Rental Cars Denmark - History of Denmark

The first settlers were nomadic hunters followed by the Danes, a tribe that migrated from Sweden around 500 AD. In the 9th C Viking warriors conquered the Jutland peninsula starting the Danish monarchy. Gorm came into power in the 10th C and later his son, Harald Bluetooth. During his reign a large amount of building took place and he converted the population to Christianity.

The Anglo-Danish kingdom was created in the 11th C after a series of raids on England, with Canute at the helm. By the 13th C Denmark was a powerful nation after taking control of Scandinavia, parts of Germany and Estonia. The kingdom disintegrated over the next 50 years and Denmark’s border shrank back to its original area. Denmark, Norway and Sweden retained close ties however, due to blood ties between the ruling families. This led to the formation of The Kalmar Union in the 14th C under Queen Magrethe. With the rise of Swedish power during the 15th C, the union dissolved with Norway remaining under Danish rule. In the 16th C, the Catholic Church was ousted and replaced by the Danish Lutheran Church headed by the monarchy. King Christian IV, the Danish monarch, went on to establish the country as a modern nation. In the 30-year war that followed, Denmark lost large amounts of land to Sweden.

In the 18th C, Denmark and Norway allied with France promoting attacks from Britain. During this time the entire Danish fleet was destroyed as well as much of Copenhagen. The fall of Napoleon later forced Denmark to relinquish Norway in the treaty of Kiel to Sweden. In 1849, Denmark introduced a new constitution, doing away with the monarchy and bringing in a constitution. In 1901 a full democracy was put in place.

Germany took control of Schleswig in southern Jutland in the treaty of Vienna in 1864 due to its inhabitants protesting against the new constitution. Denmark however managed to remain neutral during WWI. Denmark was later occupied by Nazi Germany during WWII, surrendering to them in 1940. They managed to emerge from the war in one piece and later the Social Democrats came into power, dominating until the 1980’s when a conservative coalition was formed led by Poul Schulter. Relations with the EU dominated Danish politics towards the end of the 20th C. Although Denmark voted to join the European Community in 1973, the Danes have resisted support of the European Union. They later rejected adoption of the Euro in 2000.

In 2001 the Social Democrats called an election and a liberal/ conservative coalition came into power run by Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Immigration became a major political issue increasing the popularity of right wing parties. The anti-immigration Peoples Party has since managed to influence policy – despite lacking a seat in government.