A history of Denmark / Knud J.V. Jespersen ; translated by Ivan Hill ; translated by Ivan Hill.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jespersen, Knud J. V.

Series:

Palgrave essential histories

Language:

Danish

English

Subjects (All):

Denmark--History.

Denmark.

History.

Physical Description:

ix, 244 pages : maps ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Houndmills [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Summary:

The history of modern Denmark is essentially the story of how a once extensive and diverse empire slowly disintegrated under the changing circumstances of the times. Eventually, the dissolution of the component parts resulted in one small core area remaining, which is today called Denmark. In this introductory guide, Knud J. V. Jespersen traces the lengthy process of disintegration and reduction which helped to form the modern Danish state, and the historical roots of Denmark's current international position. Taking the starting point as the Reformation in the sixteenth century, when modern Danish society began to emerge, Jespersen explains how the Denmark of today was shaped by 500 years of wars, territorial losses, domestic upheavals, new methods of production, and changes in thought. He goes on to explore the development of a specific sense of Danish identity, and disusses whether the Danes can be most aptly described as a tribe or as a nation.

Contents:

Map of Denmark ix

1 Introduction: what is Denmark and who are the Danes? 1

A Description 1

The Danes According to Robert Molesworth 4

Sir James Mellon and the Danish Tribe 5

Some Principal Themes of this History 7

The History of Denmark 9

2 Foreign and Security Policy: from Gatekeeper of the Baltic to a Midget State 12

The Collapse of the Baltic System around 1500 12

Denmark as a Gateway 14

Danish-Swedish Rivalry, 1563-1720 17

The Wars with Britain and the Dissolution of the Dual Monarchy, 1800-30 21

Denmark and the Unification of Germany, 1830-71 22

From Neutrality to Membership of NATO, 1870-1950 26

After the Fall of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe 28

3 Domestic Policy, 1500-1848: the Era of Aristocracy and Absolutism 30

The Consensus Model 30

The Coup of 1536 and the New Concept of Sovereignty 32

From Domain to Tax State 35

The Crisis of the State Council 38

Coup d'Etat and Absolutism, 1660 40

From Estates of the Realm to Hierarchy 43

The Danish Law, 1683 45

Leasing Out the Power of the State 48

Struensee and Enlightened Absolutism 50

The Great Agrarian Reforms 52

Reform of Military Conscription and the Emancipation of the Peasants, 1788 55

4 Domestic Policy, 1848-2000: Democracy and the Welfare State 58

Civil War and Revolution 58

The 1849 Constitution

Rupture or Continuity? 61

The Revised Constitution, 1866 65

Constitutional Struggle and Provisional Measures 67

Change of System and Parliamentarianism 70

The Century of Social Democracy 72

From Class Warfare to National Consensus 74

The Danish Model of the Welfare State 76

The Crisis of the Danish Welfare State 78

Goodbye to Welfare Democracy? 80

5 The Church and Culture from Luther to Postmodernism 83

The Remote Church 83

The Reformation 1536 86

The New Church 88

The Parish Priest as Civil Servant 91

The Church's Project

the State's Project 94

Pietism 97

The Enlightenment 100

Grundtvig 103

The Folk High School and the Danish Church 105

Grundtvig's Concept of Popular Democracy 107

Grundtvig's Legacy and the Danish Model 110

6 Economic Conditions: the Old Denmark, 1500-1800 114

Way of Life and the Economy 114

The Sound Dues, Denmark and the World Economy 116

The Old Agrarian Society 118

The Structure of the Landed Estates under Absolutism 123

The Agricultural Classes 125

Good Times and Flourishing Trade 128

The Agrarian Revolution Arrives in Denmark 129

The Great Agrarian Reforms 132

The New Rural Society 135

7 Economic Conditions: the New Denmark, 1800-2000 140

Denmark and the Dual Revolution 140

'A small, poor country' 143

Grain Sales and Modernisation 146

The Co-Operative Movement

the Second Agricultural Revolution 148

The Beginnings of Industrialisation 153

The Policy of Regulation during the First World War 159

Land Reform and Bank Failure 162

The Crisis of the 1930s

Collaborative Democracy 166

In the Shadows of the Second World War 170

Agriculture in Retreat 172

The Second Industrial Revolution 174

The Welfare State and the Service Economy 176

The Danish Welfare State and the World Economy 178

The Reluctant Europeans 181

The Half-Hearted Pioneering Country 184

8 The Danes

a Tribe or a Nation? 187

Danishness in the Looking Glass of History 187

The Farmers' Approach 192

The Multinational State and Danishness 193

Danishness and Absolutism 196

The 1864 Syndrome and Danishness 200

The Prevailing Identity 203

Perceptions of Nationalism 207

When did the Danes become Danish? 210

Denmark and the Danes in 2000

and in the Future 214.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0333659171

033365918X

OCLC:

53903773

Online:

Publisher description