Napoleonic Wars
In foreign policy, the Danish government maintained the principle of non-intervention. The close alliance with Russia, however, forced Denmark to raise weapons against Sweden, but this war was waged by Denmark sluggishly and did not change the situation.
Thanks to its neutrality, Denmark was able to play a major role in European foreign trade. But it was here that the danger for such a small country as Denmark was rooted. The struggle between England and France involved Denmark little by little in the cycle of complex European relations and led her to a severe after-effects collision, first with England, then with the European coalition.
The participation of Denmark in armed neutrality together with Russia, Sweden and Prussia (1800) led to the open attack of England on Denmark, which ended in peace (1801), when the new Russian emperor abandoned the league of neutral states. Denmark managed to recover after a severe defeat experienced in this war, to once again raise trading activity and even partially strengthen its possessions in Germany due to the destruction of the empire (1806).
But Napoleon’s continental blockade created a new danger for Denmark. The demand addressed to Denmark by French and Russian emperors to declare war on England provoked an attack on Denmark by Denmark without declaring war on it, which led to the terrifying bombardment of Copenhagen (September 1, 1807) and the capture of most of the Danish fleet. To avoid the invasion of Napoleon, Denmark was forced to continue the war with both England and Sweden that also joined in. With England the struggle dragged on until 1813.
When Napoleon fell, Denmark had to pay for the alliance with him by the loss of Norway, taken away from her in Kiel (1814) and given to Sweden. The limits of Denmark were limited to the Danish peninsula and islands, the Duchy of Lauenburg (exchanged from Prussia for Swedish Pomerania and Rügen) and Holstein. According to the Vienna treatise, the Danish king, as the ruler of Holstein and Lauenburg, was incorporated into the German Union.
Years (1815 – 1847)
The German element now, with the accession of Lauenburg, became even stronger. Attempt by Frederick VI to give the Danish language, which was spoken by the prevailing mass of the peasant Schleswig population, did not succeed in primary importance and caused only irritation among the rich German nobility, already hostile to the king for reform of peasant relations.
The inclusion of Holstein in the German Union and the article of the union act, by virtue of which each state of the union was to receive the Seym, served as a strong support for the Holstein nobility in campaigning against the Danish government in order to achieve greater political independence and unite into one political whole Holstein and Schleswig. A number of petitions in this sense were filed to the king, but all of them were rejected (the Danes, in turn, who tried to achieve constitutional rights, paid for their attempt with cruel punishment).
In 1823, the Schleswig and Holstein nobility transferred the controversial issue to the German Union Diet, the decision of which, however, was favorable for 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 yield to some extent.
In 1831, the introduction of constitutional institutions in the form of a Seimas in Schleswig and Holstein was promised, but for each region separately; three years later deliberative seimas were also established in Jutland. Some members were appointed by the king; for the rest, a high qualification was established. The vast majority in the towns, especially in Schleswig, were noblemen – large owners. Sessions of the Diet were not public; only a summary of the debate and ruling was allowed to print. The Jutland representatives zealously set to work; but the projects they drafted were largely rejected by the government. Such a fate befell, by the way, the request of both to merge them into one whole. As a result, already under Frederick VI (died in 1839), some discord between the country and the king appeared.
Agitation in favor of press freedom and the expansion of the constitution spread rapidly, especially thanks to the then popular newspaper, prof. David. The situation did not change for the better under Christian VIII, who, as the liberal ruler of Norway (before taking it from Denmark), had high hopes.
The excitement spread to the peasant population and led to the organization of a political union among them, and then a political party with a sharply democratic character. In 1845, the “Society of Friends of the Peasantry” was founded, which began to play a prominent role. The purely national movement, which arose in literature at the beginning of the 19th century and now developed under the influence of historical memories in the so-called Scandinavism. The government opposed the formation of Scandinavian society in Copenhagen, and only towards the end of the reign, under the influence of the separatist German movement in Schleswig, Christian VIII decided to make concessions to the demands of the Scandinavians and liberals. Scandinavian society was allowed; in deep secrecy was drafted a constitution.
Sources:
Denmark // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron
Helge Paludan, Eric Ulsig, Carsten Rasmussen, Hertz Boncerup, Eric Petersen, Henning Poulsen, Søren Rasmussen. History of Denmark