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Page 6 of 8
19th century
Napoleonic Wars
Denmark's robust economy was shattered by the expenses and losses of the Napoleonic wars. Denmark had allied with France and had faced several attacks from the British. The British fleet attacked Copenhagen in 1801 (Battle of Copenhagen (1801)) which led to Denmark allying with the French. In 1807 the British fleet bombarded Copenhagen again, which caused considerable civilian hardship. They captured the Danish fleet and brought it back to Britain, leading to the Gunboat War.
Norway was transferred from the Danish to the Swedish crown by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, as a reward to Sweden which had chosen the victorious side. But the Norwegians revolted, declared their independence, and elected crown prince Christian Frederick (the future Christian VII) as king. After a brief war with Sweden, he was forced to abdicate in order to preserve Norwegian autonomy, in a personal union with Sweden.
During this period Denmark was literally bankrupt. Merchants fled, and the general population suffered a period of general deprivation. Interestingly, this period is also known as "the Golden Age" of Danish intellectual history. Literature, painting, sculpture, and philosophy all underwent an unusually vibrant period. Hans Christian Andersen, Kierkegaard, Thorvaldsen, and Grundtvig were all active during this period.
Nationalism and liberalism
The Danish liberal and national movements gained momentum in the 1830s, and after the European revolutions of 1848 Denmark became a constitutional monarchy on June 5, 1849. The growing bourgeoisie demanded a share in government, and in an attempt to avert the bloody revolutions that were occurring elsewhere in Europe, Frederick VII gave in to the demands of the citizens. A new constitution was drawn up dividing powers and granting franchise to all adult males. The king was made head of the executive branch, which was complemented by a legislative branch consisting of two parliamentary chambers; the Folketing, consisting of members elected by the general population, and the Landsting, whose members were elected by landowners. An independent judiciary was also set up. In 1845, the Danish colony of Tranquebar in India was sold to Britain.
The Danish king's realm did still consist of four parts: the islands and Jutland, which together constituted the kingdom, and then the duchies Schleswig and Holstein, which were in personal union with the kingdom. Since the early 18th century, and even more so from the early 19th century, the Danes had got used to viewing the duchies and the kingdom as increasingly unified in one state. This was, however, not the view of the German majority in the duchies, who had also been enthused by the liberal and national movements leading to a movement known as Schleswig-Holsteinism. They aimed for independence from Denmark. The First War of Schleswig was ignited by the constitutional change of 1849 and ended with status quo only thanks to the intervention of Britain and other Great Powers. There was much debate in Denmark as to how to deal with the question of Schleswig-Holstein. National-Liberals demanded that Schleswig be permanently tied to Denmark, but Holstein could do as it pleased. However, international events overtook domestic Danish politics, and Denmark was confronted with war against Prussia and Austria in 1864, in what came to be known as the Second War of Schleswig. The territories had become pawns in Otto von Bismarck's larger political ambitions. Denmark was forced to cede all of Schleswig-Holstein to Prussia and adopt a policy of neutrality.
The war was deeply traumatic for Denmark as a nation, forcing it to reconsider its place in the world. The loss of Schleswig-Holstein was the last in a long series of territorial defeats for the once large kingdom of Denmark. Many of the richest areas of the kingdom, in Sweden and Germany had been lost, so the nation focused on developing the poorer areas of the country. Extensive agricultural improvements were undertaken in Jutland, and a new form of nationalism, which emphasized the "small" people, the decency of rural Denmark, and the shunning of wider aspirations, was fostered.
The two concepts internationalism and nationalism have been very much part of the history of the Danish labour movement.
The labour movement gathered momentum when the social issue came to be associated with internationalism. Socialist theory and the organisational contact to 1st Internationale, which was a union of labour movements in various countries, paved the way. The driving force was Louis Pio. In 1871 following the bloody defeat of the Paris Commune he started publishing Socialist Papers. Here he campaigned strongly for an independent organisation of the workers under their own management, and organised a Danish branch of the Internationale. This proved to be the foundation stone for the Social Democratic Party under the name of Den Internationale Arbejderforening for Danmark (The International Labour Association for Denmark). It was a combination of union and political party, and adroitly brought together national and international elements.
Pio stated that the workers' fight had to be international, if they were to succeed at all - without internationalism, no progress. He went on to point out that the middle-classes cooperated across the 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 order. Things came to a head in the Battle of Fælleden on the 5th May 1872, where the three leaders Louis Pio, Poul Geleff and Harald Brix were arrested, charged and sentenced for high treason.
The three left Denmark for America to create the ill-starred and short-lived Socialist colony near Hays City, in Ellis county Kansas. It was begun and ended in 1877. The leaders were Louis Albert Francois Pio, Paul Geleff, and W. A. Hansen. The Socialists who had been forced, or at least found it advisable, to leave Denmark. There were eighteen colonists, some married and some single. They at once set to work to build a log cabin with separate apartments for the married and the unmarried. Tools and stock were purchased. The men worked "like hell." The women quarreled. And the naked prairie--save for an abundance of buffalo bones, rattlesnakes, prairie dogs, owls and an occasional soldier--seemed so unresponsive to the demands for a better social order, that the colonists could stand it no longer than six weeks. The property was then sold and the proceeds divided among the colonists, netting each some thirty dollars.
Back in Denmark, the emerging political situation made possible by the new constitution was quite alarming for many of the existing elites since it inevitably empowered 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 there had been constitutional changes to empower the Landsting, the Left Venstre Party demanded to form the government, but the king, still the head of the executive branch, refused. A constitutional crisis ensued, which was ended in 1901 by the introduction of parliamentary government. It was decided that no government could rule against the wishes of a parliamentary majority.
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