Today, Norway is often portrayed as the pinnacle of harmony between the classes. It’s presented as a social-democratic paradise, where compromises between labor and capital have reached the perfect balance between a strong welfare state and a profitable private sector.

But social and political conditions in Norway have not always been so harmonious — for the foundations of the so-called Norwegian model were laid during the bitter class struggles of the interwar years. During this period, Norway (together with neighboring Sweden) set an unofficial world record in labor disputes. Each year between 1920 and 1940, these two Scandinavian countries saw between ten and twenty-five disputes per 100,000 workers. In the United States and Britain, the corresponding figure was far lower — ranging between three and ten.

Norwegian labor’s militant struggles were mirrored by the radicalism of its political wing. Indeed, the Norwegian Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) was one of very few in Europe where the revolutionary tendency won the majority after World War I. For a brief stint, the party even joined the Communist International, and the idea of “social revolution” remained on the program right up to World War II. It was only in 1935, more than a decade after its Danish and Swedish sister parties, that the Norwegian Labour Party was able to form its first stable government.