Scandinavism, also called Scandinavianism,Pan-Scandinavianism, is an ideology that support various degrees of cooperation among the Scandinavian Countries. Scandinavism and Nordism are interchangeable terms for the literary, linguistic and cultural movement that focuses on promoting a shared Nordic past, a shared cultural heritage, a common Scandinavian mythology and a common linguistic root in Old Norse, and which led to the formation of joint periodicals and societies in support of Scandinavian literature and languages.
Pan-Scandinavianism as a modern movement originated in the 19th-century. The Pan-Scandinavian movement paralleled the unification movements of Germany and Italy. As opposed to the German and Italian counterparts, the Scandinavian state-building project was not successful and is no longer pursued. It was at its height in the mid-19th century and supported the idea of Scandinavian unity. It was spurred on by philological and archaelogical discoveries of the 18th century and 19th centuries, the rise of Pan-Germanism (and Pan-Slavism) and a general fear of Russian expansionism.
The movement was initiated by Danish and Swedish university students in the 1840s, with a base in Scania. In the beginning, the political establishments in the two countries, including the absolute monarch Christian VIII and Charles XIV with his "one man government", were suspicious of the movement. The movement was a significant force from 1846 to 1864, however the movement eventually dwindled and only had strong support among the Swedish-speaking population of Finland.