History of Denmark

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History of Denmark
Prehistoric Denmark c. 6000 BC–700 AD Kongemose culture c. 6000 BC–5200 BC Ertebølle culture c. 5,300 BC – 3,950 BC Funnelbeaker culture c. c. 4300–2800 BC Corded Ware culture c. 3000 BC – 2350 BC Nordic Bronze Age c. 2000/1750–500 BC. Pre-Roman Iron Age c. 5th/4th–1st centuries BC Roman Iron Age c. 1–400 AD Germanic Iron Age c. 5th to 8th centuries AD Viking Age c. 793–1066 AD House of Sigfred c. 770–c.870 AD House of Olaf late 9th century and early 10th AD House of Knýtlinga 916–1042 Reunification c. 916-973 Christianization c. 960 North Sea Empire 1013-1042 House of Fairhair 1042-1047 Medieval Times 1047–1536 Estridsen era 1047–1412 Reign of Sweyn II and his sons 1047–1134 Civil War era 1131–1157 Danish Baltic Empire 1168–1319 Kingless times 1319–1340 Solidification of Denmark 1340–1360 Kalmar Union 1397–1523 House of Griffin 1397–1442 House of Palatinate-Neumarkt 1440–1448 House of Oldenburg 1448–1523 Union Wars 1497–1523 Reformation 1520s–1536 Count's Feud 1534–1536 Denmark-Norway 1536–1814 Rise 1536-1626 Baltic Trade monopoly 16th and 17th centuries Dano-Norwegian Colonial Empire 1620–1814 Fall 1626–1814 Thirty Years' War 1625-1645 Little Northern War 1657-1660 Great Northern War 1700-1720 Dano-Norwegian neutrality 1720–1801 Napoleonic wars 1801–1814 Danish unitary state 1814–1864 Danish Golden Age c. 1800–1870 Rise of National-liberalism 1830s–1864 Revolutions of 1848 1848 March Revolution 1848 First Schleswig War 1848 Constitutional Monarchy 1849-present House of Glücksburg 1863-present November Constitution 1863 Loss of The Duchies 1864 Danish national state 1864-present Reign of Christian IX 1863-1906 Industrialisation 19th century-20th century Revised Constitution 19th century-20th century Reign of Christian X 1912-1947 World War I 1914-1918 Schleswig Reunification 1920 Easter Crisis 1920 Dano-Icelandic Union 1918-1944 World War II 1940-1945 Occupation 1940-1945 Protectorate 1940-1943 Liberation 1940-1943 Reign of Frederik IX 1947-1972 Post-war 1947-1953 Constitution of 1953 1953-present Cold war 1947-1991 Creation of NATO 1949 Cold War (1953–1962) 1953–1962 Reign of Margrethe II 1972-2024 Joining the EC 1979-1985 The New Cold war 1979-1985 Post-Cold War 1991-present War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) 2001–2021 Iraq War 2003-2011 Reign of Frederik X 2024-present
List of monarchs 8th century–present Military history List of Prime Ministers 1849–present
Main category Denmark portal
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The history of Denmark as a unified kingdom began in the 8th century, but historic documents describe the geographic area and the people living there—the Danes—as early as 500 AD. These early documents include the writings of Jordanes and Procopius. With the Christianization of the Danes c. 960 AD, it is clear that there existed a kingship. King Frederik X can trace his lineage back to the Viking kings Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth from this time, thus making the Monarchy of Denmark the oldest in Europe.^[1] The area now known as Denmark has a rich prehistory, having been populated by several prehistoric cultures and people for about 12,000 years, since the end of the last ice age.

Denmark's history has particularly been influenced by its geographical location between the North and Baltic seas, a strategically and economically important placement between Sweden and Germany, at the center of mutual struggles for control of the Baltic Sea (dominium maris baltici). Denmark was long in disputes with Sweden over control of Skånelandene and with Germany over control of Schleswig (a Danish fief) and Holstein (a German fief).

Eventually, Denmark lost these conflicts and ended up ceding first Skåneland to Sweden and later Schleswig-Holstein to the German Empire. After the eventual cession of Norway in 1814, Denmark retained control of the old Norwegian colonies of the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland. During the 20th century, Iceland gained independence, Greenland and the Faroes became integral parts of the Kingdom of Denmark and North Schleswig reunited with Denmark in 1920 after a referendum. During World War II, Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany, but was eventually liberated by British forces of the Allies in 1945,^[2] after which it joined the United Nations. In the aftermath of World War II, and with the emergence of the subsequent Cold War, Denmark was quick to join the military alliance of NATO as a founding member in 1949.