Antagonism among Scandinavian Emigrants

The Scandinavian immigrants in the USA had lived in peaceful coexistence ever since the middle of the 19th century. Common cultural and linguistic background led to extensive cooperation and friendship among the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish communities in America. But the constantly escalating conflict around the Swedish-Norwegian union, peaking in the dramatic year of separation, 1905, was a serious threat to the good relations that had been established in the new homeland for the Scandinavians.

Sharp conflict
Enmity and conflict were sharply pronounced in the year of dissolution, particularly in the bigger cities where tens of thousands of Scandinavians had settled. The newspapers reported about bullying and bad treatment, and at the height of the conflict, they encouraged acts of violence and war, Olav Tysdal, assistant professor at UiS, says.

He has studied the way the conflict was presented in four Swedish-American newspapers from November to December 1905. He relates how the escalating conflict at home was treated and experienced in the USA, the preferred immigrant country for Scandinavians.

Strong ties
The most striking feature is how the conflict laid bare the strong ties between the immigrants in the USA and their home country. It is a phenomenon with several parallels in history where people have settled in other countries, Tysdal says.

From the end of the 19th century there were tendencies to chain migration. This form of migration is characterized by the strong contact the emigrants maintained with their homeland.

For some people conflicts in their home countries can be the reason why they emigrate. History shows that most of them take with them their nationalism and other conflicts to their new country, Tysdal says, and points to the history of the Irish in England and the Poles in Germany who were forbidden any nationalistic sentiments.

It seems to be a general phenomenon. Most people want to maintain strong ties to their country of origin wherever they go.

The Consulate struggle
Even if the struggle between Swedish- and Norwegian-Americans had been smoldering a while with eruptions after 1880, and in connection with the introduction of parliamentary government in 1884, it was the struggle for consulates that triggered the conflict.

Many people in Norway thought that Sweden had broken its promise from 1903 that Norway would be allowed to establish its own consular service. They argued that dissolving the union was the right thing to do. The Swedes were accommodating, even if they were happy with maintaining status quo. The believed that the union had a strong legitimacy, not least as an alliance against foreign powers.

It is interesting to study the rhetoric of the Swedish-American papers at the time. Norwegians were described as spoilt brats and madmen and politicians were told they had a deficient mind. Correspondents in Stockholm said their Norwegian brothers did not know their own good.

A revolution
What really stirred up sentiments among the Swedish-Americans was the dramatic decision by the Storting of June 7, 1905 to dissolve the union. In the headline of the editorial in the Swedish-American paper Nordstjernan it said “Revolution in Norway.” The same expression was also used in American newspapers like the New York Times.

The Swedish reporter for Nordstjernan, C.A. Sachs, was one of the leading journalists during the conflict. He jeered at the Swedish government. In several of his letters from Stockholm about the use of military power against Norway, Sachs argued for letting the spoilt and defiant neighbor know his place. Sweden was militarily much stronger and many thought the conflict ought to be settled summarily, Tysdal says.

Many of the Swedish-American papers raged against their own government which they thought had been too lenient and tolerant toward the Norwegians.

Grassroots catch fire
The harshest rhetoric was to be found in the letters to the editor, both in the Swedish- and the Norwegian-American papers. In the general discontent with Norway as a kind of B-team under another country, Norwegian-Americans believed that the Swedes behaved like a dominant people also in the USA.

The use of imagery in several of the letters to the editor is very interesting. The Swedish-Americans thought the Norwegians behaved like a spoilt younger brother, that they were arrogant and suffered from inferiority complexes. The objective level was not always very high, Tysdal says. The Swedish-Americans characterized the Norwegians in very strong terms.

War metaphors were much used. The conflicts and the antagonistic sentiments in Scandinavia were reflected on the other side of the Atlantic. In the letters to the editor one could read that ”These darned Norwegians! Now they have thought up some new tomfoolery”, and further “The only thing the Norwegians should have had was a good thrashing. Nothing else works”, “Good Lord, dear friends! How cosy and pleasant and agreeable the country will be when we get rid of the Norwegians and no longer have to see and hear them.”

Tysdal says that new immigrants constantly arrived and brought with them their points of view and their prejudices from their home country which carried fuel to the bitter struggle.

Reconciliation at last
The  referendum on the dissolution of the union on August 13 ended with a crushing defeat for the supporters of the union. The tone became more conciliatory, even if some argued that the “revolutionary measure” on June 7 and the referendum did not reflect the real attitudes in Norway. C.A. Sachs wrote that the Norwegians had been forced to vote no, in spite of the 150 persons who actually did so.

Nevertheless it was announced all over the world that the dissolution of the union was a forceful expression of the will of a noble and free people, Tysdal says and concludes:

In the aftermath the Swedish-Americans were also happy with the outcome. What had been a bitter and lengthy conflict with real danger of war, fortunately ended in reconciliation. Several American newspapers lauded the Scandinavians for their ability to solve the serious conflict in a diplomatic manner.

Olav Tysdal’s article “The Dissolution of the Union between Norway and Sweden and the Scandinavian Americans” has been accepted for publication in the American journal Scandinavian Studies.

Text: Eivind Biering-Strand
Photo: Elisabeth Tønnessen