Scandinavia in general has a rich history. The inhabitants of this territory, famous for their historical sea raids, were called Vikings. The history of Denmark is no less rich in significant events. Back in 1397, Queen Margaret I of Denmark headed the Kalmar Union, which united Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Denmark is one of the founders of the UN.
Closely intertwined with its capital. The capital of Denmark is Copenhagen, founded in 1167. It is located on the island of Zealand. Historical Center– Indre By is located inside the fortress wall on Castle Island, separated from the rest of the city by the Frederiksholms Canal. Indre By is a labyrinth of old streets and parks. I must say that, in general, geography of Denmark quite peculiar.
Capital of Denmark It was repeatedly besieged during the Count's War, the war with the Swedes, and battles with the British took place in the city's harbor. Copenhagen began to develop rapidly after the Second World War. It now ranks third on the list of the best cities in the world.
The Kingdom is home to 5.5 million people. The average life expectancy for men is 78 years, for women – 86 years. Population of Denmark mostly of Scandinavian origin, but there are also small groups: Inuit, Faroese, Frisians and Germans.
The head of state in Denmark is the King. Respectively state of Denmark- a constitutional monarchy. The king exercises legislative power and appoints the government. Parliament is a body legislative branch, elected for 4 years. The government facilitates the exercise of executive power. The Supreme Court is the highest level of the judicial system.
After the war, the country's restoration was facilitated by powerful financial assistance from the United States. In 1953, the current Constitution of the country was adopted. Self-government has been introduced in the Faroe Islands and Greenland. From the moment Denmark When oil production began in the North Sea, economic growth began in the country. It's hard to say that Danish politics conservative, in 1989 a law was passed recognizing the right of homosexual couples to enter into a union.
Part of the population living on the border with Germany speaks German. But official Danish language, Danish of course. However, in general story Denmark is closely intertwined with Germany.
The strengthened feudal nobility forces King Eric V to sign a charter limiting his powers. The beginning of a civil war between the feudal oligarchy and the German mercenaries of the king.
Among the states of the Scandinavian North, Denmark has occupied a special place in the course of its historical development, sharply distinguishing it from Norway and Sweden. Closer than these countries, it was located to the continent; its connection was closer with the population of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. The development of the power of the upper classes taken to extreme proportions at the expense and to the complete detriment of the rest of the population; the concentration, little by little, of this power in the hands of the secular landowning class alone; the creation then of absolute royal power, which gradually exhausted the country and brought it to the role of a minor power - these are the distinctive features of the historical development of Denmark almost until 1848, when Denmark entered, mainly under the pressure of external conditions, on the path of constitutional development.
From here the periods into which its history falls are distinguished:
1. before 1319 - the period of development of powerful landowning classes - the clergy and nobility;
2. 1320-1660 - a period of triumph, first of both landowning classes, and then of one noble class;
4. 1848-1905 - the constitutional period.
The modern geographical outlines of Jutland and the Scandinavian Peninsula were formed relatively recently. During the last ice age, Denmark was completely covered by a glacier. The retreat of the glacier, which began around 12 thousand years BC, led to a significant change in the relief, which continues to this day. About 8 thousand years BC. The glacier left the modern territory of Denmark to the north, and people began to populate Denmark. At this time, the modern Baltic and North seas did not exist. Jutland was connected by land both to the south of the Scandinavian Peninsula (Skåne) and to Great Britain: the sea existed only in the modern Gulf of Bothnia and north of the line connecting Skagen and Flamborough Head.
Like Sweden and Norway, Denmark owes its emergence to the so-called Gothic tribes, who apparently settled in very distant times Scania, Zealand, Fionia with neighboring islands, and later part of Jutland and Schleswig. Only part of Jutland was not initially occupied by them, since the Germanic tribe of the Angles lived here. The deportation of the latter to England opened up the opportunity for the Gothic tribe of Jutes to populate this part of the country, and the Eider River became quite early southern border Scandinavian Danish tribe. Behind it began purely German, mainly Saxon settlements, which later turned into the Ditmar Mark, Holstein, etc. Here, south of the mouth and current of the Eider, as legend says, the Danevirke was built - a wall that was supposed to protect Denmark from the invasion of neighboring tribes
The tribe that inhabited Denmark, which early created a reputation for pirates, Vikings, and carried out, especially in the 8th and 9th centuries, a number of raids on both neighboring and more remote areas of the Western European coast, only little by little became sedentary and agricultural.
As far as can be judged on the basis of legends and sagas, until the 10th century the Danes represented a group of tribes almost independent from each other, whose life was regulated by the principles of tribal life. All of Denmark represented a number of small “kingdoms” (Smaa kongar). The union of several tribes formed a district (Sysjel), divided into hundreds (Herred). All members of the clan were free people and bore the name Bonder, which only later passed to some peasants. They owned everything land plots, used tribal, communal land, participated in meetings (tings) at which trials were held, leaders were elected, issues of war and peace were decided, etc. It was their duty to take up arms at the call of the king and keep him as a guest during time for his tours around the kingdom. As free people, they were opposed only to slaves; those who served with the king as jarls, that is, leaders, dukes, rulers, or members of the hird, that is, warriors, were not assigned any exclusive rights.
Only the king was already granted some rights very early on, giving him the opportunity to expand his sphere of influence. He owned penalties for crimes; he managed the income from the temples; He was also assigned special lands as domains, governed by special persons (bryte, steward) by his election. The incomplete population, which was not part of one or another clan, bore the general name of thralls; they were either slaves or freedmen, who were the property of members of the tribe and acquired either through war and captivity, or through purchase, debt obligations, crime (less often), voluntary transactions, etc. This class, at first numerous, gradually disappeared by the 14th century.
By the middle of the 10th century, separate tribal groups merged into one territorial state. The legend attributes this to Gorm the Old, who managed to subjugate the petty princes to his power, albeit in a purely external way. The laws and governance in each group remained the same; the king was elected in the old way, at the Thing, but was obliged to attend all local Things for recognition.
Then, when under Eric VI it was necessary to resort to calling up new military forces for the war with Sweden and Germany, the nobility (1309) categorically refused to continue serving the king, left the camp and, relying on the peasants of northern Jutland, began an open struggle with the king. Although many of the nobles paid with their heads for participating in the rebellion, the royal power gained very little. Supported by the clergy, the nobility again raised the banner of rebellion. At this time, a lot of crown lands had already been distributed in the form of fiefs, and the kings had to resort to loans secured by land properties, mainly from German nobles.
By the end of the reign of Eric VI, things had reached the point where the king lost almost all his income. Within the country, royal power had nothing to rely on. The numerous and powerful class of free peasants lost its former importance. The devastation resulting from wars and especially the Wendish invasions forced many free peasants to turn into semi-dependent tenants, shareholders, simple farmers or workers. The only thing that was not destroyed was the right of peasant owners to participate in Things and to vote on issues of taxes and laws. In theory, the principle is that “no tax can be laid without the consent of the country,” and likewise, “no judgment can be pronounced if it is contrary to the law approved by the king and accepted by the people, and no law is repealed unless consent is given.” nation" (Jutland law) was still in effect; but since Valdemar the Great, in fact, many of the rights of the people were abolished.
Questions about war and peace were little by little removed from the jurisdiction of the people's assemblies and passed entirely to the consideration of the king's closest advisers, his vassals and officials. The right to choose a king was also limited by establishing in practice the custom of nominating a well-known person as a candidate for the royal seat to the assembly and even crowning him during the life of the chosen king. The inhabitants of Scania protested against these restrictions and began an uprising, which was suppressed by the combined forces of the nobility, clergy and king.
The cities that emerged in Denmark were unable to provide any strong support to the royal power. True, they acted as a special class already under Abel (1250).
Even earlier, they were given the right to a special court, as well as the right to have their own elected council and elected head (borgomester); but these rights were already subject to restrictions in the 13th century. The kings made every effort to elevate the power of their officials (foged, advocatus) at the expense of the city authorities, limiting the competence recent affairs purely administrative; even free choice was gradually replaced by the appointment of both burgomasters and members of the city council. The cities did not even try to rise up to defend their liberties. Insignificant in population, they could not become any significant economic force for a long time (at least until the 15th century).
Despite the trade privileges they enjoyed, their trade value it was insignificant. The Hanseatic cities, and especially Lubeck, which at one time (from 1203 to 1226) was a Danish city, acquired such extensive rights and privileges that there was no point in thinking about competition with them. There was no merchant fleet in Denmark; all products were transported on Hanseatic ships. Denmark could deliver only one raw material - bread and mainly livestock, receiving everything else from Germany.
The results of this state of affairs were not slow to manifest themselves in full force after the death of Eric VI, with the election as king of one of the active participants in the struggle of the nobility and clergy with the king. The new king, Christopher II (1320), was required to sign and swear such conditions that deprived the king of almost all power. The king pledged not to start wars or make peace without the consent of the nobility and clergy, and not to give fiefs to the Germans; at the same time it was decreed that no laws could be made or repealed except at annual popular assemblies, and then only on the proposal coming exclusively from nobles or prelates. Personal guarantees were created for the entire population: no one could be imprisoned until his case was examined, first by the local court, and then by the royal court. The last person convicted is given the right to appeal to the Sejm.
When Christopher II showed a desire not to fulfill the terms of surrender, the nobility, supported by the Holsteins, rebelled; the king was defeated, fled Denmark and was deposed. Even more difficult conditions were imposed on the newly elected king Valdemar (1326): the nobility was exempt from military service at their own expense, even within the state, and received the right to freely build and strengthen castles, while the king had to tear down his castles; the king was deprived of the right to propose a successor during his lifetime; the leaders of the nobility received entire districts under their control, with the title of dukes, the right to mint coins, etc.
The temporary triumph of Christopher II, who returned to the throne in 1329, did not create a strong position for him: his authority was reduced to a minimum, and he had to flee from nobles hostile to him. His death in 1332 finally freed the hands of the nobility, who for the next 8 years refused to elect a new king and governed the state independently (interregnum 1332-1340).
The transformation of the nobility into a closed, hereditary class, which had already begun earlier, in the middle of the 14th century became a completely accomplished fact. In this regard, the nobility also acquires hereditary rights to all settled lands, previously given to them for lifelong possession as fiefs. Almost a quarter of all state lands are concentrated in his hands, without paying taxes to the state. The only duty of the nobles is to participate in government, which acquires the character of full control of state affairs. The convening of all free people, both peasants and townspeople, to the Diet is still ongoing; but the upper classes play a leading role, and the very meetings of the Diet, previously necessarily annual, have become more and more rare and random since the end of the 14th century. The place of the Diet is occupied by a meeting of only the two highest classes (herredage). The former royal council (kongeligt Raad), consisting of persons invited by the king and having an exclusively advisory voice, began to gradually turn into an independent, state, and not royal council (Rigsrod, Riges Raad or det danske Riges Raad), somewhat later, after the surrender of Christian I, who finally received the right of supreme control over all affairs and over the king. The council included 20 representatives of the highest nobility and high clergy.
The interregnum led not only to the dismemberment of Denmark and the transfer of many regions into the hands of others - Swedish and German - but also to severe anarchy, which by 1340 had already caused a national reaction in the country and even among the nobility itself, mainly in Jutland (in the person of Niels Ebbesen ). The result was the election of Christopher II's son, Valdemar, nicknamed Atterdag, as king, who had to reassemble the Danish lands into one whole. His brilliant successes not only armed all his neighbors and especially the Hanseatic cities against him, but also aroused fears within, among the nobility. A series of uprisings by the nobility of Jutland in alliance with the tax-burdened peasantry, and distrust of the king on the part of the council, which ran affairs during his almost constant absence, more than once put Valdemar in a difficult position and did not give him the opportunity to completely unify and expand Denmark.
By suppressing the peasant uprising in Northern Jutland (1441-1443), the nobility finally undermined the importance of the peasantry, depriving them of the right to bear arms. Under the influence of the desire to enrich oneself through trade that arose among the nobility, it, in the person of the council and in agreement with the king, took away the right of exclusive trade from the Hansa, granting it to other nations, refused to approve the privileges of the Hansa and again restored the Sunda duty, abolished by the Treaty of Stralsund.
The capitulations concluded by the Danish upper classes, first with Christian I (Oldenburg), and then with Hans (John), finally strengthened the dominance of both upper classes in Denmark, giving them the broadest rights, and the Rigsrod a leading role in the state. Only this latter, acting “on behalf of the people,” elected Christian I as king, surrounding the choice with conditions that were beneficial exclusively for the upper classes.
The Danish monarchy was solemnly declared electoral, the king was limited in his power by both the council and the people's assembly. Without the consent of the council, he had no right to distribute fiefs, or appoint members of the council, or levy taxes, or declare war or make peace, or generally decide any matters relating to the state, or even manage his domains.
The capitulation signed by Hans (1483) gave the clergy the right to freely choose bishops. She established that members of the council could only be nobles, Danes by birth, and that if any member of the council separated from his comrades and began to curry favor with the king, he should immediately be expelled from the council in disgrace. Rigsrod had to sort out all the affairs of the king himself; in case the king dared not to do this, each Dane was given the right to force the king to do so by all means possible.
Under Christian I, a trade charter was issued, which was intended to increase the trade of the Danes, and under Hans, Denmark began an open war with the Hanseatic cities, which ended in the complete victory of the Danes. By the treaty of Hans with Henry VII of England, the British were given equal rights with the Hanseatic people.
The war started under Hans against the democratic Dietmar Mark, one of the few strongholds of peasant freedom in Germany, ended in complete failure for Denmark. The nobility hoped to put an end to the Ditmar “men” with the same ease as they had dealt with the Jutland ones, but they were completely defeated at Gemmingstedt ().
An even more decisive step towards dominance was taken by the upper class under Christian II, who was forced to sign a capitulation, according to which the members of the council alone were given the right to receive the best fiefs of the kingdom. All judicial functions were henceforth to be in the hands of the nobles alone. Royal officials were given the right of appointment to all peasant judicial seats, and the jury retained only a shadow of its former importance. The nobles were even given the right to death penalty. Right to erect ordinary people the rank of nobility is limited by the consent of the council. The inheritance of peasants in free land was limited by a decree that henceforth such land must pass to the nobles, who are obliged to pay the heirs its value.
Until the 15th-16th centuries there was no talk of running an independent economy on noble lands; The excess land was usually rented out to tenants from among the peasants. The nobleman's income consisted of court penalties, fines and those constant payments that free peasants living in the nobleman's territory were obliged to pay.
Towards the end of the 15th century, and especially in the 16th century, the Herremands' attitude towards land and agricultural products changed dramatically. Intensive work begins on rounding out possessions and forming vast estates with independent farming. The acquired political influence and broad judicial rights accelerate this process of turning nobles into landowners, into the main economic force in the country, whose agricultural products have always been the main sources of its wealth. Until the 15th-16th centuries, trade in grain and livestock was in the hands of townspeople and the peasants themselves. By the end of the 15th century, the nobles began to compete with the townspeople in the grain export trade; they receive the right to duty-free import of grain into cities and the same export of all kinds of goods, despite city privileges, and then they themselves buy up grain and sell it to the Hansa and other foreigners. Some start their own ships and try to export grain directly abroad. In the 16th century, they established direct relations with Holland, the main market for the trade of grain. The nobles also strive to make the sale of livestock their monopoly. The intensive exchange of scattered estates for neighboring crown lands, then the intensive demolition of peasant households, expands the estates in which large-scale farming is carried out. The result is a strong decrease in free peasants and their lands, from 15% in the 15th century to 8% at the beginning of the 17th century. In parallel with this, since the 15th century there has been a consistent enslavement of the peasantry, imposing on them unlimited corvee labor.
At the beginning of the 16th century, an attempt was made to stop the further political and economic strengthening of the nobility. Already in the first years of the reign of Christian II, his despotic habits were revealed with complete clarity in his relations both with the clergy, whose most important dignitaries he imprisoned and arbitrarily removed, and with the nobility, whose rights and privileges he ignored. He apparently sought to raise and expand Danish trade and undermine not only the importance of the Hansa, but also the role of the upper classes in this trade. He forbade the nobility and clergy from buying food in the villages in greater quantities than what was necessary for their consumption, and granted the right of exclusive purchase for trading purposes of both grain and livestock to some townspeople, to whom, in addition, he also allowed them to export them abroad. From Copenhagen he wanted to make the main point of Danish trade, and all issues relating to trade were transferred to the jurisdiction of a council of burgomasters and city councilors (one from each city), which was to meet annually.
In 1521, he declared himself the protector of the “poor peasants” and limited serfdom, reintroducing the right of passage, which had disappeared in Zealand, Laaland and Maine back in the 15th century. He began to openly patronize the spread of Luther's teachings in Denmark, calling from Wittenberg the preacher Martin Reinhard, who acted in concert with the first Danish Protestant, Prof. Pavel Eliezen.
As the king of all three Scandinavian kingdoms, Christian II hoped to create absolute power by first suppressing political freedom in Sweden, where at one time (1520) he managed to gain a foothold and exterminate a significant number of the nobility he hated (Stockholm Massacre). But complete failure in Sweden, the uprising of Gustav Vasa, and then the union of Lübeck and Sweden, which was joined by the upper Danish classes, undermined the work that had begun. The nobility and clergy refused to appear at the Diet convened at Kallundborg; they gathered without permission in Viborg () and here they solemnly proclaimed the deposition of Christian II.
Despite the full sympathy and energetic support provided to him by the townspeople and peasantry, Christian II fled Denmark, leaving it again to the rule of the upper classes. The newly elected king, Frederick I, approved and even expanded the rights and privileges of the nobility and clergy and reversed everything done by Christian II.
In 1524, the nobles managed to force the rebel cities of Copenhagen and Malmö to surrender. Christian II's attempt to regain the Danish throne failed; he was captured and imprisoned in a fortress; but among the masses a ferment began that was dangerous for the nobles. The burgomasters of Copenhagen in Malmö raised the banner of rebellion in the name of Christian II, caused a movement among the peasantry and, relying on the help of the head of the democratic movement in Lübeck, Wullenweber, and the military forces of Count Christopher of Oldenburg, began an open war with the nobility (counts' war). Part of the nobility was forced to again recognize Christian II as king; but the energy of the Jutland nobility and clergy turned the tide in favor of the upper classes.
The power of the nobility reached its apogee; a new tool for this was the reformation. At the diets in Odensee (1526), then in Copenhagen (1530), freedom of conscience was proclaimed; by the end of the reign of Frederick I, the reform covered almost all of Denmark.
At a meeting in Rue, Duke Christian was elected king, who managed to reconcile with Lübeck and then inflict a series of decisive defeats on the peasants (1535). Copenhagen was forced to capitulate (1536).
At first, the triumph of the nobility and the complete limitation of royal power apparently had the most beneficial effect on the role of Denmark in international relations. Its forces increased thanks to the complete subjugation of Norway, which Rigsdaag, contrary to the Kalmar Union, turned from an equal member of the union into a subject province.
A number of talented figures in the military and political sphere were nominated by the Danish nobility, and all external conflicts ended in victories for Denmark. The democratic Denmark March under Frederick II was forced to submit to the will of the Danes.
The German element now, with the annexation of Lauenburg, became even stronger. Frederick VI's attempt to give the Danish language, which was spoken by the numerically predominant mass of the Schleswig peasant population, primary importance failed and only caused irritation among the wealthy German nobility, already hostile to the king for the reform of peasant relations.
The inclusion of Holstein in the German Confederation and the article of the Union Act, by virtue of which each state of the union was to receive a Diet, served as a strong support for the Holstein nobility in agitation against the Danish government in order to achieve greater political independence, as well as the unification of Holstein and Schleswig into one political whole. . A number of petitions in this regard were submitted to the king, but they were all rejected (the Danes, in turn, who tried to achieve constitutional rights, paid for their attempt with cruel punishments).
In 1823, the Schleswig and Holstein nobility brought the controversial issue to the German Diet, the decision of which, however, was favorable to the Danish government. The agitation of the nobility resumed under the influence of the July Revolution of 1830 in France. The king, in view of the restless mood of minds in Denmark itself, had to give in to some extent.
In 1831, the introduction of constitutional institutions in the form of Diets was promised in Schleswig and Holstein, but for each region separately; three years later, deliberative diets were also established in Jutland and Zealand. Some of the members of the Sejm were appointed by the king; a high qualification was set for selecting the rest. The vast majority at the diets, especially in Schleswig, were nobles - large property owners. Sejm meetings were not public; Only summaries of debates and resolutions were allowed to be printed. The Zealand and Jutland diets zealously set to work; but the projects they drew up were mostly rejected by the government. This fate befell, by the way, the request of both Seimas to unite them into one whole. As a result, already under Frederick VI (died in 1839), some discord appeared between the country and the king.
Agitation in favor of freedom of the press and expansion of the constitution spread quickly, especially thanks to the then popular newspaper of Prof. David "Foedrelandet". The state of affairs did not change for the better under Christian VIII, on whom, as the liberal ruler of Norway (before it was taken from Denmark), great hopes were pinned. True, the king in 1842 organized permanent committees of representatives of the 4 Sejms to discuss current affairs together with the king; but since they, like the Diets, were only an advisory institution, they did not satisfy anyone.
Excitement also gripped the peasant population and led to the organization among them of a political union, and then a political party with a sharply democratic character. In 1845, the “Society of Friends of the Peasantry” (Bondevenuer) was founded and began to play a prominent role. Alongside there was a purely national movement that arose in literature at the beginning of the 19th century, and now developed under the influence of historical memories in the so-called. Scandinavianism The government opposed the formation of a Scandinavian society in Copenhagen, and only towards the end of his reign, under the influence of the separatist German movement in Schleswig, did Christian VIII decide to make concessions to the demands of both Scandinavians and liberals. Scandinavian society was allowed; a draft constitution was drawn up in deep secrecy.
The draft constitution was solemnly announced a few days after the death of Christian VIII, by his successor Frederick VII (January 28, 1848). He created a common parliament for all regions of Denmark, which was supposed to meet alternately in the kingdom and in the duchies. To consider the project, it was planned to convene a meeting half appointed by the king, half chosen by the Diet. All this caused strong disapproval and discontent in the country: there was a categorical demand for a new constitution, common to all of Denmark before Eider, with Holstein identified as a completely independent region.
The excitement of minds was intensified by the news of the February revolution. The king yielded; in October the constituent assembly was opened. Elections to the assembly were held on the basis of an electoral law that introduced universal suffrage. On June 5, 1849, the constitution was approved; it was to extend both to the kingdom and to the Duchy of Schleswig.
But in Schleswig, even before the publication of the constitution, a revolutionary movement broke out, which caused the intervention of Germany and its war with Denmark. Already King Frederick VI made a major mistake by maintaining the administrative connection between Schleswig and Holstein and leaving elections to the Diet almost exclusively to nobles imbued with anti-Danish tendencies. Christian VIII, despite the protests of the Schleswig peasant deputies, issued an order by which Danish as the official language was introduced only in the courts and in the administration of that part of Schleswig where the population was exclusively Danish; German was even retained as the language of schools here. In reality, German remained the only official language, since the Diet refused to allow speeches in Danish. One of the leaders of the German movement, Prince Friedrich Nehr (Noer), brother of the Duke of Augustenburg, was appointed head of the local government. The government's policy changed only when the Duke of Augustenburg protested the succession law of 1846, by which the inextricable connection of Schleswig with Denmark was reaffirmed, and when the Schleswig Diet presented the king with an address threatening a complaint to the German Diet.
The revolution of 1848 and especially the convening of the Frankfurt Diet freed the hands of the Schleswig Germans. At a meeting in Rendsburg on March 18, it was decided to send the king a decisive demand to unite Schleswig and Holstein into one whole and to include the former in the German Confederation. The king responded with a categorical refusal; in Holstein, and then in Schleswig, a previously prepared uprising broke out (see Province of Schleswig-Holstein). The Danish government managed to immediately suppress the uprising, but its victory caused an explosion of indignation in Germany.
Defeated in an unequal battle, Denmark ceded to Prussia and Austria not only Holstein and Lauenburg, but also Schleswig with undeniably Danish units, regarding which Prussia made a promise, not fulfilled until now, although confirmed by the Peace of Prague of 1866, to ask the population which of the two. monarchies, Danish or Prussian, it wants to belong to. From a once major power, Denmark finally turned into a minor state.
Having lost Schleswig and its inhabitants Germanic tribe region, Denmark has focused its attention on internal affairs. The question of changing the constitution came to the fore, since the union constitution did not and could not have any more meaning. Despite the energetic opposition of the peasant party, the constitution of 1849 was subject to changes that favored the interests of large landowners rather than democratic ones. In general terms, the new constitution, which with few exceptions has survived to the present time, was a repetition of the constitution of 1849, with the abolition only of universal suffrage for elections to the Landsting. There is great uncertainty in Article 26 of the constitution, which states that “in cases of extreme necessity, the king may issue temporary laws between sessions of the Diet.” With the help of this article, as well as new organization Supreme Court (Rigs ret), whose members are half elected by the Landsting and which has the right to interpret laws, the government managed to bypass the opposition of the Folketing or cash it out by dissolution, which it resorted to almost every year, relying on the sympathy of the Landsting. Hence the predominantly obstructive policy of the Folketing and the absence of major reforms. The reasons for the clashes between the Folketing and the ministry are especially budgetary issues, as well as the question of armament and governance of Copenhagen, which is stubbornly opposed by the Democratic Party, which wants complete neutrality for Denmark.
Despite the Folketing's protest and their expressions of open distrust of Estrup's ministry, the latter remained unchanged for 17 years. There were frequent cases of opposition deputies being put on trial for their speeches in national assemblies, manifestos to the people, etc. The repeated dissolution of the Folketing did not lead to the goal: each time the country elected opposition deputies. Since 1885, the mood of the country began to take on an alarming character. Two new groups emerged in the chamber: the most significant group of the extreme left and the relatively small group of Social Democrats. The ministry banned the purchase of weapons, increased penalties for resisting the authorities, increased the size of the police, etc. The elections of 1893 apparently revealed some, albeit weak, turn in the public mood, since for the first time since 1870 the opposition party lost several seats.
The elections to the Folketing (the lower house of the Danish Rigsdag) in 1892 were a triumph for the reactionary Estrup Ministry. Of the 210 thousand votes cast in the elections, the conservatives collected 73 thousand and received 31 powers in the Folketing, the “moderates”, who generally supported the ministry - 60 thousand votes and 43 powers; Of the opposition parties, the radicals or the “left reform party,” as it is called in D., received 47 thousand votes and 26 mandates, the Social Democrats - 20 thousand votes and 2 mandates. Consequently, out of 102 deputies, on the side of the government there was an alliance of two parties - albeit not cohesive enough - with 74 members, while only 28 deputies belonged to the opposition. For the first time after a long period of time, the government received a majority, and this ended the constitutional conflict.
At the beginning of 1894, both the Folketing and the Landsting adopted a budget for the following year, 1894-1895; this happened for the first time since 1885. At the same time, both chambers of the Rigsdag approved most of the measures taken by the government during the conflict without the consent of parliament, with the exception of an increase in the composition of the secret police, the establishment of a gendarmerie corps and a new press law that increased penalties for press crimes. To maintain peaceful relations with parliament, the government, to please the liberal members of its majority, introduced a draft reorganization of the army, by which the period of active military service was reduced to 400 days, and as a result, the number of infantry in a peaceful situation decreased, which was to some extent compensated by an increase in artillery and sapper housings; in general, the army reform should have led not to an increase, but to a decrease in the military budget by 250,000 crowns annually. Both houses of the Rigsdag accepted this reform.
In August 1894, the elderly Estrup, considering his mission completed with the end of the constitutional conflict, resigned. The head of the new cabinet, which consisted mainly of members of the previous one - not excluding a very definite reactionary, Estrup's friend, Nellemann, as Minister of Justice - was former Foreign Minister Reedtz-Thott. In general, the policy remained the same, but was pursued with less energy and with greater readiness to make concessions to the liberal members of the majority. During the session of 1894-1895, in accordance with the data of the new census, the number of deputies in the Folketing was increased from 102 to 114, a significant part of the public debt was converted from 3.5 percent to 3 percent, and the beer tax was increased from 7 to 10 crowns per barrel.
The elections to the Folketing in 1895 completely changed the attitude of the parties in parliament; victory was on the side of the opposition, as was the case earlier during the conflict (1885-92). The Conservatives won only 26 seats, the moderate Liberals 27; the government had only 53 deputies, and they were far from unanimous. Just the same number, 53 seats, were held by the radicals; 8 seats went to the Social Democrats, who received 25,000 votes in the elections. The number of Social Democratic deputies was far from corresponding to their true strength; this was explained by the fact that in Denmark there are no re-runs, and for fear of ensuring the triumph of the right-wing Social Democrats in many districts they did not dare to field their candidate, preferring to ensure victory for the radical. The government, having lost its majority in the Folketing, had support in the Landsting. There was disagreement between the two chambers on the issue of the budget, but in the end both chambers made mutual concessions, and the budget was adopted in a constitutional manner. Other plans of the ministry did not materialize, and in May 1896 the most reactionary elements of the ministry resigned. The ministry lost the support of the extreme right, led by Estrup, but the more moderate members of the radical party did not refuse from time to time to support the reformed cabinet.
In December 1896, the government introduced a draft of a new customs tariff: import duties on luxury goods, for example, were raised. game, oysters, southern fruits, wine, silk goods, flowers, duties were reduced on almost all raw materials (coal, metals) and on most manufactured goods that were not luxury goods. Considering tobacco, vodka and beer to be luxury goods, the government increased the customs duty on these items and, accordingly, the excise tax on the last two more than doubled. The radicals did not agree with the latter, the conservatives protested against the former, and the new customs tariff did not materialize. At the same time, the Folketing deducted 200 thousand crowns from the emergency military budget; The Landsting, in turn, deducted 2,000 crowns accepted by the Folketing for the maintenance of the International Peace Bureau in Bern. The ministry, unable to resolve the conflict, resigned.
At the head of the new cabinet, which in general represented only a slightly transformed, in a liberal spirit, the old one, was Hörring, the Minister of the Interior in the previous cabinet. The new cabinet obtained a concession from the Landsting, but agreed to the demands of the Folketing. Also in 1897, the government implemented a greatly reduced belt railway tariff. At the end of 1897, the ministry introduced a draft income and property tax and a draft conversion of the remaining 3.5 part of the state debt that had not yet been converted into a 3 percent one. The first of these two projects deepened the rift between the government and the far right, but they were both carried out with the support of radicals. The result of the elections to the Folketing in 1898: 15 conservatives, 23 moderates, 1 wild (who generally supported the government), 63 radicals, 12 social democrats. (32,000 votes were cast for the latter). The radicals, having received an absolute majority, no longer needed the Social Democrats.
In the partial elections to the Landsting in the same year 1898, the radicals took three seats from the conservatives and one from the moderates; the Landsting now had 23 members of the opposition (including 2 Social Democrats) and 43 members of the right and moderate (including all 12 members appointed by the crown and 31 elected members). In 1899, the ministry passed through the Rigsdag a bill on accident insurance for workers, drawn up according to the German model. The position of the Conservative government, in view of the opposition majority in the Folketing, which had to give in, thereby causing discontent and opposition from its own party, was, despite the energetic support of the crown, extremely difficult. In 1898, it spent 500,000 crowns on military purposes, not authorized by the Rigsdag, and this overspending was the starting point of a fierce struggle between it and the Landsting, on the one hand, and the Folketing, on the other.
Wanting to soften the resentment of the radical left - the party of the peasantry par excellence, the government introduced and carried out a project of a state loan for rural workers in the amount of up to 3600 crowns each for the acquisition of land, so that the state expenditure on this loan would not exceed during the first five years 2 million crowns annually. This law was met with great sympathy by the radicals and partly even by the Social Democrats, who in Denmark are supporters of measures in favor of the peasantry; but he met opposition among the irreconcilable part of the right, led by Estrup. The government's position further worsened as a result of a series of strikes that took place in 1899. At the Conservative Party meeting, which took place in December 1899 in Copenhagen, things came to a complete rupture between the irreconcilable conservatives and the ministerial conservatives.
In April 1900, Gerring's ministry, having suffered a number of defeats in the Folketing, finally resigned. The king entrusted the formation of a new cabinet to the conservative Seested, who made it up partly from members of the previous cabinets, partly from new faces, from a group of irreconcilable conservatives. He continued to fight with parliament, stubbornly refusing to resign, despite repeated votes of no confidence.
In April 1901, new elections to the Folketing took place. The election struggle led to the complete destruction of the ministry. The Conservative Party received only 8 powers, the Moderate Liberal Party - 15, the Wild Party - 2; With these 23 or 25, and then dubious, supporters, the government had to confront the left, which acted quite amicably and henceforth consisted of 75 radicals and 14 social democrats. The Social Democrats received 43,000 votes in these elections.
The partial elections to the Landsting that took place somewhat later in 1901 almost did not change the relations of the parties in it; from now on there were 41 conservatives, divided into extreme and ministerial, 3 moderate liberals, 21 radicals and one social democrat. The Party of Social Democracy, which took place in July 1901 in Copenhagen, was like a review of victorious battalions. In addition to 14 deputies of the Folketing and one member of the Landsting, the Social Democratic Party, as was reported at this party meeting, had 556 supporters in various municipalities, including 17 in Copenhagen alone, and had 15 daily newspapers with general political content, one weekly newspaper, one satirical leaflet and several professional bodies.
The trade union movement also made great strides. Until now, Social Democracy, in general, marched together with the radical party, but from this party meeting it decided to wage the struggle completely separately. Due to the outcome of the elections, the government resigned; this time the king himself found it necessary to yield to the clear expression of the people's will and proposed the formation of a cabinet to the radical, Professor Deinzer (July 23, 1901). Due to the insistence of the king, the cabinet was composed, however, not only of radicals, but also of moderate liberals. The portfolio of Minister of War was transferred to General Madsen, who belonged to the Conservative Party, albeit to its moderate members. On October 5, the Rigsdag was opened with a speech from the throne, in which the king promised “the development of civil and political freedom, raising the spiritual and economic well-being of the people.”
In 1902, the government concluded a treaty with the United States, according to which it ceded to them the last Danish possessions in the Antilles. Most of the Radical Party supported the government; some only insisted on a referendum among the inhabitants of the ceded Antilles themselves; the right side spoke out unconditionally against this concession. However, the Folketing ratified the treaty by a large majority subject to a referendum, but the Landsting rejected it by a majority of 32 to 28 votes, and the treaty could not come into force.
In 1903, the ministry, not without difficulty, passed through both chambers of the Rigsdag a tax on movable and immovable property, extending the income tax to legal entities and financial empowerment of communities; part of the revenue from the new taxes was intended to be distributed to communities.
In 1903, the government dissolved the Folketing and held new elections, which further strengthened the left, distributing seats somewhat differently among the various parties. There were now 12 conservatives, 11 moderate liberals, a total of 23, as before, but they no longer had the support of two wild ones; there were 75 radicals, 16 social democrats. However, in 1904, the government, under pressure, on the one hand, from the king, on the other, from its conservative and moderate members, in view of the war between Russia and Japan, mobilized some parts of the Danish army and made some improvements in the fortifications of Copenhagen, for an amount, however, not exceeding 200,000 crowns.
These measures were approved by the right and were eventually also approved by the radicals, but the Social Democrats voted decisively against them. In the same 1904, Minister of Justice Alberti introduced a project that amazed everyone in Europe with its surprise - a project that introduced corporal punishment as an additional punishment for persons accused of crimes against morality and crimes committed with particular cruelty. The project met with sympathy not only among the right, but also among parts of the left; however, by a majority of 54 to 50, corporal punishment was rejected and replaced with particularly severe hard labor.
The government took the project back, but at the end of 1904 it was reintroduced in a revised form. On the basis of this bill, the decomposition of the radical (government) party began. Within the ministry itself, some members were strongly opposed to it. After a stubborn struggle, the project passed. The final split in the ministry occurred due to a clash between Minister of War Madsen, who demanded a significant increase in the army and a new reconstruction of all fortresses, and Minister of Finance Gage, who strongly protested against these demands. In December 1904, General Madsen retired; he was followed by the Ministers of Justice Alberti and the Interior Sørensen. Unable to replace them with new faces, Deinzer submitted his resignation on behalf of the entire cabinet. The king took advantage of this gap to move the cabinet somewhat to the right, despite the radical majority of the chamber. He entrusted the composition of the new cabinet to the former Minister of Religious Affairs Christensen, who took over, in addition to the presidency of the cabinet, the ministries of war and navy; Alberti, Hansen and Sorensen remained in the office, partly changing their portfolios; the radical members of the ministry withdrew (January 1905).
In Germany, a mass demonstration is held at the Green Market Square. They are seeking the introduction of an 8-hour working day.
The Second World War Resistance movements.
Denmark officially joined the Anti-Comintern Pact on November 25, 1940, and broke off diplomatic relations with the USSR on June 24, 1941.
In 1941, the enrollment of Danish volunteers into the SS troops began. The first 480 volunteers who joined the Volunteer Corps of the SS “Denmark” were former soldiers (including officers) of the Royal Danish Army. When the Danish army officers who joined the corps were transferred to the Waffen SS, an official decree of the Danish Ministry of Defense retained the ranks that they bore in Denmark (and the years of service in the Waffen SS were promised to be counted equally with the years of service in the Danish army, which was of no small importance in terms of length of service and pension calculation). In addition, Freikorps Denmark was officially taken over by the Danish government (and not by the Danish National Socialist Party, as one might expect). The soldiers of the Volunteer Corps "Denmark" for training freely received all the necessary weapons from the warehouses of the Royal Danish Army.
In May 1942, the Danish Volunteer Corps, which by that time had reached the full strength of a German motorized infantry battalion consisting of 3 infantry companies and 1 company of heavy weapons, was also transferred to the German-Soviet front, where it fought together with the 3rd SS Division “Totenkopf” in the Demyansk cauldron (and the Danes lost up to 78% of their personnel).
Post-war Denmark
In the 12th century, the Wends began to threaten Denmark with invasion from the south, and civil strife could lead to a split in Denmark. But, thanks to the efforts of King Waldemar I the Great, the kingdom managed to defend the unity and power of the state. Under Valdemar, the code of laws “Jutlandic Truth” was adopted (1241) and the first official land inventory was carried out (1231). In general, the 11th-12th centuries in Denmark were marked by a change in the landowning clan nobility. In the 12th-13th centuries, under kings Valdemar I the Great and his sons Canute VI and Valdemar II, Norway, northern Estonia, the western Estonian islands and the lands of the Pomeranian Slavs were annexed to the Danish kingdom. True, in 1223 Valdemar was kidnapped by his vassal Henry of Schwerin, and Denmark had to give up some of its conquests.
The thirteenth century was an era of bloody civil wars. In the period from the XIII-XIV centuries, in the conditions of internecine wars, feudalism was strengthened through the creation of large urban estates and the enslavement of peasants. Danish medieval cities were weaker than the Hanseatic ones, but among the Scandinavian countries Denmark was the most economically powerful.
In the 16th century, the spirit of the Reformation gradually penetrated Denmark and caused significant changes in society. Under Christian III, Protestantism was adopted in the country, and Lutheranism became the state religion. Although Civil War, feuds with the nobles and the Roman Catholic Church complicated the reform program, Christian III introduced a new religion and a new concept of laws into Denmark and prepared the country for the struggle with Sweden for dominance in the Baltic. Soon a war with Sweden began, which ended with the temporary Peace of Stettin (1570), but it took another 200 years before the final establishment of peaceful relations between Sweden and Denmark.
By 1536, the powerful Catholic Church was expelled from the country, and its possessions were confiscated. In the same year, the civil war caused by religious differences ended, and King Christian III became the constitutional head of the new Danish Lutheran Church. The Latin language was used for a long time in university teaching and in scientific literature, but religious services began to be conducted in Danish. Spiritual literature also began to be published in Danish, which contributed to the development of national culture.
Denmark's golden age occurred during the reign of King Christian IV. At this time, numerous fortresses and castles were built in the style called the Northern Renaissance (Kronborg, Rosenborg, Frederiksborg), palaces and mansions of the nobility. In the middle of the 17th century, new styles appeared in architecture: Baroque and Rococo (Christiansborg and Amalienborg palaces). On the island of Ven, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe founded the first observatory in Europe.
The Danish bourgeoisie was weak, the development of the state was hampered by the preservation of feudal-serf relations, but by the end of the 18th century capitalist relations began to penetrate into the economy. In the 50s of the 19th century, the remnants of feudalism were eliminated, which led to the beginning of rationalization Agriculture, restructuring it into a livestock sector. Industries related to the processing of local raw materials emerged.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Denmark remained an agricultural country. For a long time there was a union of three states - Denmark, Norway and Sweden, in which Denmark played a leading role. Later, Iceland, which previously belonged to Norway, came under Danish rule. Faroe islands and Greenland.
Denmark remained neutral in World War I. At the beginning of World War II, it also declared its neutrality, but on April 9, 1940, Nazi Germany troops concentrated on the country’s undefended borders. The country was faced with a choice: immediate surrender or full-scale occupation. The Danish government agreed to capitulate after German assurances that Denmark would retain some semblance of autonomy. For three years, the Danish government pursued its own policy under German supervision, saving the country, although the Danes, considering themselves betrayed, openly demonstrated their rejection of Nazism.
Denmark has existed within its modern borders since 1944, after the dissolution of the union with Iceland. In 1949 it was proclaimed a constitutional monarchy. During the Second World War it was occupied by Nazi Germany, which significantly worsened the economic situation in the country.
Now Denmark is a member of NATO, and military installations of this organization are located on its territory. At the same time, the government is pursuing a policy of abandoning nuclear weapons and the non-deployment of foreign troops on the country's territory in peacetime. Since 1973, the state has been a member of the EU.
The end of the Cold War and the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989–1991 influenced Denmark's foreign policy. The new approach was manifested in a very modest participation in the Gulf War, active support for the independent Baltic states and the rapid integration of the former socialist countries into the EEC. The Maastricht Treaty initially did not receive support in Denmark in a referendum in June 1992, but was then approved (with certain reservations) in a second vote in May 1993. After the coalition government led by Social Democrat Poul Nyrup-Rasmussen came to power, Denmark sent significant military forces to peacekeeping contingents in the Balkans.
History of Denmark
Ancient period.
The common cultural heritage of the Scandinavian peoples testifies to their common roots. Primitive people penetrated into Jutland from the south ca. 10,000 BC and began to settle further north following the retreating ice sheet. In the Neolithic (5000–4000 BC), cattle breeding and agriculture appeared in eastern Denmark. During the Bronze Age (c.1500–400 BC) it was reached high level culture and established connections with more southern regions of Europe.
The works of ancient Roman historians mention Germanic tribes that lived on the territory of modern Denmark. They had animistic religious beliefs, a clan organization, and some laws. The Romans established contact with these tribes through the Cimbri, who formerly inhabited the northern regions of Jutland and then moved to the south. To protect against the attacks of the warlike Danish tribe, the Romans had to build defensive ramparts in the south of Jutland. In the 5th century AD The Angles and Jutes from Jutland moved to the territory of what is now England, and as a result of mixing with the local population, the core of the modern English nation was formed. In the 9th century Thanks to the activities of the missionaries Willibrord and Ansgar, Christianity spread in Denmark and churches and monasteries were built.
Medieval period.
In the 9th century Danish Vikings made expeditions to the coastal regions of Western Europe. The Viking leaders Ragnar Lothbrok and Rollon concentrated their efforts on conquering the area adjacent to the Seine River, and there in 911 AD. The Duchy of Normandy was created, ruled by Rollo. King Alfred the Great tried to repel Danish raids on England, and he had to cede the eastern and northeastern regions of England to them. This area was named Danelaw (or Denlo), i.e. "area of Danish law". Harald Bluetooth, who reigned from 940 to 986, and Svein Forkbeard, who reigned from 986 to 1014, expanded the Danish possessions in Great Britain and exacted tribute in cash (danegeld). Soon after, in an effort to take possession of the entire island, the Danish king Canute II conquered England and annexed it to his vast empire, which also included Norway. After the death of Canute in 1035, the state he created fell apart, although his son Hardeknud II ruled England until 1042.
Second half of the 11th century. was a period of peace for Denmark. At this time, the code of laws was unified and the influence of the Catholic Church strengthened. In the 12th century the Vendians began to threaten invasion from the south, and civil strife could lead to a split in Denmark. However, King Valdemar I the Great (1157–1182) managed to defend the unity and power of the Danish state. During the reign of his son Canute VI (1182–1202), the Danish army launched a victorious offensive in Pomerania and Mecklenburg, and Canute received the title "King of Denmark and the Wends." Conquests continued under Valdemar II, nicknamed the Victor. His successful military campaigns ended with the annexation of Holstein and then the conquest of Estland. According to legend, during the decisive battle in Estland, the Danish national flag Danebrog fell from the sky to strengthen the morale of the Danes. This campaign culminated in a significant expansion of the Danish kingdom. In 1223, Waldemar was captured by Count Heinrich of Schwerin, who demanded a ransom for his release. Later, having been defeated at the Battle of Bornhoved on July 22, 1227, Valdemar was forced to give up most of the possessions annexed to Denmark by his predecessors. This king gained fame mainly because under him the code of laws “Jutlandic Truth” was adopted (1241) and the first official land inventory was carried out (1231).
13th century was an era of bloody civil wars. In response to the Danish intervention, the rulers of County Holstein invaded Jutland. During the reign of Eric V Clipping (1259–1286), the Danish nobility attempted to limit the power of the king, who promised to create a council of state (Rigsrod) and draw up a constitution. The attempt to establish political stability, however, was unsuccessful due to the fault of the ambitious Holstein counts. In the 14th century they had full power in Denmark. The Danes actively fought against the counts and eventually managed to curb them. King Valdemar IV Atterdag (1340–1375, his nickname means “Day Again”), the greatest of the medieval kings of Denmark, played a large role in this. He restored the territorial unity of the country and strengthened the authority of royal power. He managed to establish control over the Øresund Strait at the entrance to the Baltic Sea, and all passing ships were subject to tolls. In 1362, Valdemar defeated the fleet of the Hanseatic League in the battle of Helsingborg, but he himself was defeated in the fight against a coalition of Holstein and Mecklenburg feudal lords, the Danish nobility and the Hanseatic League. The peace agreement concluded in Stralsund in 1370 was a heavy blow for the Danes, but the losses were not too great. After this, Valdemar attacked the Danish nobles and broke their influence. He died soon after, leaving no male heirs. His daughter Margrethe, who married King Haakon VI of Norway, ruled as regent on behalf of her son, the future King Olaf II. After his death in 1387, Margrethe was recognized as queen of Denmark and Norway, and in 1389 also of Sweden. This unification of the Scandinavian countries was formally consolidated in 1397 by the Union of Kalmar. Under Eric VII, Duke of Pomerania, the first ruler of the united kingdom, royal lands were returned, coinage and a strict taxation system were introduced. The state included Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland, with the core being Denmark, which dominated the Baltic region. During Eric's reign, Copenhagen expanded, and the Kronborg Fortress was built on the coast of the Öresund Strait in its narrowed part. From all ships passing through this strait, the so-called. Öresund (Sund) duty. King Christian I (1448–1481), the first of the Oldenburg dynasty to succeed Christopher of Bavaria, continued Denmark's expansionist policies and became ruler of Schleswig and Holstein.
During his reign, a protracted bloody war began in Dithmarschen, in the south of the Jutland Peninsula, which complicated relations between Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire for a long time. It was not possible to suppress the uprising in Sweden, and in order to pacify, Karl Knutsson had to be formally recognized as the ruler of Sweden. The Hanseatic League also defeated the Danes.
The period of the Reformation.
The first of the modern dynasty of Danish kings was Christian II, whose short reign (1513–1523) was marked by a Swedish revolt in 1520–1523 and a Danish revolt in 1523. The Swedish rebels fought Christian for seven years, until the death of their leader Sven Sture the Younger . Only after this Christian was proclaimed King of Sweden. However, in 1520 he captured many representatives of the Swedish nobility and wealthy burghers and executed them (Stockholm Bloodbath). This brutal act sparked a rebellion led by Gustav Eriksson Vasa, which was successful.
Gustav was elected king of Sweden and the Kalmar Union was put to an end. In Denmark, the reform program begun by Christian in 1521 provoked a Danish revolt. The king had to leave the country and seek help from his half-brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. After eight fruitless years spent in the Netherlands, Christian returned with a small detachment to Norway, where he was captured and imprisoned. He died in 1559.
The spirit of the Reformation gradually penetrated into Denmark and, despite the opposition of Frederick I, caused significant changes in society. Under Christian III (1555–1559), Protestantism was adopted in the country, and Lutheranism became the state religion. Although civil war and infighting with the nobles and the Roman Catholic Church complicated the reform program, Christian III introduced a new religion and a new concept of laws into Denmark and prepared the country for the struggle with Sweden for dominance in the Baltic. Under Frederick II (1559–1588), a war began with Sweden, which ended with the temporary Peace of Stettin (1570), but it took another 200 years before the final establishment of peaceful relations between Sweden and Denmark.
At the end of the 16th century. Culture flourished in Denmark. Christian IV (1588–1648) left his mark with the construction of buildings in the Dutch Renaissance style in Copenhagen and Christiania (Oslo). He also founded the Danish East India and West India Companies and modernized the navy and merchant fleet. If not for participation in the Thirty Years' War, which cost Denmark dearly, and not for the war with Sweden (1611–1613), which did not bring advantages to either side, the reign of Christian IV would have been one of the most glorious in Danish history. This king's dream of further extending Danish influence to protect European Protestantism never came to fruition. The invasion of Jutland by the troops of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Union under the leadership of commanders I. Tilly and A. Wallenstein in 1626–1627 was accompanied by the plunder of this part of the country, and in May 1629 Christian was forced to sign a peace treaty in Lübeck, according to which Denmark left the war. In the period between 1629 and 1644, Christian tried to strengthen the armed forces of Denmark and was going to attack Sweden, but the latter beat him to it in 1644, sending its troops under the leadership of Lennart Torstensson to Jutland. Although the Danes fought bravely, Swedish troops were better prepared and were helped by foreigners. As a result, Christian was forced to sign the peace treaty of Brømsebru on August 15, 1645, according to which Denmark ceded the islands of Gotland and Ösel (Saaremaa) on the Baltic Sea. Christian IV died on February 21, 1648.
The struggle for dominance in Northern Europe.
After a devastating war with Sweden, taking advantage of the weakness of the Danish nobility, the new king Frederick III (1648–1670) established an absolutist regime, legitimized by the Assembly of the Estates in Copenhagen in 1660. The middle class benefited from the strengthening of royal power, receiving benefits for trade, while the nobles considered themselves offended. Among the latter, Corfits Ulfeldt stood out, a traitor who accompanied the Swedish king Charles X, who invaded Denmark with his army. Frederick III was hostile to Sweden's claims and declared war on it when Charles X was busy with a military campaign in Poland. The Danes were defeated twice in 1658 and 1659–1660. They lost provinces in southern Sweden and part of Norway, and also lost the right to collect the Øresund tax from Swedish ships. Denmark had never suffered such a blow, and Sweden's prestige had never risen so high. The alliance with the Netherlands and Prussia ensured Denmark's aid and support. When french king Louis XIV in 1672 attacked the Netherlands, and Sweden attacked Brandenburg, the Danish army invaded Skåne. The Swedes suffered one defeat after another, and one of the largest Danish naval commanders, Nils Juhl, won victories in naval battles off the island of Öland (1676) and in Køge-Bugt Bay (1677). The Swedes eventually managed to expel the Danes from the Scandinavian Peninsula. In 1679, at the request of the Swedes, the French king Louis XIV, threatening an invasion, forced Denmark to agree to peace with Sweden, and both countries switched to a policy of rapprochement.
This policy was interrupted when Frederick IV (1699–1730) ascended the throne, seeking allies for the war with Sweden, where the young Charles XII ruled. In 1700, fearing a possible attack by a coalition of Denmark, Prussia, Saxony - Poland and Russia, Charles withdrew Denmark from the game. The peace treaty of Traventhal undermined Denmark's prestige. From 1700 to 1709, Frederick IV traveled throughout Europe, leaving his ministers to deal with reforms and the restoration of the army. In 1709, a new union of Prussia, Saxony - Poland, Russia and Denmark was created. The Danish invasion of Skåne was a complete failure, but Swedish field marshal Magnus Stenbock's landing in southern Jutland ended with his surrender in 1713. Danish troops captured Bremen and Verdun, and the duchies were sold to George I of Hanover. Denmark, Prussia and Poland then attacked Swedish Pomerania and captured Stralsund (1715) and Wismar (1716). With the death of Charles HP, the main obstacle to peace disappeared. According to the treaty concluded in Frederiksborg on July 3, 1720, the Danes received only small compensation for their participation in the Great Northern War.
In peacetime, Frederick IV handled his royal duties well. Educational reform, ease of peasant duties and increased prosperity achieved in Denmark in the last decade of his reign earned him popularity. Under Christian VI (1730–1746), Enlightenment ideas began to spread through Danish high society, and the king encouraged scientific pursuits, supervised the activities of the clergy, and built beautiful royal palaces in Copenhagen. His successor, Frederick V (1746–1760), loved entertainment and effectively left the right to govern the country to Johan Bernstorff and Adam Gottlob Moltke. When Christian VII (1766–1808), who suffered from severe mental illness, was on the throne, the country was effectively ruled by Johan Frederik Struense and then Johan Bernstorff. This time marks the culmination of the Age of Enlightenment in Denmark. Struense acquired almost unlimited power through his position as court physician and connections with the queen. In 1770–1771, he carried out numerous reforms in the spirit of enlightened absolutism: with him hospitals, freedom of the press, a new code of laws and financial system; An audit of the entire management system was also carried out. Reform activities were suspended for some time due to the removal of Struense and his execution. The palace coup of 1784 brought to power the young Crown Prince Frederick (who became regent under his father) and the enlightened aristocrats around him. A new series of reforms followed, the most significant of which were the abolition of bonded labor feudal dependence peasants, the abolition of monopolies and the introduction of more liberal customs tariffs.
Nineteenth century.
Denmark's participation in the alliance of armed neutrality and its refusal to join the anti-Napoleonic coalition prompted the British to bombard the port of Copenhagen in 1801, part of the Danish fleet was destroyed. Antagonism in relations with England grew, and in 1807 Denmark found itself drawn into the war on Napoleon's side, especially after the British launched another attack on Copenhagen in 1807 and destroyed many Danish ships. Later, in 1813, Frederick VI (1808–1839) had to withstand an attack by the Allied Northern Army under the command of the Swedish Crown Prince Karl Johan, who was supported by the Russians, British and Prussians. According to the Peace of Kiel, concluded on January 14, 1814, Denmark abandoned Norway in favor of Sweden. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the country faced serious economic difficulties.
In the 1820s, economic recovery was completed, but the country remained absolute monarchy. This was the period of the “golden age” of Danish literature, when such writers as N. F. S. Grundtvig, Søren Kirkegaard, Hans Christian Andersen, Jens Baggesen, Adam Elenschläger and others wrote. Since 1814, universal primary education was introduced in Denmark. In the 1830s, a wave of German nationalism arose in the North German duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, subject to the Danish king, which ricocheted into a similar reaction among the Danes. This was followed by a campaign to purify the Danish language and expand the network of schools. Taking into account the experience of the liberal revolutions of the 1830s in other European countries, the Danish kings legalized deliberative provincial assemblies, and after the revolution of 1848, which caused great unrest in Denmark itself, Frederick VII (1848–1863) abolished absolutism and agreed to introduce constitutional government. On June 5, 1849, he signed a new constitution, which established a bicameral legislature (Rigsdag), which took into account the will of the people. Attempts to introduce Danish laws in Schleswig led to an uprising of the German population not only of this duchy, but also of Holstein. A three-year war broke out (1848–1850), in which Prussia took the side of the rebels. As a result, the 1852 protocol was adopted, which recognized the sovereignty of Denmark over both duchies, but with the proviso that Denmark would not try to interfere with Schleswig's connections with Holstein and would not annex Schleswig to Denmark.
The question of the status of both duchies remained open for 11 years, but when Christian IX (1863–1906) again tried to introduce Danish laws in Schleswig, Prussia and Austria declared war on Denmark. The Danish army could not resist the forces of the coalition of German states led by Bismarck, and the Danish-German War of 1864 ended in a quick victory for Prussia and Austria. Denmark was forced to sign the Treaty of Vienna on October 30, 1864, according to which Schleswig was transferred to Prussia and Holstein to Austria.
Loss of both duchies, which were soon incorporated German Empire, eliminated the main source of instability and allowed attention to focus on the internal affairs of Denmark itself. The construction of railways and industrial enterprises began in the country. The country's agriculture has experienced rapid growth thanks to the introduction of scientific achievements and advanced technologies. Significant changes have occurred in political life. For several decades, the more democratic lower house, the Landsting, tried to ensure that the king appointed a government responsible to parliament. This issue was resolved positively in 1901. A multi-party system was formed in Denmark, social legislation was gradually introduced, and the electoral system was improved. The cooperative movement spread widely. By the beginning of the 20th century. Denmark has become one of the most advanced countries in Europe.
During the six-year reign of Frederick VIII (1906–1912), parliamentary democracy was strengthened. In 1915, under King Christian X (1912–1947), a new constitution was introduced that enfranchised women, expanded the electorate largely by lowering the minimum age limit, and eliminated special privileges for the propertied classes.
The twentieth century.
During World War I, Denmark followed a policy of neutrality. Gaining strength in the 1920s, the Social Democratic Party of Denmark came to power in 1932. Under the Social Democrats, Denmark became a modern welfare state. At the beginning of World War II, after signing a non-aggression pact with Germany for a period of 10 years on May 31, 1939, Denmark again declared neutrality. However, on April 9, 1940, German troops entered Denmark without warning. The Danish merchant fleet passed into Allied hands and was used in military operations against Germany. In occupied Denmark, the coalition government under the leadership of the Social Democrat Stauning tried to maintain control of internal affairs, but as a result of the growth of anti-German sentiment and the Resistance movement, natural unrest, strikes and sabotage in the summer of 1943, cooperation between the Danish government and the occupying forces was interrupted. After the liberation of the country in May 1945, the former politicians and the leaders of the Resistance movement formed a coalition government that operated until the elections scheduled for October 1945. In the post-war period, the main task was economic restoration. Here, aid in the amount of $350 million, received in 1948–1953 from the United States under the Marshall Plan, played a major role. Denmark's trade with the other Nordic countries and the UK was facilitated by the country's entry into the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), created in 1960.
The main political event of the post-war period was the adoption in 1953 of a new constitution, according to which the right to inherit the throne was granted to both men and women, a unicameral parliament (Folketing) was legalized and the role of local governments was increased.
Denmark joined the UN. In order to maintain good relations with West Germany, the Kiel Declaration of 1955 was signed, guaranteeing the protection of the rights of the Danish minority in southern Schleswig. However, the most significant event in foreign policy Denmark decided to break away from its long tradition of neutrality and join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949. At the same time, Denmark supported a policy of cooperation with the Scandinavian countries and participated in the organization of the Nordic Council in 1952.
Negotiations on Denmark's accession to the EEC began in 1961, were suspended in 1963 and resumed in 1969. The agreement on Denmark's admission to the EEC was signed in 1972 and, after its approval by the Danes in a popular referendum, came into force on January 1, 1973. Supporters of Denmark's participation in The EEC (renamed the European Union - EU on November 1, 1993), including trade union leaders as well as industrialists, hoped that this would expand exports, stimulate industrial development and reduce the trade deficit.
The development of world trade and the growing prosperity of European countries contributed to the rise of the Danish economy during the 15 “golden years” (1958–1973). In connection with Denmark's accession to EFTA, the volume of trade with the Scandinavian countries increased sharply. The historical dilemma of entering the English and German markets was resolved back in 1973 by joining the EEC. Unfortunately, the downturn in the world economy following the oil crisis of 1973–1974 had dire consequences for Denmark, where inflation problems worsened, the trade deficit increased and unemployment appeared, almost eradicated since the late 1960s.
The economic crisis threatened to change Denmark's status as a welfare state. Although the foundations of social policy were laid before the Second World War, it was only during the period of post-war prosperity that its undoubted benefits for the middle class and low-income segments of the population began to be felt. Social programs produced the desired effect only if a certain rate of economic growth was maintained, a minimum level of unemployment and the consent of citizens to pay very high taxes (and none of these conditions is a priority). In the 1973 elections, parties that supported the goal of achieving universal welfare suffered a crushing defeat. The Social Democrats (who lost more than a quarter of the popular vote) and the Conservatives were especially hard hit. The Progress Party, founded by lawyer, tax specialist, and later staunch tax opponent Mogens Glistrup, emerged victorious, but due to the extreme radicalism of its program, it found itself isolated from other parties. Several radical left parties have put forward equally unacceptable agendas, and new centrist parties have made coalition building even more difficult. As a result, only isolated reforms were carried out in the country, until in 1983 a stronger coalition of non-socialist parties came to power - the conservative People's Party (NKP) and the liberal Venstra. Poul Schlüter (NKP) became Prime Minister and Uffe Ellemann-Jensen (Venstre) became Foreign Minister.
At first, the new government, which also relied on centrist parties, carefully carried out a number of economic and social reforms. The most important reforms were aimed at reducing inflation by eliminating wage increases and indexing them to the cost of living, and by freezing most government spending and the number of jobs. In conditions of improvement economic situation in 1984–1986, support for government policies strengthened, but restrictive measures were taken even after 1986. Only in 1993 did significant economic growth begin, although unemployment still remained at a high level.
The foreign policy of the Schlüter government was quite controversial. The leaders of the coalition forces adhered to anti-NATO pacifist and anti-nuclear policies and were skeptical about military confrontation in Central Europe. Denmark's participation in European integration has been controversial, especially since proposals to reform the European market were put forward in 1985. The support of these events by the population at the 1986 referendum stimulated significant changes in the country's economy: foreign investment increased, contacts with the EEC countries expanded, and mergers of companies became more frequent. NATO participation and security policy came into focus during the campaign for snap parliamentary elections in 1988. As a result, Denmark's need for NATO membership was reaffirmed.
The end of the Cold War and the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989–1991 influenced Denmark's foreign policy. The new approach was manifested in a very modest participation in the Gulf War (1990–1991), active support for the independent Baltic states and the rapid integration of former socialist countries into the EEC. The Maastricht Treaty initially did not receive support in Denmark in a referendum in June 1992, but was then approved (with certain reservations) in a second vote in May 1993. After the coalition government led by Social Democrat Poul Nyrup-Rasmussen came to power, Denmark sent significant military forces to peacekeeping contingents in the Balkans.
The sudden resignation of the Schlüter government in 1993 due to the so-called. Tamil cause led to changes in the composition of the country's population. In 1994, despite the formal cessation of immigration, the share of the non-European population was already 2.2% of the population. The number of refugees has increased, especially from Yugoslavia, the Middle East and South Asia. Attempts by Justice Minister Erik Ninn-Hansen to prevent the reunification of Tamils (refugees from Sri Lanka as a result of ethnic conflict) with their families already living in Denmark caused a huge scandal. The administrative measures taken by this minister were declared illegal, and Ninn-Hansen's attempts to hide them from inquiries in parliament led to the resignation of the Schlüter cabinet, and Ninn-Hansen was tried and convicted. In January 1993, the Social Democrats under the leadership of P. Nyrup-Rasmussen created a center-left coalition - the first majority coalition government since 1971.
In the September 1994 parliamentary elections, the Social Democrats were supported by a much smaller number of voters, and one of their coalition partners, the Christian People's Party, did not win a single seat in the Folketing. Nyrup-Rasmussen reorganized the coalition and formed a minority government, which remained in power until elections in March 1998. After these elections, he created a coalition of Social Democrats and radicals with only 70 seats in the Folketing. The government continued its work with the same composition, having only redistributed ministerial portfolios.
Bibliography
To prepare this work, materials were used from the site http://www.europa.km.ru/
Among the states of the Scandinavian North, Denmark occupied a special place in the course of its historical development, sharply distinguishing it from Norway and Sweden. Closer than these countries, it was located to the continent; its connection was closer with the population of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. The development of the power of the upper classes taken to extreme proportions at the expense and to the complete detriment of the rest of the population; the concentration, little by little, of this power in the hands of the secular landowning class alone; the creation then of absolute royal power, which gradually exhausted the country and brought it to the role of a secondary power - these are the distinctive features of the historical development of Denmark almost until the year when Denmark entered, mainly under the pressure of external conditions, on the path of constitutional development.
Hence the periods into which its history falls:
1) the period of development of powerful landowning classes - the clergy and nobility;
2) a period of triumph, first of both landowning classes, and then of one noble class;
3) the period of absolutism (enevaeldet), and finally,
4) constitutional period.
Like Sweden and Norway, Denmark owes its origin to the so-called Gothic tribes, who settled, apparently in very distant times, Scania, Zealand, Fionia with neighboring islands, and later part of Jutland and Schleswig. Only part of Jutland was not initially occupied by them, since the Germanic tribe of the Angles lived here. The deportation of the latter to England opened the possibility for the Gothic tribe of Jutes to populate this part of the country, and the Eider River very early became the extreme southern border of the Scandinavian Danish tribe. Behind it began purely German, mainly Saxon settlements, which later turned into the Dietmar Mark, Holstein, etc. Here, south of the mouth and current of the Eider, as legend says, a wall was built that was supposed to protect Denmark from the invasion of neighboring tribes (see Daneverk).
The tribe that inhabited Denmark, early on created a reputation for themselves as pirates, Vikings, and committed, especially in the 8th and 9th centuries. , a series of raids on both neighboring and more remote areas of the Western European coast, only little by little it became sedentary and agricultural.
As far as can be judged on the basis of legends and sagas, before the century. The Danes represented a group of tribes almost independent from each other, whose life was regulated by the principles of tribal life. All of Denmark represented a number of small “kingdoms” (Smaa kongar). The union of several tribes formed a district (Sysjel), divided into hundreds (Herred). All members of the clan were free people and bore the name Bonder (philistines), which only later passed to some peasants. They all owned plots of land, used tribal, communal land, participated in meetings (things) at which trials were held, leaders were elected, issues of war and peace were decided, etc. It was their duty to take up arms at the call of the king and support him as a guest during his tours of the kingdom. As free people, they were opposed only to slaves; those who served with the king as jarls (jarls), that is, leaders, dukes, rulers, or girds (Hirder), that is, warriors, were not assigned any exclusive rights.
Only the king was already granted some rights very early on, giving him the opportunity to expand his sphere of influence. He owned penalties for crimes; he managed the income from the temples; He was also assigned special lands as domains, governed by special persons (bryte, steward) by his election. The inferior population, which was not part of one or another clan, bore the general name of trills (thrael); these were either slaves or freedmen, who constituted the property of members of the tribe and were acquired either through war and captivity, or through purchase, debt obligations, crime (less often), voluntary transactions, etc. This class, at first numerous, gradually disappeared by XIV century
By the middle of the 10th century. There was a merger of individual tribal groups into one territorial state. The legend attributes this to Gorm the Old, who managed to subjugate the petty princes to his power, albeit in a purely external way. The laws and governance in each group remained the same; the king was elected in the old way, at the thing, but was obliged to attend all local things for recognition. In or XII century. a general assembly of free people was formed (Danish court, Dannehof), which met in Zealand, in Isør, then in Jutland, in Viborg, where the election of the king took place (starting with Svend Estridsen), then confirmed during his travel at local meetings, Landsthing 'Oh.
One of the main reasons for this change was the spread of Christianity after a stubborn and bloody struggle of more than a century and a half. Attempts to spread Christianity in Denmark began under Charlemagne, but the preaching of the Apostle of Scandinavia, Ansgarius (IX century), was unable to ensure the triumph of Christianity. Only the conquest of England, first by Sven and then by Canute the Great (1018-35), gave Christianity the opportunity to strengthen. Thanks to Canute's patronage, English preachers came to Denmark and became its first bishops. Under Sven Estridsen and especially under Saint Canute (11th century), the victory of Christianity was almost complete. At first the Danish Church depended on the Archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg; but in the city the Bishop of Lund was made an archbishop, and the papal legate proclaimed the independence of the Danish Church.
The alliance between the church and the kings already under Saint Canute led to the fact that the clergy became isolated into a rich and powerful class, which had large land property (in the 10th century - about 1/3 of the territory of Denmark) and was spared from the general court in all its religious affairs, and under Niels (beginning of the 12th century) - in all others. No clergy could be more called upon to judge a thing. In the 12th century. many categories of cases were referred to the department of the spiritual court; the penalties collected for these cases were turned into income for the clergy. Saint Canute's attempt to establish tithes in favor of the church led to an uprising and the murder of the king, but still ended in success.
The German element now, with the annexation of Lauenburg, became even stronger. Frederick VI's attempt to give the Danish language, which was spoken by the overwhelming majority of the peasant Schleswig population, primary importance failed and only caused irritation among the wealthy Germans. the nobility, already hostile against the king for the reform of peasant relations. The inclusion of Holstein in the German Confederation and the article of the Union Act, by virtue of which each state of the union was to receive a Diet, served as a strong support for the Holstein nobility in agitation against the Danish government in order to achieve greater political independence, as well as the unification of Holstein and Schleswig into one political whole. . A number of petitions in this regard were submitted to the king, but they were all rejected (the Danes, in turn, who tried to achieve constitutional rights, paid for their attempt with cruel punishments). In 1823, the Schleswig and Holstein nobility brought the controversial issue to the German Diet, the decision of which, however, was favorable to the Danish government. The agitation of the nobility resumed under the influence July Revolution 1830 The king, in view of the restless mood of minds in Denmark itself, had to give in to some extent. In 1831, it was promised to introduce constitutional institutions in the form of diets in Schleswig and Holstein, but for each region separately; three years later, deliberative diets were also established in Jutland and Zealand. Some of the members of the Sejm were appointed by the king; a high qualification was set for selecting the rest. The vast majority at the diets, especially in Schleswig, were nobles - large property owners. Sejm meetings were not public; Only summaries of debates and resolutions were allowed to be printed. The Zealand and Jutland diets zealously set to work; but the projects they drew up were mostly rejected by the government. This fate befell, by the way, the request of both Seimas to unite them into one whole. As a result, already under Frederick VI (died in 1839), some discord appeared between the country and the king.
Agitation in favor of freedom of the press and expansion of the constitution spread quickly, especially thanks to the then popular newspaper of Prof. David "Foedrelandet". The state of affairs did not change for the better under Christian VIII, on whom, as the liberal ruler of Norway (before it was taken from D.), great hopes were placed. True, the king in 1842 organized permanent committees of representatives of the 4 Sejms to discuss current affairs together with the king; but since they, like the Diets, were only an advisory institution, they did not satisfy anyone. Excitement also gripped the peasant population and led to the organization among them of a political union, and then a political party with a sharply democratic character. In 1845, the “Society of Friends of the Peasantry” (Bondevenuer) was founded and began to play a prominent role. Alongside there was a purely national movement that arose in literature at the beginning of the 19th century, and now developed under the influence of historical memories in the so-called. Scandinavianism The government opposed the formation of a Scandinavian society in Copenhagen, and only towards the end of his reign, under the influence of the separatist German movement in Schleswig, did Christian VIII decide to make concessions to the demands of both Scandinavians and liberals. Scandinavian society was allowed; a draft constitution was drawn up in deep secrecy.
The draft constitution was solemnly announced a few days after the death of Christian VIII, by his successor Frederick VII (January 28, 1848). He created a common parliament for all regions of Denmark, which was supposed to meet alternately in the kingdom and in the duchies. To consider the project, it was planned to convene a meeting half appointed by the king, half chosen by the Diet. All this caused strong disapproval and discontent in the country: there was a categorical demand for a new constitution, common for the whole of Germany until Eider, with Holstein being singled out as a completely independent region. The excitement of minds was intensified by the news of the February revolution. The king yielded; in October the constituent assembly was opened. Elections to the assembly were held on the basis of an electoral law that introduced universal suffrage. On June 5, 1849, the constitution was approved; it was to extend both to the kingdom and to the Duchy of Schleswig. But in Schleswig, even before the publication of the constitution, a revolutionary movement broke out, which caused the intervention of Germany and its war with Denmark. Already King Frederick VI made a major mistake by maintaining the administrative connection of Schleswig with Holstein and giving elections to the Diet almost exclusively to the nobles imbued with anti-Danish tendencies. Christian VIII, despite the protests of the Schleswig peasant deputies, issued an order by which Danish as the official language was introduced only in the courts and in the administration of that part of Schleswig where the population was exclusively Danish; German was even retained as the language of schools here. In reality, German remained the only official language, since the Diet refused to allow speeches in Danish. One of the leaders of the German movement, Prince Friedrich Nehr (Noer), brother of the Duke of Augustenburg, was appointed head of the local government. The government's policy changed only when the Duke of Augustenburg protested the succession law of 1846, by virtue of which the inextricable connection of Schleswig with Germany was reaffirmed, and when the Schleswig Diet presented the king with an address threatening a complaint to the German Diet. The revolution of 1848 and especially the convening of the Frankfurt Diet freed the hands of the Schleswig Germans. At a meeting in Rendsburg on March 18, it was decided to send the king a strong demand to unite Schleswig and Holstein into one and include the former in the German Confederation. The king responded with a categorical refusal; in Holstein, and then in Schleswig, a previously prepared uprising broke out (see. Province of Schleswig-Holstein). The Danish government managed to immediately suppress the uprising, but its victory caused an explosion of indignation in Germany. Prussia opened hostilities; her troops inflicted a strong defeat on the Danes and even occupied Jutland, cleared only as a result of the energetic demand of the emperor. Nicholas. Of the powers that guaranteed the integrity and inviolability of Danish possessions, only France tried to stand up for Denmark. There was no help from Sweden, and Denmark had to conclude a truce in Malmo for 7 months. After the war resumed, the Danes were victorious at Fridericia (1850); but the peace concluded in Berlin on July 2, 1850, did not protect D. from the possibility of new German intervention in the affairs of Schleswig and Holstein. Prussia granted D. the right to suppress the uprising in Schleswig by force of arms, which was achieved by D. after the victory at Istedt (July 25, 1850). The uprising in Holstein was suppressed by Austria. The Danish government proposed a draft general constitution for the Danish kingdom and Schleswig (the so-called Eiderstat); but Austria, which initially approved it, demanded its change due to the protest of the Holsteiners and, supported by Russia and with the complete indifference of England and France, began to insist on organizing the state on the basis of equality of three regions: the kingdom, Schleswig and Holstein. One ministry after another fell in Denmark due to the disagreement of the deputies with the demands of the powers, until finally the Blume ministry (see the corresponding article) managed to settle the matter according to the views of Austria and Prussia. Schleswig received an independent position in administrative and political terms; On January 28, 1862, the Schleswig and Holstein diets were transformed from advisory ones for local issues into legislative ones, and the electoral law for Schleswig was drawn up in such a way that the right of representation fell almost exclusively into the hands of large landowners. Was installed and new law about succession to the throne with the consent of 5 European countries , expressed in the London Treaty of 1852. Following the refusal of Emperor Nicholas from the rights to Holstein and the Prince of Hesse from the rights to the Danish crown, Christian of Glucksburg was declared the successor to the line that was dying out with Frederick VII. The Diet's consent to all these measures was obtained with great difficulty only in 1853. According to the new constitution (1855), the union council (Rigsraad) for matters common to all of Denmark was to consist of 100 members (20 appointed by the king, 80 elected). In its first meeting (1856), 11 of its members (7 from Holstein, 1 from Lauenburg and 3 from Schleswig) protested the new constitution with its electoral law, which was unfavorable for the German nobility in Schleswig. Their demand to submit the constitution for discussion in Germany. the Union Diet was rejected by an overwhelming majority; but Austria and Prussia joined the protest of the 11 and demanded a change in the constitution, as contrary to the allied German laws. The Danish government had to make concession after concession, causing new demands among the German population. In 1859, the Frankfurt Union Diet demanded from D., on the basis of the “obligations” it had accepted in 1852, that no general tax or law should be applied to the duchies without the consent of their diets. It was no longer a question of Holstein alone, but also of Schleswig, in whose affairs Germany intervened directly and openly for the first time. It was not until 1863, however, that the Danish government decided to directly resist German demands. It announced that the constitutional connection of Holstein and Lauenburg with the rest of the monarchies was abolished; at the same time, the Danish-Schleswig constitution was developed in the spirit of the requirements of 1848, that is, in the sense of D. before Eider. Then came a formidable demand from the German Diet (October 1) to cancel everything done under threat of execution. D. was given six weeks to take measures to unite Schleswig with Holstein. On November 15, 1863, Frederick VII, the last representative of the ruling D. line, died. The death of the king opened a wide way for the presentation of claims to the right to own the duchies - claims that the Duke of Augustenburg did not cease to declare. He immediately took the name of Frederick VIII, while a new king in the person of Christian IX ascended the Danish throne according to the Treaty of London. Patriotic Germany with Saxon min. Beistom at the head, as well as the majority of the Union Diet, spoke in favor of Augustenburg. Beist's project to occupy Holstein pending a new decision on the issue of inheritance was met with enthusiasm. Prussia, however, recognized King Christian IX, but demanded, in agreement with Russia, England and France, the abolition of the 1863 constitution. The Danish government, in response to this, cleared Holstein and finally approved the constitution of 1863. On January 16, 1864, an ultimatum followed from Prussia and Austria: to cancel the constitution of 1863 for Schleswig within 24 hours. Despite D.’s fair protests, her indications of the fact of confirmation Prussia itself gave D. rights to Schleswig, military action was opened. Defeated in an unequal battle, Denmark ceded to Prussia and Austria not only Holstein and Lauenburg, but also Schleswig with undeniably Danish units, regarding which Prussia made a promise, not fulfilled to this day, although confirmed by the Peace of Prague of 1866, to ask the population to what of the two monarchies, Danish or Prussian, it wishes to belong to. From a once major power, Denmark finally turned into a secondary state. Having lost Schleswig and the areas inhabited by the German tribe, D. focused all her attention on internal affairs. The question of changing the constitution came to the fore, since the union constitution did not and could not have any more meaning. Despite the energetic opposition of the peasant party, the constitution of 1849 was subject to changes favorable to the interests of large landowners rather than to democratic ones. In general terms, the new constitution, which with few exceptions has survived to the present time, was a repetition of the constitution of 1849, with only the abolition of universal suffrage for elections to the Landsting. There is great uncertainty in Article 26 of the constitution, which states that “in cases of extreme necessity, the king may issue temporary laws between sessions of the Diet.” With the help of this article, as well as the new organization of the supreme court (Rigs ret), whose members are half elected by the Landsting and which has the right to interpret laws, the government was able to bypass the opposition of the Folketing or cash it out by dissolution, which it resorted to almost every year, relying on the sympathy of the Landsting . Hence the predominantly obstructive policy of the Folketing and the absence of major reforms. The reasons for the clashes between the Folketing and the ministry are especially budgetary issues, as well as the question of armament and administration of Copenhagen, which is stubbornly opposed by the democratic party, which wants complete neutrality for D. Despite the Folketing's protest and their expressions of open distrust of Estrup's ministry, the latter remained unchanged for 17 years. There were frequent cases of opposition deputies being brought to trial for their speeches in national assemblies, manifestos to the people, etc. n. The repeated dissolution of the Folketing did not lead to the goal: each time the country elected opposition deputies. Since 1885, the mood of the country began to take on an alarming character. Two new groups emerged in the chamber: the most significant group of the extreme left and the relatively small group of Social Democrats. The ministry banned the purchase of weapons, increased penalties for resistance to the authorities, increased the composition of the police, etc. The elections of the current year 1893 apparently revealed some, albeit weak, turn in the public mood, since for the first time since 1870 the opposition party lost several places.
Story. The elections to the Folketing (the lower house of the Danish Rigsdag) in 1892 were a triumph for the reactionary Estrup Ministry. Of the 210 thousand votes cast in the elections, the conservatives collected 73 thousand and received 31 powers in the Folketing, the “moderates”, who generally supported the ministry - 60 thousand votes and 43 powers; Of the opposition parties, the radicals or the “left reform party,” as it is called in D., received 47 thousand votes and 26 mandates, the Social Democrats - 20 thousand votes and 2 mandates. Consequently, out of 102 deputies, on the side of the government there was an alliance of two parties - albeit not cohesive enough - with 74 members, while only 28 deputies belonged to the opposition. For the first time after a long period of time, the government received a majority, and this ended the constitutional conflict. At the beginning of 1894, both the Folketing and the Landsting adopted a budget for the next year 1894-95; this happened for the first time since 1885. However, both chambers of the Rigsdag approved most of the measures taken by the government during the conflict without the consent of parliament, with the exception of an increase in the composition of the secret police, the establishment of a gendarmerie corps and a new press law, which increased penalties for press crimes. To maintain peaceful relations with parliament, the government, to please the liberal members of its majority, introduced a draft reorganization of the army, by which the period of active military service was reduced to 400 days, and as a result, the number of infantry in a peaceful situation decreased, which was to some extent compensated by an increase in artillery and sapper housings; in general, the army reform should have led not to an increase, but to a decrease in the military budget by 250,000 crowns annually. Both houses of the Rigsdag accepted this reform. In August 1894, the elderly Estrup, considering his mission completed with the end of the constitutional conflict, resigned. The head of the new cabinet, which consisted mainly of members of the previous one - not excluding a very definite reactionary, Estrup's friend, Nellemann, as Minister of Justice - was former Foreign Minister Reedtz-Thott. In general, the policy remained the same, but was pursued with less energy and with greater readiness to make concessions to the liberal members of the majority. During the session of 1894-95, in accordance with the data of the new census, the number of deputies in the Folketing was increased from 102 to 114, a significant part of the public debt was converted from 3.5 percent to 3 percent and the beer tax was increased from 7 to 10 crowns per barrel. The elections to the Folketing in 1895 completely changed the attitude of the parties in parliament; victory was on the side of the opposition, as was the case earlier during the conflict (1885-92). The Conservatives won only 26 seats, the moderate Liberals 27; the government had only 53 deputies, and they were far from unanimous. Just the same number, 53 seats, were held by the radicals; 8 seats went to the Social Democrats, who received 25,000 votes in the elections. The number of Social Democratic deputies was far from corresponding to their true strength; This was explained by the fact that there are no re-runs in D., and for fear of ensuring the triumph of the right-wing Social Democrats in many districts they did not dare to field their candidate, preferring to ensure victory for the radical. The government, having lost its majority in the Folketing, had support in the Landsting. There was disagreement between the two chambers on the issue of the budget, but in the end both chambers made mutual concessions, and the budget was adopted in a constitutional manner. Other plans of the ministry did not materialize, and in May 1896 the most reactionary elements of the ministry resigned. The ministry lost the support of the extreme right, led by Estrup, but the more moderate members of the radical party did not refuse from time to time to support the reformed cabinet. In December 1896, the government introduced a draft of a new customs tariff: import duties on luxury goods, for example, were raised. game, oysters, southern fruits, wine, silk goods, flowers, duties were reduced on almost all raw materials (coal, metals) and on most manufactured goods that were not luxury goods. Considering tobacco, vodka and beer to be luxury goods, the government increased the customs duty on these items and, accordingly, the excise tax on the last two more than doubled. The radicals did not agree with the latter, the conservatives protested against the former, and the new customs tariff did not materialize. At the same time, the Folketing deducted 200 thousand crowns from the emergency military budget; The Landsting, in turn, deducted 2,000 crowns accepted by the Folketing for the maintenance of the International Peace Bureau in Bern. The ministry, unable to resolve the conflict, resigned. At the head of the new cabinet, which in general represented only a slightly transformed, in a liberal spirit, the old one, was Hörring, the Minister of the Interior in the previous cabinet. The new cabinet obtained a concession from the Landsting, but agreed to the demands of the Folketing. Also in 1897 The government implemented a greatly reduced zone railway tariff. At the end of 1897, the ministry introduced a draft income and property tax and a draft conversion of the remaining 3.5 part of the state debt that had not yet been converted into a 3 percent one. The first of these two projects deepened the rift between the government and the far right, but they were both carried out with the support of radicals. The result of the elections to the Folketing in 1898: 15 conservatives, 23 moderates, 1 wild (who generally supported the government), 63 radicals, 12 social democrats. (32,000 votes were cast for the latter). The radicals, having received an absolute majority, no longer needed the Social Democrats. In the partial elections to the Landsting in the same 1898, the radicals took three seats from the conservatives and one from the moderates; the Landsting now had 23 members of the opposition (including 2 Social Democrats) and 43 members of the right and moderate (including all 12 members appointed by the crown and 31 elected members). In 1899, the ministry submitted through the Rigsdag a bill on accident insurance for workers, drawn up according to the German model. The position of the Conservative government, in view of the opposition majority in the Folketing, which had to give in, thereby causing discontent and opposition from its own party, was, despite the energetic support of the crown, extremely difficult. In 1898, it spent 500,000 crowns on military purposes, not authorized by the Rigsdag, and this overspending was the starting point of a fierce struggle between it and the Landsting, on the one hand, and the Folketing, on the other. Wanting to soften the resentment of the radical left - the party of the peasantry par excellence, the government introduced and carried out a project of a state loan for rural workers in the amount of up to 3600 crowns each for the acquisition of land, so that the state expenditure on this loan would not exceed during the first five years 2 million crowns annually. This law was met with great sympathy by the radicals and partly even by the Social Democrats, who in Denmark are supporters of measures in favor of the peasantry; but he met opposition among the irreconcilable part of the right, led by Estrup. The government's position further worsened as a result of a series of strikes that took place in 1899. At the Conservative Party meeting, which took place in December 1899 in Copenhagen, things came to a complete rupture between the irreconcilable conservatives and the ministerial conservatives. In April 1900, Gerring's ministry, having suffered a number of defeats in the Folketing, finally resigned. The king entrusted the formation of a new cabinet to the conservative Seested, who made it up partly from members of the previous cabinets, partly from new faces, from a group of irreconcilable conservatives. He continued to fight with parliament, stubbornly refusing to resign, despite repeated votes of no confidence. In April 1901, new elections to the Folketing took place. The election struggle led to the complete destruction of the ministry. The Conservative Party received only 8 powers, the Moderate Liberal Party - 15, the Wild Party - 2; With these 23 or 25, and then dubious, supporters, the government had to confront the left, which acted quite amicably and henceforth consisted of 75 radicals and 14 social democrats. The Social Democrats received 43,000 votes in these elections. The partial elections to the Landsting that took place somewhat later in the same year, 1901, hardly changed the relations of the parties in it; from now on there were 41 conservatives, divided into extreme and ministerial, 3 moderate liberals, 21 radicals and one social democrat. The Party of Social Democracy, which took place in July 1901 in Copenhagen, was like a review of victorious battalions. In addition to 14 deputies of the Folketing and one member of the Landsting, the Social Democratic Party, as was reported at this party meeting, had 556 supporters in various municipalities, including 17 in Copenhagen alone, and had 15 daily newspapers with general political content, one weekly newspaper, one satirical leaflet and several professional bodies. The trade union movement also made great strides. Until now, Social Democracy, in general, marched together with the radical party, but from this party meeting it decided to wage the struggle completely separately. Due to the outcome of the elections, the government resigned; this time the king himself found it necessary to yield to the clear expression of the people's will and proposed the formation of a cabinet to the radical, Professor Deinzer (July 23, 1901). Due to the insistence of the king, the cabinet was composed, however, not only of radicals, but also of moderate liberals. The portfolio of Minister of War was transferred to General Madsen, who belonged to the Conservative Party, albeit to its moderate members. On October 5, the Rigsdag was opened with a speech from the throne, in which the king promised “the development of civil and political freedom, raising the spiritual and economic well-being of the people.” In 1902, the government entered into an agreement with the United States. States, according to which D.'s last possessions in the Antilles were ceded to them. Most of the Radical Party supported the government; some only insisted on a referendum among the inhabitants of the ceded Antilles themselves; the right side spoke out unconditionally against this concession. However, the Folketing ratified the treaty by a large majority subject to a referendum, but the Landsting rejected it by a majority of 32 to 28 votes, and the treaty could not come into force. In 1903, the ministry, not without difficulty, passed through both chambers of the Rigsdag a tax on movable and immovable property, the extension of income tax to legal entities and the expansion of financial rights of communities; part of the revenue from the new taxes was intended to be distributed to communities. In 1903, the government dissolved the Folketing and held new elections, which further strengthened the left, distributing seats somewhat differently among the various parties. There were now 12 conservatives, 11 moderate liberals, a total of 23, as before, but they no longer had the support of two wild ones; there were 75 radicals, 16 social democrats. However, in 1904, the government, under pressure, on the one hand, from the king, on the other, from its conservative and moderate members, in view of the war between Russia and Japan, mobilized some parts of the Danish army and made some improvements in the fortifications of Copenhagen, for an amount, however, not exceeding 200,000 crowns. These measures were approved by the right and were eventually also approved by the radicals, but the Social Democrats voted decisively against them. In the same 1904, Minister of Justice Alberti introduced a project that amazed everyone in Europe with its surprise - a project that introduced corporal punishment as an additional punishment for persons accused of crimes against morality and crimes committed with particular cruelty. The project met with sympathy not only among the right, but also among parts of the left; however, by a majority of 54 to 50, corporal punishment was rejected and replaced with particularly severe hard labor. The government took the project back, but at the end of 1904 it was reintroduced in a revised form. On the basis of this bill, the decomposition of the radical (government) party began. Within the ministry itself, some members were strongly opposed to it. After a stubborn struggle, the project passed. The final split in the ministry occurred due to a clash between Minister of War Madsen, who demanded a significant increase in the army and a new reconstruction of all fortresses, and Minister of Finance Gage, who strongly protested against these demands. In December 1904, General Madsen retired; he was followed by the Ministers of Justice Alberti and the Interior Sørensen. Unable to replace them with new faces, Deinzer submitted his resignation on behalf of the entire cabinet. The king took advantage of this gap to move the cabinet somewhat to the right, despite the radical majority of the chamber. He entrusted the composition of the new cabinet to the former Minister of Religious Affairs Christensen, who took over, in addition to the presidency of the cabinet, the ministries of war and navy; Alberti, Hansen and Sorensen remained in the office, partly changing their portfolios; radical members of the congregation left (January 1905).
