History

Briefly -

Sweden:

During the Viking Age (800 - 1050 AD), many Viking expeditions set off from Sweden to both plunder and trade along the Baltic coast and the rivers that stretched deep into present-day Russia. The Vikings travelled as far as the Black and Caspian Seas, where they developed trading links with the Byzantine Empire and the Arab kingdoms; slaves were brought back to Scandinavia to work on the Norwegian farms. 

Christianity first reached Sweden with a mission led by Ansgar, who visited in the 9th century, but the country was not converted to Christianity until the 11th century.

Trade grew during the 14th century, especially with the German towns grouped under the leadership of Lübeck. By the mid-16th century, this group, known as the Hanseatic League, dominated Swedish trade.

In 1397, the Kalmar Union was formed, with the three Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, united. 

However, following a rebellion, Gustav Vasa was elected king of Sweden in 1523. Sweden sought control over the Baltic Sea in the ensuing years and there were several wars with Denmark, Poland and Russia and gaining Finland and later surrendering it. 

Sweden is a member of NATO and the EU but voted against taking on the Euro.

Norway:

During the Viking Age (793 - 1066 AD),  the Vikings raided various places including Ireland, France, England and Scotland, and ended when Harald Hardrada unsuccessfully attempted to conquer England in 1066.

The Middle Ages were characterized by land ownership by the king, church or the aristocracy. There were several wars in this period mainly about unclear succession laws. These wars ended in 1217 when Håkon Håkonsson was appointed king. In 1349, the Black Death spread to Norway. Within a year, a third of the population had died.

In the 14th century, Norway entered into a union with Denmark. Political power was lost and “outsourced” and trade and commerce was was taken over by the Hanseatic League.

In 1814, after the Napoleonic wars, Norway was handed over to Sweden; this union ended in 1905 and Norway achieved full independence in 1905 when Haakon VII was crowned the King of Norway.

Norway was invaded by Germany in 1940 and after liberation and later became a member of NATO although rejected the EU.

Faroe Islands:

Around year 900, the Faroese Althing (parliamentary council or assembly) was formed, making it the oldest existing parliament in the world today. 

The Faroe Islands become a Norwegian province in 1035, the same year as the death of Tróndur í Gøtu, the last Viking chieftain of the Faroe Islands. 

In 1349, the devastating pandemic The Black Death reaches the Faroe Islands, killing approximately a third of the population. 

Following the invasion and occupation of Denmark in 1940, British forces launched “Operation Valentine” to occupy the Faroe Islands in an effort to pre-empt a German invasion. The occupation lasted until the end of the Second World War, with the last British troops leaving in 1945. 

In 1948, the Home Rule Act is passed cementing the status of the Faroe Islands as a self-governing country within the Danish realm.

Iceland: 

Iceland was founded by chance during the Viking Age and settled by Norsemen from Scandinavia and Celts from the British Isles. 

In 930, the Alþingi was established, making it one of the world's oldest existing parliaments. Around the year 1000, under the threat of a civil war between the two religious groups, a chieftain was appointed to decide the future of the country. He decided that Iceland should convert to Christianity as a whole, but that pagans would be allowed to worship privately. 

When Olaf II, King of Denmark, gained the Norwegian throne in 1380, Iceland was placed under Danish sovereignty. 

In 1550, the Danish king imposed a Protestant religious Reformation on the island. 

During the 1700s, famine, smallpox, sheep disease and volcanic eruptions took a great toll on life and property.  

Iceland was captured by Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, but was returned to Denmark in 1815 by the Treaty of Vienna.

The nation won complete domestic autonomy in 1903. 

By the terms of the Icelandic-Danish Act of Union in 1918, Iceland became a sovereign nation under the crown of Denmark. 

In 1944, the Althing (supreme national parliament) unanimously adopted a resolution ending the Icelandic-Danish Act of Union and Iceland was formally proclaimed a republic. 

The occupation of Denmark during World War II severed communication between Iceland and Denmark, and although Iceland refused British offers of protection against Nazi Germany in order to remain neutral, when the British Army invaded in 1940, there was no resistance. 

In 1946 all American troops were withdrawn from the island, with the provision however, that an airport be made available for use by both civil and military aircraft operated by or on behalf of the U.S. obligations in occupied Germany. 

During the1950s and 1970s, there was a dispute with Great Britain: the Cod Wars. Iceland's economic development and need to expand its fishing radius was not welcomed, but after two decades of dispute, the British government eventually gave in and accepted Icelandic conditions on catch limits and reduced the number of British fishing vessels in waters near Iceland.