This is part two of the biography of Crown Princess Märtha of Norway. Part one covers
her early childhood and early years of her marriage before world war 2. You can find
a link to part one in the description box below or simply subscribe to my channel for
easy reference to all of my videos.
I begin this video in 1939, when the Crown Prince and Princess of Norway visited the
United States on a ten-week, cross-country tour of America.
This was just prior to the invasion of Norway by German forces on the 9th of April 1940
and while the trip gave the first impression of establishing a friendship between two neutral
countries, the crown royals knew there was much more at stake.
It was on this visit that Crown Prince and Princess of Norway befriended President Franklin
Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt. But more on that in just a bit.
The tour started on the east coast in New York City in April of 1939 and then moved
across country to the west coast to include a ski trip to the Mount Rainier national park.
From there, the crown royal couple traveveled the area known as the Upper Midwest, where
many Norwegian immigrants had settled, numbering over a million at the time.
This part of America was nick named Norwegian America or “larger Norway.” And was considered
a Norwegian enclave beyond Europe.
After that it was back to the east coast and what could be considered the most important
leg of their trip.
It was vital that the crown royal couple establish a close, friendly and diplomatic relationship
with the President of the United State, Franklin Roosevelt.
Both countries were neutral in 1939 and hoped to keep their respective countries out of
the war raging across Europe.
The royal family of Norway knew that if things worsened and Germany showed signs of ignoring
Norway's neutrality, the country would need help from a stronger and more wealthy America.
The United States could do much to protect Norway’s security, principally by ensuring
freedom of the seas. A hostile naval power such as Germany could easily cripple the Norwegian
economy.
As a small nation, Norway needed powerful friends and the United States fit the bill.
During their grand tour of America in 1939, the crown royals accomplished two things.
First, their public appearances across the country emboldened the Americans of Norwegian
descent to became a powerful voice in support of their occupied compatriots in the homeland
against the isolationism of the U.S.
Secondly, during visits to both the white house and President Roosevelt's private residence
at the Hyde Park country estate, the royal couple managed to successfully befriend President
Franklin Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt - the two most powerful people in America.
It is said that during the visit at Hyde park, the President offered sanctuary in the event
of war reaching Norway to not only Märtha and the children but Prince Olav as well.
On June 29, 1939, Crown Prince Olav and Princess Märtha of Norway visited the White House
meeting with both President and Mrs. Roosevelt before heading back to Norway.
And on the 9th of April 1940, Germany invaded Norway.
To protect her family and secure the royal succession, Crown Princess Märtha fled to
her native country of Sweden while her husband and the king of Norway set up a Government-in-exile
in London where Prince Olav was appointed Chief of Defense and took command of the Norwegian
armed forces.
Before long, Princess Märtha and and her children had to leave Sweden for various reasons,
and Roosevelt would be as good as his word, orchestrating their passage from Europe to
the U.S. on the USS American Legion transport ship.
Crown Princess Märtha and her family arrived on American shores on 28 August, 1940 to take
refuge in the United States, staying first as guests of the white house and then purchasing
a property in Bethesda Maryland where she could house her family comfortably.
It would be five years before the princess and her children would return home to a liberated
Norway and during those five years, Crown Princess Märtha had the President’s ear
to advance Norway’s cause.
It is at this point that we get divergent accounts of just how helpful Princess Märtha
was in persuading America to support Norway, and possibly even influence the U.S president
to be more involved in the war raging in Europe.
The 2021 tv series, Atlantic Crossing, that aired on PBS Masterpiece, does more to muddy
the waters than bring clarity on this topic.
So little has been documented that even historians in Norway do not know the whole of the truth
as to the extent of the influence of the crown princess had in bringing the United States
out of isolationism and into the Allied war effort.
Some people like to suggest that an implied romance between Princess Märtha and Franklin
Roosevelt was the driving force behind political decisions being made. by the U.S.
This approach minimizes the crown princesses role as a strategist and savvy political player
in the events of the time.
I did a video on the fact or fiction of whether there really was any romance between Crown
Princess Martha and Franklin Roosevelt as implied in the Atlantic Crossing mini series.
Please check it out. I left a link for your in the description box below.
In my research regarding just what role Martha played in the unfolding events I found a blog
post by a Writer on the Royal Families of Europe called RoyaltyRobert who writes in
support of Princess Martha as being what he calls, Norway’s Wartime Weapon.
It is very long and involved and I encourage you to read it in full - I left a link below
in the description box.
Essentially, Royalty Robert points out just how strategic Princess Martha was, both in
her personal encounters with the Roosevelt's and by placing herself in the public eye as
a charming, down to earth representation of a member of the Norwegian royal family.
The author writes how, and i quote, "the Princess can now be regarded as a key figure in the
Norwegian war effort, particularly in the USA, as she patriotically toured hospitals,
churches and schools with links to Norway, dressed in her wide trademark hats with a
jewelled Flag of Norway brooch on her lapel."
She
used every outlet she could to keep Norway in the eyes of the public as the prime example
ot resistance to Nazi world domination.
She and her family paid regular visits to ‘Little Norway’, the Norwegian Air Force
training camp at Muskoka Aerodrome in Ontario.
She appealed to the hearts of families all over the world, using the propaganda value
of five-year-old Prince Harald, pictured for the first time in military uniform, patriotically
saluting the Norwegian flag or sitting in a flight simulator.
The Crown Princess also regularly invited the press into her Maryland home for charming
photographic opportunities, featuring the children on their bicycles or posing with
their mother in the drawing room.
Sometimes the children were also photographed with President Roosevelt and, in the case
of Prince Harald, with the President’s photogenic Scottish Terrier. It all made for good publicity,
for the Norwegian cause.
But more than just taking a Kardashian approach to her public appearances, Royalty Robert
refers to the Norwegian historian, Trond Noren Isacsson who is of the opinion that "the Crown
Princess fulfilled a decidedly political role, during her US sojourn, in that she passed
on a plethora of information to the President about the war in Europe sourced through the
Norwegian Embassy in Washington."
Another Norwegian writer and royalty historian, Tor Bomann-Larsen in a book published in 2016
tends to dow lplay the role of Martha as a political strategist and focuses more on how
Roosevelt was infatuated with her even as he admitted that there is no proof that Roosevelt
was in love with Martha. Or she with him.
Regardless of the depths of Roosevelt's feeling toward Martha, it can safely be said that
Princess Martha used her friendship with the president of the united states to the advantage
of her nation.
She worked tirelessly to keep up support for Norway among the American public and government.
ensuring the stability and well-being of all Norwegians.
So much so, that when she returned to Norway following the war in 1945, she received a
hero's welcome and was referred to as "Mother of the Nation".
Thank you for watching