Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Oil Years
Although there were initial fears in the postwar years that Norway would join the Eastern
Bloc of Communist countries under the Soviet orbit - the Communist party made strong
gains in postwar elections and even took part in coalition governments - the Iron Curtain
remained firmly in place at the Russian border. More than that, Norway made a clear state-
mentofintentin1945whenitbecameafoundingmemberoftheUN.Everconsciousofits
proximity to Russia, the country also abandoned its neutrality by joining NATO in 1949.
Letting bygones be bygones, Norway joined with other Scandinavian countries to form the
Nordic Council in 1952.
There was just one problem: Norway was broke and in desperate need of money for
reconstruction, particularly in the Arctic North. At first, it appeared that the increasingly
prosperous merchant navy and whaling fleet would provide a partial solution, but in truth
Norway struggled through (postwar rationing continued until 1952) as best it could.
That would soon change in the most dramatic way possible. Oil was discovered in the
North Sea in the late 1960s and the economy boomed, transforming Norway from one
of Europe's poorest countries to one of its richest; for more information on Norway's oil
bounty, see the boxed text,
Click here
.
Travel Lit on Modern Norway
»
The Magnetic North: Notes from the Arctic Circle,
Sara Wheeler
»
True North: Travels in Arctic Norway
, Gavin Francis
Modern Norway
Since oil transformed the Norwegian economy, successive socialist governments (and
short-lived conservative ones) have used the windfalls (alongside high income taxes and
service fees) to foster one of the most extensive social welfare systems in history, with free
medical care and higher education, as well as generous pension and unemployment bene-
fits. And there looks to be no end in sight for the era of government largesse - its rapidly
rising oil fund for future generations has soared to nearly US$450 billion. It all adds up to
what the government claims is the 'most egalitarian social democracy in Western Europe'.
Thanks in part to its oil wealth, Norway wields a level of influence on the international
stage far out of proportion to its relatively small population. Its energetic participation in
a range of international institutions, its pivotal involvement in peace processes from the
