The first half of the nineteenth century was a period of political upheaval and formative nation-building in Norway. At the dawn of the century, Norwegians could look back on more than four hundred years of attachment to the Danish king's dynastic conglomerate state. Within this conglomerate Norway had played a subordinated political role, governed from Copenhagen more like a set of Danish provinces than as a partner in the dual monarchy of Denmark-Norway. Following the endgame of the Napoleonic Wars all this changed. In the Kiel peace treaty of January 1814, the king of Denmark was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden.

In reality the Danish king freed the Norwegian people from the old oath of allegiance sworn by their forefathers under the personal union with Denmark, but the king could not transfer this allegiance to another sovereign without asking the people for consent. The Norwegian elites revolted, with large popular support, and hastily called for a constituent assembly. During the course of 1814, arguably the most eventful year in its political history, Norway declared independence, held a constituent assembly that gave a liberal constitution and elected a Danish prince as king, fought a short futile war with Sweden, accepted defeat, rewrote the constitution to accommodate a personal union with Sweden and acknowledged the Swedish king as head of state. The outcome of 1814 was very different from what was envisaged at the beginning of the year. Norway was not added to the Swedish realm but retained most of the political framework established by the constituent assembly. Most significantly, Norway was to enjoy full sovereignty in all domestic questions, including monetary affairs. Foreign policy, however, was to be decided in a Swedish-dominated joint council.

A new nation resurfaced from its previous subordinated state. But this could easily have become a short-lived episode. The pivotal year 1814 constituted in a sense a giant leap into the unknown where the key challenge was to turn visions about a sovereign Norway into a well-functioning nation-state. Establishing credible legal, political and economic institutions played a key role in the subsequent nation-building, which aimed at both knitting the people together and gaining international recognition.