Denmark

Denmark was first united by Harold Bluetooth (Harald Blåtand) around 980. Up into the 11th century the Danes were known as Vikings, colonizing, raiding and trading in much of Europe.

At various times Denmark has controlled England, Norway, Sweden, parts of the Baltic coast and what is now northern Germany. Skåne was part of Denmark for most of its early history, but was lost to Sweden in 1658. The union with Norway was dissolved in 1814, when Norway entered a new union with Sweden (until 1905).

The Danish liberal and national movement gained momentum in the 1830s, and after the European revolutions of 1848 Denmark became a constitutional monarchy in 1849.

After the Second War of Schleswig in 1864 Denmark was forced to cede Schleswig-Holstein to Prussia, in a defeat that left deep marks in the Danish national identity. After this point Denmark adopted a policy of neutrality, following which Denmark stayed neutral in World War I.

On April 9, 1940, Denmark was invaded by Nazi Germany (Operation Weserübung) and remained occupied throughout World War II, despite some internal resistance. After the war, Denmark became a member of NATO and, in 1973, the European Union.

Since 1849, Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, governed by the monarch, whose powers are largely symbolical. Denmark's parliament is unicameral, and named the Folketing (179 seats). The Prime Minister is usually appointed from the largest party. The Prime Minister heads the executive branch of government, assisted by a cabinet of ministers.

Elections for parliament are usually held every four years; but the prime minister can call for an earlier election, if he so decides.

Denmark is divided into 13 counties (amter), and 271 municipalities (kommuner):

• Aarhus (Århus)
• Frederiksborg
• Funen (Fyn)
• Copenhagen (København)
• North Jutland (Nordjylland)
• Ribe
• Ringkjøbing
• Roskilde
• South Jutland (Sønderjylland)
• Storstrøm
• Vejle
• Viborg
• West Zealand (Vestsjælland)

• Bornholm (regional municipality)
• Copenhagen
• Frederiksberg

Greenland and the Faroe Islands also belong to the Kingdom of Denmark, but have autonomous status and are largely self-governing, and are each represented by 2 seats in the parliament.

Denmark consists of the Jutland peninsula (Jylland) and 405 named islands, of which 82 are inhabited, the most important are Funen (Fyn) and Zealand (Sjælland). The island of Bornholm is located somewhat east of the rest of the country, in the Baltic Sea. Many of the islands are connected by bridges; the Øresund Bridge connects Zealand with Sweden, and the Great Belt Bridge connects Funen with Zealand.

The country is mostly flat with little elevation (highest points are Ejer Baunehøj and Yding Skovhøj, both at about 173 meters). The climate is temperate, with mild winters and cool summers. Main cities are the capital Copenhagen (on Zealand), Aarhus (on Jutland) and Odense (on Fyn).

This thoroughly modern market economy features high-tech agriculture, up-to-date small-scale and corporate industry, extensive government welfare measures, comfortable living standards, a stable currency, and high dependence on foreign trade. Denmark is a net exporter of food and energy and has a comfortable balance of payments surplus. The government has been successful in meeting, and even exceeding, the economic convergence criteria for participating in the third phase (a common European currency) of the European Monetary Union (EMU), but Denmark, in a September 2000 referendum, reconfirmed its decision not to join the 11 other EU members in the euro. Even so, the Danish currency remains pegged to the euro.

The majority of the population is of Scandinavian descent, with small groups of Inuit (from Greenland), Faroese, and immigrants. Danish is spoken in the entire country, although a small group near the German border speaks German.

About 95% of the Danes are members of the state church, the Danish People's Church (Den Danske Folkekirke), a form of Lutheranism; the rest are primarily of other Christian denominations or are Muslims.

The best known Dane is probably Hans Christian Andersen, a writer mostly famous for his fairy tales, such as The Emperor's New Clothes and The Ugly Duckling.

Other well known Danes are existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and physicist Niels Bohr.

Holidays
NOTE: Not all of these are work holidays.

Date	English Name	Local Name	Remarks
January 1	New Year's Day	Nytårsdag
Seven weeks before Easter Sunday	Carnival	Fastelavn	Children dress up in costumes and go door-to-door in search of sweets.
The Thursday before Easter Sunday	Maundy Thursday	Skærtorsdag
The Friday before Easter Sunday	Good Friday	Langfredag
March/April	Easter Sunday	Påskesøndag	The Danish celebrate three days of Easter.
The day after Easter Sunday	Easter Monday	2. Påskedag
May 1	Labour Day	Arbejdernes kampdag	Not everybody has this day off.
June 5	Constitution Day	Grundlovsdag	The signing of the Danish constitution in 1849.
Varies		St. Bededag	A collection of minor christian holy days consolidated into one holy day.
40 days after Easter	Ascension Day	Kr. Himmelfartsdag
7 weeks after Easter	Pentecost	Pinse	The Danish celebrate two days of Pentecost.
November 10	The Feast of Saint Martin	Mortensaften	Danes eat goose traditionally this evening.
December 24	Christmas Eve	Juleaften	The children get presents on the eve before Christmas day.
December 25	Christmas Day	Juledag	The Danish celebrate three days of Christmas.
December 26	2. Christmas Day	2. Juledag

See also:

• Music of Denmark

Miscellaneous topics

• List of towns in Denmark
• Communications in Denmark
• Transportation in Denmark
• Military of Denmark
• Foreign relations of Denmark
• Danish colonization of the Americas
• List of notable Danish people
• List of Danish monarchs
• Danish nation
• Tourism in Denmark
• Stamps and postal history of Denmark
• Trees of Denmark

External Links

Geography

Demographics

Geography

Demographics

Geography

Demographics

Geography

Demographics

People lived in what is today Denmark more than 100,000 years ago, but they were likely forced to leave for a time because of the ice cap that covered the land for some of the intervening time during the ice age. It is thought that people have lived continually in Denmark since around 12,000 BC. Agriculture made inroads around 3,000 BC, dramatically changing life in the area.

During the Viking period, Denmark was a great power based on the Jutland Peninsula, the Island of Zealand, and the southern part of what is now Sweden. In the early 11th century, King Canute united Denmark and England for almost 30 years.

The details of mediaeval politics in Denmark are hopelessly complex, but some attempt will be made to outline some general trends here. After the death of Canute the Great in 1035, England broke away from Danish control and Denmark fell into disarray for some time. Vikings from Norway raided Denmark sporadically. Canute’s nephew Sweyn Estridson (1020-1074) re-established strong royal authority and built a good relationship with the Archbishop of Bremen, who was at that time the Archbishop of all of Scandinavia.

In the early 12th century Denmark became the seat of an independent church province of Scandinavia. Not long after that Sweden and Norway formed their own archbishoprics free of Danish control. The mid 12th century was a difficult time for the kingdom of Denmark. Civil wars rocked the land and created much strife. Eventually, Valdemar the Great (1131-82), gained control of the kingdom, stabilizing it and reorganizing the administration. He and Bishop Absalon rebuilt the country. During Valdemar’s reign a castle was built in the village of Havn, leading eventually to the foundation of Copenhagen, modern capital of Denmark. They built Denmark into a major power in the Baltic Sea, which competed with the Hanseatic League, the Holstein Counts, and the Teutonic Knights for trade, territory, and influence throughout the Baltic. Valdemar and his successors launched various ‘crusades’ to claim terriories, notably modern Estonia. Legend has it that the Danish flag, the Dannebrog fell from the sky during a battle in Estonia in 1219.

The middle ages saw a period of close cooperation between the crown and the church. Thousands of churches were built throughout the country during that time. The economy expanded during the 12th century, based mostly on the lucrative Herring trade, but the 13th century was a period of difficulty and the temporary collapse of royal authority.

The kingdom continued to fall apart, Skåne passing for a while to the King of Sweden. In 1340 the throne fell to Valdemar Atterdag or "New Day." He was a skilled politician and was able to reunite the old kingdom of Denmark by using the counts against each other. The Black Death which came to Denmark during these years also helped his campaign. He continued to try expanding the kingdom after 1360 which brought him into open conflict with the Hanseatic League. He conquered Gotland much to the displeasure of the League since Visby, an important trading town, was located there. Their alliance with Sweden to attack Denmark was initially a fiasco since Danish forces captured a large Hanseatic fleet, ransoming them for an enormous sum. Luckily for the League the Jutland Nobles revolted against the heavy taxes required to fight an expansionistic war in the Baltic; the two forces worked against the king, forcing him into exile in 1370. For several year the Hanseatic League controlled the fortresses on "the sound" between Sweden and Denmark.

Her successor, Eric of Pomerania, was wildly incompetent, and was directly responsible for the break up of the Kalmar Union. However, there was still some enthusiasm for the idea, so when Christopher of Bavaria, a distant relative came to the throne, he managed to be elected in all three kingdoms, briefly reuniting Scandinavia. The Swedish nobility grew increasingly unhappy with Danish rule and the union soon became a legal concept with little practical application. In the early 16th century, Christian II came to power. He is quoted as saying, "If the hat on my head knew what I was thinking, I would pull it off and throw it away." This is apparently in reference to his devious, machiavellian political dealings. He had conquered Sweden in an attempt to reinforce the union, and had about 100 leaders of the Swedish anti-unionist forces, as well as ordinary citizens, women and children killed in what came to be known as the Stockholm Bloodbath. The bloodbath continued during the following months in other parts of the country, with about 500 more killed, and it destroyed any lingering hope of Scandinavian union.

Denmark grew wealthy during the sixteenth century, largely because of increased traffic through the Øresund which they were able to tax (remember Denmark controlled both sides of the sound at this time). Denmark was a relatively powerful kingdom at this time. European politics of the sixteenth century revolved largely around the struggle between Catholic and Protestant forces, so it was almost inevitable that Denmark, a strong, unified Lutheran kingdom, would get drawn into the larger war when it came. The Thirty Years' War went badly for the protestant states in the early 1620s and Denmark was called on to 'save the protestant cause.' Embarassingly for Christian IV the Danish military intervention in Germany was a fiasco; worse still, Sweden later intervened with some success.

Christian IV is none the less widely remembered as one of the great kings of Denmark. He had a very long reign, from 1588 to 1648 and is known as the architect of the Danish throne because of the large number of building projects he undertook. Many of the great buildings of Denmark were constructed during his reign.

After his death Denmark waged a disastrous war against Sweden. An abnormally cold winter allowed Swedish troops to cross the sound on the ice to attack Copenhagen. The peace in 1658 ceded three of Denmark's richest provinces, Scania, Hallandia, and Blechinga, to Sweden under the terms of the Treaty of Roskilde.

The Danish liberal and national movements gained momentum in the 1830s, and after the European revolutions of 1848 Denmark became a constitutional monarchy in 1849. The growing bourgeoisie demanded a share in government and in an attempt to avert the bloody revolutions that were occurring elsewhere in Europe, Frederik VII gave in to the demands of the citizens. A new constitution was drawn up dividing powers and granting franchise to all adult males. The king was made head of the executive branch, complemented by a legislative branch consisting of two parliamentary chambers; the Folketing, consisting of members elected by the general population, and the Landsting whose members were elected by landowners. An independent judiciary was also set up.

The Danish king's realm did still consist of four parts: The islands and Jutland, together consisting the kingdom, and then the duchies Schleswig and Holstein, in personal union with the kingdom. Since the early 18th century, and even more so from the early 19th century, the Danes had got used to viewing the duchies and the kingdom as increasingly unified in one state. This was, however, not the view of the German majority in the duchies, who had also been enthused by the liberal and national movements leading to a movement known as Schleswig-Holsteinism. They aimed for independence from Denmark. The First War of Schleswig was ignited by the constitutional change of 1849, and ended with status quo only thanks to the intervention by England and other Great Powers. There was much debate in Denmark as to how to deal with the question of Schleswig-Holstein. National-Liberals demanded that Schleswig be permanently tied to Denmark, but Holstein could do as it pleased. However, international events overtook domestic Danish politics, and Denmark was confronted with war against Prussia and Austria in 1864, in what came to be known as the Second War of Schleswig. The territories had become pawns in Otto von Bismarck's larger political ambitions. Denmark was forced to cede all of Schleswig-Holstein to Prussia and adopt a policy of neutrality.

The war was deeply traumatic for Denmark as a nation, forcing it to reconsider its place in the world. The loss of Schleswig-Holstein was the last in a long series of territorial defeats for the once large kingdom of Denmark. Many of the richest areas of the kingdom, in Sweden and Germany had been lost, so the nation focused on developing the poorer areas of the country. Extensive agricultural improvements were undertaken in Jutland, and a new form of nationalism, emphasizing the 'small' people, the decency of rurual Denmark, and shunning wider aspirations was fostered.

The emerging political situation made possible by the new constitution was quite alarming for many of the existing elites since it inevetably empowered the peasantry. Simple men with little education replaced professors and professionals in positions of power. The peasants in coalition with liberal and radical elements from the cities eventually won a majority of seats in the Folketing. Even though there had been constitutional changes to empower the Landsting, the Left Venstre Party demanded to form the government, but the king, still the head of the executive, refused. A constitutional crisis ensued, which was ended in 1901 by the introduction of parliamentary government. It was decided that no government could rule against the wishes of a parliamentary majority.

Denmark remained neutral during World War I, although the conflict affected the country to a considerable extent. There was wide spread profiteering, but commerce was also greatly disrupted by the conflict and the ensuing financial instability in Europe.

In the 1924 election the Social Democrats, under the charismatic Thorvald Stauning, became Denmark's largest party, a position they maintained until 2001. Stauning worked with some of the bourgeois parties, making the Social Democrats a more mainstream party. He was able to broker an important deal in the 1930s that brought an end to the Great depression in Denmark, and also laid the foundation for a welfar state.

Despite its declaration of neutrality at the beginning of World War II, and the conclusion of a non-aggression agreement with Nazi Germany, Denmark was invaded by Nazi Germany (Operation Weserübung) on April 9 1940 and occupied until May 5 1945. The occupation of Denmark was unique in that the terms of occupation were initially very lenient. The new coalition government tried to protect the population from Nazi rule through compromise. The Folketing was allowed to remain in session, the police remained under Danish control, and the Nazi German authorities were one step removed from the population. However, the Nazi German demands eventually became intolerable for the Danish government, so in 1943 it resigned and Nazi Germany assumed full control of Denmark. After that point an armed resistance movement grew up against the occupying forces. Toward the end of the war Denmark grew increasingly difficult for Nazi Germany to control, but the country was not liberated until Allied forces arrived in the country at the end of the war.

1953 saw a further political reform in Denmark, abolishing the Landsting, colonial status for Greenland and allowing the female right of succession to the throne.

See also: List of Danish monarchs

From	Konseilspræsident (1848-1918)	Born-Died
1848	Adam Wilhelm Moltke	1785-1864
1852	Christian Albrecht Bluhme	1794-1866
1853	Anders Sandøe Ørsted	1778-1860
1854	Peter Georg Bang	1797-1861
1856	Carl Christoffer Georg Andræ	1812-1893
1857	Carl Christian Hall	1812-1888
1859	Carl Edvard Rotwitt	1812-1860
1863	Ditlev Gothard Monrad	1811-1887
1864	Christian Albrecht Bluhme	1794-1866
1865	Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs	1817-1896
1870	Ludvig Holstein-Holsteinborg	1815-1892
1874	Christen Andreas Fonnesbech	1817-1880
1875	Jacob Brønnum Scavenius Estrup	1825-1913
1894	Tage Reedtz-Thott	1839-1923
1897	Hugo Egmont (H. E.) Hørring	1842-1909
1900	Hannibal Sehested	1842-1924
1901	Johan Henrik Deuntzer	1845-1918
1905	Jens Christian (J. C.) Christensen	1856-1930
1908	Niels Neergaard	1854-1936
1909	Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg	1839-1912
1909	Carl Theodor Zahle	1866-1946
1910	Klaus Berntsen	1844-1927
1913	Carl Theodor Zahle	1866-1946

From	Statsminister (1918-present) ¹	Born-Died
1918	Carl Theodor Zahle	1866-1946
1920	Otto Liebe	1860-1929
1920	Michael Pedersen (M. P.) Friis	1857-1944
1920	Niels Neergaard	1854-1936
1924	Thorvald Stauning	1873-1942
1926	Thomas Madsen-Mygdal	1876-1943
1929	Thorvald Stauning	1873-1942
1942	Vilhelm Buhl	1881-1954
1942	Erik Scavenius	1877-1962
1943	¹
1945	Vilhelm Buhl	1881-1954
1945	Knud Kristensen	1880-1962
1947	Hans Hedtoft	1903-1955
1950	Erik Eriksen	1902-1972
1953	Hans Hedtoft	1903-1955
1955	H. C. Hansen	1906-1960
1960	Viggo Kampmann	1910-1976
1962	Jens Otto Krag	1914–1978
1968	Hilmar Baunsgaard	1920-1989
1971	Jens Otto Krag	1914–1978
1972	Anker Jørgensen	1922-
1973	Poul Hartling	1914-2000
1975	Anker Jørgensen	1922-
1982	Poul Schlüter	1929-
1993	Poul Nyrup Rasmussen	1943-
2001	Anders Fogh Rasmussen	1953-

Note: ¹ 1943-1945: during the occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany, the country was without a responsible Prime Minister. The work of the government were instead led by the heads of the different departments (departementschefstyre).

External links

External link