In the 20th Century the Nordic region was often regarded as a politically, socially and ecclesiastically homogenous area. This was partly a conception formed by Archbishop Söderblom´s creating of a Nordic  Bishops´Council to coordinate actions and declarations by the Nordic Folk churches. The general ecumenical development during the 19th and 20th Centuries created a perceived need for a regional ecumenical organisation in the Nordic region to serve the emerging WCC. Mr Manfred Björkquist was the man who proposed the setting up of a Nordic Ecumenical Institute in Sigtuna, Sweden. His proposals were strongly critizised in particular by the Oslo Bishop, Eivind Berggrav. Bishop Berggrav managed to force Björkquist to give up his plans for academic research to be one of the objectives of the Nordic ecumenical Sigtuna Institute. In addition WCC elected to abandon the original planfor a regional membership structure for WCC. One may note a particular pattern for ecumenical impediments repeating itself. In the 19th Century intended church cooperation was made impossible in the Nordic region through political stress and theological controversy. Political stress during the 19th Century occurred when Denmark failed to muster Nordic support for a military take over of Schleswig. In the 20thCentury the 2nd World War created considerable political stress in the region. Theological controversy occurred in the 18th Century over the theology of Grundtvig and in the 20th Century over Episcopacy. Political stress and theological controversy created a non helpful context for the Nordic Ecumenical Institute after its formation in 1940. In that context the Institute had to handle the adverse effects of the loss of Academic research and the loss of a regional membership structure for WCC. The combination of losses in the unhelpful context appear to have been innate defects for an organisation that elected to ignore the dramatic changes and carry on with "business as usual" and in that manner prepare for its own disintegration.

Le présent texte propose de questionner le postulat couramment admis selon lequel l'émergence des intellectuels nationalistes au XIXe siècle est parallèle à une déchristianisation de la vie sociale et culturelle, en se focalisant sur l’ensemble des littérateurs norvégiens publiant dans la période 1811-1869. C'est plus spécifiquement les rapports entre Belles-lettres, construction nationale et sécularisation qui constituent le cœur de cette enquête, avec une attention portée sur la principale arène de la vie scientifique norvégienne : l’université de Christiania. Après avoir recensé les contraintes matérielles, politiques et religieuses qui conditionnent le développement de la vie culturelle dans la capitale du jeune royaume, l'auteur propose une analyse socio-historique systématique de tous les littérateurs norvégiens, ainsi qu'un échantillonnage des auteurs les plus productifs afin de déterminer l'évolution des rapports des écrivains, amateurs de Belles-lettres, nationalistes ou scandinavistes, avec le fait religieux et l'Église d'État norvégienne. La notion de "pratique littéraire" permet d'aborder la littérature comme un phénomène social multiforme, au croisement entre l'histoire de l'éducation, histoire des idées, histoire religieuse et sociologie de la littérature, et permet de comprendre les mutations essentielles et les ambigüités indépassables de l’identité sociale des intellectuels contemporains / This paper proposes to question the common assumption according to which the emergence of nationalist intellectuals in the 19th century is parallel to a secularization of the social and cultural life. To do so the author focuses on all Norwegian authors who published between 1811 and 1869. It is specifically the relationship between fine literature, nation-building and church life which is the core of this investigation, with a particular attention towards the main arena of scientific life in Norway: the University of Christiania. The first step has consisted in identifying the material, political and religious constraints which enabled or prevented the development of a literary social field in the capital of the newly restored kingdom. The author proposes then a systematic socio-historical analysis of all Norwegian writers, and a sampling of the most productive among them, in order to determine the evolution of the relations between nationalist or Scandinavist poets, academic authorities and the life of the Norwegian State Church. The notion of "literary practice" can address the literature as a multifaceted social phenomenon at the intersection between the history of education, history of ideas, religious history and sociology of literature, and to understand essential changes and unavoidable ambiguities of the social identity of late-modern intellectuals.

The wars between Denmark and the German states during the 19th century raised the issue in the Swedish public opinion of a potential Swedish intervention and of Scandinavism. This study examined the formation of opinion in Swedish newspapers during the years 1848-1850 and 1864 in order to identify similarities and differences in the reporting of the two wars. Furthermore, the study has aimed to examine which aspects were highlighted when it came to the possibility of a Swedish intervention and about the influence of Scandinavism surrounding this topic. The newspapers that were used as source material for the period 1848-1850 were Aftonbladet, Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning, Öresundsposten and Stockholms Aftonpost while Aftonbladet, Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning and Nya Dagligt Allehanda were used as examples for the opinions during the war of 1864. The study is focusing on external and internal influencing factors based on the realistic and idealistic traditions. Since the theory primarily deals with the view of a nation’s security and of international politics, it was modified so it could explain the newspapers perceptions of those very same issues. The results show that the opinion was ambivalent in its reporting on the external influencing factors during both wars, as both realistic and idealistic arguments were presented ongoingly. Based on the internal influencing factors, the results show that public opinion during the first war was predominantly idealistic in favour of a Swedish intervention. The most vital arguments for this were Scandinavism and the opinion formation against a norm-breaker, in this case the German states according to the newspapers. The public opinion had, however, changed during the second war to a more realistic point of view. Sweden’s self-interest and strategic situation were now being highlighted in order to emphasize that Sweden should not participate in the war. However, the results show that there were also exceptions for both periods and that the public opinion did not fully agree on the questions revolving a Swedish intervention or on Scandinavism.