The Scandinavian History Podcast

In the 1800s, Finland was still a part of the Russian empire. Much like in other places in Europe, a Finnish national consciousness was taking shape. But it was complicated. One complication was the competing visions for what that nation should be like. Another, was the fact that the Russians weren’t having any of it.

For decades, the union between Norway and Sweden seemed stable. But as democracy, national identity, and political ambitions gathered momentum, tensions steadily mounted. The Swedes would have to play a careful and skillful game if they wanted the union to survive.

The Norwegians never enthusiastically embraced the union with Sweden, but for many years it wasn't a hot topic in politics. Instead, the Norwegians were busy arguing over other things. Questions like who was a Norwegian, and what was Norway?

Over a few generations starting in the mid-1800s, millions of Scandinavians left their homes to seek new lives across the Atlantic. Why did they do it? Where did they go? And what did the people who stayed behind think about it all?

Scandinavia had always been a poor, agrarian region on the margins of European civilization. But within a few decades in the late 1800s, things happened fast. Industrialization hit Denmark, Norway and Sweden like a tidal wave, changing the Scandinavian economy and society forever.