German-Danish War

German-Danish War, (1864), the second of two conflicts over the settlement of the Schleswig-Holstein question, a complex of problems arising from the relationship of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein to Denmark, to each other, and to the German Confederation. Involved in it were a disputed succession, a clash of Danish and German nationalism, and a threat to the international balance of power.

Origins of the conflict

Located on the Jutland Peninsula in northern Europe, the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein had been ruled separately by Danish kings since the 15th century but had been united at various points in their history (notably from 1386 to 1460). The death of King Frederick VI of Denmark in 1839 triggered a crisis, as the succession laws of Denmark conflicted with those of Holstein, and the status of Schleswig was uncertain. A royal proclamation that the law had to be reckoned the same in all three places because the monarchical realm was indivisible was undermined by nationalist passions. The population of Schleswig was Danish in the northern countryside, German in the south, and mixed in the northern towns and the centre. The Eider-Danes, a Danish nationalist political movement, claimed the Eider River—the traditional frontier between Schleswig and Holstein—to be Denmark’s national boundary and aspired to detach Schleswig from Holstein for incorporation in Denmark. German nationalists conversely sought to confirm Schleswig’s association with Holstein and to detach Schleswig from Denmark.

The crisis in the duchies came to a head in 1848. In January the absolutist Danish King Christian VIII was succeeded by Frederick VII, and, just days into his reign, Frederick published a proposed constitution that would have recognized Denmark, Schleswig, and Holstein as autonomous bodies within a single governmental structure. German sympathies predominated in Schleswig and Holstein at the time, however, and the duchies responded to Frederick’s initiative by requesting admission to the German Confederation as a single state. With the outbreak of revolution in Germany in March, the duchies rebelled against Denmark, and on March 24 a provisional government at Kiel proclaimed their independence, offered support for German freedom and unity, and renewed their appeal for admission to the German Confederation. On March 27 Frederick published a draft constitution linking Schleswig more closely to Denmark than to Holstein. The Danish crown dispatched troops to Schleswig, but initial gains were soon checked by Prussia, which had dispatched forces to the duchy in support of the rebels. Thus began the First Schleswig War. The Prussian armies continued into Denmark proper but withdrew in June; on August 26 representatives of Denmark and Prussia met at Malmö, Sweden, and signed a seven-month truce. Hostilities were renewed upon the treaty’s expiration in 1849, and once again Prussian forces advanced into Denmark. Eager to preserve the balance of power in northern Europe, Russia, France, and Britain pressured a settlement. A six-month truce and a preliminary peace treaty were signed on July 10, 1849. That accord, which was finalized in Berlin on July 2, 1850, largely restored the status quo, although rebels in the duchies continued to resist Danish authority. Virtually all the great powers of Europe were signatories to the Treaty of London (May 8, 1852), which declared the integrity of the Danish realm to be a permanent element in the European balance of power.

Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.

SIGN UP

By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Danish constitutional reforms and German backlash

Efforts to craft a constitutional solution for the Schleswig-Holstein crisis continued through the 1850s, but the short-term result was the achievement of the Eider-Danes’ ideal, a Danish policy that brought Schleswig and Denmark together, with Holstein left out. Meetings of the regional governments in Holstein in 1859 and 1861 and in Schleswig in 1860 failed to settle the constitutional dispute in a conclusive manner. In autumn 1862, when Otto von Bismarck came to power in Prussia, the question was thus still open. Danish nationalism was then on the ascent; ideas of a common Scandinavian front against Germany were being canvassed; and Eider Denmark seemed to have been attained. Frederick’s decree of March 30, 1863, appeared to confirm Holstein’s separation: it allowed legislation enacted for the whole monarchy to be valid for Denmark and Schleswig but subject to veto within Holstein. The German Confederation asked Denmark to withdraw the March decree, but many developments encouraged Danish resistance. Prussia was immersed, from May, in an internal constitutional struggle, and it was contesting with Austria for supremacy within the confederation. On July 23, 1863, British Prime Minister Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, warned those who threatened the integrity of Denmark that it would not be Denmark alone with whom they would have to contend. In August Prussia’s antagonism to Austria was demonstrated by the Prussian refusal to take part in the congress of princes that Austria had convened to consider the reconstruction of Germany. Great Britain and France had sought to assert their influence over Russia’s treatment of Poland in the wake of the January Insurrection, but in November the British rejected Napoleon III’s proposal for a congress to settle the outstanding problems of Europe.

The Danes had taken too lightly the German Confederation’s threats of an invasion of Holstein, and the Danish illusion of security would be shattered after the proclamation of a new Eider-Dane constitution on September 28, 1863. That document was ratified by the Rigsråd (Council of the Realm) on November 13 and signed on November 18 by the new king, Christian IX, three days after Frederick’s death. Christian IX had come to the throne in accordance with the Treaty of London, which had spelled out the order of Danish succession, but in the duchies a rival claimant to power there, Prince Frederick of Augustenburg, had been named duke. The proclamation of Prince Frederick’s rule was popular in Germany, and he was recognized by the chief German princes. Prussia and Austria induced the confederation, on November 21, 1863, to refuse observance of the Treaty of London unless Denmark made good on a December 1851 edict to reinstate regional assemblies in the duchies. On December 7, 1863, the confederation resolved to begin armed enforcement of its Schleswig-Holstein policy. Federal troops occupied Holstein soon afterward.

Britannica Quiz

Pick Your Battles Quiz