The Kings Bay Affair ( Kings Bay-saken ) was a political issue in Norway that reached its apex in 1963 and brought down the government of Einar Gerhardsen and formed the basis for non-socialist coalition politics in Norway that persisted to the end of the 20th century. The affair was a dramatic episode in Norwegian history that portended the end of the Gerhardsen dynasty and the emergence of a more articulate and coherent political alternative in the non-socialist camp. It is also credited with galvanizing the radical socialist wing of Norwegian politics in time for the EU debate nine years later.
26-597: The Kings Bay Coal Mining Company was a coal mining operation based in Ny-Ålesund on the Norwegian territory of Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean . Since 1933 it had been a wholly owned crown company, held by the Norwegian government. Between 1945 and 1963, 71 people died in three major accidents in the mines. On November 5, 1962, a mining accident at Kings Bay mines killed 21 miners in an explosion. In response,
52-409: A different political party or faction is in power. A re-nationalization process may also be called "reverse privatization". Nationalization has been used to refer to either direct state-ownership and management of an enterprise or to a government acquiring a large controlling share of a publicly listed corporation . According to research by Paasha Mahdavi, leaders who consider nationalization face
78-482: A dilemma: "nationalize and reap immediate gains while risking future prosperity, or maintain private operations, thereby passing on revenue windfalls but securing long-term fiscal streams." He argues that leaders "nationalize extractive resources to extend the duration of their power" by using "this increased capital to secure political support." Nationalization can have positive and negative effects. In 2019 research based on studies from Greenwich University found that
104-426: A government to take property in certain situations. Due to political risks that are involved when countries engage in international business, it is important to understand the expropriation risks and laws within each of the countries in which business is conducted in order to understand the risks as an investor in that country. Studies have found that nationalization follows a cyclical trend. Nationalization rose in
130-545: A strategy to build socialism, more commonly nationalization was also undertaken and used to protect and develop industries perceived as being vital to a nation's competitiveness (such as aerospace and shipbuilding), or to protect jobs in certain industries. Nationalization has had varying levels of support throughout history. After the Second World War , nationalization was supported by social democratic and democratic socialist parties throughout Western Europe, such as
156-614: Is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state . Nationalization contrasts with privatization and with demutualization . When previously nationalized assets are privatized and subsequently returned to public ownership at a later stage, they are said to have undergone renationalization . Industries often subject to nationalization include telecommunications , electric power , fossil fuels , railways , airlines , iron ore , media , postal services , banks , and water (sometimes called
182-401: Is the seizure of private property by a public agency for a purpose deemed to be in the public interest. It may also be used as a penalty for criminal proceedings. Expropriation differs from eminent domain in that the property owner is not compensated for the seized property. Unlike eminent domain, expropriation may also refer to the taking of private property by a private entity authorized by
208-709: The Conservative Party of Norway was the first non-Labour government in Norway after World War II, but it lasted for only a few weeks. Its initial declaration failed to survive a vote of no-confidence from the Labour Party and Sosialistisk Folkeparti. Kings Bay AS Kings Bay AS is a government enterprise owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry that operates the entire settlement of Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard . The settlement,
234-579: The Storting established an investigatory commission in the summer of 1963. The commission's report found several deficiencies in the management of the mine. Among other things, it found culpability on the part of the minister of industry at the time, Kjell Holler . The non-socialist opposition to the Labour Party government demanded that Holler be dismissed, but prime minister Einar Gerhardsen claimed that Kings Bay operations were not accountable to
260-451: The commanding heights of the economy ), and in many jurisdictions such entities have no history of private ownership. Nationalization may occur with or without financial compensation to the former owners . Nationalization is distinguished from property redistribution in that the government retains control of nationalized property . Some nationalizations take place when a government seizes property acquired illegally. For example, in 1945
286-649: The 1960s and 1970s, followed by an increase in privatization in the 80s and 90s, followed again by an increase in nationalization in the 2000s and 2010s. The term appears as "expropriation of expropriators ( ruling classes )" in Marxist theory , and also as the slogan "Loot the looters!" ("грабь награбленное"), which was very popular during the Russian October Revolution . The term is also used to describe nationalization campaigns by communist states , such as dekulakization and collectivization in
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#1732771811391312-680: The 1990s, research activities expanded in Ny-Ålesund. In 1998 Kings Bay Kull Compani AS changed its name to Kings Bay AS , removing the final reference to coal. Ny-Ålesund has been the starting point for many famous polar expeditions, including Roald Amundsen’s and Umberto Nobile’s journey to the North Pole. This Svalbard -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Nationalization Nationalization ( nationalisation in British English )
338-544: The British Labour Party . In the United States, potentially nationalizing healthcare is often a topic of political disagreement and makes frequent appearances in debates between political candidates. A 2020 poll shows that a majority (63%) of Americans support a nationalized healthcare system. A re-nationalization occurs when state-owned assets are privatized and later nationalized again, often when
364-457: The French government seized the car-maker Renault because its owners had collaborated with the 1940–1944 Nazi occupiers of France . In September 2021, Berliners voted to expropriate over 240,000 housing units , many of which were being held unoccupied as investment property. Economists distinguish between nationalization and socialization , which refers to the process of restructuring
390-601: The Gerhardsen cabinet's resignation. Technically, the SF representatives were trying to make the point that they had lost confidence in the current cabinet but not in the party that led it. A photograph, published by Aftenposten , of Gerhardsen leaving the lectern at the Storting as John Lyng approaches it, the two crossing paths, has become an icon in Norwegian political history. The non-socialist cabinet formed by John Lyng of
416-403: The Labour Party representatives were not inclined to support the vote. Since the non-socialist coalition and the Labour Party each had 74 of the total 150 representatives, the deciding vote fell to the two representatives of the leftist socialist party Sosialistisk Folkeparti . In an interesting parliamentary twist, Sosialistisk Folkeparti (SF) proposed its own vote of no-confidence, which led to
442-514: The USSR . However, nationalization is not a specifically socialist strategy, and Marxism's founders were skeptical of its value. As Engels put it: Therein precisely lies the rub; for, so long as the propertied classes remain at the helm, nationalisation never abolishes exploitation but merely changes its form — in the French, American or Swiss republics no less than in monarchist Central, and despotic Eastern, Europe. Nikolai Bukharin also criticised
468-581: The context of a political crisis in Norway known as the Kings Bay Affair ( Kings Bay-saken ). A research facility was subsequently set up in at Ny-Ålesund, to be run by the company. From 1964 to 1974, through an agreement with the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), the island housed a Norwegian satellite telemetry station. Kings Bay resumed primary responsibility for facilities operations in 1974. In
494-408: The economic framework, organizational structure, and institutions of an economy on a socialist basis. By contrast, nationalization does not necessarily imply social ownership and the restructuring of the economic system . Historically, states have carried out nationalizations for various different purposes under a wide variety of different political systems and economic systems . Nationalization
520-440: The first time in his entire tenure as prime minister, forced to appear before the parliament and answer for his cabinet's actions. The opposition, previously fragmented, found unity in proposing a vote of no-confidence to the parliament on the rationale that if shareholders can unseat a board for a corporation, then a government that owns a corporation that is mismanaged must be similarly held accountable. For understandable reasons,
546-416: The most northerly civilian settlement in the world , serves research staff. The company provides the necessary infrastructure, such as transport (including the airport Ny-Ålesund Airport, Hamnerabben ), real estate , power and water supply, catering and other facilities. The company is also responsible for administering Bjørnøen AS , a government enterprise that owns the entire island of Bjørnøya . In
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#1732771811391572-770: The motivations of the nationalizing party. Nationalization was employed towards the Panama Canal by the Panamanian Government, which came under the Panama Canal Authority in 1999, to internationally positive effect. Likewise, the Suez Canal was nationalized multiple times throughout history. In Germany, the Federal Press [ Bundesdruckerei ] was nationalized in 2008 with positive revenue and net income since. Expropriation
598-498: The nationalization of key services such as water, bus, railways and broadband in the United Kingdom could save £13bn every year. Nationalization may produce other effects, such as reducing competition in the marketplace, which in turn reduces incentives to innovation and maintains high prices. In the short run, nationalization can provide a larger revenue stream for government but may cause that industry to falter depending on
624-445: The parliament, since the company was run under a corporate charter rather than a government agency. This was the pretext, but the underlying issue was constitutional: the non-socialist coalition was protesting against what they perceived as a shift of power away from the legislative in favour of the executive branch in Norway. Having previously enjoyed the confidence of a Labour-dominated parliament since World War II , Gerhardsen was, for
650-400: The summer the company also handles cruise ships that arrive at Ny-Ålesund. Ny-Ålesund has been the starting point for many famous polar expeditions, including Roald Amundsen’s and Umberto Nobile’s journey to the North Pole. The company was founded in 1916 as Kings Bay Kull Company with the intention of operating a coal mine . It was later nationalized , and in 1962 the mine closed in
676-436: Was one of the major mechanisms advocated by reformist socialists and social democrats for gradually transitioning to socialism. In this context, the goals of nationalization were to dispossess large capitalists, redirect the profits of industry to the public purse, and establish some form of workers' self-management as a precursor to the establishment of a socialist economic system. Although sometimes undertaken as part of
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