Treaty of Kiel: Denmark cedes Norway to Sweden
- When
- 1814–1815
- Where
- Kiel; Swedish Pomerania (transferred to Prussia)
- Episodes
- 3
The Treaty of Kiel, concluded on 14 January 1814, ended hostilities between the anti-French coalition and Denmark-Norway. Frederick VI ceded Norway to Sweden in exchange for Swedish Pomerania, ending the Denmark-Norway union. The treaty excluded Norwegian dependencies from the transfer, while Sweden later refused to hand over Pomerania, which passed to Prussia.
Episodes
- Swedish Pomerania Dispute
Sweden refused to hand over Swedish Pomerania, which subsequently passed to Prussia after the Congress of Vienna.
- Conclusion of the Treaty
The Treaty of Kiel was concluded on 14 January 1814, ending hostilities between the anti-French alliance and Denmark-Norway.
- Cession of Norway and Pomerania
Frederick VI ceded Norway to Sweden in exchange for Swedish Pomerania, excluding Norwegian dependencies from the transfer.
Background and detail
Background. Denmark-Norway allied with France during the Napoleonic Wars, engaging in the Gunboat War against Britain. Sweden joined the Sixth Coalition, with Crown Prince Bernadotte demanding Norway as a condition for alliance. Following Napoleon's defeat at Leipzig, Swedish forces defeated the Danish army, occupying Holstein and Schleswig, setting the stage for negotiations in Kiel.
Terms. Frederick VI joined the anti-French alliance, ceding Heligoland to Britain and Norway to Sweden in return for Swedish Pomerania. The treaty explicitly excluded Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands from the transfer, keeping them in union with Denmark. Negotiations involved Danish diplomat Edmund Bourke and Swedish envoy Baron Gustaf af Wetterstedt under British mediation.
Aftermath. Sweden refused to hand over Swedish Pomerania, which passed to Prussia after the Congress of Vienna. Norway accepted a personal union with Sweden at the Convention of Moss, formally established when the Storting elected Charles XIII as king on 4 November 1814. Denmark and Sweden relinquished claims to Pomerania in favor of Prussia.
People involved
- Frederick VI of Denmark · King of Denmark and Norway
- Edmund Bourke · Danish diplomat
- Baron Gustaf af Wetterstedt · Swedish envoy
Sources
- Treaty of Kiel Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-10
- Frederick VI of Denmark Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-28
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.