Western countries are trying to use Ukraine to drag Russia down, and generous economic aid has allowed them to achieve this goal faster. However, this unbridled aid has also plunged Western countries into the quagmire of war.
European countries are suffering from high oil and gas costs, and people's living standards have been reduced, making life difficult. However, there is one country that has gained great wealth in the midst of war, and its quality of life has improved.
Some may think that this is the United States, but it is actually Norway, a small country in Europe. So, how did Norway make a fortune in the war and make all of Europe blush?
When people think of Norway, the first thing that comes to mind is probably the prestige of the Vikings. From the 9th century, Norway has been wandering in the era of the Union Tribes for 300 years, and the whole country is full of pirates, which is the origin of the Vikings in Northern Europe.
In the century, Norway began the process of feudalization, which was nearly 1,000 years away from European powers such as Britain and France. Against this backdrop of great cultural disparity, Norway was ruled by Denmark and Sweden for a long time until 1905, when it became independent.
However, the timing of Norway's independence was very awkward, as the world at the beginning of the 20th century was not calm. Norway, as a country that became rich as pirates, is not in a good economic situation, and compared with other European powers, Norway's gap will not be able to catch up overnight.
The First World War that broke out at the beginning of the 20th century, although Norway, as a neutral country, was far less affected than other old European powers, but the Versailles Washington system after the First World War had a certain degree of impact on Norway's overseas ** system, which made this already not rich country even worse.
However, the world economic crisis of 1929 was a major blow to the world, slaying almost all the countries that could carry it through, and Japan, Italy, and Germany embarked on the path of fascism.
Norway once relied on forestry, fishing and maritime transport** as its economic base, but the onset of the economic crisis has hit it hard, making its economic situation even worse.
Although Norway remained neutral during World War II, its unique geographical location caused Germany to fear its maritime chokepoint, fearing that Norway would cut off its sea routes under British control.
Norway suffered from German aggression, which led to a setback in economic development and a serious loss of population. After the end of World War II, Norway achieved economic prosperity in a short period of time, despite its millennial history and economic underperformance.
This is thanks to the ingenuity of the Norwegians.
After the end of World War II, Norway's economy struggled for a while, but with the assistance of the Marshall Plan, the Norwegian economy was able to gradually recover. However, the Marshall Plan could not completely solve Norway's poverty problem, and it was its unique geographical location that really allowed Norway to take off economically.
Norway is located in the western part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, with a long and narrow territory, a long coastline and dense coastal islands, known as the "country of ten thousand islands".
Norway's coastline is a natural gateway to the ocean. With its rugged coastline and vast expanse of sea, Norway is a natural territory for the maritime economy.
Long before the start of World War I, Norwegians eased economic pressures by going overseas**.
Although World War II destroyed Norway's economic lifeline, with the assistance of the Marshall Plan, Norway gradually recovered its seas**. By the middle of the 20th century, humanity's greed for resources had intensified, and Norway's economy had recovered, but it was still relatively poor.
However, the sea once again gave hope to the Norwegians, and the abundant offshore oil resources made Norway rich overnight.
Norway has been exploiting oil in the North Sea since 1970, and its unique maritime access and abundant oil resources have enabled Norway to quickly establish its own offshore oil production system.
From oil exploration, extraction, refining to trafficking, Norway has successfully transformed from a poor European to an offshore oil tycoon. Norway has become the world's third-largest oil dealer due to its huge oil export profits, which have also contributed to the rapid development of the Norwegian economy and the happiness of its citizens.
Norway has changed dramatically since 1970 from a country with a harsh environment to a highly developed country with abundant welfare. Some people ask, is Norway's wealth dependent solely on oil?
Is Norway richer now because of the Russia-Ukraine war? In fact, Norway is not only rich because of oil, but also because of the Russia-Ukraine war, which Norway has also benefited from.
Norway's affluence is therefore not accidental, but the result of its long-term economic development and globalization.
The Norwegian parliament recently announced that it will contribute NOK 75 billion to Ukraine over the next five years. This means that every Norwegian citizen will donate about 10,000 RMB.
The amount of this donation is huge, and one cannot help but think that an important reason why Europe is currently mired in war is economic and military aid to Ukraine. Although the money needs to be repaid after the war and is not provided free of charge, this can be seen as a gamble, and if Ukraine loses, the donation may not be recoverable.
Despite this, Norway has donated generously to Ukraine, and the funds do not have to be repaid, raising questions about whether Norway is too profligate. This amount of aid has made Norway the largest Western country in providing funds to Ukraine.
Are Norwegians really rich enough to have nowhere to spend their money? Not really, in fact Norway has accumulated a lot of wealth behind it, and this small aid is only one of his interests.
Today's Norway wishes that the war in Ukraine would be more intense, so that he would have more resources to earn wealth, and the ** of this wealth is resources.
Since 1970, Norway has grown into a rich country thanks to its resources and has become the world's third-largest oil exporter. The two ahead of Norway are Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Although we will leave Saudi Arabia aside for the time being, Russia has already somehow seized Norway's market share in Europe. At present, the West has imposed a series of sanctions against Russia, among which the sanctions on resources are the most severe.
The Nord Stream pipelines, as an important corridor connecting Europe's energy security, are the most important cooperation project between Russia and Europe. After the September 26 incident, despite Europe's immediate involvement in the investigation, whoever the real culprit is, has already put European countries and Russia in a dilemma, and neither side can make a compromise.
The Nord Stream pipelines were bombed, and European countries have no choice, even if they want to turn to Russia now, Russia will not be able to provide cheap gas. Now that the mistake has been made, Europe can only go all out, and so is Russia.
As a result, Europe is unable to enjoy cheap natural gas from Russia, leading to a gradual increase in the cost of living. On the surface, the United States is the biggest beneficiary, because they have instigated the current situation, Europe can only buy resources from the United States, and the United States is also blatantly looting. It seems that the United States is the biggest beneficiary of this incident.
In fact, Norway is the biggest beneficiary. After Europe lost Russia, a cheap energy supplier, Norway became an important exporter of natural gas, accounting for almost half of Russia's natural gas imports in the EU.
Although the amount of energy imported from other countries is not low, Norway's natural gas is much higher than that of Russia. Coupled with the fact that the war has led to the increase in energy, Norway's natural gas has increased several times, earning a lot of wealth from European countries.
So, how much money did Norway really make during the war?
Norway is reaping a lot of money from Europe's energy** surge, with gas and oil revenues expected to reach $131 billion this year, five times more than before the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, according to a financial report.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre proudly claimed that Norway is the country that has aided Ukraine the most after announcing aid to Ukraine. However, these gains are actually earned from European countries, which can be embarrassing for European countries.
Norway's large aid is the envy of European countries, especially Poland. One wonders whether Norway's move is an attempt to silence European voices. After all, Norway has an abundance of wealth, and it would be smart to dedicate some of it to stifling Western rhetoric and then continue to benefit from it.
But it seems that Europe is not interested in this, especially Poland**.
Prime Minister Morawiecki was unhappy with Norway's use of the war and hoped that Norway would distribute more aid to countries severely affected by the war, especially small European countries such as Poland.
However, Norway does not distribute aid haphazardly, but instead invests money in pensions** for the benefit of its own people. Although Norway's finances are based on the principle of people's livelihood, there is a crisis in its fiscal problems.
While the Norwegian people are happy with the improvement of universal welfare, their finances are too dependent on a single resource. The reason why Norway is so rich is that it is achieved through the country's resources.
The resource industry is its most important economic pillar, followed by forestry and **.
What will the future of Norway look like if it runs out of resources? I believe that once the resources are exhausted, the fate of Norway will be even more difficult than that of Norway in the 20th century.
As a result of the country's increased well-being, will Norway's immigration problems become very serious if the finances are unable to sustain welfare?
Norway is currently facing serious resource problems, especially in terms of electricity**, which has skyrocketed due to drought due to its almost total dependence on hydropower. While the state may respond to this problem by improving welfare, this is only a palliative rather than a cure.
When resources are depleted, the problem will be exacerbated. Thus, Norway, despite its appearance, did not hide its many problems due to the wealth gained during the war.
Winning or losing a war is not as simple as it seems, and only countries that really have the resources are the real winners in wars. Russia has abundant resources, so no matter how the war develops, they will not be losers.
This war is a wake-up call that resources are the lifeblood of a country, and we must always be vigilant about the problem of resources. Our country can no longer allow resources to become a bottleneck in our development, otherwise we may be in an endless predicament, as European countries do.
Therefore, we must protect and develop our resources to ensure the prosperity and security of the country.