The term “national identity” can be defined as the sense of cohesion created by, among other things, a nation’s shared languages, traditions and customs, and political views. This can also sometimes, but not always, include racial homogeny. Raider. Unifier. Denmark’s identity is intrinsically intertwined with those of its fellow Nordic countries; once a conqueror, it was eventually forced to conform itself to powerful outside forces.
A Northern Germanic Tribe, the Danes first arrived in what would become Denmark from the east Danish islands and Scania during the Roman Iron Age, which spanned the years 1 and 400 CE (Busck, Poulsen, & Paludan, 2002). Between the 8th and 10th centuries CE, Denmark and the wider Scandinavian region (Sweden and Norway) was home to the Vikings (Lund, n.d.). During this period, Denmark as we now know it was largely consolidated by the late 8th century CE. The current line of Danish monarchy began with Gorm the Old in the early 10th century CE (Stone, Bain, Booth, & Parnell, 2008). In 965 CE, the country was unified and Christianized under his son, Harald Bluetooth, likely so as not to be invaded by the rising Holy Roman Empire, a crucial area of trade for the Danes (Lund, n.d.). In the 19th century CE, Denmark would become a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy under King Frederick VII with the signing of the 1849 Constitutional Act (Government and Politics, n.d.).
A Northern Germanic Tribe, the Danes first arrived in what would become Denmark from the east Danish islands and Scania during the Roman Iron Age, which spanned the years 1 and 400 CE (Busck, Poulsen, & Paludan, 2002). Between the 8th and 10th centuries CE, Denmark and the wider Scandinavian region (Sweden and Norway) was home to the Vikings (Lund, n.d.). During this period, Denmark as we now know it was largely consolidated by the late 8th century CE. The current line of Danish monarchy began with Gorm the Old in the early 10th century CE (Stone, Bain, Booth, & Parnell, 2008). In 965 CE, the country was unified and Christianized under his son, Harald Bluetooth, likely so as not to be invaded by the rising Holy Roman Empire, a crucial area of trade for the Danes (Lund, n.d.). In the 19th century CE, Denmark would become a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy under King Frederick VII with the signing of the 1849 Constitutional Act (Government and Politics, n.d.).
After its defeat by Prussia and Habsburg Austria in the Second Schleswig War, the country began pursuing a policy of neutrality in European politics. As a result, it kept out of the first World War (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016) and signed a nonaggression pact with Germany in 1939 CE. However, the Nazis invaded Denmark the following year, under the guise of protecting the Danish. The Danish government surrendered to the Germans and many Danes volunteered to fight for the Nazis. However, it later abandoned its economic cooperation with Germany in 1943 CE (Rugg, 2013) and became a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949 CE (Haglund, 2017). Denmark joined the European Economic Community, later known as the European Union, in 1973 CE in response to a public referendum (Government and Politics, n.d.). While the country accepted the EU’s Maastricht Treaty, it has opted out of the European Economic and Monetary Union, European defense cooperation, and issues concerning certain justice and home affairs (Worre, 1995).
Denmark had a centuries-long rivalry with Sweden, the other major Baltic power. The two, along with Norway, were once ruled together under the Kalmar Union, united under Queen Margaret I in 1397 CE (Stone, Bain, Booth, & Parnell, 2008). While the three were ostensible equals, Denmark was treated as the clear superior of the union, ending with Swedish secession in 1523 CE (Lauring, 2009). Denmark made several attempts to reassert control over Sweden several times over the following years (Jonasson, n.d.). In the intervening period of time, Sweden proved itself as a military power. These hostilities ultimately culminated in King Frederick III’s march on Bremen-Verden in 1657 CE, where Denmark suffered defeat at the hands of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden, resulting in the former conceding a large amount of territory in the later. The next year, Sweden commenced a two-year siege to the Danish capital of Copenhagen, which ultimately ended in failure (Stone, Bain, Booth, & Parnell, 2008).
Due to Denmark’s relationship with Norway in the Kalmar Union, its gained control of territories that had been governed by the Norwegians for centuries. These included Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland (Dörr, 2014). When the 1814 Treaty of Kiel ended hostilities with the United Kingdom and Sweden in the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark was forced to turn over control of Norway to Sweden (Jenssen-Tusch & Giessing, 1852). However, Denmark kept control of Norway’s former dependencies, though Iceland would ultimately retain the Danish monarchy only until 1944 CE (Dörr, 2014).
A North Germanic language, Danish is the official language of Denmark. It is a descendant of Old Norse, which was the common Scandinavian tongue during the time of the Vikings. Before the introduction of the Latin alphabet, the Younger Futhark alphabet, also known as Scandinavian runes, was used during the Viking Age. The official regional languages of Denmark include Faroese and Greenlandic, due to the country’s continued governance of the Faroe Islands and Greenland, as well as German due to sharing its southern border with Germany. English is the predominant second language, however (The World Factbook, 2018).
The Danes are a largely homogeneous people. According to the CIA World Factbook, 86.7% percent of Denmark’s population is ethnically Danish as of 2017 CE, representing population by ancestry. However, it should be noted that this data also group these ethnic Danes together with those who are Faroese and Greenlandic in origin, the latter of which are predominantly Inuit (The World Factbook, 2018).
The state religion of Denmark is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark (Religion in Denmark, n.d.), with 76% of the country’s population identifying as evangelical Lutheran as of 2017 (The World Factbook, 2018). Despite this, Danes generally consider themselves to be secular, and church attendance is generally low. As a result of conflicting statutes in the Danish constitution, the church is funded by the state, but perform certain public tasks in return. Though the government generally respects religious freedom, there are reports of discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, and or practice (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2009).
In conclusion, the national identity of the Danish people is influenced by a variety of factors. A major power in the Baltic Sea, the nation was forced to Christianize in order to protect itself and its economy from the expanding Holy Roman Empire, while the country was united for the first time in its history. It would come to ally itself with its fellow Scandinavians under a single banner, but its sense of superiority created itself an enemy in Sweden, with who it would clash with repeatedly over the centuries. As Sweden proved its military might, Denmark was forced to withdraw from European affairs after defeat after defeat lost it territory, including Norway. After its neutrality was violated by Germany’s Nazi regime in World War II, the country reevaluated its stance and joined organizations like NATO and the EU.
References
Busck, S., Poulsen, H., & Paludan, H. (2002). Danmarks historie - i grundtræk. Århus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Denmark. (2009, October 26). Retrieved from https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2009/127307.htm
Dörr, O. (2014). Kompendium völkerrechtlicher Rechtsprechung: eine Auswahl für Studium und Praxis. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
Haglund, D. G. (2017, November 22). North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/North-Atlantic-Treaty-Organizatio
Jenssen-Tusch, G. F., & Giessing, H. P. (1852). Zur Regierungsgeschichte Friedrich VI.: Königs von Dänemark, Herzogs von Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg. Kiel: Carl Schröder & Comp.
Jonasson, A. (n.d.). Kalmarkriget 1611-1613. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://web.archive.org/web/20071011111014/http://smb.nu/svenskakrig/1611.asp
Lund, N. (n.d.). Denmark - History - The Viking Age. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://web.archive.org/web/20060510174200/http://www.um.dk/Publikationer/UM/English/Denmark/kap6/6-2.asp
Lauring, P. (2009). A history of Denmark. Copenhagen: Høst.
Religion in Denmark. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2018, from http://denmark.dk/en/society/religion
Rugg, A. (2013, January 21). Traitor Danes: most soldiers return heroes, but this lot came home total zeroes. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://web.archive.org/web/20130129130650/http://cphpost.dk/culture/through-looking-glass/traitor-danes-most-soldiers-return-heroes-lot-came-home-total-zeroes
Stone, A., Bain, C., Booth, M., & Parnell, F. (2008). Denmark (5th ed.). Footscray (Vic.): Lonely Planet Publications.
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (2016, March 06). German-Danish War. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/event/German-Danish-War
The World Factbook: DENMARK. (2018, January 17). Retrieved January 23, 2018, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/da.html
Worre, T. (1995). First No, Then Yes: The Danish Referendums on the Maastricht Treaty 1992 and 1993. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 33(2), 235-257. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5965.1995.tb00529.x
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