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The History of the Norwegian General Consulate in Arkhangelsk

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The History of the Norwegian General Consulate in Arkhangelsk The history of the Norwegian General Consulate in Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk International Being the first Russian sea port, Arkhangelsk early became an international town. Its well-being was based on the active trade with the foreign countries and this explains the fact that there always were a lot of foreigners among the city residents. The people of foreign nationalities and citizenships even established a sort of own settlement in the centre of the city known as “Nemetzkaya Sloboda”. Famous Arkhangelsk historian Evgeny Ovsyankin in his book “The Merchant's Arkhangelsk” wrote that in 1913 among the city residents there were 464 foreigners. He stressed that the foreign merchants who lived in Arkhangelsk in fact controlled the major part of international trade in the city and owned most of the trade fleet. Some of the local prominent merchants got the titles of Honorary Consuls of the foreign countries. Even after the Socialist Revolution 1917 the number of foreigners in Arkhangelsk was rather substantial. The census 1923 showed that among the foreigners living in the city were 165 Germans, 34 Finns and 24 Norwegians. The total population of the city at that time was almost 55 thousand people. In 1916 Arkhangelsk had six General Consulates of other countries: of Great Britain, France, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands and Belgium. Norwegian colonization Norway was one of the main economic partners for the Northern Russia especially in the period of glorious Pomor trade but not only trade operations defined the character of relations between our two countries. There are a lot of stories telling how the sons and daughters of the rich Pomor merchants got an education in Tromso, Hammerfest and Oslo while young Norwegians learned music and foreign languages in Arkhangelsk. The local historians note that the period from 1870ties till the beginning of the First World War was a sort of “Norwegian colonization” in Arkhangelsk. In this period for example the famous Norwegian entrepreneur Martin Olsen and his friend and partner Karl Stampe founded here the firm “Ulsen, Stampe & Co” which built four sawmills in the region. One of those “Stella Polyare” founded by Olsen in 1903 still works in Narjan-Mar. Another big Norwegian sawmill was established in Arkhangelsk in 1913 by Friedrich Prutz and among its shareholders there were many famous Norwegians. Even Fridtjof Nansen owned the shares of “Prutz&Co” for 20 000 NOK. The Swedish-Norwegian General Consulate was established in Arkhangelsk in 1815. After 1905 it became clearly Norwegian and Norway was the last country which closed its Consulate in Arkhangelsk in the end of 1930-s. The last Consul The end of the Norwegian Consulate in Arkhangelsk was dramatic. After reopening of official trade relations between Soviet Russia and Norway in 1921 the trade mission of Norway was established in Arkhangelsk and three years later the activity of the Norwegian General Consulate here was renewed. The functions of the Norwegian Consul in Arkhangelsk in this period were executed by the entrepreneur Einar Anvik. But in 1930 Consul Anvik committed suicide in his cabinet. The last Norwegian General Consul was Arnold Wicklund, a son of the entrepreneur Adolf Wicklund who was born in Ibestad, Troms county, and moved to Arkhangelsk in 1870-s. Arnold was born in Arkhangelsk in 1886. In 1909 he married a Russian woman Vera Aaronova. In 1920ties he served in the Consulate as a secretary. In the end of 1920-s the relations between Norway and the Russian Federation have become worse. Some bashful attempts to revive the privileges of Pomor Trade had no results. Russia announced a state monopoly for the foreign trade and this meant that the last page of the Pomor-Norwegian trade is closed. The last Pomor vessel from Arkhangelsk visited Northern Norway in 1929. The Soviet Government was hardly disappointed that Norway did not recognize the Russian sovereignty over Franz-Joseph archipelago. The Soviet military vessels captured the Norwegian fishing boats in the eastern part of the Barents Sea. In 1933 the Norwegian Minister of Defence Vidkun Quisling hardly criticized the Soviet Union in his address to the Norwegian Parliament, Stortinget, which caused a strong diplomatic tension between the USSR and Norway. Jozef Stalin was very angry that Norway granted a shelter to his political rival and private enemy Lev Trotzky in 1935-1936. In the night of November 1937 all people who had any sorts of relations to the General Consulate of Norway in Arkhangelsk including Russian employees, relatives, private friends, business partners etc.- totally 54 persons, - were arrested. The arrests within the so called “Wicklund Case” continued in 1938 and even in 1940ties. The researcher Yury Doikov in his book “Arkhangelsk Shadows” assumed that totally over 200 Arkhangelsk citizens were arrested within the “Wicklund Case”. Most of the deferred were shot, other sent to GULAG camps. After interrogations and tortures the arrested acknowledged that Arnold Wicklund was a head of the British espionage organization in Arkhangelsk which purpose was to prepare the conditions for foreign invasion to the North of Russia. On November 27, 1937, the secretary of the Regional Communist Party organization Nikanorov sent a report to Jozef Stalin and asked him to study an expediency of the Norwegian Consulate in Arkhangelsk further functioning in Arkhangelsk. Two months later the Political Bureau of the Communist Party requested the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs to expel from the country the Norwegian Consul Wicklund as an organizer of espionage, diversionary and terrorist activity in Russia. It is interesting to note that the Soviet Government did not officially request to close the Consulate in Arkhangelsk like it was done with the Consulate in Leningrad. On May 12, 1938 Arnold Wicklund, the last General Consul of Norway in Arkhangelsk, his wife Vera and daughter Margaret have left the city. Arnold Wicklund died in Oslo in 1967. Written by Andrey Shalyov, head of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat’s Russian offices .
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