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Monetary Union
The 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. Norway, which was in union with Sweden entered the union two years later, in 1875 by pegging its currency to gold at the same level as Denmark and Sweden (.403 grams [1]). The monetary union was 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. Even if it was not initially foreseen, the perceived security led to a situation where the formally separate currencies were accepted on a basis of "as good as" the legal tender virtually throughout the entire area.
The outbreak of World War I, 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.
Twentieth century
Early 20th century
In the early decades of the 20th century the new Radical Party and the older Venstre Party shared government. During this time women were granted the vote (1915), and some of Denmark's colonial holdings, three islands (St. John, St. Croix, and St. Thomas) in the West Indies were sold to the United States. During this period Denmark inaugurated important social and labour market reforms, laying the basis for the present welfare state.
Denmark remained neutral during World War I, although the conflict affected the country to a considerable extent. There was widespread profiteering, but commerce was also greatly disrupted by the conflict and the ensuing financial instability in Europe. Following the defeat of Germany in the war, the Treaty of Versailles mandated the Schleswig Plebiscites, in which it was decided to return Northern Schleswig (now South Jutland) to Denmark. The king and parts of the opposition were dissatisfied that Prime Minister Carl Theodor Zahle did not use Germany's defeat to take back more of the German-ethnic land lost in the Second War of Schleswig, and believing he had the support of the people he used his reserve power to dismis Zahle's cabinet, sparking the Easter Crisis of 1920. As a result of the Easter Crisis, the Danish Constitution was amended, lessening the power of the monarch.
In the 1924 election the Social Democrats, under the charismatic Thorvald Stauning, became Denmark's largest party, a position they maintained until 2001. Stauning worked with some of the bourgeois parties, making the Social Democrats a more mainstream party. He was able to broker an important deal in the 1930s, which brought an end to the Great Depression in Denmark, and also laid the foundation for a welfare state.
Despite its declaration of neutrality at the beginning of World War II, and the conclusion of a non-aggression agreement with Nazi Germany, Denmark was invaded by Nazi Germany (Operation Weserübung) on April 9, 1940 and occupied until May 5, 1945. The occupation of Denmark was unique in that the terms of occupation were initially very lenient (although the Communist party was banned when Germany invaded the Soviet Union). The new coalition government tried to protect the population from Nazi rule through compromise. The Folketing was allowed to remain in session, the police remained under Danish control, and the Nazi German authorities were one step removed from the population. However, the Nazi German demands eventually became intolerable for the Danish government, so in 1943 it resigned and Nazi Germany assumed full control of Denmark. After that point, an armed resistance movement grew up against the occupying forces. Toward the end of the war, Denmark grew increasingly difficult for Nazi Germany to control, but the country was not liberated until Allied forces arrived in the country at the end of the war.
Also notable was the relocation of most Danish Jews to Sweden in 1943 when Nazi forces threated deportation, see Rescue of the Danish Jews.
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Europe 
