[2] On 27 May 1905 the Storting passed a bill supported by the government of Christian Michelsen calling for the establishment of separate Norwegian consulates.

On 7 June the Storting declared the union dissolved because Oscar had effectively abandoned his functions as King of Norway by failing to appoint a new government.

The Swedish government was prepared to dissolve the union, provided the Norwegian people agreed to it in a referendum.

The question presented to the voters (only men had suffrage in Norway at the time) was whether they approved of the "already completed dissolution of the union" ("den stedfundne Opløsning af Unionen").

In November, Prince Carl of Denmark was elected as Norway's first independent king in over five centuries, assuming the throne as Haakon VII.