[POTN] 2.16 - Christian, Chancellor of Norway

Following the loss of control over Norway, King Frederik became more determined to expel Swedish occupation forces from mainland Denmark and consolidate his power throughout the kingdom. Throughout 1659 and the earlier part of 1660, Frederik spent much time on selling royal treasures, so to gather enough capital to pay the reparations in full.

Heavy taxes were also placed on Norway, now headed by Prince Christian. The latter, unwilling to tax the already suffering Norwegians, chose to deplete the Norwegian treasury to pay Frederik the amount he demanded, crippling the Norwegian government's finance for quite some time. Meanwhile, in Norway, Prince Christian, now Chancellor, sought to revive the Norwegian national identity after centuries of union with Denmark. An election was held among Norwegian elites in April 1660, to form Norway's first modern Parliament - named the Storting by Christian, referencing the medieval Norwegian assemblies.

The first session of the Storting was officially opened on 7th June, 1660, with Prince Christian requiring all members to swear loyalty to King Frederik III as King of Norway. 7th June was made the "Storting Day", a national celebratory day for Norway ever since. Still, the Storting did not hold absolute executive power, which largely remained in Prince Christian's hands. Christian dedicated himself to reform Norway's society, following the Swedish precedent in some aspects, while separating the Norwegian military from the Danish one, ensuring Norway has a native military that is loyal to Norway alone.

In the meantime, Norway also developed trade with other European partners, including France and the Dutch Republic, in an attempt to build an independent economy for Norway, free from Danish control. Iceland, while a Norwegian dependency in name, had been put under strict trade monopoly by Denmark since 1604. That had largely evicted any foreign population from the island, eliminating any opportunities for Christian's government to take control of the island.

The Faroe Islands, however, was put under the governance of a Danish noble family, headed by Christoffer Gabel, by King Frederik in 1655. The Danes' oppressive rule had caused the resentment of many Faroese, and Prince Chrityian wished to take advantage of the situation. While an outright annexation of the islands by Norway would be highly unfeasible, Christian maintained contact with the local leaders on the island, in order to disrupt Danish naval activities should war ever break out with Denmark.

Meanwhile, in Sweden, King Gustav was receiving unparalleled support throughout his realms after a largely successful war with relatively low casualties. The number of Swedish deaths in the war was very low by usual standards, with a majority of casualties of the Swedish side suffered by the German mercenaries and the conscripted Poles. With such popularity, Gustav sought to amend the Instrument of Government 1634, which was put in place very early in his reign, when he was barely six years ago.

The Instrument did not specify the role of the monarch in governance, causing many troubles for Gustav when he tried to enforce his will. For years, he had been utilising different loopholes to bypass the limitations specified in the Instrument. Yet, now with a massive victory and the people's backing, Gustav no longer saw a need to appease previously power-wielding nobles, and began drafting a new document to control the government.

Ever since the sudden death of Erik Oxenstierna in late 1656, Gustav did not appoint a new Chancellor, much to the Riksdag's shock. Yet, upon the Riksdag's inquiry, Gustav always cited excuses, arguing that he had not been able to seek a suitable candidate for the job. After the signing of the Treaty of Frederikshald, Sweden was finally no longer in war, the first time in over four years. The Riksdag, along with many nobles, expected Gustav to appoint a Chancellor as peace had finally come, but Gustav still refused to even consider it.

In fact, as the war ended, Gustav, along with his political allies and trusted advisors, had begun drafting a new Instrument of Government that would rid of the post of Chancellor entirely, in order to affirm the monarch's status as the nation's absolute decision-maker.

The Instrument of Government 1660 was officially presented by the King to the Riksdag in late April. The Riksdag was highly divided, with some supporting the King while the others vehemently against it, due to the document's drastic deviation from the previous Instrument of Government.

The draft, should it be passed, would greatly expand the monarch's power, re-introducing the monarch as the head of the state and the government. The abolition of the role of Chancellor would also mean that all ministers would report to the monarch, or those appointed by the monarch, directly. Meanwhile, for a bill to be passed into a law, the condition would also be changed from obtaining "both parliamentary majority support and royal assent" to "either parliamentary majority support or royal assent", essentially allowing the monarch to sign any decree into law, and to abolish such a law would require a supermajority in the Riksdag.

On paper, a bill could be passed with Riksdag support despite the monarch's opposition. Yet, in reality, that would hardly be the case. The Instrument would also restrict the right to submit bills to the Riksdag to the monarch and those appointed by the monarch, meaning that a bill wouldn't even be allowed to be debated in the Riksdag without the monarch's approval. On Prince Karl's insistence, the military's role was also formalised in the Instrument. The military would henceforth be allowed to send a few representatives to be members of the Riksdag, actively joining in the governance of the nation.

Still, in order to appease the nobles, concessions were made by Gustav in favour of the Riksdag. One of them is to limit the monarch's right to dissolve the Riksdag, no longer allowing them to order for the Riksdag to be dissolved as frequently as they wish. After all, Princess Kristina's issue with the Riksdag in 1654 was still a bitter memory for many. As the Riksdag would be significantly less influential as stated in the Instrument, Gustav was willing to agree not to dissolve the Riksdag whenever he wished.

It was specified that the monarch could only dissolve the Riksdag against the Riksdag's wishes once per year at most. Nonetheless, should the Riksdag vote in favour of dissolving itself, the monarch's approval would not be required, and the monarch could not force a self-dissolving Riksdag to stay in duty. The new Instrument caused huge debates in the Riksdag, but Gustav's popularity among the nobles, especially after the recent war, eventually won over. On Gustav's 32th birthday, 29th May, 1660, the Instrument of Government 1660 was passed by the Riksdag with a narrow margin, and was signed into law by Gustav on 6th June, the National Day, becoming Sweden's new constitutional document.

With power consolidated, Gustav, along with Princess Kristina and other trusted political allies, began to move forward with their long-planned monetary reformed.

Back before the start of the war, Princess Kristina already had a plan to introduce paper money into Sweden. Yet, with the state of emergency during the war, monetary reform was not possible, and the plan was dropped temporarily. Yet, with Gustav's support after the end of the war, Kristina officially presented the plan to the Riksdag in September 1660. The Stockholm Banco, established by Swedish entrepreneur Johan Palmstruch, was given the de facto state bank status after negotiations with the government.

The bank was allowed to print banknotes, with conditions set by the government. The banknotes, called the Kreditivsedlar, were allowed into circulation in early 1661, representing the first European banknotes in modern history. This was additionally supported by the large influx of cash from Denmark, as millions were paid by Copenhagen in a short period of time to Stockholm amidst King Frederik's desperate attempt to rid of the Swedish occupying forces all over Denmark.

After Frederik's almost obsessive attempts to pay reparations for a year, the last installments were finally paid in late July. After over two years of occupation, the Swedish forces finally left Denmark for good, returning to their homes in early August, 1660. Despite losing the war, mainland Denmark did not suffer too much. While forced to cede Scania and Bornholm to the Swedes, the mainland Danes were largely unaffected, with the burden of the reparations largely put on the Norwegians. In cities like Copenhagen which were never occupied, King Frederik's personal popularity remained high, credited to his refusal to flee the capital during the Siege.

Still, the population was rather dissatisfied with the military, which lost the war disastrously in merely a few months. Taking advantage of the situation, King Frederik began spreading a narrative in early 1659, shifting all the blame of the defeat on the Danish nobles and their bureaucracy, while playing victim, insisting that he, as the King, was unable to assume full, efficient control of the military.

In September 1660, after the last Swedish troops left Denmark, King Frederik suddenly declared a state of emergency throughout all Denmark, authorising the royal guards to detain anyone suspected to be treasonous.

By rallying the common people to his support, Frederik managed to neutralise opposition from resentful nobles in a few weeks. By the end of October, he was in charge of the entire kingdom, with the Rigsråd meetings closely monitored by Frederik's royal guards, and the opposition would not dare speak anything against the King.

Frederik successfully forced the Rigsråd to renounce the traditional Danish elective monarchy, replacing it with a hereditary monarchy, with only Frederik's children eligible for the Danish throne. The coronation charter that Frederik signed in 1648 upon his election as King was also returned to him ceremonially, signifying that he was no longer bounded by the document.

In early November, Frederik officially named his eldest son, Prince Christian, 14, the Crown Prince of Denmark, ordering the Rigsråd to recognise him as the next legitimate King of Denmark. Despite resentment from some nobles, they were mostly kept silenced, as Frederik made the implication rather clear that any dissents would be silenced as soon as possible, by the royal guards still loyal to him above all.