The civil war era for Norway began after the death of “King Sigurd the Crusader in 1130” (Wiki- Civil War). King Sigurd had a son called Magnus, however when Magnus took the throne after his fathers death another man named Harald Gillekrist stepped up to claim the throne for himself. He had many supporters and it started a long period of fighting and shifting of alliances between many kings or men pretending to be kings. This fighting between different supporters continued until the end of the 12th century when, “two rival parties emerged, known as the Birkebeiner and the Bagler” (Wiki- Civil War). The Birkebeiners were mainly made up of poor rebels, (Wiki-Birkebeiner) while the Baglers were mostly made of Norwegian aristocrats and merchants (Wiki-Bagler). They fought each other for control until 1240 which was finally the end of the civil war in Norway. (Wiki- Civil War)
Norway’s civil war can be classified as a civil war in regards to the definition of a civil war given by David Samuels. Looking at the first section of the definition it says, “armed combat within the boundaries of a sovereign state.” The civil wars of Norway were contained within the state of Norway between men and their supporters seeking to be king and hold all of the power. There is no evidence that there was any spillover into other countries. There is also the question of what is a sovereign state? Samuels defines sovereignty as, “responsibility and legal authority over the conduct of internal affairs within a territory” (Samuels,382). As far as Norway during that time, the king of the land had sole control over the country and the people within. No countries outside of Norway got involved with the affairs during that time, and therefore it was considered a sovereign state. So this section of definition is a very solid piece needed for a war to be considered a civil war.
The second section of the definition is that a civil war is, “between parties that are subject to a common authority at the start of the hostilities.” The civil war in Norway involved many different parties and small groups of supporters fighting against each other. Each supporting different kings or pretenders. If the definition had specified that there were only two parties fighting then Norway’s civil war would not have been able to be classified under this definition, however it just says “parties” which therefore can imply more than two. There was also common authority in Norway when the fighting started; King Magnus was in charge and in full power before his uncle tried to take control of the throne. (Wiki- Civil War) Therefore, the second part of the definition given by David Samuels holds up against the civil war in Norway.
There are many definitions to the word “civil war” though not all of them hold true to certain scenarios in history. The definition given by the author David Samuels is easily supported in history, specifically by the civil wars of Norway in which fighting was held within the state by multiple parties when they were under the same authority, the King. A strong definition that can be supported through history.
Work Cited
"Bagler." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Jan. 2012. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagler.
"Birkebeiner." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2012. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkebeiner.
"Civil War Era in Norway." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Jan. 2012. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_war_era_in_Norway>.
Samuels, David. Comparative Politics. NYC: Pearson Education, 2011. Print
This must have been some tough research to find but you pulled it off well. I certainly had no idea Norway had a civil war or that civil wars existed that early in history for that matter.
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