640 



DENMARK. 



dedthof her son Olave IV., A. D. 1387, took UK- 

 helm of the Danish LOV eminent . ascended the throne 

 of Sweden juul Norway, and established the union <>' 

 Calmar (q. v.), in 1887. 



AfU-r the extinction of (lie princes of the family 

 of Skiold, the Danes elected Christian I., count of 

 Oldenburg, to succeed him, in 1448. This Chris- 

 tian was the founder of the royal Danish family, 

 which lias, ever >ince, kept possession of the throne. 

 ;:nd from which, in modern times. Russia, Sweden, 

 and Oldenburg, liave received their rulers. He con- 

 nected Norway, Sleswic, and Holstein, with the 

 crown of Denmark, but was so fettered by his capi- 

 tulations, that he seemed to be rather the head of 

 the royal council than a sovereign king. His son, 

 kin-r John, was bound by a still more strict capitu- 

 lation, in Denmark, 1481. In Norway, too, his 

 1'uwer was more circumscribed. Holstein and Sles- 

 wic he sliared with Frederic, his brother. King 

 Christian II. (q.v.), son of John, a wicked and cruel, 

 but by no means weak, prince, attempted to throw 

 off his dependence on the states ; but, in doing it, 

 he lost Sweden, which broke the union of Calmar in 

 1523; and, soon after, he was deprived of both his 

 other crowns. Denmark and Norway elevated his 

 father's brother, Frederic I., to the throne. Under 

 this prince, the aristocracy gained the entire supe- 

 riority ; bondage was established by law; the refor- 

 mation was introduced ; and, in 1522, Norway was 

 united with Denmark. Christian III., his eldest son, 

 divided Sleswic and Holstein with his brothers, John 

 and Adolphus, the latter of whom founded the house 

 of Holstein-Gottorp ; but this division was the 

 ground of long and bitter disputes. He was suc- 

 ceeded, in 1559, by king Frederic II., who conquered 

 the Ditmars, and became involved in a war with Swe- 

 den respecting the possession of Livonia. This war 

 was concludedby the peace of Stettin,1570. Christian 

 IV., who succeeded in 1588, took part in the thirty 

 years' war, and twice engaged in a war with Swe- 

 den; the last tune with such unhappy consequences, 

 tliat, by the peace of-the Broemsebro, in 1645, Den- 

 mark had to cede to Sweden Jaemptland, Herjedalen 

 beyond the mountains, Gothland, and Oesel, pro- 

 vinces which it had retained ever since the union ; 

 besides putting Halland in her hands for thirty years. 

 The faults of the Danish form of government, and 

 the restraints on the crown, Iiad principally contri- 

 buted to make the Danish arms unsuccessful. The 

 same misfortune attended them also in the new war, 

 begun with Sweden by king Frederic III., in 1657. 

 In the peace of'Roschild, in 1658, and that of Copen- 

 hagen, in 1660, he lost Schonen, Bleckingen, Bonus, 

 and Halland. This caused the abolition, in 1660, 

 of the constitution of the states : the nation itself 

 granted the king absolute power, and rendered the 

 crown hereditary. Norway did the same in 1661. 

 The Danish nobilitj, however, retained the most 

 important offices of state, and the result did not 

 answer the expectations which had been entertained 

 of the new arrangement. Chrislian V. and Frederic 

 IV. were conquered in the war with Charles XII. 

 Denmark, however, after the fall of Charles XII., 

 trained by the peace of 1720, at Fredericsburg, the 

 toll on the Sound, and maintained possession of 

 Sleswic. 



After this, the state enjoyed a long repose; but 

 the woimds inflicted by its ill success, and its defec- 

 tive form of government, could not be healed by the 

 peaceful system now adopted. Denmark, having 

 but few resources, can prosper only by wise modera- 

 tion and careful management. The political ma- 

 chine, once disordered, requires a long time for 

 restoratipn. In 1726, Denmark united with the 

 crown the county of Ranzau ; in 1761, Holstein- 



Ploen; and, in 1773, Holstrin-Gotlorp. In return 

 for the latter, by a treaty with Russia, it ceded the 

 counties of Oldenburg and Delmenlior>t . v inch were 

 acquired in 1667. In 1730, Christ inn VI. succeeded 

 Frederic IV., and left his crown, in 1746, to his son 

 Frederic V. Christian VII. received the sceptre in 

 1766. lie governed entirely by his ministers. (See 

 the article Strvensee.) The present king, Frederic 

 VI., was declared of age at sixteen years, and, in 

 April 14, 1784, was appointed regent on account of 

 the insanity of his father, whom he succeeded, 

 his death, A.D. 1808. 



In consequence of the defensive alliance with Rus- 

 sia, in 1788, a Danish auxiliary corps marched into 

 Sweden without opposition; but, on the representa- 

 tions of England and Prussia, an armistice was con- 

 cluded a fortnight after the commencement of hosti- 

 lities. Thus ended this fruitless campaign, which 

 imposed on the impoverished finances a burden <if 

 7,000,000 rix dollars. Denmark maintained her 

 neutrality with more success, in 1792, when the 

 allied powers wished her to take part in the war 

 against France. But, by her accession to the Nor- 

 thern confederacy, in 1800, she was involved in a 

 war with Great Britain, in which the Danish fleet 

 was defeated at Copenhagen, April 2, 1801. The 

 courage of the Danes, however, obtained for them 

 a truce, upon which Denmark acceded to the treaty of 

 Russia with England, completed July 20, evacuated 

 Hamburg and Lubeck, of which she had possession, 

 and received back her own colonies. 



At length, in 1807, this state was included in 

 Napoleon's continental policy. A French army stood 

 on the borders of Denmark, Russia had adopted the 

 continental system at the peace of Tilsit, and Eng- 

 land thought it her duty to prevent the accession of 

 Denmark to this alliance. A fleet of twenty-three 

 ships of 'the line^was sent up the Sound, August 3. 

 which demanded of Denmark a defensive alliance, 

 or the surrender of her fleet, as a pledge of her neu- 

 trality. Both were denied. Upon this, a British 

 army landed, consisting of 25,000 men, under lord 

 Cathcart; and, after an unsuccessful resistance on the 

 part of the Danes, who were unprepareovfor such an 

 attack. Copenhagen was surrounded August 17. As 

 the government repeatedly refused to yield to the 

 British demands, the capital was bombarded for three 

 days, and 400 houses laid hi ashes, in the ruins of 

 which 1300 of the inhabitants perished. September 

 7, Copenhagen capitulated, and the whole fleet, com- 

 pletely equipped, and including eighteen ships of the 

 line, fifteen frigates, &c., was delivered up to the 

 British, and carried off hi triumph. The crews, who 

 Iiad fought on those days with distinguished bravery, 

 were made prisoners of war. 



Great Britain now offered die crown-prince neu- 

 trality or an alliance. If he accepted the first, the 

 Danish fleet was to be restored in three years after 

 the general peace, and the island of Heligoland was 

 to be ceded to the British crown. The crown-prince, 

 however, rejected all proposals, declared war against 

 Great Britain in October, 1807, and entered into a 

 treaty with Napoleon, at Fontainebleau, October 31 . 

 Upon this, Bernadotte occupied the Danish islands 

 with 30,000 men, in order to land in Sweden, against 

 which Denmark had declared war in April, 1808. 

 This plan was defeated by the war with Austria, in 

 1809, and the hostilities against Sweden in Norway 

 ceased the same year. The demand made by the 

 court of Stockholm, in 1813, of a transfer of Norway 

 to Sweden, was followed by a new war with this 

 crown, and a new alliance with Napoleon, July 10, 

 1813. On this account, after the battle of Leipsic, 

 the northern powers, who were united against 

 France,, occupied Holstein and Sleswic. Glueckstadt 



