20th Century History of Denmark

Early

In the early 1900s, two political parties held Denmark. Advancements in culture and politics were on the rise, including women gaining the right to vote and the selling of a few islands to the United States. The government also began building important programs for its citizens including the popular welfare system and tax basis. After World War I broke out, Denmark chose to remain neutral in the fight, but found their stance to be troubling.

Due to German occupation, Denmark was forced to push most economical exports into Germany instead of other countries. This resulted in considerable losses of revenue for their products. After World War I and Germany’s defeat, the great Eater Crisis began in Denmark. The Easter Crisis was a promise that the king would no longer interfere with politics. This remains true even today.

World War II

Similar to World War I, Denmark took a neutral stance in World War II. Among the neutrality agreements was a pact to be non-aggressive with Germany. The Germans occupied Denmark in 1940 in order to reach Norway and occupy it. In 1944, Iceland, who had a long time partnership with Denmark, became an independent nation and abandoned Denmark’s side.

In the beginning of the war, Germany was very easy going on Denmark, and let the country run on its own standards until 1943. It was then that the Nazi government demanded much more than Denmark wanted to provide, so the Danish government fell into German control. This caused most of the Jewish population in Denmark to flee to Sweden.

After the war, Denmark began to think neutrality wasn’t such a great option, and joined the United Nations along with several other conventions. Although part of the EU, Denmark still denies many proposals such as the Euro conversion.

Rescue

In 1943, uprising German forces and Hitler ordered the capture and deportation of Danish Jews. This led to a widespread panic in the country, and focused on a rescue operation to flea the country. The rescuing of Jews from Denmark was considered to be one of the largest resistance operations of German opposition in World War II. Most of the Jewish population fled to Sweden. Over 95% of the Danish Jewish population survived World War II.