DENMARK AND NORWAY

Denmark has been associated with Norway since at least the time of King Canute (he of the obsequious courtiers, who were taught a lesson when he sat on the beach and let the tide wash over him), who forged an empire around the North Sea shortly before the Norman Conquest in 1066. Interestingly, the Norwegian throne was always hereditary, whereas the Danish one was elective until 1660, when Denmark became an absolutist state. So it was easier for the coming Danish king to become king in Norway than in Denmark, where the bolshy nobility tended to demand concessions in return for their support. Under the extraordinary institution of the Union of Kalmar, which lasted from 1397 to 1521, Denmark, Norway and Sweden (plus the colonial overseas settlements of Finland, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, the Shetland Islands and the Orknies) were all united under the Danish king. Because he controlled the sounds giving access to the Baltic Sea, and the rich pickings of herring and "naval stores" (timber, pitch and other stuff), Denmark was the big cheese of northern Europe during the Middle Ages. And by levying tolls on ships wishing to trade, the Danish king became quite wealthy. It is estimated that at the start of the Thirty Years War in 1618, Christian IV was the second wealthiest prince in Europe after Duke Maximilian of Bavaria (an inheritance that Christian blew by joining in the war in the hope of acquiring north German bishoprics for his younger sons, getting comprehensively stuffed by the Imperialist forces at the Battle of Lutter, and then seeing his kingdom invaded thereafter).

The Union foundered on the Swedes' eternal reluctance to be ruled by a foreigner. So when it was dissolved in 1521, Sweden (+ Finland) went one way and Denmark-Norway (+ the isles) another. Where Denmark was an undisputed loser, Sweden was one of the big winners of the Thirty Years War, a power shift which has lasted until the present day. But it only became apparent after a further Swedish-Danish war in 1657-8, where the Swedes crossed the ice from their provinces in north Germany and threatened Copenhagen from the rear. As the price of peace, Denmark had to cede three provinces in southern Sweden (roughly all of the land south of Gothenburg), that had been Danish for more than 600 years. From a position of weakness, the Danish king took the opportunity to introduce absolutism.

The union with Norway lasted until 1814. During the Napoleonic wars, Denmark tried to stay neutral. But the British objected to the Danes' trading with France, and attacked Copenhagen in 1801 and 1807, pushing Denmark into the Napoleonic camp. With his defeat, Norway was taken away from Denmark and given to Sweden. The Norwegians objected, and declared independence, with a liberal constitution. A Swedish invasion crushed independence; but the Swedes had to accept a mere personal union, which lasted until 1905, Norway retaining separate institutions and that constitution.

After 800 years together, Norwegians and Danes were tightknit, and a number of famous "Danes" were in fact Norwegian. The languages are also very close, so although Scandinavians tend to talk to each other simply by speaking their own language (or English), it's easier for Danes and Norwegians to understand each other than Danes and Swedes. The Danes took the loss of Norway as a national humiliation, and turned their attention south to Schleswig-Holstein, a process exacerbated by the Danish king's German roots, his position as Duke, and his mistrust of Norwegians' liberal instincts. The Norwegians on the other hand quickly established the sort of national identity and culture, which Danes only really began to develop after 1864, when they were comprehensively beaten by the Prussians, and Schleswig-Holstein passed into Bismarck's hands.

2014 will mark the 200th anniversary of the dissolution of the union of the two countries. Yet whereas there will be big celebrations in Norway, I suspect that they will be much more muted here in its southern neighbour. The loss of Norway was the biggest territorial loss in Danish history; not many people will want to celebrate that.

Walter Blotscher