The Rise and Fall of the Danish Empire

Description

This book examines the Danish Empire, which for over four hundred years stretched from Northern Norway to Hamburg and was feared by small German principalities to the South. Evolving over time, it has included most of Scandinavia and the North Atlantic, has shifted from a Western orientation under the Vikings to an Eastern one in the Middle Ages, and from a North Sea Empire to a Baltic Empire. From the seventeenth to the early twentieth century, it comprised small overseas colonies in India, Africa and the Caribbean. Exploring the rise and fall of Denmark's Kingdom, from 9 AD to the present, this textbook considers how such vast empires were kept together through ideology and symbols, military force, transport systems and networks of civil servants. The authors demonstrate how the lands under Danish rule included a variety of religious groups, social and economic structures, law systems, and ethnic and linguistic groups. They also consider the economic and ideological benefit of an empire structure in comparison to a nation state. Providing a detailed overview of the long history of the Danish Empire, whilst also confronting current debate and providing novel interpretations, this book offers an original, imperial and multi-territorial perspective on the history of the Danish state, providing essential reading for students of Danish or Scandinavian history and European or Global empires.  Acknowledgments Contents List of Figures 1 Introduction An Empire is a World References 2 The Empire in Himlingøje References 3 The Christian Empire of the North Sea Emperor Gorm Canute the Great, the Emperor References 4 Crusade Empires in the Baltic The Conquest of Rügen From the Northalbing to the Lake Peipus Novgorod and Northern Germany References 5 The Union Empire The Kalmar Union’s Early Period The Time of Discoveries Bloodbath and Reformation References 6 The Princely State: The Decline of Baltic Power 1536–1720 State Type: Conglomerate State State Form: From Domain State to Tax State Active Commercial Policy Politics in the Vicinity of the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and Northern Germany; the Empire's International Position The Empire's Foreign Policy Until the Disaster of 1658 Royal Absolutism The Gottorp Problem Revenge Attempts Against Sweden Within the Framework of Great Politics References 7 From the Conglomerate State to the Unitary State 1720–1814 The Gottorp Problem Norway The North Atlantic Schleswig and Holstein The Colonies in the Tropics Danish, Nordic, or German Identity? The Empire and the Napoleonic Wars Conclusion References 8 1814–1864: From United Monarchy to Nation-State The German Confederation Advisory Provincial Estates “Denmark Will Not!” The Faroe Islands and Iceland India and Africa Dynastic Problems The Dissolution of Absolutism Civil War and Free Constitutions The London Protocol Two Conflicting and Incompatible Principles Popular Sovereignty in Other Parts of the Empire Constitutional Problems Ejder Politics The Catastrophe of 1864 From United Monarchy to Nation-State References 9 The Empire After 1864 Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenlandlak Southern Jutland/Northern Schleswig The Interwar Years and Mass Democracy The Empire and World War II References 10 The Empire During the Cold War, International Integration, and the Welfare State Southern Schleswig The Faroe Islands Greenland The Empire in the Twenty-First Century References 11 The Danish Empire Through the Ages Expansion of the Empire The Purpose of the Empire How Did the Empire Acquire Its Territories? How Did Territories Leave the Empire? The Danish Empire 12 The Danish Legacy Memory and Use of the Danish Past in Former Parts of the Empire Postcolonial Criticism on the Virgin Islands The Former Colonies in India and Africa Greenland Norwaylak and Iceland The Faroe Islands Schleswig–Holstein Vikings The Danish Past—A Positive Memory References General Literature in English Index of Concept Index of People Index of Places