Revolutionary History: Swedish Workers' Struggle and Socialists Secure Peace in Norway in 1905

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"Lay down your arms!" Under this slogan, Sweden's socialist youth movement secured peace in Norway in 1905. The Socialist Youth Movement called for a general strike to prevent the war.

Per Olsson Socialist Justice Party (ISA Sweden)

Editor's note: This article was first published in Offensiv, the weekly newspaper of the Socialist Justice Party (ISA Sweden).

"Lay down your arms!" Under this slogan, Sweden's socialist youth movement secured peace in Norway in 1905. The Socialist Youth Movement called for a general strike to stop the war and refused to obey any mobilization orders, saying that "if the weapon is to be aimed at anyone, it should not be used against the Norwegians."

This action and the support of the Swedish working class for the right of Norwegian national self-determination culminated in the peaceful dissolution of the so-called Swedish-Norwegian Confederation in 1905. This is a victory for the unity of the working class and a case of the peaceful struggle of socialism with international fame.

1905 began with the Russian Revolution. For Sweden, the year was full of conflict, culminating in a general victory for the labor movement, a development chronicled in Kalle Holmqvist's book "Peace with Norway" (Fred med Norge). One of the most important victories was the peaceful dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian Confederation.

After the class struggle in 1905, a new chapter in Swedish history opened. The peaceful disintegration of the federation not only allowed a breakthrough in the socialist labor movement, but also created a breakthrough in the movement of the socialist youth.

Background: Norway's Independence Struggle

On June 7, 1905, the federation of Sweden and Norway was officially dissolved. The federation was formed in 1814, in January of that year Sweden received Norway as its booty in the Treaty of Kiel. Lenin, the leader of the Russian revolution, wrote in his 1914 book "On the Right of National Self-Determination": "Norway was given to Sweden by the monarchs of various countries against the will of the Norwegians during the Napoleonic Wars, and the Swedes, in order to conquer Norway, Had to transfer troops to Norway."

But the people who once lived in Norway under Danish rule, looking for another way out, proclaimed a free Norway. So on May 17, 1814 (which was later designated Norway's National Day in 1836), Norway held a constitutional convention in Ezvor and elected a king, a constitution "unusually democratic for the time" ”, especially in contrast to the Swedish Parliament. But such a system was still a long way from a democratic breakthrough, as women in Norway were still not entitled to vote, and only half of the men could vote.

But the Swedish army waged a short war and destroyed Norway's independence. In the August agreement, the king of Sweden will serve as king of both countries, but Norway can still have its own army, parliament and a new constitution, but the two countries need to have common economic and trade and foreign policies.

Such an agreement is full of contradictions. The expansion of capitalism in Sweden and Norway and the increasing demands of the bourgeoisie for liberal and democratic rights will maintain an alliance with the royal family and build a greater Sweden dream (that is, Norway becomes part of the "Kingdom of Sweden"), Conflict is inevitable – just like Finland before 1809.

The right to national self-determination of all nations, including the right to establish their own state, is a democratic aspiration and one of the programs of the socialist workers' movement since its inception. If the main force advocating democracy and the right of national self-determination flies the banner of revolutionary socialism, the workers' organizations will have the means to unite all workers against nationalism and draw a line from the bourgeois forces pretending to be uncompromising fighters for democracy.

Tensions between Norway and Sweden brought constant conflict and threats of war in the late 1800s. The so-called joint monarch, Oscar II, reluctantly accepted an extension of Norway's autonomy in mid-1880, while foreign policy remained in the hands of the Stockholm authorities (the king and his government).

Prologue to the End of the Federation

But in early 1895, after the Norwegian Liberal Party (Venstre) won elections and formed a government, it was completely opposed by King Oscar II, and a series of crises ensued. The king plans to intervene militarily in Norway and double the defense budget.

The bourgeois-liberal Liberal Party is Norway's oldest party and is quickly becoming the country's largest party. The party was supported not only by the peasants, but also by the middle class and part of the bourgeoisie. The Liberals also turned their attention to the workers, but soon faced competition from the Social Democrats, formed in 1887, which were later reorganized into the Labour Party in 1891.

The Norwegian right also has its own party, the Conservative Party (Høyre), made up of the upper class and the bureaucracy, who fear that democracy and independence will lead to a republic and social liberation in Norway.

After the Norwegian Liberal Party's election victory, the atmosphere in Sweden, in the words of Börje Isaksson's excellent book on the 1905 revolution, was like "war on the horizon". The Swedish Social Democratic Party, established in 1889, held meetings and launched pro-Norwegian demonstrations to counter domestic war propaganda.

Completely different from today, the Social Democratic Party was a real workers' party, and it was a party that united the socialists of that time.

The party contained revolutionaries, as well as many people deeply influenced by revisionism and reformism. The latter later dominated the leadership of the party and ultimately led to the downfall of the Social Democratic Party.

On May 1, 1895, Hjalmar Branting, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party, warned that if the ruling class went to war against Norway, the authorities would expect soldiers to turn their guns on those in power, sending the bourgeoisie into a rage and demanding a severe crackdown. "Socialist Heresy". Branting was arrested and fined heavily.

Later, in the autumn of 1895, the King of Sweden and the Norwegian Parliament reached an agreement that a new coalition government was formed, the threat of war was no longer urgent, but the days of the Commonwealth were few and far between.

Norway's requirement to have its own consular representation abroad became a watershed moment in the development of the situation, with the Norwegian bourgeoisie wanting its own diplomatic staff to strengthen the country's trade and shipping, as Norway at the time had the third largest merchant fleet in the world. But the Swedish royal family directly rejected this.

At the same time, all negotiations to coordinate consular powers also failed, at a time when Norway's democratic rights were already superior to Sweden's. Norway implemented universal male suffrage in 1899, and two years later women were given the right to vote in municipal elections, but 94% of adults in Sweden at the time were still ineligible to vote.

The intensification of the struggle and the growth of the labor movement

Kalle Holmqvist writes: “In the spring of 1905, Sweden was filled with various uprisings. The Russian workers’ revolt in the east of Sweden quickly spread to Poland, the Baltics and Finland. West of Sweden, more and more Norwegians came to a consensus on autonomy. Powers need to be expanded. Norway formed a new coalition government in April with the goal of establishing Norway’s own diplomatic and consular services.”

Several fronts are forming in Sweden, where the government plans to pass a new anti-strike bill that would strip state and municipal employees of the right to strike. Employers, led by the workshops association (Verkstadsföreningen), are trying to crack down on unions to help crack down on widespread strike blockades.

Trade unions in Sweden grew at an unprecedented rate during this period. From 1900 to 1907, the number of organized workers increased from 68,500 to 230,700. In terms of the number of workers' organizations, Sweden had the strongest trade union movement in the world at the time. But the labor movement at that time was basically limited to male workers, and female workers had to fight not only against their bosses, but also against male union leaders, because, among other things, these union leaders still had concerns about women’s unionization and women’s right to vote. Take it with a grain of salt.

The Social Democratic Party and its two youth leagues (Social Democratic Youth League and Young Socialists) have also grown in numbers. Among them, the Social Democratic Youth League, which has a relatively large organization, was established in 1903 and had 5,000 members and 89 local organizations by 1905. The weekly circulation of the Social Democratic Youth League is as high as 20,000 copies.

The struggle in Sweden in 1905 was also inspired by the outside world, mainly influenced by the Russian Revolution at the beginning of the year. In April of that year, the fight against the anti-strike bill came to fruition, and the proposal was rejected by the directly elected Second Chamber, where the Social Democrats had only four members at the time. This was a great victory for the labor movement.

A few weeks later, on May 18, Norway's parliament passed a bill establishing its own consulate. King Oscar of Sweden replied "I do not accept the resolution of the Norwegian Parliament", so the Norwegian government resigned. "Oscar II refused to accept the general resignation, and the federation is disintegrating." On June 7, the Norwegian parliament passed a formal resolution to terminate the federation with Sweden and depose the king.

The Swedish Social Democratic Party and party chairman Brittin, who had been vacillating about whether to dissolve the federation, immediately turned to full support for Norway's decision. The Swedish authorities, on the other hand, were openly preparing for military action and carrying out what they called a "coup" or "revolution" in Kristiania (today Oslo). For Sweden's bourgeoisie and aristocracy, their prestige was shaky.

Workers unite against ruling class chauvinism

At the same time, Sweden's right wing and ruling class did their best to promote chauvinism, mobilizing marches in support of the "respected federal monarch" who called on the authorities to crack down on the "unpatriotic" Social Democrats who were sympathetic to the Norwegian revolution.

The Social Democratic Youth League stood at the forefront of socialism against the wave of war and revanchism in Greater Sweden. They printed and distributed 100,000 copies of the manifesto "Lay down your arms - Peace with Norway". The Youth League called on young workers to boycott the general mobilization order and called for a general strike if the war plan was implemented. Socialist youth, influenced by anarchist ideology, also called for strikes and refused to obey military orders.

The youth's resistance forced the Swedish Social Democratic Party not only to speak out against the war, but also to act, and peaceful anti-war marches all over the country blossomed. Tens of thousands gathered to demonstrate in Gothenburg, Sweden, with a message to the Norwegian Labour Party: "The federation at the top of society is broken, and the union of the workers is getting stronger."

The mass movement even affected "comrades in uniform (referring to soldiers)", leading to internal division and weakening of the Swedish authorities. The Swedish royal family was paralyzed and eventually gave up the idea of using the ultimatum as an excuse to invade Norway.

Another important reason for the division of the upper classes in Sweden was the fact that the Swedish employers (they are the Association of Works) locked out 18,000 workers of more than 100 engineering companies outside their factories, which was the biggest labor dispute in Sweden at the time. Right-wing newspapers in Sweden called on Swedish employers to delay the shutdown for at least two weeks, for fear of being caught in an internal and external attack. But employers believed that funds for the strikers would run out within weeks and workers would be forced to give in, but the opposite was true.

The trade union is not only strongly supported by Sweden, but also received a lot of foreign support. An example of true labor solidarity is when Norwegian workers started raising money for their Swedish comrades. The book "Peace with Norway" states: "The Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions decided on June 16 that all unions will overcharge each member by at least 25 öre: the money will be sent directly to the Swedish metal workers." An employer said afterwards that instead of hitting the union, it created more "pain" for the management.

A few months later, the frustrated factory association was forced to accept the union's right to freedom of association and pay higher wages as workers demanded. Prior to this, the Swedish king and government considered it necessary to hold a referendum in Norway as a condition for negotiations with the Norwegian government. Sweden's call for a referendum was seen as unreasonably provocative, sparking outrage among Norwegians who clearly wanted only one thing - a free country.

The situation the royals and rulers end up in is what Kalle Holmqvist aptly describes as "powerful and unmanageable". The referendum was held on August 13, the day before a massive rally in support of the Norwegian Parliament, which resulted in an overwhelming historic victory for the "yes" (for the dissolution of the federation) camp. The turnout was 85 percent, with 371,911 votes cast, with 368,208 votes in favor of the dissolution of the Union, and only 184 against. But only men can vote, because the bourgeois Norwegian parliament is following the old rules. This is also why the Norwegian parliament wants to form a kingdom rather than a republic.

Instead, Norwegian Women's Group collected up to 280,000 signatures in support of the June 7 resolution. No wonder a Swedish right-wing MP reluctantly said that we (Sweden) can conquer Norway, but we cannot maintain our rule. Even the most hard-line bourgeois faction cannot ignore Norwegian public opinion. The book "Peace with Norway" quotes MP Hjalmar Palmstierna: "Public opinion is overwhelmingly anti-war.

Subsequent negotiations on the dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian Confederation in 1905 were initially influenced by the presence of troops on the border and the mobilization of war. But the army withdrew during negotiations, and the Swedish ruling class, in order to save face, signed the agreement on September 23, 1905.

The bottom-up union of workers ensured the peaceful separation of the two countries, which is very rare in history. The victory in 1905 was a major breakthrough in the development of socialist organisations in Sweden and Norway, and it was the unity of workers from below that made peace in Norway possible.

As Lenin wrote in On the Right to Self-Determination of Nations: "The Swedish workers thus recognized the Norwegians' right to secession, and as a result promoted the close union of the Norwegian and Swedish workers, their full comradely class solidarity. Because Norway The workers believed that the Swedish workers were not tainted with Swedish nationalism, that the Swedish workers valued their fraternal union with the Norwegian proletariat above the prerogatives of the Swedish bourgeoisie and the nobility. The destruction of this bond imposed on Norway by European monarchs and the Swedish nobility , strengthens the ties between the Norwegian workers and the Swedish workers who prove that they do not care about any changes in bourgeois policy (on the basis of bourgeois relations it is entirely possible to force Norwegians to submit to the Swedes!), They have always been able to maintain and defend the full equality and class unity of the workers of both nationalities. Against both the Swedish bourgeoisie and the Norwegian bourgeoisie."