Northern Norway - History

History

The oldest known historical culture in the region is called Komsa, named after a mountain in Alta. The first people possibly arrived around 12-13,000 years ago, but it is uncertain whether they came from southern Norway or from the Kola Peninsula. Today the rock carvings at Hjemmeluft in Alta or at Leknes in Nordland are among the remainders of the Stone Age cultures, showing reindeer swimming across the fjords. A significant find area is between the river Tana and the fjord of Varanger, where the reindeer probably ran over the isthmus on the way between the winter and summer grazing. The question of the ethnic identity of the Stone Age cultures is politically charged, as many Sami feel the uncertainty surrounding the earliest settlers in Northern Norway is being used to question their status as an indigenous people. Metals were introduced around 500 BC or possibly somewhat earlier.

The Sami culture can be traced back at least 2,000 years. There is also some archeological evidence of Bronze Age agricultural settlements about 2,500 years old, as in Steigen and Sømna. In 2009, archeologist discovered evidence of barley grown in Kvæfjord near Harstad in the Bronze Age 1000 BC (Norwegian). A larger settlement by people of Germanic origin, with substantial archeological evidence, seem to have occurred around 200-300 AD. These settled along the coasts roughly up to Tromsø. The two ethnic groups traded with each other, and there seems to have been quite a lot of intermarriage. The nature of the co-existence is still being hotly debated.

In the Viking age, several chieftains along the coast played a significant role in Norwegian history, usually resisting unification of Norway. The voyage and story of Ottar from Hålogaland was recorded by the king of England. Hårek from Tjøtta and Tore Hund, who killed Saint Olav at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 were important leaders according to Heimskringla. The chieftain and poet Øyvind Skaldespiller was the first to receive international acclaim, as his poems were rewarded when the Icelandic parliament organized a money collection to buy him a thick ring of gold. This flourishing period of resistance was followed by consolidation and centralization of the Norwegian state, which was (and is) dominated by southerners (in the relative sense of south of Northern Norway), reducing the power and wealth of the Northern Norwegian chieftains.

In the Middle Ages, churches and fortifications were built along the coast in an effort to stake a more firm claim for the kingdom of Norway along what was then the frontier of Norwegian settlement. By 1150, Lenvik was the northernmost church in Norway. In 1252 the first church, the Ecclesia Sanctae Mariae de Trums juxta paganos ("The Church of Saint Mary in Troms near the Heathens"), was built in Tromsø, along with a small rampart intended to serve as protection against Karelian raids. This was followed in 1307 by the consecration of Vardø church in what is now eastern Finnmark. Finally, Vardøhus Fortress was constructed to mark and defend the border with the Karelian tributary lands of the Novgorod Republic. The traditional view has been that the fortress and church were constructed at roughly the same time, although recent research indicates that the fortress may have been constructed as late as the 1330s, after the border between Norway and Novgorod had become more fixed. At roughly the same time, the cod fishing gained momentum. Dried cod was exported through Bergen to the whole Hanseatic world, bringing prosperity to the north. This is reflected in the numerous pieces of imported church art from the late Middle Ages. There were numerous wars with the republic of Novgorod in Russia at the time, that stopped by the late 15th century.

Reduced fish prices in the 17th century and the exploitative trade practices of merchants from Bergen, who had been granted a royal monopoly on fish trading, led to a significant decline in the population and grinding poverty for those who remained. Large coastal areas were depopulated, and Sami culture made a comeback, as it was less dependent on fish exports. After 1700, Russian Pomors started to come every summer on trading expeditions, bringing rye in exchange for fish. Although this was in violation of Bergen's trade monopoly and the Danish-Norwegian monarchy made some attempts to curtail the Pomor trade, the trade was vital to the survival of many Northern Norwegian fishing communities. In the 1740s the first settlers started arriving in Northern Norway from Finland. The traditional view is that these were refugees escaping famine and warfare at home, although modern scholars have pointed out that many were simply looking for their own piece of land, which was getting scarce in Finland as a result of rapid population growth. In 1789, the trade monopoly of the city of Bergen was lifted, Hammerfest and Vardø were issued their city charters, and Tromsø followed suit in 1794. Interrupted by the British blockade of the Napoleonic wars, this introduced a period of unprecedented growth in the north as the trade monopoly had previously made cities nonviable in Northern Norway. Bodø was founded in 1816, and Vadsø in 1833. The Hurtigruten shipping line, introduced in 1893, gave quicker communications with the south. In 1906, the iron mines in Kirkenes opened.

At the same time, the ethnic diversity of the area came under threat. Particularly after Norwegian independence (from Sweden) in 1905, the Norwegian authorities were insistent that all should speak Norwegian only and schools became active tools of assimilation. The Sami language was banned in schools, churches and in public administration. Concerns about possible Finnish irredentism also led to increasing pressure on Kvens to assimilate. People who wanted to buy state-owned land in Finnmark had to prove they could speak Norwegian before they were allowed to settle.

This region of Norway was the area most affected by World War II. In 1940, Norwegian and Allied forces fought the Germans to a standstill over the strategic port for iron exports of Narvik, until allied forces and equipment were withdrawn, leaving the remaining Norwegians with no option but surrender. King Haakon VII and the government fled towards the north, and stayed in the Tromsø area for three weeks. On 27 May, Bodø was bombed by German planes, and on 7 June, the Allies retreated from the North, and the King and government fled to Britain from Tromsø.

In 1944, the German Wehrmacht started to retreat from the Murmansk front. They burned everything after them in the area between the Russian border and the Lyngen fjord, as part of their tactics. The population was forcibly evacuated, although a third of them chose to hide in the wilderness instead. All who were found were shot.

After WW II, Norway made a huge effort to rebuild the destroyed towns and villages. Modernizing fishing and agriculture was important, as Northern Norway was considerably poorer and less developed than the south. In 1946 the huge steel works of Mo i Rana were founded, heralding industrialization of the north.

Communications were also improved, as airports were built throughout the area, notably in Bodø 1952 and Tromsø in 1964. The rail network was extended to reach Bodø in 1961. In 1972, the University of Tromsø opened, accompanied by a number of university colleges, notably in Bodø, Alta, Harstad and Narvik. In 1972 and 1994, the strong anti-EU movements of the north, largely based on concerns over EU (mis)management of its own fish stocks, were instrumental when Norway voted against EU membership in referendums.

Sami language instruction was introduced in schools in the 1970s. In 1979, the building of a hydro-electric dam in Alta caused huge demonstrations, giving the Sami question national attention for virtually the first time. The result was a significant effort by the authorities to promote Sami language and culture. In 1989, the Norwegian Sami parliament, Samediggi, opened, and the Law of Finnmark of 2005 was an attempt to deal with the question of land rights. A similar law is on the way for Nordland and Troms.

Working against all this, emigration to the south has been strong after World War II. While there is a slight overall population growth in Northern Norway (as a result of surplus childbirths and immigration from abroad), this is significantly lower than in southern counties, although the regional centres of Bodø, Tromsø and Alta continue to grow at a relatively brisk pace. Lately, the off-shore gas field of Snøhvit, off Hammerfest, has brought hopes of new development in the north.