
~ Parties
~ Feeling trapped or being in an enclosed area
~ Abandonment
~ Being exploited
Strengths:
+ Open-mindedness: Having much belief in otherworldly beings and spirits, Niels tends to respect the ideals and thoughts of others; wholeheartedly believing their word. He tends to garner much information from this – sometimes even being seen as approachable. However, this can also be something of a downfall as well – he will believe any lie you tell him; though if it’s a bit too ridiculous, he may be a bit skeptical.
+ Resourcefulness: Materially, he doesn’t really need much to sustain himself. Niels can take whatever he has and make do with it – this has proved to be quite handy in times of famine and war. He can craft some of the best made weaponry from naught but a tree branch.
+ Creativity: Be it a lie or a fable involving creatures of yore, Niels has quite a way with words – when he decides to use them. He can fabricate the finest of wares and is in no way afraid to demonstrate his talents. He knows that when he creates something, that it is of reasonably good quality - and he expects praise for his works. After all, who doesn't love having their ego stroked on occasion?
+ Expressiveness: Thanks to his expressiveness – or lack thereof – Niels has quite the poker face. Though he is in actuality quite sensitive, he manages to brush it off with a blank stare; seemingly unaffected. This comes in handy on a regular basis - especially when idly bickering with Danmark, as he often mentions very sensitive issues - the last thing Norge wants, is for him to know how upset he is. It would be the end of him.
+ Determination: Once given a task, if is within reason; Niels will set off to accomplish whatever it may be. He will employ any and all tactics necessary to garner the wanted result – and will stop at absolutely nothing to ensure that all people
Weaknesses:
- Sensitivity: No matter what is said, if it’s directed toward him and he finds it offensive, Niels will take it personally. Very personally. Like, enough to dwell on it for days, months; perhaps even weeks. He will become more grouchy and emotional – and well… It’s just not a very pleasant experience to cross paths with a scorned or generally upset Niels.
- Awkwardness: Niels has the social capacity of a rock. That is to say that he has very few social capabilities, if any at all. He may be abrasive or offensive without even knowing it – he is in essence, clueless as how to respond to certain circumstances.
- Attitude: Quite frequently, Niels will snap or find himself horribly frustrated with someone; be it family, close friends, or just some random bystander. He doesn’t know why, but sometimes he just feels… Dreadful, and he feels the need to take out this feeling out on others. Be it the haphazardness of someone’s attire, an awkward angle to their gait; or just a general dislike of a person – he is very easily irritated.
- Pride: Shamelessly, he will praise his own works. “…You do know that I invented that paper clip you’re using, right? Mmmm. Amazing, I know.” Like so. He’s quite proud about the invention of the paper clip.
- The Hair Curl: ...This one should be obvious enough. Being absolutely flustered and embarrassed is never pleasant - especially with what that blasted curl actually does.
History:
The Viking Era: 800 - 1066
During this period, well, Norway was pretty awesome. The Norwegians (along with the Swedes and Danes, but this isn’t about them, man) would often go out on longships to raid, trade, explore, settle, or just generally interact with the rest of the world; though mainland Europe was a favourite.
During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Norwegian (and Icelandic) scholars wrote many historic pieces which are known today as the kings’ sagas. They were basically a documentation of all of the fighting, warring, and other nonsensical things that were occurring at the time. The Pagan religions of Scandinavia seemed to be a popular topic as well.
King Harold Fairhair the First (who presumably had fair, blond hair) is considered to be the first king to unify the various Norwegian kingdoms and tribes into a single kingdom. According to those previously mentioned kings’ sagas, Harold ruled from the year 872 to 930, about. After his death, however, the unity of Norway kinda disintegrated – and parts of Norway were ruled by descendants of King Fairhair, various earls; ah, and some guys from Danmark.
It was around this time that Christianity was introduced to Norway (from Iggy, but of course), and well, the first king of Norway to accept this Christian nonsense in a world of Paganism; was King Haakon the Good – who was well, pretty awesome. He didn’t force his subjects to adopt this foreign religion; and well, all was cool in Norway, man.
However, his successors Olaf Traggvasson and Olaf Haraldsson (also known as the patron Saint Olav), were not nearly as open-minded or awesome. They used forceful and often brutal measures to convert the once Pagan people of Norway to Christianity, and life was tumultuous and violent. But Haraldsson, well, once you got past the slaughtering of innocent people; was actually a pretty cool guy. He annihilated any and all competition, ruled much of present-day Norway, raided Danmark frequently (always with much success), and ended up engaged to his daughter – before deciding to marry her half-sister. Oh, and well – he died a gruesome, bloody death – though managed to spread Christianity all over Norway before the end of the eleventh century.
Anyways, after our lovely Saint Olav died, Danmark (ever the insistent one) took control of Norway – until the Danish king of the time, King Knut the Great was usurped by the successor of Saint Olav – Magnus the Good. Magnus contributed to the expansion of Norway and regulating and whatnot; he really didn’t have any monumental contributions. But his successor, King Harald Hardrada attempted to invade England; failed, died, and ended the Viking Age. What an arse, man.
The High Middle Ages: 1066 - 1380
Halfway through the eleventh century, and the Norwegian kingdom had finally developed – oh boy! However, they had a very insufficient administrative system – which was eventually established- along with the three great cities of Norway; Oslo, Trondheim, and Bergen – ah, and let me not forget the ever important Tønsberg. The Church of Norway developed quite a bit more, and the king Olaf Kyrre was the first fully literate king of Norway. The Faroe Islands, Orkney, and Shetland were subjects of the Norwegian kingdom by this point; thanks to King Magnus Barefoot around the early twelfth century.
According to the practices of the time, all sons of the king had an equal right to inherit land and title from their father – and this lead to several kings reigning of Norway all at once. Due to tension, confusion regarding succession laws, and the kingdom dividing every other day; civil war eventually broke out in Norway – this lasted from about 1130 to 1240.
After the unfortunate death of King Sigurd the Crusader in 1130, well… Let’s put it this way; things became even more confusing. In the sixties (1160’s, not the 1960’s, man), the Church was like, “This is too confusing – screw it; Erlingsson is the king now.” Shortly following the crowning of Magnus Erlingsson, the first succession laws were written – what an accomplishment! Basically, illegitimate children of the king? Yeah, any of their birth rights were rendered null and void. And well, this didn’t go over too well with Sverre Sigurdsson; he killed Magnus before the law even came into force – and ensured that it never did. And the Church pulled an “Oh no, he di’n’t,” and decided that well, psssssht. “King Sverre? Man, we’re not going to acknowledge him!” And so they excommunicated him. And man, Sverre was not about to take this – he spent the rest of his life fighting off pretenders and kicking arse – a sort of “Eff you,” gesture to the Church until his death in 1202. Let’s not forget to mention that he died a peaceful, natural death; the first Norwegian king to have done so, since 1130.
By this time, the warring parties had already divided into the birchlegs (supporters of King Sverre) and the bagler (supporters of the Church). Eventually, the factions signed a peace treaty – and the nation was divided in two from 1208 to 1217. After the kings of both parties had died, they finally agreed to re-unify and have King Haakon Haakonsson as king. In 1240, Haakon personally killed the final threat to the newly peaceful era – ending the civil war in 1240.
And well, after these occurrences – all was peaceful and good in Norway. There were marriages between Norwegian kings and queens of other nations, Norway was better unified, those pesky succession laws had been straightened out, and all was lovely in the North Land. …Until someone decided to marry the wrong person, and then… BAM! Norway suddenly found itself ruled by Danmark. This union remained until its forceful dissolution by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814. What a devoted wife Norway is, hmmm?
The Union Era: 1396 – 1905
Well, with the Black Death and all, life in Europe sucked to say the least. Bubonic, septicaemic, and phlegmatic plague sound fun to you? …I thought not. Damned fleas.
Ah, the Kalmarunionen. T’was pretty cool – if you were a Swede or a Dane. For the Norwegians, it was just another period of weakening and being told what to do by others. It lasted from 1396 to 1536, until Sverige decided to wreck it all and leave. I mean, it was only the Stockholm Bloodbath and one hundred and eighty years of oppression – psssht, wimp.
The next two centuries were pretty cool – to Danmark. The Norwegians continued to become more and more reliant upon the Danish; dealing with lost wars here and there, choosing all of the wrong sides and whatnot.
Prior to 1814, Norway had accidentally gotten itself involved in the Napoleonic War; eventually losing its entire fleet. Seeing as they had sided with France, Iggy was bitter and decided to create a naval barrier – cutting any contact between Norway and Danmark off. The Norwegians were panicky and tense – there were famines in the years 1812 and 1813 and goddamnit, Norge needed to re-establish contact with Danmark.
On the seventh of January in 1814, the Danes were trapped by the Swedes, Russians, and Germans – eventually forced into signing a peace treaty and giving Norway over to Sweden. The Danes weren’t too keen on this division – though they were allowed to take Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the more recently acquired Greenland from Norway. This served as a poor sort of condolence.
…As less than a month later, the Danish prince Christian Frederik was determined to reclaim Norway. After all, Norway had been taken by his rival nation, Sweden! This simply would not do. However, after the Swedes declared war and invaded their newly claimed Norway, the Norwegians rebelled – successfully driving off the Swedes and supporting the unrest amongst the people. Frederik had been supporting the Norwegians, all the while hoping for another personal union with Norway. He encouraged the Norwegians to adopt a democratic constitution – which they did, eventually resulting in a peaceful dissolution of the Union of Norway and Sweden in 1905.
The Years of Independent Monarchy: 1905 – present day
In World War I, the Norwegians maintained neutrality – though 829 Norwegian ships were sank nevertheless. Norway went to great lengths to supply the British with needed materials; thanks to British pressure and an anti-German atmosphere.
World War II was not much different; toward the beginning; however on April 9th, 1940; the Nazis invaded and quickly took control of the major port cities of Norway. However, in the Oslofjord, the Norwegian Army maintained a hold on a single fort; sinking a German cruiser. After two months of resistance, the Norwegians were forced to surrender on June 7th – before fleeing to Britain to form an exiled government on the very same day.
Due to development of an atomic bomb, the Norwegian resistance managed to smuggle themselves across the Norwegian Sea and parachute into Norway; successfully destroying a heavy water plant – and most of the world’s supply of heavy water. This is the reason behind Germany’s not developing an atomic bomb during WWII. Throughout the war, the Norwegians worked closely with the British – and they, too, were counted as victorious in the war.
Present day, well, Norway is pretty chill – the 1960’s brought much fortune when oil was discovered; and this as well as many other factors has caused Norway to be the nation with the highest standard of living. However, in their spare time, the Norwegians fend off invitations into the European Union – opting to keep out of it and hang out with Iceland and Liechtenstein instead; the only other European nations who haven’t joined the EU as of yet.
Allies: Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, England and the rest of Great Britain, America
Enemies: Russia, Germany, Sweden (on some occasions)
Sample Post:
Sighing heavily, Niels folds his hands and adjusts his gloves; a nervous habit of his. Negotiations hadn’t been working out all too well; if he didn’t hasten and change the Icelandic perspective on the EU, well… Perhaps that famous Union of Europeans would newly accept an Icelander into their ranks – this was absolutely unacceptable.
“…Lillebror, it isn’t even about my selfishly wanting you to stay out of this… This union…”
Scathingly, the words trailed from his mouth – outwardly he expressed his distaste. Niels would be absolutely sure that his younger brother knew what he was dealing with.
“Yes, yes – I understand. Your economy has been suffering as of recent – this I can sympathize with.”
This was, in part, a lie. Norway had of the best – if not, the best economy in Europe; they had for centuries. As for Iceland, though… They had of the worst economies in contrast.
“…I assure you, Bror, if you adopt the krone – rather than that Euro, then your economy will fluctuate – before stabilizing in such a way, as to cause great income for your people. Thus, positively increasing the relations between our two nations – and not only that, but the usage of the krone will surely bring in profit for your nation.”
He had no evidence to support any of this statement – but at the very least – Niels would be pleased to be economically tied to his dearest younger brother once more.
“…Lillebror, it isn’t even about my selfishly wanting you to stay out of this… This union…”
Scathingly, the words trailed from his mouth – outwardly he expressed his distaste. Niels would be absolutely sure that his younger brother knew what he was dealing with.
“Yes, yes – I understand. Your economy has been suffering as of recent – this I can sympathize with.”
This was, in part, a lie. Norway had of the best – if not, the best economy in Europe; they had for centuries. As for Iceland, though… They had of the worst economies in contrast.
“…I assure you, Bror, if you adopt the krone – rather than that Euro, then your economy will fluctuate – before stabilizing in such a way, as to cause great income for your people. Thus, positively increasing the relations between our two nations – and not only that, but the usage of the krone will surely bring in profit for your nation.”
He had no evidence to support any of this statement – but at the very least – Niels would be pleased to be economically tied to his dearest younger brother once more.
Did you read the rules? Yepyep, I did indeed~
"...So much fun! But I'm tired! I'm going to rest now~
To the last, I'm so cool!"
I love your profile~ It was so much fun to read. I don't really know much about him, but it seems you've got a good grasp on his character. I wonder if we'll run into the RP together at all.