Editing Haakon VII (section)

==Early reign==

[[File:Norwegian Royal Family.jpg|thumb|300px|King Haakon VII, [[Olav V|Crown Prince Olav]] and Queen Maud, on 17 July 1913 in Norway]]

King Haakon gained much sympathy from the Norwegian people. He travelled extensively through Norway. As king, Haakon endeavored to redefine the role of the monarchy in [[egalitarian]] Norway and to find a balance between the informal Norwegian way of life and the monarchy's need for formal representation. Although the [[Constitution of Norway]] vested him with considerable executive powers, he was not responsible for exercising them. Parliamentary rule had been established in Norway since 1884, earlier than the rest of the Continent. Thus, in practice nearly all major governmental decisions were made by the Government (the [[Cabinet of Norway|Council of State]]) acting in Haakon's name. Haakon confined himself to non-partisan and representative roles without interfering in politics, a practice continued by his son and grandson. However, his long rule gave him considerable [[moral authority]] as a symbol of the country's unity.

[[File:Meeting of Scandinavian kings 2.jpeg|thumb|300px|[[Christian X of Denmark]], [[Gustav V of Sweden]] and Haakon VII at the meeting of the three Scandinavian kings in [[Malmö]] in December 1914.]]

At the outbreak of the [[First World War]] in 1914, the Norwegian government advocated that Norway pursue a [[policy of neutrality]]. The King supported the policy of neutrality by participating in the so-called meeting of the Three Kings held on 18 December 1914 in [[Malmö]] in [[Sweden]]. There, the three Scandinavian monarchs King Haakon, King Christian X of Denmark (Haakon's brother) and King [[Gustav V of Sweden]] (Haakon's mother's cousin) met along with their foreign ministers to discuss and emphasize the neutrality of the Nordic countries, and in a joint declaration, confirmed the three states' strict neutrality during the war.<ref>{{cite web|first=Sara|last=Griberg|title=Trekongemødet i Malmø|url=http://altomhistorie.dk/artikler/trekongemoedet-i-malmoe|website=altomhistorie.dk|date=12 November 2014|access-date=2 April 2017|language=da|archive-date=3 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403013959/http://altomhistorie.dk/artikler/trekongemoedet-i-malmoe|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Jacob|last=Wiberg|url=http://www.popularhistoria.se/artiklar/trekungamotet-i-malmo-1914/|title=Trekungamötet i Malmö 1914|journal=Populär Historia|issue=12|year=2008|language=sv|access-date=21 April 2023|archive-date=28 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728150738/http://www.popularhistoria.se/artiklar/trekungamotet-i-malmo-1914/|url-status=live}}</ref> The meeting in 1914 was followed by another three-kings meeting in Kristiania in November 1917.

[[File:The Nine Sovereigns at Windsor for the funeral of King Edward VII.jpg|thumb|300px|King Haakon with other European sovereigns at the funeral of King [[Edward VII]], photographed on 20 May 1910. Standing, from left to right: King Haakon VII of Norway, [[Ferdinand of Bulgaria|Tsar Ferdinand of the Bulgarians]], [[Manuel II of Portugal|King Manuel II of Portugal and the Algarves]], Kaiser [[Wilhelm II]] of Germany, [[George I of Greece|King George I of the Hellenes]] and [[King Albert I of the Belgians]]. Seated, from left to right: King [[Alfonso XIII]] of Spain, King [[George V]] of the United Kingdom and King [[Frederick VIII of Denmark]].]]

In [[1927 Norwegian parliamentary election|1927]], the [[Labour Party (Norway)|Labour Party]] became the largest party in parliament and early the following year Norway's first Labour Party government rose to power. The Labour Party was considered to be "revolutionary" by many and the deputy prime minister at the time advised against appointing [[Christopher Hornsrud]] as Prime Minister. Haakon, however, refused to abandon parliamentary convention and asked Hornsrud to form a new government. In response to some of his detractors he stated, "I am also the King of the Communists" ({{langx|no|"Jeg er også kommunistenes konge"}}).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kongehuset.no/c27060/artikkel/vis.html?tid=27613|title=(Official site of the Norwegian Royal House, in Norwegian)|access-date=20 January 2008|archive-date=30 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130165729/http://www.kongehuset.no/c27060/artikkel/vis.html?tid=27613|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Fra bryllupsfestlighetene. - U179.jpg|thumb|300px|The bride and groom behind their parents at the wedding in 1929.]]
On 21 March 1929, Crown Prince Olav married his first cousin [[Princess Märtha of Sweden]] at the [[Oslo Cathedral]]. Princess Märtha was the daughter of Haakon's sister [[Princess Ingeborg]] and [[Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland]]. It was the first [[royal wedding]] in Norway after the dissolution of the union, and the alliance was met with great enthusiasm, also in Sweden, and it was seen as a sign that all the disharmony after the events of 1905 had now passed. Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha were to have three children: [[Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen|Ragnhild]] (1930–2012), [[Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner|Astrid]] (born 1932) and [[Harald V of Norway|Harald]] (born 1937), who was to become king in 1991.

During the [[Eastern Greenland Case]], a territorial dispute between Norway and Denmark about the sovereignty over [[Eastern Greenland]], a very tense atmosphere prevailed. On 5 April 1933, Norway lost the arbitration case which had been submitted to the [[Permanent Court of International Justice]] in [[The Hague]]. The next day, {{lang|no|[[Aftenposten]]}} quoted across the front page the telegram King Haakon had sent to his brother King Christian X: {{blockquote|Have received the wording of the sentence and congratulate Denmark on the result.<ref>{{cite book|first=Egil|last=Ulateig|title=Justismord|page=85|publisher=[[Aschehoug]]|location=[[Oslo]]|year=1993|isbn=82-03-17250-4|language=no}}</ref>}}

Queen Maud died unexpectedly while visiting the United Kingdom on 20 November 1938.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://talknorway.no/queen-maud-of-norway-the-secret-of-the-queens-coffin/|title=Queen Maud of Norway|website=talknorway.no|access-date=1 November 2019|archive-date=17 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117195736/https://talknorway.no/queen-maud-of-norway-the-secret-of-the-queens-coffin/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1939, King Haakon toured southeast Montana and parts of the proposed [[secession]]ist state of [[Absaroka (proposed state)|Absaroka]], with supporters of the secession movement claiming this event as formal recognition of their state.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Pedersen|first=Nate|title=The State of Absaroka|url=http://www.southdakotamagazine.com/absaroka|access-date=6 November 2022|website=southdakotamagazine.com|archive-date=6 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106204847/https://www.southdakotamagazine.com/absaroka|url-status=live}}</ref>