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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 May 2009
It has been said that the northern nations of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, personify unity within diversity.
Ties of ethnographic and cultural kinship give these northern peoples a sense of unity and a desire for working together. At the same time, the varying outlooks and aspirations which the five countries have come to hold as a result of their differing geographic, economic and political conditions and experiences, have produced a strong desire for independence and the preservation of their own ways of life.
1 The official name of the Council is the Nordisk Rad.
2 Wendt, Frantz W., Secretary-General of the Danish delegation, Report on the Fourth Session of the Nordic Council, Copenhagen, January 27—February 3, 1956, Copenhagen, 1956Google Scholar.
3 See Friis, Henning, ed., Scandinavia Between East and West, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1930Google Scholar.
4 Danish and Norwegian sympathies inclined to the side of the Allies, although many Norwegians were mistrustful of the Soviet Union. In Sweden public opinion was divided. The Conservatives regarded the war as primarily a struggle for power between Germany and the Soviet Union and hoped for a German that would liberate Finland and end a Soviet menace to Swedish independence. Left wing elements, on the other hand, were more sympathetic to the United Kingdom and French cause and accused the Conservatives of a pro-German policy. See Tingsten, Herbert, The Debate on the Foreign Policy of Sweden, 1917–1939, London, The Oxford University Press, 1949, p. 11–12Google Scholar.
5 On the role of the Scandinavian states in the League, see Jones, S. Shepard, The Scandinavian States and the League of Nations, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1939Google Scholar. No mention has been made of Iceland up to this point as it did not achieve independence until 1944. For the part taken by the northern states in the International Non-intervention system, see Padelford, Norman J., International Law and Diplomacy in the Spanish Civil Strife, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1939Google Scholar.
6 See Survey of International Affairs, 1937, London, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1938, Vol. I p. 96Google Scholar.
7 For a discussion of positions taken by members of the Scandinavian group in the UN, see Svennevig, T. P., “The Scandinavian Bloc in the United Nations,” Social Rẹṣẹạrỉh, Spring 1955, p. 39–56Google Scholar.
8 For a discussion of the problem faced by the Scandinavian states at this time, see Scott, Franklin D., The United States and Scandinavia, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1950, p. 302–313CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
9 On the difficult choice faced by the Danes see Wilkinson, Joe R., “Denmark and NATO: The Problem of a Small State in a Collective Security System,” International Organization, X, p. 390–401Google Scholar. For the Swedish position, see Harald Wigforss, “Sweden and the Atlantic Pact,” ibid., III, p. 434–443.
10 See Lange, Halvard, “Signing Ceremony of the North Atlantic Treaty,” Department of State Bulletin, 04 17, 1949, p. 478Google Scholar.
11 On the founding of the Council see Hedtoft, Hans, “The Nordic Council,” American-Scandinavian Review, 03 1954, p. 13–21Google Scholar.
12 Statement by Mr. Wikborg, speaking at the fourth session of the Council.
13 The texts of the Statute and Rules of Procedure are available in English from the Secretariat of the Danish delegation to the Nordic Council at the Folketinget, Christiansborg, Copenhagen.
14 For a comprehensive discussion of cooperation on social, labor and health matters, see Salvesen, Kaare, “Cooperation in Social Affairs between the Northern Countries of Europe,” International Labour Review, 04 1956. p. 354–357Google Scholar.
15 See, for instance, Wendt, Frantz W., “The Norden Association,” American-Scandinavian Review, Autumn 1956, p. 245–249Google Scholar.
16 See Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Match 8, 1957; ibid., July 15, 1937; also Aschinger, E. F., “Problematical Aspects of the Common Market Project,” Swiss Review of World Affairs, 07 1957, p. 6–10Google Scholar.
