Why does French Onion Soup have bread in it?

[pengolodh_sc]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote:

> ***
> Why did Alfred Nobel, a Swede, specify that the NORWEGIAN
> Parliament would choose the winner of the Peace Prize, when he
> specified Swedish organizations to award the other prizes? 
> ***

He did not specify that the Norwegian Parliament would decide who 
would receive the Peace Prize; he specified that the Norwegian 
Parliament would appoint the organisation that would decide on the 
Peace Prize laureates.  The relevant part of Alfred Nobel's testament:

'"The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in 
the following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my 
executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be 
annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the 
preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. 
The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall 
be apportioned as follows: one part to the person who shall have made 
the most important discovery or invention within the field of 
physics; one part to the person who shall have made the most 
important chemical discovery or improvement; one part to the person 
who shall have made the most important discovery within the domain of 
physiology or medicine; one part to the person who shall have 
produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work of an 
idealistic tendency; and one part to the person who shall have done 
the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the 
abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and 
promotion of peace congresses. The prizes for physics and chemistry 
shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; that for 
physiological or medical works by the Karolinska Institute in 
Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm; and that 
for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be elected 
by the Norwegian Storting. It is my express wish that in awarding the 
prizes no consideration whatever shall be given to the nationality of 
the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive the prize, 
whether he be a Scandinavian or not." 

Paris, the 27th of November 1895. 

Alfred Bernhard Nobel '

"Storting" is the name for the Norwegian Parliament

The reason most often given is that Norway as a nation had not gone 
to war since before 1350 AD (mostly because Norway was not a nation 
for much of the time between 1350 and 1814, and there weren't many 
wars to go to later) - on all occasions Norway had been involved in 
wars, it had been because other nations decided to bring Norway into 
the wars, regardless of whether Norway wanted to or not.  Norway was 
also in the 1800s already showing a particular interest for using 
mediation and negotiation rather than war as tools for solving 
international conflicts.  At the time when the Nobel-prize was 
instituted, Norway was also still in union with Sweden, and thus did 
not have its own ministry of foreign affairs; this was still handled 
exclusively from Stockholm - thus Norway could not actually have a 
foreign policy, and could not declare war.  

Best regards
Christian Stubø