Battle of the Square

The Battle of the Square (Norwegian: Torvslaget) was a skirmish between Norwegian demonstrators and forces of the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway that took place in Christiania (now Oslo, Norway) in the evening of 17 May 1829.

The demonstrators were participating in the annual celebration of the Constitution of Norway, which was outlawed by Charles XIV John of Sweden, King of Sweden and Norway, the previous year. The intervention by police and troops roused civic outrage in Norway, and forced Charles XIV to lift the prohibition.

In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark ceded Norway to the King of Sweden (significantly, not the Kingdom of Sweden) in the Treaty of Kiel signed in January 1814. When this became known to Norwegians, it provoked additional support for an independent Norway. Prince Christian Frederik of Denmark, and viceroy in Norway, was elected on 17 May 1814 as King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly under a new constitution.

However, the Treaty of Kiel ultimately prevailed. Frederik was unable to secure international support, which was in support of the treaty. In a short war with Sweden in July and August 1814, Crown Prince Carl John of Sweden, and later King Charles XIV John of Sweden, defeated the Norwegians and ousted Frederik. Carl John's generous peace terms recognized the Norwegian constitution, requiring only those sections which prevented a personal union with Sweden to be modified. On 30 August, King Charles XIII of Sweden (known as Charles II in Norway) was proclaimed the ruler of the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway.

Charles XIII died on 5 February 1818 and was succeeded by Carl John, as Charles XIV John of Sweden and Charles III John of Norway. While he had agreed to allow the Norwegians to keep their constitution, Charles XIV John disapproved of the annual celebrations; he believed they were more in honour of the deposed Christian Frederik rather than himself as King of Norway. Charles XIV John made it a point to attend the celebrations in Christiania, until 1828 when be forbade the celebrations altogether.

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