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80-583: The immediate cause was a conflict between the king and the cabinet over the reunification with Denmark of Schleswig , a former Danish fiefdom which had been lost to Prussia during the Second War of Schleswig . Danish claims to the region persisted to the end of World War I , at which time the defeat of the Germans made it possible to resolve the dispute. According to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles ,

160-471: A Prussian-dominated Germany as a welcome development, which he saw as a way of weakening France, the nation that he hated and feared the most. Fredrich Wilhelm did not want to risk a confrontation with either Britain or Russia, and was only persuaded to act when convinced a war would not cause such a confrontation. Schleswig-Holsteinian Prince Frederik of Noer took the 5th "Lauenburger" Rifle Corps (Jägerkorps) and some students of Kiel university to take over

240-829: A change to the succession law in the duchies to allow succession through the female line. The implementation of this law was illegal. The question of Schleswig-Holstein was also a major concern of the other European powers. In order to maintain access to the Baltic, the British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston preferred that control of the Danish straits linking the North Sea to the Baltic Sea not be controlled by any major European power such as Prussia. From Palmerston's viewpoint, having

320-579: A conference in London , Denmark suggested an arrangement on the basis of a separation of Schleswig from Holstein, despite their historical affiliation dating back to 1460, with Schleswig having a separate constitution under the Danish crown. In April 1850, Prussia, which had pulled out of the war after the treaty of Malmö, proposed a definitive peace on the basis of the status quo ante bellum and postponement of all questions as to mutual rights. To Palmerston

400-480: A demand for a new referendum from the Danish population in South Schleswig and some Danish politicians, including prime minister Knud Kristensen . However, the majority in the Danish parliament refused to support a referendum in South Schleswig, fearing that the "new Danes" were not genuine in their change of nationality. This proved to be the case and, from 1948 the Danish population began to shrink again. By

480-423: A king holding a ducal title of which he as king was the fount and liege lord . The title and anomaly survived presumably because it was already co-regally held by the king's sons. Between 1544 and 1713/20, the ducal reign had become a common dominium , with the royal House of Oldenburg and its cadet branch House of Holstein-Gottorp jointly holding the stake. A third branch, the short-lived House of Haderslev ,

560-467: A main root of the dispute between the German states and Denmark in the 19th century, when the ideas of romantic nationalism and the nation-state gained popular support. The title of duke of Schleswig was inherited in 1460 by the hereditary kings of Norway, who were also regularly elected kings of Denmark simultaneously, and their sons (unlike Denmark, which was not hereditary). This was an anomaly –

640-583: A majority of 80% to remain part of Germany. In Southern Schleswig, no referendum was held, as the likely outcome was apparent. The name Southern Schleswig is now used for all of German Schleswig. This decision left substantial minorities on both sides of the new border. Following the Second World War , a substantial part of the German population in Southern Schleswig changed their nationality and declared themselves as Danish. This change

720-537: A new common constitution (the so-called November Constitution ) for Denmark and Schleswig in 1863. This was met by German states in two ways: The defeated Danish king had to leave Schleswig and Holstein to Austria and Prussia. They created a condominium over Schleswig and Holstein. Under the Gastein Convention of 14 August 1865, Lauenburg was given to Prussia, while Austria administered Holstein, and Prussia administered Schleswig. However, tensions between

800-401: A new cultural dividing line in the duchy because German was used for church services and teaching in the diocese of Schleswig and Danish was used in the diocese of Ribe and the archdeaconry of Haderslev. This line corresponds remarkably closely with the present border. In the 17th century, a series of wars between Denmark and Sweden—which Denmark lost—devastated the region economically. However,

880-468: A note to King Fredrich Wilhelm stating that Russia regarded the advance of the Prussian troops towards Jutland as an extremely unfriendly act as the note stated: "The invasion, intended for Jutland, seriously injuries the interests of all the powers bordering on the Baltic, and stretches to the breaking point the political equilibrium throughout the north which was established in the treaties". To reinforce

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960-458: A part of Denmark, as Schleswig contained a large number of Danes, whilst Holstein did not. German nationalists believed that Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg should remain united, and their belief that Schleswig and Holstein should not be separated led to the two duchies being referred to as Schleswig-Holstein . Schleswig became a particular source of contention, as it contained a large number of Danes, Germans, and North Frisians . Another cause of

1040-403: A relatively weak power such as Denmark maintain control of the Danish straits was far preferable to having a strong power, and as such Britain tended to support the Danish claims, believing that a Danish-Prussian war might lead to Prussia annexing not just the two duchies, but also all of Denmark. Likewise, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia supported Denmark as he did not want a strong power controlling

1120-514: A son of his predecessor Eric I – Earl of Schleswig, a title used for only a short time before the recipient began to style himself duke . In the 1230s, Southern Jutland (the Duchy of Slesvig) was allotted as an appanage to Abel Valdemarsen , Canute's great-grandson, a younger son of Valdemar II of Denmark . Abel, having wrested the Danish throne to himself for a brief period, left his duchy to his sons and their successors, who pressed claims to

1200-589: A source of continuous dispute. The Treaty of Heiligen was signed in 811 between the Danish King Hemming and Charlemagne , by which the border was established at the Eider. During the 10th century, there were several wars between East Francia and Denmark. In 1027, Conrad II and Canute the Great again fixed their mutual border at the Eider. In 1115, King Niels created his nephew Canute Lavard –

1280-531: A speech to the defenders, the prince secured the allegiance of the battalions and regiment of artillery to the provisional government. Danish officers who had been serving in the defence of the fortress were allowed to leave for Denmark on the assurance that they did not fight against Schleswig-Holstein in the coming war. Wishing to defeat Denmark before German troops arrived to support them, 7,000 Schleswig-Holstein volunteers under General Krohn occupied Flensborg on 31 March. Over 7,000 Danish soldiers landed east of

1360-489: A treaty of 1907 with Germany that, by the agreement between Austria and Prussia, the frontier between Prussia and Denmark had finally been settled. The Treaty of Versailles provided for plebiscites to determine the allegiance of the region. Thus, two referendums were held in 1920, resulting in the partition of the region. Northern Schleswig voted by a majority of 75% to join Denmark, whereas Central Schleswig voted by

1440-490: The 1920 plebiscites and partition , each side applying its preferred name to the part of the territory remaining in its possession – though both terms can, in principle, still refer to the entire region. Northern Schleswig was, after the 1920 plebiscites, officially named the Southern Jutland districts ( de sønderjyske landsdele ), while Southern Schleswig then remained a part of the Prussian province, which became

1520-761: The German Confederation of which Holstein (and Lauenburg ) was a member state. Although Schleswig was never a part of the Confederation, the Confederation (and the short-lived German Empire of that time) treated Schleswig largely as such. The ideological argument was not only an ethnic but also a historical one: the German side referred to a medieval treaty that claimed that Schleswig and Holstein should be forever united (in Low German: up ewig ungedeelt ). The federal and then imperial troops consisted mainly of Prussian divisions. Under pressure of

1600-657: The German Confederation supported the rebels as a federal war (Bundeskrieg) according to its statutes. This was continued by the German Central Government (of the federal state that replaced the Confederation in 1848/49-51 ), with most of the German troops being provided by Prussia. The war was interrupted in August 1848 by the armistice of Malmö, but started again with a Danish offensive in February 1849. In summer 1850, Prussia had to back down and leave

1680-718: The German state of Schleswig-Holstein in 1946. From early medieval times, the area's significance was its role as a buffer zone between Denmark and the powerful Holy Roman Empire to the south, as well as being a transit area for the transfer of goods between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea , connecting the trade route through Russia with the trade routes along the Rhine and the Atlantic coast (see also Kiel Canal ). In

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1760-595: The Schengen Area , there are no regular controls at the border. 55°10′N 9°15′E  /  55.167°N 9.250°E  / 55.167; 9.250 First Schleswig War [REDACTED]   German Confederation [REDACTED]   Denmark The First Schleswig War ( German : Schleswig-Holsteinischer Krieg ), also known as the Schleswig-Holstein Uprising ( German : Schleswig-Holsteinische Erhebung ) and

1840-640: The Three Years' War ( Danish : Treårskrigen ), was a military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig-Holstein Question : who should control the Duchies of Schleswig , Holstein and Lauenburg , which at the time were ruled by the king of Denmark in a personal union . Ultimately, the Danish side proved victorious with the diplomatic support of the great powers, especially Britain and Russia, since

1920-576: The nation state , remained part of the post-war German state. In Northern Schleswig, 75% voted for reunification with Denmark and 25% for remaining with Germany. In Central Schleswig, the situation was reversed with 80% voting for Germany and 20% for Denmark. In light of these results, the government of Prime Minister Carl Theodor Zahle determined that reunification with Northern Schleswig could go forward, while Central Schleswig would remain under German control. Many Danish nationalists felt that Central Schleswig should be returned to Denmark regardless of

2000-473: The 19th century therefore had a clear Danish nationalist connotation of laying a claim to the territory and objecting to the German claims. "Olsen's Map", published by the Danish cartographer Olsen in the 1830s, used this term, arousing a storm of protests by the duchy's German inhabitants. Even though many Danish nationalists, such as the National Liberal ideologue and agitator Orla Lehmann , used

2080-709: The Danes, and Nicholas I of Russia , speaking with authority as head of the senior Gottorp line, pointed out to Frederick William IV of Prussia the risks of a collision. The British government threatened to send the Royal Navy to assist in preserving the status quo, though this threat did not ultimately materialise. It was Russian diplomatic intervention that decided the outcome of the war in April 1848. The Russian ambassador in Berlin, Baron Peter von Meyendorff , delivered

2160-568: The Danes: The Danes rejected this proposal outright and negotiations were broken off. Prussia was now confronted on the one side by German nationalists urging it to action, on the other side by the European powers threatening dire consequences should it persist. After painful hesitation, Frederick William chose what seemed the lesser of two evils, and, on 26 August, Prussia signed a convention at Malmö which yielded to practically all

2240-598: The Danish demands. The Holstein estates appealed to the German National Assembly, which hotly took up their cause, but it was soon clear that the German Central Government had no means of enforcing its views. In the end the convention was ratified at Frankfurt. The convention was essentially nothing more than a truce establishing a temporary modus vivendi . The main issues, left unsettled, continued to be hotly debated. In October, at

2320-499: The Danish straits, Radowitz advised the king to limit the war to the two duchies and not allow Prussian troops to enter Jutland, which he predicted would lead to "unforeseeable consequences" as it was likely that Russia would intervene. The Prussian Foreign Minister Heinrich Alexander von Arnim supported war, believing that Prussia could occupy the two duchies within eight days, leaving Britain and Russia no time to react. Both Russia and Britain were opposed to Denmark losing control of

2400-472: The Danish straits, but were otherwise supportive of Prussia. Palmerston supported a stronger Prussia and even a Germany unified under Prussian leadership as a way of weakening France. King Fredrich Wilhelm's sister was married to the Emperor Nicholas I, and the Prussian king believed that his brother-in-law could be persuaded to accept Prussia seizing control of the two duchies. Furthermore, Nicolas

2480-539: The Danish straits. Nicholas also believed that if Denmark were defeated even without being annexed, it might lead to the Danes joining a Scandinavian Union that would pose a potential threat to the ability of the Baltic fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy to leave the Baltic. France, the European power most opposed to German unification, was due to the revolution of 1848 unable to take a strong stand on German affairs. The Austrian empire, Prussia's rival for

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2560-478: The German Confederation, and ethnically entirely German with no Danish population, use of that name implied that both provinces should belong to Germany and that their connection with Denmark should be weakened or altogether severed. After the German conquest in 1864, the term Sønderjylland became increasingly dominant among the Danish population, even though most Danes still had no objection to

2640-580: The German army, to withdraw his troops from the duchies; but the general refused, asserting that he followed order from the new German Central Government and not of the King of Prussia. Wrangel proposed that, at the very least, any treaty concluded should be presented for ratification to the German National Assembly. Furthermore, on 7 August 1848, Archduke John, as head of the Provisional Central Power , published three additional demands upon

2720-403: The King of Denmark. For this purpose, the line of succession to the duchies was modified, because Frederick VII of Denmark remained childless and hence a change in dynasty was in order. (The originally conflicting protocols of succession between the duchies and Denmark would have stipulated that, contrary to the treaty, the duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg would have had heads of state other than

2800-461: The King of Denmark.) Further, it was affirmed that the duchies were to remain as independent entities, and that Schleswig would have no greater constitutional affinity to Denmark than Holstein. This settlement did not resolve the issue, as the German Diet had steadfastly refused to recognize the treaty, and asserted that the law of 1650 was still in force, by which the Duchies were not united to

2880-469: The Prussian state from many of those liberals who were opposed to it. In addition, the chaos of the revolution of 1848 was felt to offer a unique opportunity to create a greater Prussia by seizing territory, all the more as France was unable to act. However, the king and his advisers were not prepared to risk a general European war over the Schleswig-Holstein question. Joseph von Radowitz ,

2960-489: The Rhine frontier for France in return for his aid in establishing German sea-power by the ceding of the duchies, was abhorrent to Frederick William. The Protocol affirmed the integrity of the Danish federation as a "European necessity and standing principle". Accordingly, the duchies of Schleswig (a Danish fief), and Holstein and Lauenburg (sovereign states within the German Confederation ) were joined by personal union with

3040-596: The ascendency in German affairs, was paralyzed as revolts had broken out against the House of Habsburg in Prague, Milan, Buda, Krakow, and in Vienna itself. In Berlin, the foreign policy decision-making was described as "chaotic" with the weak and indecisive King Fredrich Wilhelm IV receiving conflicting advice from rival groups of advisers about what to do. However, in the aftermath of the revolution of 1848, which had damaged

3120-606: The basis seemed meaningless and the proposed settlement would settle nothing. Nicholas I, openly disgusted with Frederick William's submission to the Frankfurt Parliament, again intervened. To him Duke Christian of Augustenborg was a rebel. Russia had guaranteed Schleswig to the Danish crown by the 1773 Treaty of Tsarskoye Selo . As for Holstein, if the King of Denmark could not deal with the rebels there, he himself would intervene as he had done in Hungary. The threat

3200-583: The bodies were entombed in wooden coffins originally, but only the iron nails remained. Towards the end of the Early Middle Ages , Schleswig formed part of the historical Lands of Denmark as Denmark unified out of a number of petty chiefdoms in the 8th to 10th centuries in the wake of Viking expansion. The southern boundary of Denmark in the region of the Eider River and the Danevirke was

3280-566: The city, and Krohn, fearing he would be surrounded, ordered his forces to withdraw. The Danes were able to reach the Schleswig-Holsteiners before they were able to retreat, and the subsequent Battle of Bov on 9 April was a Danish victory. At the battle, the Prince of Noer, senior commander of the Schleswig-Holstein forces, did not arrive until two hours after fighting had started, and the Schleswig-Holsteiners were more prepared for

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3360-482: The crisis, Christian accepted his drastically reduced role as symbolic head of state . The Danish constitution remains largely unchanged in this area, and the unchanged wording still literally gives the same powers to the monarch that Christian used, though practice has changed. Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( Danish : Hertugdømmet Slesvig ; German : Herzogtum Schleswig ; Low German : Hartogdom Sleswig ; North Frisian : Härtochduum Slaswik )

3440-547: The decades prior to the wars, and writers such as Jacob Grimm (1785–1863) and the Norwegian Peter Andreas Munch (1810–1863) argued that the entire peninsula of Jutland had been populated by Germans before the arrival of the Danes and that therefore Germans could justifiably reclaim it. Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae (1821–1885), an archaeologist who had excavated parts of the Danevirke , countered

3520-547: The disposition of Schleswig was to be determined by two Schleswig Plebiscites : one in Northern Schleswig (today Denmark's South Jutland County ), the other in Central Schleswig (today part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein ). No plebiscite was planned for Southern Schleswig, as it was dominated by an ethnic German majority and, in accordance with prevailing sentiment of the times in favour of

3600-594: The distinction between unfree labour and paid work was often vague. The feudal system was gradually abolished in the late 18th century, starting with the crown lands in 1765 and later the estates of the nobility. In 1805 all serfdom was abolished and land tenure reforms allowed former peasants to own their own farms. From around 1800 to 1840, the Danish-speaking population on the Angeln peninsula between Schleswig and Flensburg began to switch to Low German and in

3680-420: The duchies of Holstein and Saxe-Lauenburg within the German Confederation . The majority of the ethnic Germans in Denmark lived in these areas. Germans made up a third of the country's population, and the three duchies accounted for half of Denmark's economy. The Napoleonic Wars , which had ended in 1815, had fanned both Danish and German nationalism . Pan-German ideology had become highly influential in

3760-586: The duchies were close to an important Baltic seaway connecting both powers. The population was majority Danish in Northern Schleswig (roughly the area returned to Denmark after World War I ), while in the rest of Schleswig and in Holstein and Lauenburg it was majority German. In March 1848, the German population of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg rebelled, and created a provisional government and army. As Holstein and Lauenburg were member states,

3840-676: The duchy be incorporated into the Danish kingdom under the slogan "Denmark to the Eider". This caused a conflict between Denmark and the German states over Schleswig and Holstein , which led to the Schleswig-Holstein question of the 19th century. When the National Liberals came to power in Denmark in early 1848, it provoked an uprising of ethnic Germans in the duchies. This led to the First Schleswig War (1848–51). The Schleswig-Holsteiners were supported by

3920-500: The earliest records, no distinction is made between North Jutland and South Jutland. Roman sources place the homeland of the tribe of Jutes north of the river Eider and that of the Angles south of it. The Angles in turn bordered the neighbouring Saxons . By the early Middle Ages, the region was inhabited by three groups: During the 14th century, the population on Schwansen began to speak Low German alongside Danish, but otherwise

4000-469: The early 1950s, it had nevertheless stabilised at a level four times higher than the pre-war number. In the Copenhagen-Bonn declaration of 1955, West Germany (later Germany as a whole) and Denmark promised to uphold the rights of each other's minority population. Today, both parts co-operate as a cross-border Euroregion : Region Sønderjylland–Schleswig . As Denmark and Germany are both part of

4080-547: The emergence of a unified Danish state. In May 1931, scientists of the National Museum of Denmark announced that they had unearthed eighteen Viking graves with the remains of eighteen men in them. The discovery came during excavations in Schleswig. The skeletons indicated that the men were bigger proportioned than twentieth-century Danish men. Each of the graves was laid out from east to west. Researchers surmised that

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4160-565: The ethno-linguistic borders remained remarkably stable until around 1800, with the exception of the population in the towns that became increasingly German from the 14th century onwards. During the early Viking Age , Hedeby – Scandinavia's biggest trading centre – was located in this region, which is also the location of the interlocking fortifications known as the Danewerk or Danevirke . Its construction, and in particular its great expansion around 737, has been interpreted as an indication of

4240-407: The fortress of Rendsburg in Schleswig-Holstein. The fortress contained the main armoury of the duchies, the 14th, 15th, and 16th Infantry Battalions, the 2nd Regiment of Artillery, as well as some military engineers . When Noer's force arrived, they found that the gates to the fortress had been left open for an unknown reason and promptly walked in, surprising the would-be defenders. After delivering

4320-474: The king and members of the Social Democrats . Faced with the potential overthrow of the Danish crown, Christian backed down and dismissed his own government, installing as a compromise cabinet under Michael Pedersen Friis until elections could be held later that year. This was the most recent time that a sitting Danish monarch took political action without the full support of parliament. Following

4400-400: The king's most trusted adviser, wrote in his diary: "The present political-military crisis cannot drag on, it must come to a rapid conclusion". Radowitz was prepared to support a war provided it would be brought to a victorious conclusion swiftly, which would allow Prussia to present the other European powers with a fait accompli. Knowing of the intense Russian opposition to Prussia controlling

4480-458: The name Schleswig , it began to assume a clear German nationalist character in the mid 19th century – especially when included in the combined term "Schleswig-Holstein". A central element of the German nationalistic claim was the insistence on Schleswig and Holstein being a single, indivisible entity (as they had been declared to be in the Treaty of Ribe 1460). Since Holstein was legally part of

4560-471: The necessity to come to the assistance with strong measures of another state whose downfall Russia cannot regard with indifference and will not tolerate. It cannot come to pass that Denmark is absorbed into Germany; of this you can be certain." Nicholas ordered Russia to mobilise, sent a squadron of the Russian Baltic fleet to Danish waters as a show of support, and politely told his brother-in-law he

4640-412: The nobility responded with a new agricultural system that restored prosperity. In the period 1600 to 1800 the region experienced the growth of manorialism of the sort common in the rye-growing regions of eastern Germany. The manors were large holdings with the work done by feudal peasant farmers. They specialized in high quality dairy products. Feudal lordship was combined with technical modernization, and

4720-441: The order and resigned several days later, after a heated exchange with the king. Subsequently, Christian dismissed the rest of the government and replaced it with a de facto conservative caretaker cabinet under Otto Liebe . The dismissal caused demonstrations and an almost revolutionary atmosphere in Denmark, and for several days, the future of the monarchy seemed very much in doubt. In light of this, negotiations were opened between

4800-514: The other great powers, Prussia had to retreat (in summer 1848 and again in summer 1850). This left the Schleswig-Holstein rebels to their fate. In 1851 the rebel government and its army were disbanded. In the London Protocol of 1852 the great powers confirmed that the king of Denmark was the duke of the duchies but also the status of the duchies as being distinct from Denmark proper. Denmark again attempted to integrate Schleswig by creating

4880-457: The plebiscite's results, generally motivated by a desire to see Germany permanently weakened in the future. Christian agreed with these sentiments, and ordered Prime Minister Zahle to include Central Schleswig in the re-unification process. As Denmark had been operating as a parliamentary democracy since the Cabinet of Deuntzer in 1901, Zahle felt he was under no obligation to comply. He refused

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4960-501: The point, the empress of Russia wrote to her brother, King Fredrich Wilhelm, saying: "It is your troops who have grabbed the weak Denmark with their superior force. The war can be expanded widely if you pursue it. Stop! There is still time! Think about the difficulties Germany has to battle in order to bring about inner security, the dangers which threaten in the West. Do not force upon the Tsar

5040-472: The prestige of the House of Hohenzollern as fighting had broken out in the streets of Berlin, it was felt essential to take a bold foreign policy step which would restore the prestige of the Prussian state. The king and his advisors were not German nationalists, but the German liberals opposed to the absolutist Prussian monarchy were. The king's advisors believed that a German nationalist war would win support for

5120-565: The pro-German claims, writing pamphlets which argued that there was no way of knowing the language of the earliest inhabitants of Danish territory, that Germans had more solid historical claims to large parts of France and England, and that Slavs by the same reasoning could annex parts of eastern Germany. The conflicting aims of Danish and German nationalists contributed to the outbreak of the First Schleswig War. Danish nationalists believed that Schleswig, but not Holstein, should be

5200-470: The rebels to their fate. On 1 April 1851, the Schleswig-Holstein army was disbanded. The London Protocol of 1852 was the final settlement of the conflict with the great powers confirming the Danish king to be the duke of the duchies but also declaring that the duchies had to remain independent from Denmark proper. At the beginning of 1848, Denmark included the Duchy of Schleswig , and the king of Denmark ruled

5280-528: The same period many North Frisians also switched to Low German. This linguistic change created a new de facto dividing line between German and Danish speakers north of Tønder and south of Flensburg. From around 1830, large segments of the population began to identify with either German or Danish nationality and mobilized politically. In Denmark, the National Liberal Party used the Schleswig question as part of their agitation and demanded that

5360-406: The three duchies being governed jointly by Austria and Prussia . In 1866, they became a part of Prussia. In the 19th century, there was a naming dispute concerning the use of Schleswig or Slesvig and Sønderjylland ( Southern Jutland ). Originally the duchy was called Sønderjylland but in the late 14th century the name of the city Slesvig (now Schleswig ) started to be used for

5440-584: The throne of Denmark for much of the next century, so that the Danish kings were at odds with their cousins, the dukes of Slesvig. Feuds and marital alliances brought the Abel dynasty into a close connection with the German Duchy of Holstein by the 15th century. The latter was a fief subordinate to the Holy Roman Empire , while Schleswig remained a Danish fief. These dual loyalties were to become

5520-589: The two German powers culminated in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Following the Peace of Prague , the victorious Prussians annexed both Schleswig and Holstein, creating the Province of Schleswig-Holstein . Provision for the cession of northern Schleswig to Denmark was made pending a popular vote in favour of this. In 1878, however, Austria-Hungary went back on this provision, and Denmark recognized in

5600-409: The use of Schleswig as such (it is etymologically of Danish origin) and many of them still used it themselves in its Danish version Slesvig . An example is the founding of De Nordslesvigske Landboforeninger (The North Schleswig Farmers Association). In 1866, Schleswig and Holstein were legally merged into the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein . The naming dispute was resolved with

5680-475: The war was the legally questionable change to the rules of ducal succession in the duchies. King Christian VIII of Denmark died in January 1848. His only legitimate son, the future Frederick VII , seemed unable to beget heirs. Thus the duchies appeared likely to pass to the rule of the House of Oldenburg , which might have resulted in a division of Denmark. Accordingly, Christian VIII had decreed (8 July 1846)

5760-425: The whole territory. The term Sønderjylland was hardly used between the 16th and 19th centuries, and in this period the name Schleswig had no special political connotations. However, around 1830 some Danes started to re-introduce the archaic term Sønderjylland to emphasize the area's history before its association with Holstein and its connection with the rest of Jutland . Its revival and widespread use in

5840-490: The withdrawal they had intended to make than for an engagement. A timeline of events is shown thus: The Germans embarked on this course of participation in the First Schleswig War alone, without assistance from other European powers, who were united in opposing any dismemberment of Denmark, with even the Austrians refusing to assist the Germans. Sweden landed 7,000 troops on the island of Fyn opposite Jutland to assist

5920-620: Was a duchy in Southern Jutland ( Sønderjylland ) covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark . The territory has been divided between the two countries since 1920, with Northern Schleswig in Denmark and Southern Schleswig in Germany. The region is also called Sleswick in English. Unlike Holstein and Lauenburg , Schleswig

6000-531: Was already extinct in 1580 by the time of John the Elder . Following the Protestant Reformation , when Latin was replaced as the medium of church service by the vernacular languages, the diocese of Schleswig was divided and an autonomous archdeaconry of Haderslev created. On the west coast, the Danish diocese of Ribe ended about 5 km (3 mi) north of the present border. This created

6080-404: Was caused by a number of factors, most importantly the German defeat and an influx of a large number of refugees from the former Prussian eastern provinces, whose culture and appearance differed from the local Germans, who were mostly descendants of Danish families who had changed their nationality in the 19th century. The change in demographics created a temporary Danish majority in the region and

6160-459: Was never a part of the German Confederation . Schleswig was instead a fief of Denmark, and its inhabitants spoke Danish, German, and North Frisian. Both Danish and German National Liberals wanted Schleswig to be part of a Danish or German national state in the 19th century. A German uprising in March 1848 caused the First Schleswig War which ended in 1852. The Second Schleswig War (1864) ended with

6240-428: Was reinforced by the menace of the European situation. Austria and Prussia were on the verge of war (see Autumn Crisis 1850 ), and the sole hope of preventing Russia from entering such a war on the side of Austria lay in settling the Schleswig-Holstein question in a manner desirable to it. The only alternative, an alliance with the hated Napoleon Bonaparte's nephew, Louis Napoleon , who was already dreaming of acquiring

6320-473: Was well known to be an intense admirer of Prussian militarism and saw Prussia as the stronger ally in the so-called informal "eastern bloc" that consisted of Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The emperor saw Prussia as the more reliable partner in opposing Polish nationalism than the Austrian empire, hence his preference for Prussia over Austria in the "eastern bloc". Nicholas had long made it known that he viewed

6400-605: Was willing to risk war over the issue. The Russian threats had the desired impact on Frederich Wilhelm who now claimed to have been misled by von Arnim into intervening in the war. The fact that Prussia had entered the war on behalf of the revolutionary forces in Schleswig-Holstein created a great number of ironies. The newly elected Frankfurt Diet tended to support the incursion into the Schleswig-Holstein War while King Frederick William did not. Indeed, Frederick William ordered Friedrich von Wrangel , commanding

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