In late June of 1850 an official arrangement had been made that would closer bind France and the Kingdom Sweden closer together. On July 15th, the day after her eighteenth birthday Princess Marie Louise, the eldest descendent of the Emperor Napoleon II left the palace of Versailles with a royal convoy. Following the Princess was another convoy with another royal treasure, Prince Oscar II of Sweden. Both packages were on the way to Brest, where a delegation of frigates awaited to escort the Princess and Prince back to Stockholm. The date for a wedding had been arranged to take place in early December.
Before Napoleon II could depart for Stockholm to be a part of the ceremonies to celebrate the increased relations between the two nations, other matters had to be attended too. One of the more important situations was the United States; which had just ended its war with Mexico on July 8th, 1850. A bloody war had been fought between the two nations, though in the end the more triumphant United States prevailed. Though the war was hard fought, the Americans demand for compensation was lackluster and only gaining the remaining portions of Texas. In a sad ending to the war, the President Zachary Taylor died in office on July 9th.
The death of Taylor shocked the nation, as several papers claimed he had been assassinated by a citizen who was distraught by his moderate views of slavery – and his unwillingness to confront the institution before it spread even further. The “assassination” occurred on July 4th, when it is said, according to one eye witness that he saw a man slipping arsenic into the president’s iced drink that day. It took hardened President several days to succumb to his illness; after which his doctors described cause of death as gastroenteritis (stomach flu). The doctors mentioned this illness was caused by the consumption of cherries and iced milk that had been contaminated by flies – which were common throughout the swampy capitol during the summer. The prominent New York Herald doubted the doctor’s assertion, as no other person gathered at the Independence Day celebration fell ill.
The death of Taylor, who held a strong relationship and respect for the House of Bonaparte and the French military, was to have a profound affect on the beloved nation. Though the affect of Taylor’s death would not be felt immediately, another event would have profound repercussions throughout Europe. On November 28th, the governments Sweden and Denmark agreed to come to an understanding and reforged the long-dead “Kalmar Union” that united the countries from 1397 to 1523. What brought about the talks was a meeting of Swedish and Danish university students at Scania – though the organization was heavily policed by the authorities until 1844. In 1844, with when King Oscar 1 (father of Oscar II, which Princes Marie Louise is to marry) assumed the throne the Pan-Scandinavianism movement received official support.
After years of negotiation between the House of Oldenburg (Denmark) and the House of Bernadette (Sweden), a declaration was announced on November 8th that the two countries would merge into the Kingdom of Scandinavia. At the head of this new kingdom would be King Oscar I. The Napoleonic administration was shocked. With little effort on its part, it had suddenly had a powerful friend, and non-Bonaparte ruled ally within the European continent. Though how long this alliance would last was questionable as two of France’s major rivals, England and Russia were now attempting to sway the new kingdom’s opinion.
Europe after the unification of the Kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.