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The Kingdom of Denmark has existed as a unified nation since the 10th century. It once ruled a medieval empire called the Kalmar Union that included Norway and Sweden. Throughout its history, Denmark engaged in naval and military conflicts to maintain control over the strategic Danish straits and trade in the Baltic Sea. Major setbacks included the destruction of its navy by Britain in 1807. In the following decades, Denmark lost its German and Scandinavian territories to Prussian expansion. It rebuilt as an industrialized nation in the 19th century but remained wary of the great powers that surrounded it.
Descrizione originale:
Background writing for the Kingdom of Denmark in Dystopian Wars.
The Kingdom of Denmark has existed as a unified nation since the 10th century. It once ruled a medieval empire called the Kalmar Union that included Norway and Sweden. Throughout its history, Denmark engaged in naval and military conflicts to maintain control over the strategic Danish straits and trade in the Baltic Sea. Major setbacks included the destruction of its navy by Britain in 1807. In the following decades, Denmark lost its German and Scandinavian territories to Prussian expansion. It rebuilt as an industrialized nation in the 19th century but remained wary of the great powers that surrounded it.
The Kingdom of Denmark has existed as a unified nation since the 10th century. It once ruled a medieval empire called the Kalmar Union that included Norway and Sweden. Throughout its history, Denmark engaged in naval and military conflicts to maintain control over the strategic Danish straits and trade in the Baltic Sea. Major setbacks included the destruction of its navy by Britain in 1807. In the following decades, Denmark lost its German and Scandinavian territories to Prussian expansion. It rebuilt as an industrialized nation in the 19th century but remained wary of the great powers that surrounded it.
The Kingdom of Denmark is one of Europes oldest nations. As the southernmost of the Nordic territories, Denmark has cultural links with both the North Prussian provinces and the other Nordic nations further north. Earliest records make note of raiders from Denmark making their presence felt all across Northern Europe, both as conquerors but also as settlers and traders. Emerging as a unified and settled medieval fief as early as the 10th Century, the nation was marked by its naval power, especially in the Baltic. The Danish Kings ruled the Kalmar Union from the 14th Century, a unified Medieval empire incorporating what is now Denmark, but also Norway and Sweden. The latter achieved independence in 1523, ending the Kalmar Union but leaving Norway and Denmark united under a single crown, and in possession of a multitude of islands and other colonial possessions in the Northern Hemisphere. Continuing to wage naval warfare and politics to secure control of the Baltic for much of its existence, Denmark emerged as an important player in Europe thanks to its control of the Danish straits, the only route from the German (or North Sea) into the wider waters of the Baltic. Throughout its long existence, Denmark engaged in warfare not only with independent Sweden, but also Russia, the United Netherlands and Britannia. These inconclusive engagements ensured that control over the Baltic never rested with a single power. In the end, however, it was events beyond the control of the Danish Kings that spelt the end of this glorious history. THE PRUSSIAN WARS The inexorable rise of the Prussian Empire put the Kingdom of Denmark in an awkward position. Whilst its traditional rivals were Britannia and Russia, Denmark also had very little to gain from a strong Prussian naval presence in the Baltic. As
Napoleon rose in France in the late 1700s, therefore,
it was to France that Denmark looked in the hope of securing a Great Power ally to counter its potential enemies. Denmark was useful to France thanks to its powerful ironclad navy, a modern force fully capable of meeting Britannian vessels on equal terms. Indeed, during the battle of Copenhagen in 1801, the Royal Navy under Admiral Parker attempted to attack the Danish-Norwegian Navy in harbour, and place the guns of the fleet over the city in an attempt to force Danish compliance. The battle was inconclusive, with the Royal Navy losing twelve battleships to the Danish nine, and forcing the young Horatio Nelson to beat a hasty retreat. This failed operation only served to hasten Denmark's alliance with France. When Napoleon was crowned Emperor in 1804, Danish emissaries were present for the ceremony, and rumours swirled that they were prepared to sign a military alliance. The sudden death of the French Emperor that same year, however, dramatically reordered the European landscape. French Imperialists and Republicans began to fight a brutal Civil War, and French power faded dramatically. Denmark attempted to intervene on three separate occasions, both by blockading French ports to support the Imperialist faction and by sending troops into the Low Countries. At sea, Danish fleets continued to encounter and engage Britannian vessels, but by 1807 the situation dramatically changed for the worse.
Dystopian Wars Kingdom of Denmark
KINGDOM OF DENMARK
Alas for Denmark, the Royal Navy struck first once
again, and in another surprise attack sent the entire Danish navy to the bottom of the sea before it could even raise steam. Known as the Second Battle of Copenhagen, this engagement in 1807 saw the first naval use of aerial power and the first deployment (as far as records go) of a Dreadnought class vessel. Lacking the firepower to damage the dreadnought, the Danish fleet attacked the smaller vessels and inflicted massive losses on the Britannian forces. Nonetheless, the majority of the fleet was destroyed outright in the following naval engagement. This shocking assault, having occurred in the midst of preliminary peace negotiations, was poorly received in Britannia, let alone Denmark, but once done it fundamentally re-ordered Danish priorities. Without its naval force, Denmark lost its ability to intervene in the French Civil War. It also became increasingly vulnerable to the designs of the other major powers.
In 1810 the Kingdom successfully repelled an
amphibious landing by Britannian soldiers in the Danish straits, foiled in part by the immense build up of new fortifications in the area after the near destruction of the Danish fleet. This bought the kingdom small respite, as they subsequently faced aggressive moves from the Prussian Empire as well, which sought to capitalize on the Kingdom's weakness. In 1811 Prussian troops seized the Germanic territories of Shleswig-Holstein, after a short brutal engagement with nearby soldiers. Luckily, Emperor Heinrich Otto was distracted by his invasion of Russian in 1812, which prevented him from finishing the complete conquest of the peninsula. As the Prussian Wars drew to a close, Denmark found itself increasingly isolated. In an effort to keep its borders secure, the nominally neutral Danes funnelled information and resources to Prussia at discount prices, giving it crucial information on Russian shipping and troop movements. As Prussian troops advanced into France in 1814, the
Dystopian Wars Kingdom of Denmark
KINGDOM OF DENMARK
Kingdom permitted them free movement across
Danish territory, although they never took part in any offensive operations against their neighbours. At this point, the Kingdom realized that only by having a friendly Prussian neighbour could they hope to survive in the new European order. The final defeat of Prussian military might at Waterloo in 1815 was a blow to Danish hopes, however, in many respects this proved their salvation. With all other European Great Powers exhausted by years of warfare, there was little stomach on either side to now turn their attention to Denmark. Nonetheless, Denmarks political independence was achieved at a high price. In a Danish-Prussian peace treaty that following year, the Empire formally annexed all of the Kingdoms Germanic territories they had seized in 1811, as well as absorbing Sweden and Norway to become the Teutonic Order administrated provinces of Prussian Scandinavia. The Kingdom was also forced to grant independence to Greenland, a sparsely populated island that, many years later, would become the de facto territory of the Black Wolf Mercenary company.
THE QUIET YEARS 1815-1863
A lone independent political force in a region dominated by Prussian influence, Denmark remained sovereign in the following years thanks once again to its strategic location. If Prussia were to make a move to seize the Danish straits, the country would have recourse to either the Russian Coalition or Britannia in response, and vice versa. Thus balanced between the Great Powers, the kingdom avoided the fate of the Prussian Free Netherlands Union and was able to pursue its own path. Without colonial possessions to distract the central government, Denmark embarked on a comprehensive program of internal improvements that rapidly industrialized the country. Millions were employed in new factories and workshops, with the biggest single employers being the shipyards where new trading vessels were laid down for new seminationalised trading concerns. These carried goods, on behalf of many nations, throughout the Baltic Sea, bringing back raw materials, money and information to their home country.
Dystopian Wars Kingdom of Denmark
KINGDOM OF DENMARK
The return on these investments and projects was
invested in the construction of some of the most powerful fortifications outside of the Wolfgangs throughout the Danish straits. Constructed of Sturginium reinforced concrete, sheathed in armour plating, these fortifications mount an array of guns and generators under which Baltic trade must pass.
Since the destruction of the first Svrnet in 1807,
the Kingdom had relied on ships built at foreign yards on commission, with most coming from the Prussian Yards at Kiel. The first home-built vessels entered service under Frederick VII, and were of frigate class only. Many of these still serve as inspection and coastguard vessels even today.
Further innovations included the largest sea gates
ever constructed. These booms of Sturginium steel and deep-sea nets can be levered across the straits at Nyborg-Korsor and Kastrup-Malmo in the South and Helsingor-Helsingborg in the North. An even greater gate was planned, stretching from Kalundborg to Kerteminde can be closed, but as of the beginning of 1873, work on it was still not completed.
Under Christian IX, however, military production
was rapidly expanded and developed, and export models of Prussian design thoroughly examined and reverse engineered. Denmark proceeded to begin the construction of a formidable naval force that incorporated lessons learned from a hundred sources. In particular, Danish vessels were produced to fulfil a dual role of defensive and offensive ships. With high speed engines and hydrodynamic hulls, the new vessels could reach a staggering rate of knots if they were willing to expend the fuel, but thanks to advanced mine laying devices, could lay thick nets of explosives to block any channel at short notice.
As these fortifications were erected, the Danish
government began to exact tolls from all ships passing through, scaled to the friendliness of the home nation in question. This served to antagonise several powers, who independently launched several attempts to force the Danish government to give them freedom of the straits. In 1848 Britannian vessels attempted to force passage but were driven back by gunfire with minimal casualties. In 1850 the Russian Coalition attempted the same, but fell victim to swiftly laid minefields. Prussian sabre rattling diminished after these two Great Powers failed in their objectives, and it was the Prussian Empire that first broached the notion of paying a subscription fee, and soon all Prussian vessels passed through the gates uninspected and unmolested, as the government yearly contributed a flat fee to the Danish coffers.
These capabilities were the ones most mentioned
to alarmed foreign observers, but privately the government had already begun referring to the navy as the Kalmar Navy. Whilst not under any illusion of contesting the Great Powers for dominance in the Baltic, the Danish government began to consider ways to exert further control over the Baltic as arbiters and enforcers. To that end, in 1868, designers turned to the creation of an integrated air service that would extend the reach of their military force. The Naval Air Service, employing fixed wing aircraft and airships, soon became a familiar sight over the Danish straits. In the end, events once again intervened.
THE KALMAR NAVY 1863-1870
As tensions rose in the latter years of the 19th Century, Denmark turned once again to the issue of military projection. King Christian IX made it a point of personal pride to rebuild the Svrnet, the Royal Danish Navy. Whereas his predecessors had invested in large Royal Forts along the straits, such as the mighty Frederick Tarn or the Ingrid Faestning, Christian IX wished instead to bequeath a legacy of powerful warships to his Kingdom one that could potentially re-assert Danish control of more than just the straits.
THE WORLD WAR 1870
The outbreak of the World War caught the Kingdom of Denmark by surprise, and had a somewhat disastrous effect on its economy. With the Baltic now an open warzone, and the German Sea also aggressively patrolled by the combatants, trade all but dried up through the straits. Soon, only Prussian vessels passed through the straits, either on their way into the German Sea or returning from operations. Most other vessels passing through either carried war materiel on behalf of the Prussian Empire or the Teutonic Order.
Dystopian Wars Kingdom of Denmark
KINGDOM OF DENMARK
Denmark very quickly had a choice. Either it
closed the gates to the Prussian Empire, sealing the High Seas Fleet into the Baltic and earning the gratitude of Britannia and Russia or it kept watch on the gates on behalf of the Empire. This quickly became apparent to the Great Powers involved, and deputations from both the Grand Coalition and the Imperial Bond made plain their interest in having Denmark join their side. In the end, the decision came down to two factors: which alliance was willing to pay the most in reparations to cover the loss of trade, and which side was the least capable of taking reprisals. In the former case, both Britannia and Prussia offered a sizeable sum both in monetary terms and in goodsin-kind. In the latter instance, however, it was Prussia that could prove the most dangerous. Whilst the straits were undoubtedly strong enough to resist an attack by the Iron Fleets, Denmark itself could not prevent a land invasion (short or inviting Britannian Land Fleets onto its soil, a politically unthinkable solution). Once France became a signatory of the Imperial Bond, the situation became all the clearer. Indeed, it was the success of the Prussian raid on the Caribbean that finally convinced the King Christian IX that even if Britannia was willing to contribute, it did not have the capability to deliver its promises. In late 1871, the Kingdom of Denmark signed the Imperial Bond for an undisclosed sum from the Prussian Empire, and preferential treatment for its trading concerns with all member nations. In one stroke, the Bond acquired not only secure access to the Baltic but also the powerful new navy that Christian IX had built. THE FIRES OF BATTLE 1871-1873 The first test for the new navy came in late 1871 when Russian Coalition vessels attacked the oil fields off the Danish coast. This assault, part of the supporting naval operations for the Storm of Steel in the Low Countries, saw Danish vessels engaged in open combat with a Great Power on the High Seas for the first time since 1807. The vessels acquitted themselves well, and at the request of the Prussian Empire, continued to function in the theatre as operations continued. Throughout that year and the next, the Kingdom's
military force made its presence felt in the North Sea
and the Baltic by raiding enemy shipping (which was generally impounded to the benefit of the Kingdom) or by sowing confusion. On several occasions Danish vessels infiltrated close to Britannian ports or Russian Baltic harbours under cover of darkness, laying mines along the channels. In a more controversial move in early 1872, Danish air units indiscriminately laid mines throughout the North Sea without anchors. By late 1872, the build-up of Danish Naval power had reached its zenith. Vast resources had been spent on the creation of vessels, and more and more of the population had been drafted to serve aboard the ships. Nonetheless, there had been few opportunities for the new Svrnet to sail in force. The only occasion which saw a full fleet sail was during the Britannian evacuation of the Low Countries after the destruction of the Army of Flanders in late 1872. On this occasion, fast Danish vessels made a mockery of the Britannian Naval Pickets and exacted a fearsome toll on the retreating vessels. Indeed, many saw it as suitable revenge for the Battles of Copenhagen nearly seventy years before. In 1873, the 'Kalmar Navy' reached the limits of its expansion. The Kingdom could not draft more of its limited population into service, and the government despaired of achieving their unstated aim of reasserting Danish supremacy in the Baltic without a dramatic change. Thankfully, history appeared to be on the Kingdom's side. Subtle feelers from the Prussian Empire indicated that major operations were soon to be afoot in the Baltic requiring the co-operation of 'all Scandinavian peoples'. Dizzy with excitement, Danish officials quickly arranged a meeting between the Prussian Ambassador and Christian IX. During those closeted discussions, the Danish monarch learned that the Prussian Emperor was willing to allow his Norwegian and Swedish subjects to emigrate to the Kingdom of Denmark for the first time; and in return, desperately needed Danish help in a great battle to come. All the Danish need do was use their new fleet in battle. And drive the Russians from as much of the Baltic as possible.