This article covers the history of the Kingdom of Denmark and of the areas comprising modern-day
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
.
Ancient Denmark
People lived in the area of Denmark more than 100,000 years ago, but probably had to leave because of the ice-cap that spread over the land during the period of the Weichsel glaciation (
ca 70,000 BC to
ca 12,000 BC). Traces of permanent human habitation in Denmark exist from around 12,000 BC;
agriculturalAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
settlers made inroads around
3,000 BC-Events:*c. 3100 BC: Narmer unifies Upper and Lower Egypt into one country; he rules this new country from Memphis.*c. 3100 BC: Narmer, pharaoh, rules .)...
. The
Nordic Bronze AgeThe Nordic Bronze Age is the name given by Oscar Montelius to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, c. 1700-500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of...
period in Denmark featured a culture which buried its dead, with their worldly goods, beneath
burial moundsA tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world...
. Many
dolmenA dolmen is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of three or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone . Most date from the early Neolithic period...
s and rock tombs (especially "passage graves") date from this period. The many finds of bronze from this era include beautiful religious artifacts and musical instruments, and provide the earliest evidence of
social classSocial classes are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political economists and social historians...
es and
stratificationIn sociology and anthropology, social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of individuals into social classes, castes, and divisions within a society...
.
During the
pre-Roman Iron AgeThe Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe designates the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia, northern Germany, and the Netherlands north of the Rhine River. These regions feature many extensive archaeological excavation sites, which have yielded a wealth of artifacts...
(from the
4thThe 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 300 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period.-Overview:This century marked the height of Classical Greek civilization in all of its aspects...
to the
1st century BCThe 1st century BC, also known as the last century BC or 1st century BCE started on the first day of 100 BC and ended on the last day of 1 BC.It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period...
), the climate in Denmark and southern
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
became cooler and wetter, limiting agriculture and setting the stage for local groups to migrate southward into
GermaniaGermania was the Latin exonym for a geographical area of land on the east bank of the River Rhine , which included regions of Sarmatia as well as an area under Roman control on the west bank of the Rhine...
. At around this time people began to extract iron from the
oreBog iron refers to impure iron deposits that develop in bogs or swamps by the chemical or biochemical oxidation of iron carried in the solutions. In general, bog ores consist primarily of iron oxyhydroxides, commonly goethite...
in peat-bogs. Evidence of strong Celtic cultural influence dates from this period in Denmark and in much of northwest Europe, and survives in some of the older place-names.
The
Roman provincesThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
, whose frontiers stopped short of Denmark, nevertheless maintained trade-routes and relations with Danish or proto-Danish peoples, as attested by finds of Roman coins. The earliest-known runic inscription dates back to
ca. 200 — literacy as well probably came from the south. Depletion of cultivated land in the last century BC seems to have contributed to increasing migrations in northern Europe and increasing conflict between Teutonic tribes and Roman settlements in
GaulGaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...
. Roman artifacts occur especially commonly in finds from the first century. It seems clear that some part of the Danish warrior-
aristocracyAristocracy is a form of government, in which a few of the most prominent citizens rule. This may be a hereditary elite, or it may be by a system of cooption where a council of prominent citizens add leading soldiers, merchants, land owners, priests, and lawyers to their number...
served in the
Roman armyThe Roman Army was employed by the Romans, the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire, as part of the Roman military. Its most important infantry constituent for much of its history was the Roman legion, whose soldiers were called legionaries....
.
Occasionally during this time killings occurred and bodies got thrown into
bogA bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
s. In some of these
bog bodiesBog bodies, also known as bog people, are preserved human bodies found in sphagnum bogs in Northern Europe, Great Britain and Ireland. Unlike most ancient human remains, bog bodies have retained their skin and internal organs due to the unusual conditions of the surrounding area...
have emerged very well-preserved, providing valuable information about the people who lived in Denmark during this period.
The Germanic Iron Age
Historians refer to the material culture of
northern EuropeNorthern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. The United Nations defines Northern Europe as including the following countries and dependent regions:** ** ** Ireland** Svalbard and Jan Mayen** ** Channel Islands: and...
during the mass-migrations of the 5th to the 7th centuries as the
Germanic Iron AgeThe Germanic Iron Age is the name given to the period A.D. 400–A.D. 800 in Northern Europe and it is part of the continental Age of Migrations. It follows the Roman Iron Age and the beginning is marked by the fall of the Roman empire and the rise of the Germanic...
. Some of the best-known remains from the period include the "peat bog corpses", among them the well-preserved bodies of two people deliberately strangled:
Tollund ManThe Tollund Man is the naturally mummified corpse of a man who lived during the 4th century BC, during the time period characterised in Scandinavia as the Pre-Roman Iron Age. He was found in 1950 buried in a peat bog on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark, which preserved his body. Such a find is...
and
Haraldskær WomanThe Haraldskær Woman is an Iron Age bog body found naturally preserved in a bog in Jutland, Denmark. Labourers discovered the body in 1835 while excavating peat on the Haraldskær Estate...
.
Earliest literary sources
The
Old EnglishOld English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
poems
WidsithWidsith is an Old English poem of 144 lines that appears to date from the 9th century, drawing on earlier oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon tale singing. The only text of the fragment is copied in the Exeter Book, a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late 10th century containing...
and
BeowulfBeowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem of unknown authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8th and the early 11th century, set in Denmark and Sweden...
, as well as works by later Scandinavian writers — notably by
Saxo GrammaticusSaxo Grammaticus also known as Saxo cognomine Longus was a Danish historian, thought to have been a secular clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund. He is the author of the first full history of Denmark.- Life :...
(c. 1200) — provide some of the earliest descriptions of Danish culture. Much remains mythical and legendary. Like
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
, these writers described an earlier culture imperfectly from a later perspective. However, their works may reflect some historical facts.
The Vikings
People who became known as
VikingA Viking is one of the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century. These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far...
s inhabited much of Denmark from the 8th to the 11th centuries. They had a more complicated social structure than most of the societies which had previously lived in the area, and became famous for raiding and trading throughout the rest of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
.
During the Viking period the Danes became a
great powerA Great power or Nation or Empire is a nation or state that, through its great economic, political and military strength, is able to exert power and influence over not only its own region of the world, but far beyond to others...
based on the
Jutland PeninsulaThe Jutland Peninsula or more historically the Cimbrian Peninsula is a peninsula in Europe, divided between Denmark and Germany. The names are derived from the Jutes and the Cimbri....
, the island of Zealand, and the southern part of present-day
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
. In the early 11th century King
CanuteCnut the Great , also known as Canute or Knut or Cnut Sweynsson, was a Viking king of England and Denmark, Norway, and parts of Sweden...
(died 1035) ruled Denmark and
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
as a single realm for almost 20 years.
Christianity, expansion and the establishment of the Kingdom of Denmark
Various petty kingdoms existed throughout the area now known as Denmark for many years. Around 980 Harold Bluetooth appears to have established a unified kingdom of Denmark. Around the same time, he received a visit from a German
missionaryA missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who proselytizes. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus A missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith;...
who, according to legend, survived an
ordeal by fire Trial by ordeal is a judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused is determined by subjecting them to a painful task. In some cases, the accused was considered innocent if they survived the test, or if their injuries healed; in others, only death was considered proof of innocence...
, which convinced Harold to convert to
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
. The new
religionA religion is a system of human thought which usually includes a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power, deity or deities, or ultimate truth...
, which replaced the old
Norse religious practicesNorse, North Germanic, or Scandinavian mythology comprises the myths of North Germanic pre-Christian religion.Most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled in medieval Iceland in Old Norse, notably as the Edda....
, had many advantages for the king. Christianity brought with it some support from the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
. It also allowed the king to dismiss many of his opponents who adhered to the old mythology. The Church would bring to his lands a stable administration that he could hopefully use to exercise some control over them.
After the death of
Canute the GreatCnut the Great , also known as Canute or Knut or Cnut Sweynsson, was a Viking king of England and Denmark, Norway, and parts of Sweden...
in 1035,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
broke away from Danish control and Denmark fell into disarray for some time. Vikings from
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
raided Denmark sporadically. Canute's nephew Sweyn Estridson (1020–1074) re-established strong royal Danish authority and built a good relationship with the
ArchbishopIn Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. In many Christian Churches, this means that they lead a diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the Anglican Communion an Ecclesiastical Province, but this is not always the case. An archbishop is equivalent to a bishop in...
of
BremenThe Archdiocese of Bremen was a historical Roman Catholic diocese and formed from 1180 to 1648 an ecclesiastical state , named Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen within the Holy Roman Empire...
— at that time the Archbishop of all of
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
.
In the early 12th century Denmark became the seat of an independent
church provinceAn ecclesiastical province is a large jurisdiction of religious government, so named by analogy with a secular province, existing in certain hierarchical Christian churches, especially in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion...
of Scandinavia. Not long after that,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
and
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
established their own archbishoprics, free of Danish control. The mid-12th century proved a difficult time for the kingdom of Denmark. Violent
civil warA civil war is a war between organized groups within a single nation state, or, less commonly, between two nations created from a formerly-united nation state. The aim of one side may be to take control of the nation or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies...
s rocked the land. Eventually,
Valdemar the GreatValdemar I of Denmark , also known as Valdemar the Great, was King of Denmark from 1157 until 1182. Buried in Skt. Bendts Church, Ringsted....
(1131-1182), gained control of the kingdom, stabilizing it and reorganizing the administration. King Valdemar and
AbsalonAbsalon was a Danish archbishop and statesman. He was the son of Asser Rig of Fjenneslev , at whose castle he and his brother Esbjørn were brought up along with the young prince Valdemar, afterwards King Valdemar I.-Early life:After giving Absalon the rudiments of a sound education at home, which...
(ca 1128-1201), the
bishop of RoskildeRoskilde is a Catholic titular see. The former see, suppressed in the sixteenth century, was Roskilde in Denmark.-History:...
, rebuilt the country. During Valdemar's reign construction began of a castle in the village of Havn, leading eventually to the foundation of
CopenhagenCopenhagen ; ) is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban area with a population of 1,167,569 and a metropolitan area with a population of 1,875,179...
, the modern capital of Denmark. Valdemar and Absalon built Denmark into a major power in the
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
, a power which later competed with the
Hanseatic LeagueThe Hanseatic League was an alliance of trading cities and their guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly along the coast of Northern Europe, from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland, during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period...
, the Counts of
HolsteinHolstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....
, and the
Teutonic KnightsThe Order of the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem , or for short the Teutonic Order , is a German Roman Catholic religious order. It was formed to aid Catholics on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals to care for the sick and injured...
for trade, territory, and influence throughout the Baltic. In 1168, Valdemar and Absalon gained a foothold on the southern shore of the Baltic, when they subdued the Principality of Rügen.
In the 1180s,
MecklenburgMecklenburg is a region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, and Neubrandenburg....
and the
Duchy of PomeraniaThe Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
came under Danish control, too. In the new southern provinces, the Danes promoted Christianity (mission of the
RaniThe Rani or Rujani were a West Slavic tribe based on the island of Rugia and the southwestern mainland across the Strelasund in what is today northeastern Germany....
, monasteries like
Eldena AbbeyEldena Abbey , originally Hilda Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery near the present town of Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany...
) and settlement (Danish participation in the
OstsiedlungThis article covers the medieval eastward migrations of Germans. For a general view, see History of German settlement in Eastern EuropeOstsiedlung, literally "settlement in the east", also called German eastward expansion, refers to the medieval eastward migration and settlement of Germans from...
). The Danes lost most of their southern gains after the
Battle of BornhövedBattle of Bornhöved can refer to:*Battle of Bornhöved, or the first battle of Bornhöved, in 798*Battle of Bornhöved , or the second Battle of Bornhöved, in 1227...
(1227), but the Rugian principality stayed with Denmark until 1325.
In 1202, Valdemar II became king and launched various "
crusadesThe Crusades were a series of religiously-sanctioned military campaigns waged by much of Latin Christian Europe, particularly the Franks of France and the Holy Roman Empire. The specific crusades to restore Christian control of the Holy Land were fought over a period of nearly 200 years, between...
" to claim territories, notably modern
EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
. Legend has it that the Danish flag, the
DannebrogThe national flag of Denmark, Dannebrog, is red with a white Scandinavian cross that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side. The cross design of the Danish flag was subsequently adopted by the other Nordic countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland,...
fell from the sky during the
Battle of LyndanisseThe Battle of Lyndanisse took place on June 15, 1219.Under pretext of helping the Crusade in Palestine, the Danish king Valdemar II Sejr defeated the Estonians at Lyndanisse under orders from the Pope....
in Estonia in 1219. A series of Danish defeats culminating in the Battle of Børnehoved on 22 July 1227 cemented the loss of Denmark's north German territories. Valdemar himself was saved only by the courageous actions of a German knight who carried Valdemar to safety on his horse.
From that time on Valdemar focused his efforts on domestic affairs. One of the changes he instituted was the feudal system where he gave properties to men with the understanding that they owed him service. This increased the power of the noble families (Danish: højadelen) and gave rise to the lesser nobles (Danish:lavadelen) who controlled most of Denmark. Free peasants lost the traditional rights and privileges they had enjoyed since Viking times.[3]
The king of Denmark had difficulty maintaining control of the kingdom in the face of opposition from the
nobilityNobility is a state-privileged status which is generally hereditary, but which may also be personal only. Titles of nobility are usually associated with present or former monarchies. The term originally referred to those who were "known" or "notable" and was applied to the highest social class in...
and from the Church. An extended period of strained relations between the crown and the
PopeThe pope is the Bishop of Rome and, as such, is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church...
s of
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
took place, known as the "archiepiscopal conflicts".
By the late 13th century, royal power had waned, and the nobility forced the king to grant a
charterA charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
, considered Denmark's first
constitutionA constitution is a set of rules for government—often codified as a written document—that establishes principles of an autonomous political entity. In the case of countries, this term refers specifically to a national constitution defining the fundamental political principles, and establishing the...
. Following the
Battle of BornhövedThe Battle of Bornhöved took place on 22 July 1227 near Bornhöved in Holstein. Count Adolf IV of Schauenburg and Holstein - leading an army consisting of troops from the cities of Lübeck and Hamburg, about 1000 Dithmarsians and combined troops of Holstein next to various north German nobles -...
in 1227, a weakened Denmark provided windows of opportunity to both the Hanseatic League and the Counts of Holstein. The Holstein Counts gained control of large portions of Denmark because the king would grant them fiefs in exchange for money to finance royal operations.
Valdemar spent the remainder of his life putting together a code of laws for
JutlandJutland , historically also called Cimbria, forms the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish-German border to its south...
,
ZealandZealand is the largest island of Denmark . Zealand is connected to Funen by the Great Belt Bridge and to Sweden by the Oresund Bridge....
and Skåne. These codes were used as Denmark's legal code until 1683. This was a significant change from the local law making at the regional assemblies (Danish:landting) had been the long-standing tradition. Several methods of determining guilt or innocence were outlawed including trial by ordeal and trial by combat. The Code of Jutland (Danish:Jyske Lov) was approved at meeting of the nobility at Vordingborg in 1241 just prior to Valdemar's death. Because of his position as ”the king of
DannebrogDannebrog may refer to;* The national Flag of Denmark* Order of the Dannebrog : A Royal Danish decoration....
” and as a legislator, Valdemar enjoys a central position in Danish history. To posterity the civil wars and dissolution that followed his death made him appear to be the last king of a golden age.
The
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
saw a period of close cooperation between the
CrownThe Crown is a corporation sole that in certain countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as in any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof, represents the legal embodiment of executive government...
and the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
. Thousands of church buildings sprang up throughout the country during this time. The economy expanded during the 12th century, based mostly on the lucrative
herringHerring are relatively small oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Two species of Clupea are currently recognized, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring , each of which may be...
-trade, but the 13th century turned into a period of difficulty and saw the temporary collapse of royal authority.
Difficulties for the kings
During the disastrous reign of Christopher II (1319-1332), most of the country was pawned off to the counts (except Skane, which went to Sweden) after peasant revolts and conflicts with the Church. For eight years after Christopher's death, Denmark had no king, and was instead controlled by the counts. But after one of them was assassinated in 1340, Christopher's son Valdemar was chosen as king, and gradually began to recover the pawned territories, which was completed in 1360. The
Black DeathThe Black Death was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. It is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, but this view has recently been challenged...
, which came to Denmark during these years, also aided his campaign. His continued efforts to expand the kingdom after 1360 brought him into open conflict with the Hanseatic League. He conquered
Gotland' is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, it makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area. The region also includes the small islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the north, and the tiny...
, much to the displeasure of the League, which lost
VisbyVisby is a locality and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County, Sweden with 22,236 inhabitants in 2005. It is the only one with city status on the island of Gotland; it is arguably the best-preserved medieval city in Scandinavia and has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site...
, an important trading town located there.
The Hanseatic alliance with Sweden to attack Denmark initially proved a fiasco since Danish forces captured a large Hanseatic fleet, and ransomed it back for an enormous sum. Luckily for the League, the Jutland nobles revolted against the heavy taxes levied to fight the expansionist war in the Baltic; the two forces worked against the king, forcing him into exile in 1370. For several years, the Hanseatic League controlled the fortresses on "
the soundØresund or Öresund , sometimes also known as The Sound, is the strait that separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania...
" between Skåne and Zealand.
Margaret and the Kalmar Union
Margaret IMargaret I was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden , and founder of the Kalmar Union, which united the Scandinavian countries for over a century.-Name:...
, the daughter of Valdemar Atterdag, found herself married off to
Håkon VI of NorwayHaakon VI Magnusson Haakon VI Magnusson Haakon VI Magnusson ( (c. 1340–1380), was King of Norway 1343–80 and co-king of Sweden 1362–64.He was the younger son of King Magnus Eriksson of Sweden and Norway and Blanche of Namur...
in an attempt to join the two kingdoms, along with Sweden, since Håkon had kinship ties to the Swedish royal family. The dynastic plans called for her son, Olaf II to rule the three kingdoms, but after his early death in 1387 she took on the role herself (1387 - 1412). During her lifetime (1353-1412) the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (including the
Faroe IslandsThe Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, Faroe, or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland...
, as well as
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
,
GreenlandGreenland is an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago...
, and present-day
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
) became linked under her capable rule, in what became known as the
Kalmar UnionThe Kalmar Union is a historiographical term meaning a series of personal unions that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway , and Sweden under a single monarch, though intermittently and with a population less than 3,000,000.The countries had not...
, made official in 1397.
Her successor, Eric of Pomerania (King of Denmark from 1396 to 1439), lacked Margaret's skill and thus directly caused the breakup of the Kalmar Union. Eric's foreign policy engulfed Denmark in a succession of wars with the Holstein counts and the city of Lubeck. When the Hanseatic League imposed a trade embargo on Scandinavia, the Swedes (who saw their mining industry adversely affected) rose up in revolt. The three countries of the Kalmar Union all declared Eric deposed in 1439. However, support for the idea of regionalism continued, so when Eric's nephew
Christopher of BavariaChristopher of Bavaria, known by his Danish and Norwegian title as Christoffer af/av Bayern and by his Swedish title as Kristofer av Bayern, was union king of Denmark , Sweden and Norway .-Biography:He was probably born at Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, the son of Duke John of Pfalz-Neumarkt and...
came to the throne in 1440, he managed to get himself elected in all three kingdoms, briefly reuniting Scandinavia (1442-1448). The Swedish nobility grew increasingly unhappy with Danish rule and the union soon became merely a legal concept with little practical application. During the subsequent reigns of Christian I (1450-1481) and Hans (1481-1513), tensions grew, and several wars between Sweden and Denmark erupted.
In the early 16th century,
Christian IIChristian II was a Danish monarch and King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden , during the Kalmar Union...
(reigned 1513-1523) came to power. He allegedly declared, "If the hat on my head knew what I was thinking, I would pull it off and throw it away." This quotation apparently refers to his devious and
machiavellianNiccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher, writer, and is considered one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, musician, and playwright, but, foremost, he was a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...
political dealings. He conquered Sweden in an attempt to reinforce the union, and had about 100 leaders of the Swedish anti-unionist forces killed in what came to be known as the
Stockholm BloodbathThe Stockholm Bloodbath, or the Stockholm Massacre , took place as the result of a successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces under the command of Christian II...
of November 1520. The bloodbath destroyed any lingering hope of Scandinavian union.
In the aftermath of
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
's definitive secession from the
Kalmar UnionThe Kalmar Union is a historiographical term meaning a series of personal unions that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway , and Sweden under a single monarch, though intermittently and with a population less than 3,000,000.The countries had not...
in 1521,
civil warA civil war is a war between organized groups within a single nation state, or, less commonly, between two nations created from a formerly-united nation state. The aim of one side may be to take control of the nation or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies...
and the
Protestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
followed in Denmark and Norway. When things settled down, the
Privy CouncilA privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation on how to exercise their executive authority, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government...
of Denmark had lost some of its influence, and that of Norway no longer existed. The two kingdoms, known as Denmark-Norway, operated in a personal union under a single monarch. Norway kept its separate laws and some institutions, such as a royal
chancellorChancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
, separate coinage and a separate army. As an hereditary kingdom, Norway's status as separate from Denmark remained important to the royal dynasty in its struggles to win elections as kings of Denmark. The two kingdoms remained tied until 1814.
The Reformation
The
ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
, which originated in the German lands in the early 16th century from the ideas of
Martin LutherMartin Luther changed the course of Western civilization by initiating the Protestant Reformation. As a priest and theology professor, he confronted indulgence salesmen with his The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. Luther strongly disputed their claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could...
(1483-1546), had a considerable impact on Denmark. The Danish Reformation started in the mid-1520s. Some Danes wanted access to the
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
in their own language. In 1524 Hans Mikkelsen and
Christiern PedersenChristiern Pedersen was a canon, humanist scholar, writer, printer and publisher.-Education:...
translated the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
into Danish; it became an instant best-seller. Those who had traveled to
WittenbergWittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a town in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the Elbe River. It has a population of about 50,000....
in Saxony and come under the influence of the teachings of
LutherMartin Luther changed the course of Western civilization by initiating the Protestant Reformation. As a priest and theology professor, he confronted indulgence salesmen with his The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. Luther strongly disputed their claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could...
and his associates included
Hans TausenHans Tausen , the protagonist of the Danish Reformation, was born at Birkende on Funen in 1494. The quick-witted peasant lad ran away from the plough at an early age, finally settling down as a friar in the Johanniter cloister of Antvorskov near Slagelse...
, a Danish monk in the
Order of St John HospitallersThe Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta is a Roman Catholic order based in Rome, Italy...
. On Good Friday in 1525, Tausen used the pulpit at
AntvorskovAntvorskov was the principal Scandinavian monastery of the Roman Catholic Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, located about one kilometer south of the town of Slagelse on Zealand, Denmark....
Abbey Church to proclaim Luther's reforms. His scandalized superiors ordered him out of Zealand and held him in the priory at
ViborgViborg is a town located in central Jutland, Denmark. It is the seat of both Viborg municipality and Region Midtjylland. Viborg is also the seat of the Western High Court, the High Court for the Jutland peninsula...
under close confinement until he should come to his senses.
Townspeople came to see the troublesome monk, and Tausen preached to them from the window of his cell. Within days Tausen's ideas swept through the town. The then radical ideas of Luther found a receptive audience. Tausen's preaching converted ordinary people, merchants, nobles, and monks and even the Prior grew to appreciate Tausen and ordered his release. Tausen preached openly: much to the consternation of Bishop Jøn Friis, who lost his ability to do anything about the Lutherans and retreated to Hald Castle. After preaching in the open air, Tausen gained the use of a small chapel, which soon proved too small for the crowds who attended services in Danish. His followers broke open a Franciscan Abbey so they could listen to Tausen, who packed the church daily for services. The town leaders protected Tausen from the Bishop of Viborg.
Viborg became the center for the Danish Reformation for a time. Lutheranism spread quickly to Aarhus and Aalborg.
Within months King
FrederickFrederick I of Denmark and Norway was the son of the first Oldenburg King Christian I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and of Dorothea of Brandenburg...
appointed Tausen as one of his personal chaplains (October 1526) in order to protect him from Catholics. Tausen's version of Luther's ideas spread throughout Denmark. Copenhagen became a hotbed of reformist activity and Tausen moved there to continue his work. His reputation preceded him and the excitement of hearing the liturgy in Danish brought thousands of people out to hear him. With the kings' permission, churches in Copenhagen opened their doors to the Lutherans and held services for Catholics and for Lutherans at different times of the day. But at Our Lady Church, the main church of Copenhagen, Bishop Ronnow refused to admit the "heretics". In December 1531 a mob stormed the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, encouraged by Copenhagen's fiery mayor, Ambrosius Bogbinder. They tore down statues and side-altars and destroyed artwork and reliquaries. Frederick I's policy of toleration insisted that the two competing groups share churches and pulpits peacefully, but this satisfied neither Lutherans nor Catholics.
The rapid spread of Luther's ideas came about because of the powerful combination of popular enthusiasm for church reform and royal enthusiasm for independence from Rome. No small incentive for independence from Rome involved seizure of church lands and property by the King. In Denmark this increased royal revenues by 300%.
Widespread dissatisfaction with the established Catholic Church had existed in Denmark. Many people viewed the
titheA tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a religious organization. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes could be paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s and fees — a constant source of irritation for farmers and merchants — as unjust. This became apparent once word got out that King Frederick and his son,
Duke ChristianChristian III , king of Denmark and Norway, was the son of Frederick I of Denmark and his first consort, Anna of Brandenburg.-Childhood:...
had no sympathy with Franciscans who persistently made the rounds of the parishes to collect food, money, and clothing in addition to the tithes. Between 1527 and 1536 many towns petitioned the king to close the Franciscan houses. Frederick obliged by sending letters authorizing the closure of the monasteries, often offering a small sum of money to help the brothers on their way. With the royal letter in hand, mobs forcibly closed
FranciscanThe term Franciscan is commonly used to refer to members of Catholic religious orders, also known as the Orders of Friars Minor, that follow a body of regulations known as "The rule of St. Francis", or a member of one of these orders. As well as Roman Catholic there are also small Old Catholic and...
abbeys all over Denmark. They beat up monks, two of whom died.
The closure of Franciscan houses occurred systematically in Copenhagen, Viborg, Aalborg, Randers, Malmo and ten other cities; in all, 28 monasteries or houses closed. People literally hounded Franciscan monks out of the towns.
No other order faced such harsh treatment. Considering how strongly many people felt about removing all traces of Catholic traditions from Danish churches, surprisingly little violence took place. Luther's teaching had become so overwhelmingly popular that Danes systematically cleared churches of statues, paintings, wall-hangings, reliquaries and other Catholic elements without interference. The only exceptions came in individual churches where the local churchmen refused to permit reform.
Frederick IFrederick I of Denmark and Norway was the son of the first Oldenburg King Christian I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and of Dorothea of Brandenburg...
died in 1533; the Viborg Assembly (Danish:landsting)
proclaimed his son, Duke Christian of Schleswig, King Christian IIIThe election of Christian III as king of Denmark and Norway on 4 July 1534 was a landmark event for all of Denmark and Norway. It took place in the church in the town of Rye, eastern Jutland, where the Jutlandic nobility elected Prince Christian, son of king Frederick I and Duke of Slesvig and...
. The State Council (Danish: Rigsråd) on Zealand, led by the Catholic bishops took control of the country and refused to recognize the election of Christian III, a staunch Lutheran. The regents feared Christian's zeal for Luther's ideas would tip the balance and disenfranchise Catholics — both peasants and nobles. The State Council encouraged Count
Christopher of OldenburgChristopher of Oldenburg . German Count, regent in Eastern Denmark during the Count's War 1534-1536 which was named after him....
to become Regent of Denmark. Christian III quickly raised an army to enforce his election, including mercenary troops from Germany. Count Christopher raised an army (including troops from
MecklenburgMecklenburg is a region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, and Neubrandenburg....
and
Oldenburg|Oldenburg is an Independent City in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 158,341 which makes it the fourth biggest in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig and...
and the Hanseatic League, especially
LűbeckThe Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage is on UNESCO's list of World...
) to restore his Catholic uncle King Christian II (deposed in 1523). This resulted in a three-year civil war called the
Count's FeudThe Count's Feud , also called the Count's War, was a civil war that raged in Denmark in 1534–1536 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark....
(Danish:
Grevens Fejde).
Armed rebellion by Catholic peasants led by
Skipper ClementSkipper Clement was a Danish merchant, captain, privateer and leader of the peasant rebellion that was part of the civil war known as the Count's Feud....
started in northern Jutland. Rebellion swept across
FunenFunen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163
rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 447,000 people . The main city is Odense, connected...
, Zealand and Skåne. Christian III's army soundly defeated an army of Catholic nobles at Svenstrup on 16 October 1534. Christian forced a truce with the
Hanseatic LeagueThe Hanseatic League was an alliance of trading cities and their guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly along the coast of Northern Europe, from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland, during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period...
, which had sent troops to help Count Christopher. Christian III's army, under
Johan RantzauJohan Rantzau was a German-Danish general and statesman known for his role in the Count's Feud.Rantzau was born at the castle of Steinburg near Itzehoe into nobility...
, chased the rebels all the way back to
AalborgAalborg , sometimes written as Ålborg, is a city in Denmark. Its population, as of 2009, is 122,461, making it the fourth largest in the country after Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense. The earliest settlements date back to around 700 AD. Its location by the Limfjord made it an important harbour...
and then massacred over two thousand of them inside the city in December 1534. The Protestants captured Skipper Clement (1534), and later executed him in 1536. Christian III's mercenary troops put an end to Catholic hopes on Zealand and then Funen. Skåne rebels went as far as proclaiming Christian II king again. King
Gustav VasaGustav I, born Gustav Eriksson and later known as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death. He was the first monarch of the House of Vasa, an influential noble family which came to be the royal house of Sweden for much of the 16th and 17th centuries...
of Sweden sent two separate armies to ravage
Halland' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat.-Administration:...
and Skåne into submission. Besiegers finally starved the last hold-outs in the rebellion, Copenhagen and Malmø, into surrender in July 1536. By the spring of 1536 Christian III had taken firm control.
Denmark became officially Lutheran on 30 October 1536 when King Christian III and the reconstituted State Council approved the Lutheran Ordinances, based on Luther's
Augsburg ConfessionThe Augsburg Confession, also known as the "Augustana" from its Latin name, Confessio Augustana, is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Lutheran reformation...
and Luther's Little Catechism. The government established the Danish National Church (Danish:
Folkekirken) as the state church. All of Denmark's Catholic bishops went to prison until such time as they accepted Luther's reforms. The authorities released them when they promised to marry and to support the reforms. If they agreed, they received property and spent the rest of their lives as wealthy landowners. If they refused, they died in prison. The State confiscated Church lands to pay for the armies that had enforced Christian III's election. Priests swore allegiance to Lutheranism or found new employment. The new owners turned monks out of their monasteries and abbeys. Nuns in a few places gained permission to live out their lives in nunneries, though without governmental financial support. The Crown closed churches, abbeys, priories and cathedrals, giving their property to local nobles or selling it. The King appointed Danish superintendents (later bishops) to oversee Lutheran orthodoxy in the church. Denmark became part of a Lutheran heartland extending through Scandinavia and northern Germany. The Catholic Church everywhere in Scandinavia had sealed its fate by supporting hopeless causes: Christian II and the emperor Charles V in Denmark, Norwegian independence in that country, and in Sweden the Kalmar Union. Geographical distance also prevented them from receiving anything more than a sympathetic ear from Rome.
The 17th century saw a period of strict Lutheran
orthodoxyThe word orthodox, from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion", from orthos + doxa , is typically used to mean adhering to the accepted or traditional and established faith, especially in religion.The term did not conventionally exist with any degree of formality The word orthodox, from Greek...
in Denmark, with harsh punishments visited on suspected followers of either
CalvinismJohn Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
or
Huldrych ZwingliHuldrych Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of humanism...
. Lutheran authorities treated Catholics harshly — in the fear that they might undermine the king, government, and national church. In a delayed result of the Reformation, Denmark became involved in the
Thirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe...
(1618-1648) on the Protestant side. As a result Denmark lost its Baltic possessions and Skåne.
Early Modern politics
Denmark grew wealthy during the sixteenth century, largely because of the increased traffic through the Øresund, which Danes could tax because Denmark controlled both sides of the Sound. The trade in grain exports from
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
to the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
and to the rest of Europe grew enormously at this time, and the Danish kings did not hesitate to cash in on it. The Sound duty was only repealed in the 1840s.
The Danish economy benefited from the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648) in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
because a large number of skilled refugees from that area (the most economically advanced in Europe) came to Denmark. This helped to modernize many aspects of society and to establish trading links between Denmark and the Netherlands.
Denmark had a reputation as a relatively powerful kingdom at this time. European politics of the 16th century revolved largely around the struggle between Catholic and Protestant forces, so it seemed almost inevitable that Denmark, a strong, unified Lutheran kingdom, would get drawn into the larger war when it came. The
Thirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe...
went badly for the Protestant states in the early 1620s, and a call went out to Denmark to "save the Protestant cause". Christian IV then decided to intervene. The campaign ended in defeat and the occupation of Jutland by the imperial army of Albrecht von Wallenstein. Afterwards, Christian made peace and agreed to not intervene in Germany again. In 1643, Sweden's armies, ostensibly occupied in the war in Germany, invaded Denmark under the command of
Lennart TorstensonLennart Torstenson, Count of Ortala, Baron of Virestad , was a Swedish Field Marshal and military engineer.-Early career:He was born at Forstena in Västergötland - he always wrote his name Linnardt Torstenson...
in what became known as the Torstenson War. The result proved disastrous for Denmark: in the 1645
treaty of BrömsebroThe Second Treaty of Brömsebro was signed on 13 August 1645, and ended the Torstenson War between Sweden and Denmark-Norway...
Denmark ceded to Sweden the Norwegian provinces Jemtland, Herjedalen and
Idre & SernaÄlvdalen Municipality is a municipality in Dalarna County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Älvdalen....
as well as the Danish islands of
Gotland' is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, it makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area. The region also includes the small islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the north, and the tiny...
and
ØselSaaremaa is the largest island belonging to Estonia, measuring 2,673 km². The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago...
.
Halland' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat.-Administration:...
went to Sweden for a period of 30 years.
Nevertheless, Danes remember Christian IV as one of the great kings of Denmark. He had a very long reign, from 1588 to 1648, and has become known as "the architect on the Danish throne" because of the large number of building
projectA project in business and science is a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.- Overview :...
s he undertook. Many of the great buildings of Denmark date from his reign.
After the death of Christian IV in 1648, his son Frederick succeeded him. In 1657, Denmark launched a war of revenge against Sweden (then distracted in Poland) which turned into a complete disaster. During the winter of 1657-1658, the Sound froze over in a rare occurrence, allowing Charles X of Sweden to lead his armies across the ice to Jutland. Denmark capitulated and gave up Bohuslan and Skane, in addition to the county of Trondheim in Norway. Gottorp was also given over to Sweden, providing a gateway for invasion from the south. But Charles still wasn't satisfied. Three months after the peace treaty was signed, he held a council of war where he decided to simply wipe Denmark from the map and unite all of Scandinavia under his rule. The Swedish fleet arrived outside Copenhagen, which was poorly defended. The population of the city panicked. The Danes prepared for a desperate resistance, but Charles' ambitions were against the wishes of the other European powers, who did not want both sides of the Sound controlled by one nation. The Dutch fleet arrived at Copenhagen and saved the city from Swedish attack. Fighting continued into 1659, with Charles planning an invasion of Norway. He died of an illness in early 1660, and Sweden made peace, returning Trondheim to Norway, but keeping Bohuslan and Skane, and establishing the boundaries between Norway, Denmark, and Sweden that still exist today.
Absolutism
As a result of the disaster in the war against Sweden,
King Frederick IIIFrederick III was king of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death. He stands as the ruler who introduced absolute monarchy in Denmark.-Before becoming king:...
(reigned 1648-1670) succeeded in convincing the nobles to give up some of their powers and their exemption from taxes, leading to the era of absolutism in Denmark. The country also had no hope of recovering its lost provinces from Sweden. As noted above, the rest of Europe was opposed to the Sound being controlled by one nation, and in the 1670s, when Denmark started a war with Sweden to recover Skane, it received no outside support. In any case, the population of Skane did not particularly welcome the prospect of returning to Danish rule. The war ended in a stalemate. But after the Great Northern War (1700-1718), Sweden was no longer a threat to Denmark.
For most of the 18th century, Denmark was at peace. The only time when war threatened was in 1762 when the Duke of Gottorp became Tsar Peter III of Russia and declared war on Denmark. But he was soon deposed, and the threat ended.
With the suspension of the Danish
dietIn politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is derived from Medieval Latin dietas, and ultimately comes from the Latin dies, "day". The word came to be used in this sense because assemblies met on a daily basis which is reflected in the German language use of Tagung and -tag...
, that body disappeared for a couple of centuries. During this time power became increasingly centralized in Copenhagen. Frederick's government reorganized itself in a much more hierarchical manner, built around the king as a focal point of administration. Crown officials dominated the administration, as well as a new group of bureaucrats, much to the dismay of the traditional aristocracy, who saw their own influence curtailed even further. The absolutist kings of Denmark were quite weak compared to their Swedish counterparts, and non-noble landlords became the real rulers of the country. They used their influence to pass laws that favored themselves.
The administration and laws underwent "modernization" during this period. In 1683 the
Danske lov 1683 (
Danish CodeDanish Code is the title of a Danish statute book from 1683, that previously formed the basis for the Danish legislation. Even though it is mainly a compilation of older, regional laws, it took 7 different commissions several decades under two different monarchs to put the Code together...
) standardized and collected all the old provincial laws.
Other initiatives included the standardization of all weights and measures throughout the kingdom, and an agricultural survey and registry. This survey allowed the government to begin taxing landowners directly, moving it beyond dependence on revenue from
crown landCrown land is a designated area belonging to the Crown, the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
s.
The population of Denmark rose steadily through this period, from 600,000 in 1660 (after the loss of territory to Sweden) to 700,000 in 1720. By 1807 it had risen to 978,000.
Attempts to diversify the economy away from agriculture failed. During this period little industry existed, except for a very small amount in Copenhagen (population: 30,000). In the late 17th century a small amount of industry did develop, catering to the military. Denmark suffered in part because of its lack of natural resources. It had nothing much to export except agricultural products. The Netherlands bought the largest share of Denmark's exports. The landlords, only about 300 in number, nevertheless owned 90% of the land in the country.
Rural administration remained primarily the preserve of the large landholders and of a few law-enforcement officials. In 1733, low crop prices caused the introduction of adscription, an effort by the landlords to obtain cheap labor. The effect of this was to turn the previously free Danish peasantry into serfs. The adscription system tied rural laborers to their place of birth and required them to rent farms on the estates. As rent, they were required to work the landlords' plots and could not negotiate contracts or demand payment for improvements made to the farm. Peasants who refused to rent a farm were subject to six years of military service. Danish agriculture was very inefficient and unproductive as a result, since the peasants had no motivation to perform anything more than the absolute minimum of work. Attempts to sell Danish grain in Norway failed because of its low quality compared to grain from the Baltic.
In the late 18th century, extensive agricultural reforms took place, involving the abolition of the old
open-field systemThe open field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe from the Middle Ages to as recently as the 20th century in places. Under this system, each manor or village had several very large unfenced fields, farmed in strips by individual families...
and the amalgamation of many smaller farms into larger ones. With the abolition of the adscription system, the military could now only obtain manpower through conscription. These reforms were possible because agricultural prices steadily rose in the second half of the century.
Throughout the 18th century the Danish economy did very well, largely on the basis of expanded agricultural output to meet growing demand across Europe. Danish merchant ships also traded around Europe and the North Atlantic, venturing to new
Danish coloniesDenmark and the former political union of Denmark–Norway had a colonial empire from the 17th through the 20th centuries, large portions of which were found in the Americas...
in the Caribbean and North Atlantic.
New propriety and
EnlightenmentThe Age of Enlightenment, or simply The Enlightenment, is a term used to describe a time in Western philosophy and cultural life, centered upon the eighteenth century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority....
ideas became popular among the
middle classThe middle class are any class in the middle of a social schema. In Weberian socio-economic terms they are the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socioeconomically between the working class and upper class. In Marxist terms, middle class commonly refers to either the...
es of Denmark, arousing increased interest in personal liberty. In the last 15 years of the 18th century the authorities relaxed the censorship which had existed since the beginning of the 17th century. At the same time, a sense of Danish nationalism began to develop. Hostility increased against Germans and Norwegians present at the royal court. Pride in the Danish language and culture increased, and eventually a law banned "foreigners" from holding posts in the government. Antagonism between Germans and Danes increased from the mid-eighteenth century on. In the 1770s, during the reign of the mentally unstable Christian VII (1766-1808), the queen's lover, a German doctor named
Johann Friedrich StruenseeCount Johann Friedrich von Struensee was a German doctor. He became royal physician to the schizophrenic King Christian VII of Denmark and a minister in the Danish government. He rose in power to a position of “de facto” regent of the country, where he tried to carry out widespread reforms...
, became the real ruler of the country. Filled with the ideas of the Enlightenment, he attempted a number of radical reforms including freedom of the press and religion. But it was short-lived. The landlords feared that the reforms were a threat to their power, while the commoners believed that religious freedom was an invitation to atheism. In 1772, Struensee was arrested, tried, and convicted of crimes against the majesty, his right hand was cut off following his beheading, his remains were quartered and put on display on top of spikes on the commons west of Copenhagen. The next 12 years were a period of unmitigated reaction until a group of reformers gained power in 1784.
Denmark became the model of enlightened despotism, partially influenced by the outbreak of the French Revolution. Between 1784 and 1815, the abolition of
serfdomSerfdom is the socio-economic status of unfree peasants under feudalism, and specifically relates to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe...
made the majority of the peasants into landowners. The government also introduced
free tradeFree trade is a type of trade policy that allows traders to act and transact without interference from government. According to the law of comparative advantage the policy permits trading partners mutual gains from trade of goods and services....
and universal education.
Colonialism
Denmark maintained a number of colonies outside Scandinavia, starting in the 17th century and lasting until the 20th century. Denmark also controlled traditional colonies in Greenland and Iceland in the north Atlantic — held through the union with Norway.
Christian IVChristian IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1588 until his death. He is sometimes referred to as Christian Firtal in Denmark and Christian Kvart or Quart in Norway.-Biography:...
(reigned 1588-1648) first initiated the policy of expanding Denmark's overseas trade, as part of the mercantilist trend then popular in European governing circles. Denmark established its own first colony at
TranquebarTharangambadi is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was a Danish colony in India from 1620-1845...
, or Trankebar, on India's south coast, in 1620. In the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
Denmark started a colony on St Thomas in 1671, St John in 1718, and purchased Saint Croix from
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
in 1733. Denmark maintained its Indian colony, Tranquebar, as well as several other smaller colonies there, for about two hundred years. The
Danish East India CompanyThe Danish East India Company was a Danish chartered company.-History:It was founded in 1616, following a privilege of Danish King Christian IV....
operated out of Tranquebar. During its heyday, the Danish company and the
Swedish East India CompanyThe Swedish East India Company was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with the far east...
imported more tea than the
British East India CompanyThe East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
— and smuggled 90% of it into Britain, where it sold at a huge profit. Both of the Scandinavia-based East India Companies folded during the course of the Napoleonic Wars. Danes also maintained other colonies, forts, and bases in West Africa, primarily for the purpose of
slaveSlavery is a form of forced labor in which people are considered to be the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation...
-trading.
The Napoleonic Wars
The long decades of peace came to an abrupt end during the Napoleonic Wars. Britain felt threatened by the Armed Neutrality Treaty of 1794, which originally involved Denmark and Sweden, and later Prussia and Russia. The
British fleetThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
attacked Copenhagen in 1801 (
Battle of Copenhagen (1801)The Battle of Copenhagen was an engagement which saw a British fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker fight and strategically defeat a Danish-Norwegian fleet anchored just off Copenhagen on 2 April, 1801. Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson led the main attack...
), destroying much of Denmark's navy. Denmark nonetheless managed to remain uninvolved in the Napoleonic Wars until 1807. The British
fleetA fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
bombarded CopenhagenFor the earlier naval battle see Battle of Copenhagen The Second Battle of Copenhagen, was a British preemptive attack on Copenhagen, targeting the civilian population in order to seize the Dano-Norwegian fleet....
again that year, causing considerable destruction to the city. They then captured the entire Danish fleet so that it couldn't be used by France to invade Britain (as the French had lost their own fleet at Trafalgar in 1805), leading to the
Gunboat WarThe Gunboat War was the naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the conventional Royal Navy...
(1807-1814). The confiscation of the Danish navy was widely criticized in Britain.
The
Treaty of KielThe Treaty of Kiel was a settlement between Sweden and Denmark-Norway on 14 January 1814, whereby the Danish king, a loser in the Napoleonic Wars, ceded Norway to the king of Sweden, in return for the Swedish holdings in Pomerania. However, the treaty signed in Kiel would never come into force...
transferred
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
from the Danish to the Swedish crown in 1814, as a reward to Sweden — which had chosen the victorious side. But the
Norwegians revolted1814 was a pivotal year in Norwegian history. It started with Norway as a part of the Danish kingdom subject to a naval blockade being ceded to the king of Sweden. In May a constitutional convention declared Norway an independent kingdom. By the end of the year the Norwegian parliament had agreed...
, declared their independence, and elected crown-prince Christian Frederick (the future
Christian VIIIChristian VIII , king of Denmark 1839–48 and, as Christian Frederick, of Norway 1814, the eldest son of the Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was born in 1786 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen...
) as their king. However, the Norwegian independence movement failed to attract any support from the European powers. After a brief war with Sweden, Christian had to abdicate in order to preserve Norwegian autonomy, established in a
personal unionA personal union is the combination by which two or more different states are governed by the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
with Sweden.
Denmark suffered terribly as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, it's economy broken, Norway lost, and Copenhagen badly damaged.
Interestingly, this period also counts as "the Golden Age" of Danish
intellectual historyIntellectual history refers to the history of the people who create, discuss, write about and in other ways propagate ideas. Although the field emerged from European discourses of Kulturgeschichte and Geistesgeschichte, the historical study of ideas has engaged not only western intellectual...
. A sign of renewed intellectual vigor was the introduction of compulsory schooling in 1814. Literature, painting, sculpture, and philosophy all experienced an unusually vibrant period. The stories of
Hans Christian AndersenHans Christian Andersen was a Danish author and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Snow Queen", "The Little Mermaid", "Thumbelina", "The Little Match Girl", and the "The Ugly Duckling".During his lifetime he was acclaimed for having delighted...
(1805-1875) became popular not only in Denmark, but all over Europe and in the United States of America. The ideas of the philosopher
Søren KierkegaardSøren Aabye Kierkegaard was a prolific 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian. Kierkegaard strongly criticised both the Hegelianism of his time and what he saw as the empty formalities of the Church of Denmark...
(1813-1855) spread far beyond Denmark, influencing not only his own era, but proving instrumental in the development of new philosophical systems after him. The sculptures of
Thorvaldsen Bertel Thorvaldsen was a Danish/Icelandic sculptor.-Biography:Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen in 1770 , the son of an Icelander who had settled in Denmark and there carried on the trade of a wood-carver. This account is disputed by some Icelanders, who claim Thorvaldsen was born in Iceland...
(1770-1834) grace public buildings all over Denmark and other artists appreciated and copied his style. Grundtvig (1783-1872) tried to reinvigorate the Danish National Church and contributed to the hymns used by the church in Denmark.
Nationalism and liberalism
The Danish
liberalLiberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted today throughout the world, and was recognized as an important value by many philosophers throughout history...
and
nationalNationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
movements gained momentum in the 1830s, and after the European revolutions of 1848 Denmark became a
constitutional monarchyA constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a written , unwritten or blended constitution...
on June 5, 1849. The growing
bourgeoisieHistorically, the bourgeoisie were a social class of people, characterized by their ownership of capital and the related culture. They were a part of the middle or merchant classes of European feudalism, where their power came from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from those...
had demanded a share in government, and in an attempt to avert the sort of bloody revolution occurring elsewhere in Europe,
Frederick VIIFrederick VII was King of Denmark. He reigned from 1848 until his death. He was the last Danish monarch of the older Royal branch of the House of Oldenburg, and also the last king of Denmark to rule as an absolute monarch...
gave in to the demands of the citizens. A new constitution emerged,
separating the powersThe separation of powers, also known as trias politica, is a model for the governance of democratic states. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the uncodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
and granting the
franchiseSuffrage is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. It is also called political franchise or simply the franchise. Suffrage may apply to elections, but also extends to initiatives and referendums...
to all adult males, as well as freedom of the press, religion, and association. The king became head of the executive branch. The legislative branch consisted of two parliamentary chambers; the
FolketingFolketinget , is the national parliament of Denmark. The name literally means “ People's Thing”—that is, the people's governing assembly.- History :...
, comprising members elected by the general population, and the
LandstingThe Landsting was a house of the Rigsdag in Denmark from 1849 until 1953, when the bicameral system was abolished. The house had powers equal to the Folketing, which made the two houses of parliament hard to distinguish....
, elected by landowners. Denmark also gained an independent
judiciaryThe judiciary is the system of courts which interprets and applies the law in the name of the sovereign or state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
. In 1845 Denmark sold its colony of
TranquebarTharangambadi is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was a Danish colony in India from 1620-1845...
in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
to
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
The Danish king's realm still consisted of four parts:
- the islands
- Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, forms the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish-German border to its south...
- the Duchy of Schleswig
- the Duchy of Holstein
The islands and Jutland together constituted the kingdom, whereas the monarch held the duchies in
personal unionA personal union is the combination by which two or more different states are governed by the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
with the kingdom. The duchy of Schleswig constituted a Danish fief, while the Duchy of Holstein remained a part of the
German ConfederationThe German Confederation was the association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to serve as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which had been abolished in 1806. In 1848, revolutions by liberals and nationalists occurred in an attempt to...
. Since the early 18th century, and even more so from the early 19th century, the Danes had become used to viewing the duchies and the kingdom as increasingly unified in one
stateA sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state...
. This view, however, clashed with that of the German majority in the duchies, also enthused by liberal and national trends, which lead to a movement known as Schleswig-Holsteinism. Schleswig-Holsteinists aimed for independence from Denmark. The
First War of SchleswigThe First Schleswig War or Three Years' War was the first round of military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig-Holstein Question, contesting the issue of who should control the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The war, which lasted from 1848–1851,...
(1848-1851) broke out after constitutional change in 1849 and ended with the
status quo only thanks to the intervention of
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
and other Great Powers. Much debate took place in Denmark as to how to deal with the question of Schleswig-Holstein. National-Liberals demanded permanent ties between Schleswig and Denmark, but stated that Holstein could do as it pleased. However, international events overtook domestic Danish politics, and Denmark faced war against both
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
and
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
in what became known as the
Second War of SchleswigThe Second Schleswig War was the second military conflict as a result of the Schleswig-Holstein Question. It began on February 1, 1864, when Prussian forces crossed the border into Schleswig.Denmark fought Prussia and Austria...
(1864). The war lasted from February to October 1864. Denmark was easily beaten by Prussia and Austria, and obliged to relinquish Schleswig-Holstein.
The war caused Denmark as a nation severe trauma, forcing it to reconsider its place in the world. The loss of Schleswig-Holstein came as the latest in the long series of defeats and territorial loss that had begun in the 17th century. The Danish state had now lost some of the richest areas of the kingdom: Skåne to Sweden and Schleswig to Germany, so the nation focused on developing the poorer areas of the country. Extensive agricultural improvements took place in Jutland, and a new form of nationalism, which emphasized the "small" people, the decency of rural Denmark, and the shunning of wider aspirations, developed. Industrialization came to Denmark in the second half of the 19th century. The nation's first railroads were constructed in the 1850s, and improved communications and overseas trade allowed industry to develop in spite of Denmark's lack of natural resources. Trade unions developed starting in the 1870s. There was a considerable migration of people from the countryside to the cities, and Danish agriculture became centered around the export of dairy and meat products.
The two concepts of internationalism and nationalism have become very much part of the history of the Danish
Labour movementThe term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and political governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing...
.
The Labour movement gathered momentum when social issues became associated with internationalism. Socialist theory and organisational contact with the
First InternationalThe International Workingmen's Association , sometimes called the First International, was an international socialist organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing political groups and trade union organizations that were based on the working class and class struggle. It was...
, which linked labour movements in various countries, paved the way.
Louis PioLouis Pio was one of the principal founders of the organized worker's movement in Denmark, and the principal founder of the Danish Social Democratic Party.-Early life:...
emerged as the driving force. In 1871, following the bloody defeat of the
Paris CommuneThe Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris, from March 28 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and socialists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class...
, he started publishing socialist journalism. He campaigned strongly for an independent organisation of the workers under their own management, and organised a Danish branch of the First International. This became the foundation stone for the
Social Democratic PartyThe Social Democrats , is a Danish political party. It is currently the second largest party with 25.5% of votes and 45 of 175 seats. Since the Social Democrats were last in government, ending 2001, it is the first time the Social Democrats are not the most popular party since the end of World War II...
under the name of Den Internationale Arbejderforening for Danmark (The International Labour Association for Denmark). As a combination of union and political party, it adroitly brought together national and international elements.
Pio saw internationalism as vital for the success of the workers' struggle: without internationalism, no progress. He pointed out that the middle classes cooperated across national frontiers and used nationalistic rhetoric as a weapon against the workers and their liberation.
The Danish section started organising strikes and demonstrations for higher wages and social reforms. Moderate demands, but enough to provoke the employers and the forces of
law and orderIn politics, law and order refers to a political platform which supports a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...
. Things came to a head in the Battle of
FælledenThe park Fælledparken in Copenhagen, Denmark, was created 1906–1914 by landscape architect Edvard Glæsel in cooperation with the Copenhagen Municipality on the commons previously named Nørrefælled and Østerfælled....
on 5 May 1872. The authorities arrested the three leaders, Louis Pio, Poul Geleff and Harald Brix, charged them and convicted them of high treason. The three left Denmark for the United States to set up the ill-starred and short-lived socialist colony near Hays City, in
Ellis County, KansasEllis County is a county located in Northwest Kansas, in the Central United States. The population was estimated to be 26,926 in the year 2006...
.
Back in Denmark, the emerging political situation made possible by the new constitution alarmed many of the existing elites, since it inevitably
empowerEmpowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.-Definitions:...
ed the peasantry. Simple men with little education replaced professors and professionals in positions of power. The peasants, in coalition with liberal and radical elements from the cities, eventually won a majority of seats in the Folketing. Even though constitutional changes had taken place to boost the power of the Landsting, the Left
VenstreVenstre
[The party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom.] , full name: Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti is the largest...
Party demanded to form the government, but the king, still the head of the executive branch, refused. However in 1901, king
Christian IXChristian IX was King of Denmark from 16 November 1863 to 29 January 1906. He became known as the father-in-law of Europe, as his six children married into other royal houses; most current European monarchs are descended from him.-Early life:He was born in Gottorp, the fourth son of Friedrich...
gave in and asked
Johan Henrik DeuntzerJohan Henrik Deuntzer was a Danish politician, member of the Liberal Venstre party until 1905 where he joined the Danish Social Liberal Party...
, a member of Venstre, to form a government, the
Cabinet of DeuntzerAfter the 1901 Danish Folketing election, the Council President Johan Henrik Deuntzer of the Venstre Reform Party became the leader of Denmark's first liberal government. The resulting cabinet, which replaced the Cabinet of Sehested consisting of member of the conservative party Højre, was formed...
. This began a tradition of parliamentary government, and with the exception of the
Easter Crisis of 1920The Easter Crisis of 1920 was a constitutional crisis and a significant event in the evolution of constitutional monarchy in Denmark. It began with the dismissal of the elected government by the reigning monarch, King Christian X, a reserve power which was granted to him by the Danish constitution...
, no government since 1901 has ruled against a parliamentary majority in the Folketing.
Monetary union
The
Scandinavian Monetary UnionThe Scandinavian Monetary Union was a monetary union formed by Sweden and Denmark on May 5, 1873 by fixing their currencies against gold at par to each other...
, a monetary union formed by Sweden and Denmark on May 5 1873, fixed both their
currenciesIn economics, the term currency can refer either to a particular currency, for example the US dollar, or to the coins and banknotes of a particular currency, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
against
goldThe gold standard is a monetary system in which a region's common medium of exchange are paper notes that are normally freely convertible into pre-set, fixed quantities of gold...
at parPar value, in finance and accounting, means stated value or face value. From this comes the expressions at par , over par and under par ....
to each other.
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, governed in union with Sweden, entered the monetary union two years later in 1875 by pegging its currency to gold at the same level as Denmark and Sweden (.403 grams).
The monetary union proved one of the few tangible results of the Scandinavist political movement of the 19th century.
The union provided fixed exchange-rates and stability in monetary terms, but the member-countries continued to issue their own separate currencies. In an outcome not initially foreseen, the perceived security led to a situation where the formally separate currencies circulated on a basis of "as good as" the
legal tenderLegal tender or forced tender is an offered payment that, by law, cannot be refused in settlement of a debt, and have the debt remain in force....
virtually throughout the entire area.
The outbreak of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
in 1914 brought an end to the monetary union. Sweden abandoned the tie to gold on August 2 1914, and without a fixed exchange rate the free circulation came to an end.
1901-1939
In the early decades of the 20th century the new
Radical PartyDet Radikale Venstre is a social liberal party in Denmark. It is officially translated by the party as Danish Social Liberal Party. A more traditional English-language name is the Radical Liberal Party....
and the older
Venstre PartyVenstre
[The party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom.] , full name: Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti is the largest...
shared government. During this time women gained the
right to voteWomen's suffrage is the right of women to vote, and historically includes the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage to women. The movement's modern origins lie in France in the 18th century. Of currently existing independent countries, New Zealand was the first to give...
(1915), and the United States of America purchased some of Denmark's colonial holdings: the three islands of St. John, St. Croix, and St. Thomas in the West Indies. The period also saw Denmark inaugurating important social and labour-market reforms, laying the basis for the
welfare stateThere are two main interpretations of the idea of a welfare state:* A model in which the state assumes primary responsibility for the welfare of its citizens...
.
Denmark remained
neutralA neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, but the conflict affected the country to a considerable extent. As its economy was heavily based on exports, the unrestricted German submarine warfare was a serious problem. Denmark had no choice but to sell many of its exports to Germany instead of overseas nations. Widespread profiteering took place, but commerce also suffered great disruption because of the conflict and because of the ensuing financial instability in Europe. Rationing was instituted, and there were food and fuel shortages. Following the defeat of Germany in the war (1918), the
Treaty of VersaillesThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
(1919) mandated the
Schleswig PlebiscitesThe Schleswig Plebiscites were two plebiscites, organized according to section XII, articles 109 to 114 of the Treaty of Versailles of June 28 1919, in order to determine the future border between Denmark and Germany through the former duchy of Schleswig...
, which resulted in the return of Northern Schleswig (
South JutlandSouth Jutland is the name for the region south of the Kongeå in Jutland, Denmark. The region north of the Kongeå is called Nørrejylland . Both territories had their own ting assemblies in the Middle Ages . South Jutland is mentioned for the first time in the Knýtlinga saga.In the 13th century...
) to Denmark. The king and parts of the opposition grumbled that Prime Minister
Carl Theodor ZahleCarl Theodor Zahle , Danish lawyer and politician; prime minister of Denmark 1909-1910, 1913-1920. In 1895 he was elected member of the lower chamber of the Danish parliament, Folketinget, for Venstrereformpartiet...
(in office 1909-1910 and 1913-1920) did not use Germany's defeat to take back a bigger portion of the province, which Denmark had lost in the
Second War of SchleswigThe Second Schleswig War was the second military conflict as a result of the Schleswig-Holstein Question. It began on February 1, 1864, when Prussian forces crossed the border into Schleswig.Denmark fought Prussia and Austria...
in 1864. The king and the opposition wanted to take over the city of
FlensburgFlensburg is an independent town in the North of the German state Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the region Southern Schleswig...
, while the cabinet insisted on only claiming areas where a majority of Danes lived, which led to a plebiscite in the affected areas over whether they wanted to become a part of
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
or remain within
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. Believing that he had the support of the people, King Christian X used his
reserve powerIn a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government, a reserve power is a power that may be exercised by the head of state without the approval of another branch of the government. Unlike a presidential system of government, the head of state is generally constrained by the cabinet or the...
to dismiss Zahle's cabinet, sparking the
Easter Crisis of 1920The Easter Crisis of 1920 was a constitutional crisis and a significant event in the evolution of constitutional monarchy in Denmark. It began with the dismissal of the elected government by the reigning monarch, King Christian X, a reserve power which was granted to him by the Danish constitution...
. As a result of the Easter Crisis, the king promised to no longer interfere in politics. Although the Danish Constitution remained un-amended, Danish monarchs have stayed out of politics since then. The end of the war also prompted the Danish government to finish negotiating with
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
, resulting in Iceland becoming a sovereign
KingdomThe Kingdom of Iceland was a constitutional monarchy lasting from 1 December 1918 until 17 June 1944, when it became an independent republic.- Origins in Danish rule :...
on December 1 1918 while retaining the Danish monarch as
Head of StateHead of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state...
.
In the
1924 Folketing electionThe Danish Folketing election of 1924 was held on 11 April 1924, except on the Faroe Islands where the election was held on 30 May....
the Social Democrats, under the charismatic
Thorvald StauningThorvald August Marinus Stauning was the first social democratic Prime Minister of Denmark. He served as Prime Minister from 1924 to 1926 and again from 1929 until his death in 1942....
, became Denmark's largest parliamentary political party, a position they maintained until 2001. Since the opposition still held a majority of the seats in the
LandstingThe Landsting was a house of the Rigsdag in Denmark from 1849 until 1953, when the bicameral system was abolished. The house had powers equal to the Folketing, which made the two houses of parliament hard to distinguish....
, Stauning had to co-operate with some of the right-wing parties, making the Social Democrats a more mainstream party. He succeeded in brokering an important deal in the 1930s which brought an end to the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in Denmark, and also laid the foundation for a welfare state.
World War II
Denmark declared its neutrality at the beginning of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and signed a non-aggression agreement with
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
. Nevertheless, Germany (so as to secure communications for its invasion of Norway) occupied Denmark on April 9, 1940, meeting only token resistance. British forces, however, occupied the
Faroe IslandsThe Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, Faroe, or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland...
(12 April 1940: see
British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War IIThe British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II, also known as "Operation Valentine," was implemented immediately following the German invasion of Denmark and Norway....
) and
invadedThe invasion of Iceland, codenamed Operation Fork, was a British military operation conducted by the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines during World War II....
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
(10 May 1940) in pre-emptive moves to prevent German occupation. Following a
plebisciteA referendum was held in Iceland on 24 May 1944. There were two separate issues:#Whether to abolish the Union with Denmark.#Whether to adopt a new republican constitution.Voter turnout was 98.6%.-Abolishing the Act of Union:...
, Iceland declared its independence on June 17, 1944 and became a republic, dissolving its union with Denmark.
The Nazi occupation of Denmark unfolded in a unique manner. The conditions of occupation started off very leniently (although the authorities banned
Danmarks Kommunistiske PartiCommunist Party of Denmark is a communist political party in Denmark which was founded as Venstresocialistiske Parti in 1919. VSP was a split from the Danish Social Democratic Party. The party assumed its present name in 1920...
(the Communist party) when the Wehrmacht
invaded the Soviet UnionOperation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km front...
in June 1941), and Denmark retained its own government. The new coalition government tried to protect the population from Nazi rule through compromise. The Germans allowed the Folketing to remain in session, the police remained under Danish control, and the German authorities stayed one step removed from the population. However, the Nazi demands eventually became intolerable for the Danish government, so in 1943 it resigned and Germany assumed full control of Denmark. After that point, an armed resistance movement grew against the occupying forces. Toward the end of the war, Denmark grew increasingly difficult for Germany to control, but the country remained under occupation until the end of the war in May 1945.
Denmark succeeded in smuggling most of its Jewish population to Sweden in 1943 when the Nazis threatened deportation; see
Rescue of the Danish JewsThe rescue of the Danish Jews occurred during Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark during World War II. When Hitler ordered that Danish Jews be arrested and deported on 1–2 October 1943, many Danes took part in a collective effort to evacuate the roughly 8,000 Jews of Denmark by sea to nearby...
.
Post-war
In 1948 Denmark granted
home ruleHome rule is where constituent parts of a state are given greater self-government within the administrative purview of the central government....
to the
Faroe IslandsThe Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, Faroe, or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland...
. 1953 saw further political reform in Denmark, abolishing the Landsting (the elected upper house), colonial status for
GreenlandGreenland is an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago...
and allowing female rights of succession to the throne with the signing of a new constitution.
After the war, with the perceived threat posed by the
USSRThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
and the lessons of World War II still fresh in Danish minds, the country abandoned its policy of neutrality. Denmark became a charter-member of the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
in 1945 and one of the original members of the
North Atlantic Treaty OrganisationThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization ); ), also called "the Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949...
in 1949 (though Denmark had originally tried to form an alliance only with Norway and Sweden). A
Nordic CouncilThe Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers are an intergovernmental forum for co-operation between the Nordic countries. It was established following World War II and its first concrete result was the introduction in 1952 of a common labour market and free movement across borders...
later emerged with the aim of co-ordinating Nordic policy. Later, in a
referendum in 1972The Danish European Communities membership referendum was held in Denmark on October 2, 1972, with 63.4 % of voters voting in favour of Danish membership of the European Communities, and 36.6 % voting against.. Voter turnout was either 90.1 % or 90.4 % depending on source...
, Danes voted in favour of joining the
European CommunityThe European Community is the first of the three pillars of the European Union created under the Maastricht Treaty . It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union. If the Treaty of Lisbon comes into...
, the predecessor of the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
, and Denmark became a member on 1 January 1973. Since then, Denmark has proven a hesitant member of the European community, opting out of many proposals, including the
EuroThe euro is the official currency of 16 of the 27 Member States of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone, are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain...
which it rejected in a
referendum in 2000The Danish euro referendum of September 28, 2000 was a referendum on whether Denmark should join the third stage of the European Monetary Union, adopting the euro as currency to replace the Danish krone...
.
See also
Further reading
- Derry, T. K. A History of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1979. ISBN 0-8166-3799-7.
- Lauring, Palle. A History of Denmark. 3rd ed. Copenhagen: Høst, 1995. ISBN 87-14-29306-4.
External links