First War of Schleswig

The First War of Schleswig (1848 – 1851), known in Denmark as the Three Years' War (Treårskrigen), as Schleswig-Holsteinischer Krieg in Germany, was the first round of military conflict in southern Denmark rooted in the Schleswig-Holstein Question, contesting the issue of who should control the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The war also involved troops from Prussia and Sweden. Utimately this war was inconclusive and a second conflict erupted the Second War of Schleswig.

Overview

The Napoleonic Wars had awakened national feelings in Europe, and also the Germans living in political bonds that had historically existed between Schleswig and Holstein suggested that the two "individable" regions should form a single country within a united Germany.

The childlessness of the Danish king worked in favor of the Germans, as did the ancient Treaty of Ribe, which stipulated that the two duchies must not be separated. A counter-movement developed among the Danish population in northern Schleswig and (from 1838) in Denmark itself, where the Liberals insisted that Schleswig had belonged to Denmark for centuries and that the Eider River, the historic border between Schleswig and Holstein, should mark the frontier between Germany and Denmark. The Danish nationalists thus aspired to incorporate Schleswig into Denmark, in the process detaching it from Holstein. German nationalists conversely sought to confirm Schleswig's association with Holstein, in the process detaching the former from Denmark.

These differences led in March 1848 to an open uprising by Schleswig-Holstein's German majority in support of independence from Denmark and of close association with the German Confederation. The military intervention of Prussia helped the rising: the Prussian army drove Denmark's troops from Schleswig-Holstein.

This war between Denmark and Prussia lasted three years (1848–1850) and only ended when the Great Powers pressured Prussia into accepting the London Convention of 1852. Under the terms of this peace agreement, the German Confederation returned Schleswig-Holstein to Denmark. In an agreement with Prussia under the London Protocol of 1852, the Danish government in return undertook not to tie Schleswig more closely to Denmark than to its sister duchy of Holstein.

This settlement did not resolve the issue, and only fifteen years passed before the Second War of Schleswig resulted in the incorporation of both duchies into the German Empire. After World War I, Northern Schleswig was allowed to secede, and voted to be reunited with Denmark.

Background

The revolutionary year 1848 brought matters to a head. On January 28, Christian VIII of Denmark issued a rescript proclaiming a new constitution which, while preserving the autonomy of the different parts of the country, incorporated them for common purposes in a single organization. The estates of the duchies replied by demanding the incorporation of Schleswig-Holstein, as a single constitutional state, in the German Confederation. Frederick VII, who had succeeded his father at the end of January, declared (March 4) that he had no right to deal in this way with Schleswig, and, yielding to the importunity of the Eider-Danish party, withdrew the rescript of January (April 4) and announced to the people of Schleswig (March 27) the promulgation of a liberal constitution under which the duchy, while preserving its local autonomy, would become an integral part of Denmark.

After the Napoleonic wars most of Europe experienced a national awakening. Not the least in the German speaking parts of Europe (as Germany was very fragmented into bigger and smaller states), as for instance in Schleswig and Holstein. 1806-1815 the government of Denmark had claimed Slesvig and Holstein to be parts of Denmark, which wasn't popular among the Germans.

The revolutions in 1848 all over Europe led in Schleswig and Holstein to a failed separatist rebellion (First War of Schleswig), and nationalist circles in Denmark advocated danification of Schleswig (but not of Holstein) as Danish national culture had risen much in past decades.

Events

In 1848, the duchies had broken out into open insurrection; a provisional government had been established at Kiel and Christian, Duke of Augustenborg had hurried to Berlin to secure the assistance of Prussia in asserting his rights. This was at the very height of the revolution in Berlin, and the Prussian government saw in the proposed intervention in Denmark in the service of a popular cause an excellent opportunity for restoring its damaged prestige. Prussian troops were accordingly marched into Holstein and, the diet having on the 12th of April recognized the provisional government of Schleswig and commissioned Prussia to enforce its decrees, General Wrangel was also ordered to occupy Schleswig. But the Germans had reckoned without the European powers, which were united in opposing any dismemberment of Denmark, even Austria refusing to assist in enforcing the German view. Swedish troops landed to assist the Danes; Nicholas I of Russia, speaking with authority as Head of the elder Gottorp line, pointed out to King Frederick William IV the risks of a collision; Great Britain, though the Danes had rejected her mediation, threatened to send her fleet to assist in preserving the status quo. Frederick William ordered Wrangel to withdraw his troops from the duchies but the general refused to obey, asserting that he was under the command not of the king of Prussia but of the regent of Germany. Wrangel proposed that, at the very least, any treaty concluded should be presented for ratification to the Frankfort government. The Danes rejected this proposal and negotiations were broken off. Prussia was now confronted on the one side by the German nation urging her clamorously to action, on the other side by the united European powers threatening dire consequences should she persist. After painful hesitation, Frederick William chose what seemed the lesser of two evils and, on August 26 1848, Prussia signed a convention at Malmö which yielded to practically all the Danish demands. The Holstein estates appealed to the German parliament, which hotly took up their cause, but it was soon clear that the central government had no means of enforcing its views. In the end the convention was ratified at Frankfort.

The convention was essentially merely a truce establishing a temporary modus vivendi; the main issues, left unsettled, continued to be hotly debated. At a conference held in London in October, Denmark suggested an arrangement on the basis of a separation of Schleswig from Holstein, which was about to become a member of the new German empire, with Schleswig having a separate constitution under the Danish crown. This was supported by Great Britain and Russia and accepted by Prussia and the German government (January 27 1849). The negotiations broke down, however, on the refusal of Denmark to yield the principle of the indissoluble union with the Danish crown. On February 23 the truce was at an end and on April 3, the war was renewed.

At this point the tsar intervened in favour of peace; and Prussia, conscious of her restored strength and weary of the intractable temper of the Frankfort government, determined to take matters into her own hands. On July 10, 1849 another truce was signed; Schleswig, until the peace, was to be administered separately, under a mixed commission, Holstein was to be governed by a vicegerent of the German empire (an arrangement equally offensive to German and Danish sentiment). A settlement seemed as far off as ever; the Danes still clamoured for the principle of succession in the female line and union with Denmark, the Germans for that of succession in the male line and union with Holstein.

In utter weariness Prussia proposed, in April 1850, a definitive peace on the basis of the status quo ante bellum and the postponement of all questions as to mutual rights. To Palmerston the basis seemed meaningless, the proposed settlement to settle nothing. The emperor Nicholas, openly disgusted with Frederick William's weak-kneed truckling to the Revolution, again intervened. To him the duke of Augustenborg was a rebel. Russia had guaranteed Schleswig to the Danish crown by the treaties of 1767 and 1773. As for Holstein, if the king of Denmark were unable to deal with the rebels there, he himself would intervene as he had done in Hungary. The threat was reinforced by the menace of the European situation. Austria and Prussia were on the verge of war, 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 her. The only alternative, an alliance with the hated Napoleon's nephew, Louis Napoleon, who was already dreaming of acquiring 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.

A treaty of peace between Prussia and Denmark was signed at Berlin on July 2, 1850. Both parties reserved all their antecedent rights. Denmark was satisfied that the treaty empowered the king-duke to restore his authority in Holstein with or without the consent of the German Confederation.

Danish troops now marched in to coerce the refractory duchies. But while the fighting went on, negotiations among the powers continued and on August 2, 1850 Great Britain, France, Russia and Norway-Sweden signed a protocol, to which Austria subsequently adhered, approving the principle of restoring the integrity of the Danish monarchy. The Copenhagen government, which in May 1851 made an abortive attempt to come to an understanding with the inhabitants of the duchies by convening an assembly of notables at Flensburg, issued on December 6 1851 a project for the future organization of the monarchy on the basis of the equality of its constituent states, with a common ministry. On January 28, 1852 a royal letter announced the institution of a unitary state which, while maintaining the fundamental constitution of Denmark, would increase the parliamentary powers of the estates of the two duchies. This proclamation was approved by Prussia and Austria, and by the German federal diet in so far as it affected Holstein and Lauenburg. The question of the Augustenburg succession made an agreement between the powers impossible, and on March 31, 1852 the duke of Augustenburg resigned his claim in return for a money payment. Further adjustments followed.

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Overview

Background

Events

See also