File No. 763.72/1379
The Minister in Norway ( Schmedeman ) to the Secretary of State
Christiania, December 28, 1914.
[Received January 12, 1915.]
No. 60]
Sir: Referring to my No. 56 dated December 16, 1914, informing the Department of the proposed conference at Malmö, Sweden,[Page 160]December 18—19, 1914, and the participation therein of the King of Norway, the King of Sweden, the King of Denmark, and their Foreign Ministers.1 I have the honor to enclose herewith a translation of an official communiqué received from the Norwegian Foreign Office regarding the same.
The conference having been called by the King of Sweden is especially pleasing to the press and the people of Norway. Ever since the opening of the great European War the people of Norway have lived in a nervous state of tension; not only were they confronted by the possibility of being dragged into the war by one of the other belligerent powers, but there were even greater possibilities of their legitimate trade and commerce being crippled. Norway with her enormous length of coastline and her tempting harbors and fjords, the chief fear was that the warships of one of the great powers would sooner or later make such use of Norwegian waters as would endanger the neutrality of the country, and from information I have received Sweden and Denmark were in like position. All three of these kingdoms have done everything possible to observe their neutrality. The prospect seemed not encouraging, each country felt that alone it could achieve very little, and the press and people of Norway began to long for a United States of Scandinavia, of which there has been talk for years. The question was how could this alliance be formed. The event of 1905, when the union of Sweden and Norway was dissolved, precluded Norway from taking the initiative. Happily when the conference was called by the King of Sweden, the problem was solved. The meeting of the three Scandinavian Kings at Malmö will undoubtedly be recorded as one of the most important events in Norway since 1905. Not only is it 600 years since the monarchs of Norway, Sweden and Denmark met in friendly conference, but by Norway in particular the meeting of King Gustaf and King Haakon was hailed with delight as a sign of reconciliation after nine years of estrangement.
In an interview I had with the Minister for Foreign Affairs after his return from Malmö, and discussing the result of the conference with him, he informed me that the three monarchs had agreed upon a uniform course of action with respect to serious difficulties that have arisen as the result of the war, such as the entry of belligerent war vessels into Scandinavian ports, and their disarmament, [and] proceeding with regard to foreign reservists who enter Scandinavian ports on their way home. Unanimity of action was also arranged in regard to trade and navigation, and a better method of obtaining alteration and facilitation with respect to the practice that has arisen during the war regarding visitations and detention of merchant vessels.
In all these cases the three monarchs jointly agree to maintain a strict neutrality. Mr. Ihlen further stated that there does not exist an offensive or defensive alliance between the three countries, and that the proceedings of the conference would not be published.
Such in brief are the chief objects of this momentous conference. The three monarchs have as yet not formed the “United States of [Page 161] Scandinavia,” but have obtained an entente of the utmost significance. As the King of Sweden emphasized in his opening speech, the monarchs were performing a duty not only to the three nations of to-day, but, what is perhaps of greater importance, to posterity; they would pave the way to an even better understanding and closer alliance of the three sister kingdoms.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure—Translation]
Official “Communiqué” concerning the Conference of Malmö
The conference [was] opened Friday, September 18, by H. M. King Gustaf, who emphasized the unanimity of the three Scandinavian kingdoms in maintaining their policy of neutrality, and expressed a desire that they might continue to work together for protection of their common interests.
King Gustaf stated that he had invited the monarchs of Denmark and Norway to the conference, in the consciousness of his responsibilities to the present and future generations, so that nothing might be omitted that could contribute to the welfare of the three nations.
King Gustaf’s speech was answered by King Haakon and King Christian, both of whom expressed their joy at the initiative of King Gustaf, and at the same time uttered a wish that the conference might have happy and blessed results for the three nations.
The meeting adjourned on the afternoon of the 19th. The negotiations between the monarchs, who were accompanied by the respective Ministers for Foreign Affairs, will tend not only to strengthen the existing friendly relations of the three northern kingdoms, but they have also proved the existence of complete unanimity with regard to the special questions that arose for discussion. Finally, it was agreed that the cooperation that had thus been so auspiciously commenced should be continued, and that when occasion might arise representatives of the three powers should again meet with the same object in view.
- Not printed.↩