What you need to know for the test
- On 5 June 1849 Frederik VII signed Danmarks Riges Grundlov (the Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark) – absolutism was abolished.
- In 1864 Denmark lost the Second Schleswig War and had to cede Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg.
- The Battle of Dybbøl on 18 April 1864 was the decisive Danish defeat.
- Women gained the right to vote in parish and town council elections in 1908 and in elections to Rigsdagen (the old two-chamber parliament) with the constitutional amendment of 1915.
- The Danish West Indies were sold to the USA in 1917 for 25 million dollars.
- In referendums in 1920, Northern Schleswig (Southern Jutland) was reunited with Denmark.
- Denmark was occupied by Germany from 9 April 1940 to 5 May 1945.
- In October 1943 more than 7,000 Danish Jews were helped to Sweden.
The Constitution of 1849: Denmark becomes a democracy
In March 1848 the citizens of Copenhagen demanded that King Frederik VII introduce a free constitution. The king complied, abolished absolutism and declared himself a constitutional king – a king who governs together with the people on the basis of a constitution. On 5 June 1849 he signed Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the country's first free constitution.
With the constitution, Denmark got a parliament, Rigsdagen, with two chambers: Folketinget and Landstinget. Men over 30 could vote, while neither women nor the poor had suffrage, that is, the right to vote. Even so, the constitution was very democratic for its time. Read more about the period before 1849 under Danish history before 1849 and about today's constitution under the constitution and rights.
The Schleswig Wars and the defeat of 1864
In the mid-1800s the Danish realm consisted of the Kingdom of Denmark and the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Tensions between pro-Danish and pro-German groups triggered a civil war in 1848-50, the Three Years' War (the First Schleswig War), which Denmark won.
When Denmark in 1863 adopted a joint constitution for Denmark and Schleswig – but not for Holstein – Prussia and Austria declared war in February 1864. The Danish army had to abandon the Dannevirke fortification, and on 18 April 1864 the Prussians stormed the Danish position at Dybbøl near Sønderborg. Denmark lost the war and had to cede Schleswig, Holstein and the small duchy of Lauenburg. The king lost about two fifths of his population and a third of his territory. The defeat turned Denmark into a small state, which from then on pursued a strict policy of neutrality.
Industrialisation and new movements (1864-1914)
In the second half of the 1800s, industrialisation took hold in Denmark. Many people moved from the countryside into the cities, and a new social group of workers emerged. The labour movement demanded better pay and working conditions, and in 1899 a long-running conflict ended with the September Agreement (Septemberforliget), which still forms the basis of the agreements on the Danish labour market. In 1901 came the Change of System (Systemskiftet), when the parliamentary principle was introduced: a government must not have a majority of Folketinget against it. Read more under democracy and government by the people.
The cooperative movement
When grain prices fell in the 1870s, Danish farmers switched to animal production, especially butter and bacon, which were sold to Britain. The farmers joined together in the cooperative movement (andelsbevægelsen) and set up cooperative dairies, cooperative slaughterhouses and cooperative shops, where they worked together on purchasing and production. A core principle was that votes were counted by "heads, not heads of cattle" – each member had one vote, no matter how many animals he owned. The democratic principles of the cooperative movement have had great significance for modern Danish society.
Women gain the right to vote
The struggle for gender equality gathered pace at the end of the 1800s, among other things with the Danish Women's Society (Dansk Kvindesamfund) from 1871. In 1903 women gained the right to vote for the parish church councils of folkekirken (the Danish national church), and from 1908 they could vote in parish and town council elections. With the constitutional amendment of 1915 – which came into force in 1918 – women gained the right to vote for both chambers of Rigsdagen. Denmark was among the first countries in the world to introduce women's suffrage in parliamentary elections.
World war, the Danish West Indies and the Reunification
Denmark was neutral during the First World War (1914-18), but about 6,000 pro-Danish people from Southern Jutland died in German war service, because they had become German citizens after 1864. The USA feared that Germany would occupy the Danish West Indies (Dansk Vestindien), and after a referendum in Denmark the islands of Saint Thomas, Saint Croix and Saint John were sold to the USA in 1917 for 25 million dollars. In return, the USA recognised that Greenland belonged to Denmark.
Germany lost the world war, and in 1920 the population of Schleswig voted in two referendums on which country it wished to belong to. In Northern Schleswig a large majority voted for Denmark in February 1920, while Central Schleswig, including Flensburg, voted in March to remain part of Germany. On 15 June 1920 the border was moved south to its present location, and the return of Southern Jutland is called the Reunification (Genforeningen). Shortly before, disagreement over the border triggered the Easter Crisis (Påskekrisen), in which Christian X dismissed the government. Since that crisis, the monarchy has not interfered directly in politics.
The occupation 1940-45
On 9 April 1940 Denmark was attacked and occupied by Germany. Military resistance lasted only a few hours. The government and the king carried on, and Denmark pursued a policy of cooperation with the occupying power in order to soften the conditions of the occupation. In August 1943 major strikes broke out in several cities, and when the government rejected the German demands on 29 August 1943 and submitted its resignation, the policy of cooperation came to an end. In September 1943 the Freedom Council (Frihedsrådet) was formed – an illegal committee in which the leaders of the resistance movements coordinated the resistance against the German occupying power.
The rescue of the Jews in October 1943
In 1940 about 8,000 Jews lived in Denmark. When the Germans tried to arrest them in October 1943, more than 7,000 were helped to Sweden by their fellow Danes. However, up to 500 Danish Jews were sent to concentration camps in Germany. By European standards, a very large share of the Danish Jews survived the Holocaust genocide.
The liberation on 5 May 1945
On 5 May 1945 Denmark was officially liberated by British forces. On Bornholm, however, the Germans refused to surrender, and the island was attacked by Soviet forces, which stayed there until the spring of 1946. In total, about 7,000 Danes were killed during the Second World War. Read on under Denmark after 1945, in the glossary and in our guide to the 2026 citizenship test.