Haakon VII of Norway
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King Haakon VII of Norway, Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel (August 3, 1872–September 21, 1957) was the first King of Norway after the dissolution of the personal union with Sweden in 1905. Known in his youth as Prince Carl of Denmark (namesake of his maternal grandfather the King of Norway etc), he was the second son of the future King Frederick VIII of Denmark, a younger brother of the future King Christian X of Denmark (he personally became a king before his father and his brother), a paternal grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark (during whose reign he was prince of Denmark) and a maternal grandson of King Charles IV of Norway (who was also King of Sweden).
He was born in Charlottenlund. He belonged to the House of Oldenburg, which since 1448 was the Danish and Norwegian Royal House, its branch Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. The house was originally from northern Germany, where also the Glucksburg (Lyksborg) branch held their small fief. The family had permanent links with Norway already beginning from late Middle Ages, and also several of his paternal ancestors had been kings of independent Norway (Haakon V of Norway, Christian I of Norway, Frederick I, Christian III, Frederick II, Christian IV, as well as Frederick III of Norway who united Norway into the Danish kingdom, after which it was not independent at least until 1814). Christian Frederick, who was King of Norway briefly in 1814, the first king of Norwegian 1814 constitution and struggle for independence, was his great-granduncle.
In 1896, Prince Carl married his first cousin the Princess Maud, youngest daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and his wife, HRH Princess Alexandra of Denmark, daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel. Their son, Prince Alexander, the future Crown Prince Olav and finally king Olav V of Norway, was born on July 2, 1903.
After a referendum confirmed the newly-independent Norway as a monarchy, Prince Carl became its king on November 18, 1905, succeeding his great-uncle, the deposed Oscar II of Norway on that throne and was crowned as Haakon VII in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on June 22, 1906.
He arranged his heir, Crown Prince Olav, to marry a first cousin, Haakon's sister's daughter, Märtha of Sweden.
During World War II, King Haakon, exiled in London, was an important national symbol in the Norwegian resistance.
At Haakon's death in 1957 Crown Prince Olav succeeded as Olav V.
Today, King Haakon is by many regarded as one of the greatest Norwegian politicians of the pre-war period, managing to hold his young and fragile country together in unstable political conditions. In 1927 he said "I am also the Communists' King." His loyalty to the democracy proved to be crucial for Norway's political situation during and after World War II.
| Preceded by: Oscar II | King of Norway 1905–1957 | Succeeded by: Olav V |
fi:Haakon VII
fr:Haakon VII de Norvège
nl:Haakon VII van Noorwegen
ja:ホーコン7世
no:Haakon VII
nn:Haakon VII av Noreg
pl:Haakon VII
sv:Håkon VII av Norge
Categories: Norwegian monarchs | Knights of the Garter | House of Glücksburg | Norwegian World War II people | Order of St. Olav | 1872 births | 1957 deaths | World War II political leaders
