756 



DENMARK 



The principal articles of export are cattle, sheep, 

 swine, outter, hams, hides, wool, grain, fish, eggs, 

 meat, and wooden goods. Among the imports are 

 textile fabrics, cereals, and flour, manufactures of 

 metal and timber, coal, oil, salt, coffee, sugar, and 

 tobacco. About two-thirds of the export trade is 

 carried on in native vessels. The total value of the 

 imports in 1890-97 ranged from 17,057,000 to 

 23,155,000 ; and of the exports in the same period, 

 from 12,990,000 to 18,229,000. The bulk of the 

 foreign trade is with Germany, Great Britain, and 

 Norway and Sweden. The mercantile marine con- 

 sists of 3700 vessels, including 370 steamships, 

 with a total tonnage of 340,000. There are 1600 

 miles of railway open, of which about 1100 miles 

 belong to the state ; and there are in all about 

 3700 miles of telegraph lines, of which nearly 3000 

 belong to the state. 



Elementary education is widely diffused, although 

 in this regard Denmark is no longer so pre- 

 eminent as formerly ; it is compulsory for children 

 between the ages of seven and fourteen years, 

 poor parents paying only a nominal sum towards 

 the government or parochial schools, of which 

 there are about 3000. There are training colleges 

 for teachers, and classical and other higher edu- 

 cation is afforded by a large number of colleges 

 in the more important towns, with the university 

 of Copenhagen (1300 students) for the centre of 

 the entire system. Denmark has also a theo- 

 logical seminary, a royal surgical college, a veter- 

 inary and agricultural school, and numerous mili- 

 tary, technical, and commercial schools, while fifty 

 ' people's high schools ' provide instruction in agri- 

 cultural subjects. There are three public libraries 

 in Copenhagen, of which the Royal Library, with 

 500,000 volumes, is especially rich in oriental and 

 Icelandic MSS. The established religion is Luth- 

 eran, to which the king must belong ; but complete 

 toleration is enjoyed in every part of the kingdom. 

 The Reformation was introduced in 1536, when the 

 church revenues were seized by the crown. Den- 

 mark is divided into seven dioceses, in which there 

 are 1360 parishes. There are only 31,000 persons 

 not belonging to the Lutheran Church, of whom 

 4000 are Jews, 3600 Roman Catholics, 2300 

 Methodists, 1000 Mormons, 4600 Baptists, and 

 2600 Irvingites. 



The government of Denmark is a constitutional 

 monarchy, the king being assisted by a cabinet of 

 seven ministers. The crown was elective until 

 1660, when the people and clergy, impelled by 

 hatred towards the nobles, invested the sovereign 

 (Frederick III.) with absolute power, and declared 

 the succession to the throne hereditary. From 

 that time the crown exercised absolute rule till 

 1831, when a constitution was granted. This 

 proving unsatisfactory, was superseded in 1848 by 

 the form of government which, with some altera- 

 tions, Denmark now enjoys. The national assem- 

 bly or Rigsdag consists' of the Folkething and 

 Landsthing, which meet annually, the members 

 receiving a fixed allowance during their sittings. 

 The Landsthing is composed of sixty-six members, 

 of whom twelve are nominated for life by the king, 

 while the remainder are elected for a term of eight 

 years by certain bodies representing the large tax- 

 payers of the kingdom. The members of the 

 Folkething, whose number is fixed by statute in 

 the proportion of one to every 16,000 of the popu- 

 lation, are elected for three years by practically 

 universal suffrage. To this body all budgets must 

 first be submitted ; but in the years 1877-87, when 

 the government had a minority in the lower house, 

 the king was induced to give the royal ratification 

 to successive ' provisionally budgets,' which had 

 never received the assent of the Rigsdag. Never- 

 theless the financial condition of Denmark is sound 



and prosperous. The total revenue in the period 

 1885-95 fluctuated from 3,000,000 to 3,200,000 a 

 year; while the expenditure has repeatedly exceeded 

 3,600,000. Since the war of 1866, the government 

 has maintained a comparatively large reserve fun.I, 

 to meet any sudden emergency. That fund stood in 

 1887 at 990,000. The total national debt is over 

 10,000,000, or about 5 per head of the population ; 

 but as the investments of the state (in telegraphs, 

 &c.) amount to nearly 5,OOJ,000, this proportion is 

 reduced to less than 3. The decimal system was 

 introduced in 1875, the unit being the krone, or 

 crown, of 100 ore ; the average rate of exchange is 

 18 kroner to the pound sterling. The Danish army 

 numbers 1200 officers and 46,000 men, inclusive of 

 the landwehr; but only a sufficient establishment 

 for garrison purposes is maintained, and the peace 

 strength is 750 officers and 13,000 men. The 

 total war strength is about 50,000 men, to which 

 an extra reserve of 14,000 could be added on 

 emergency. Conscription prevails, and the period 

 of military service is divided into eight years in the 

 line and reserve, and eight in the extra reserve. 

 The navy is recruited by levies from the coast 

 districts. The fleet comprises some forty steamers 

 (of which ten are ironclads, but only one a first- 

 class battleship). The navy numbered in 1888, 134 

 officers and 1477 men. There were in 1897, 290 

 officers and 1150 men. Besides Copenhagen (q. v.), 

 there are no defensible fortresses, though there are 

 antiquated forts at Helsingor (Elsinore) and Fred- 

 ericia. The arsenal is at Copenhagen. 



History. The early history of I)enmark is lost 

 in the twilight of the saga-period, out of which 

 loom dimly the figures of its heroes, their bravo 

 deeds, and daring voyages. Within its borders 

 the Celts had first their home, and from its 

 shores the Angles and Saxons sailed in the 5th 

 century to the conquest of England ; while in their 

 place the Danes from Zealand settled on the 

 deserted lands, extending their sway as far south 

 as the Eider. One of their earliest kings, Harald 

 Hildetand, fell in battle against the Swedes in 

 695 ; and shortly afterwards a branch of the Yng- 

 linger occupied Jutland, where they held a footing 

 for two centuries. One of their kings, Harald 

 Klak, received baptism in 826 from Ansgar (q.v. ); 

 but the introduction of Christianity did not at 

 once place any check on the long-accustomed in- 

 roads on Frankish territory, or on the piratical 

 expeditions of the Vikings, although the country 

 was soon torn by dissensions between the art- 

 herents of the old and new faiths. Gorm the 

 Old, who drove the Ynglinger from the peninsula, 

 and first united the mainland and islands under 

 one rule, Avas the bitter enemy of Christianity ; 

 and although his death in 936 gave fresh vigour 

 to the diffusion of the new faith, yet even its ulti- 

 mate success was only insured by the zealous 

 support it received from Gorm's grandson, Canute 

 (q.v.). On his death in 1035 the three kingdoms 

 of his Anglo-Scandinavian empire separated, and 

 his sister's son, Svend Estridsen ( 1047-76), ascended 

 the throne of Denmark, founding a princely line 

 that flourished 400 years. Internal dissensions and 

 external wars weakened the country, and the in- 

 troduction of a feudal system raised up a powerful 

 nobility, and ground down the once free people to a 

 condition of serfdom. Waldemar I. (1157-82 ) added 

 Riigen to the other Wendish districts of Mecklen- 

 burg and Pomerania, and extended his sway over 

 Norway also. Under Waldemar II. the conquests 

 of Denmark extended so far into German and 

 Wendish lands, that the Baltic was little more than 

 an inland Danish sea. The jealousy of the German 

 princes and the treachery of his vassals combined 

 to rob him, however, of these brilliant conquests, 

 and his death in 1241 was followed by a century of 



