History, Modern Denmark

The country was neutral during World War I (1914-1918). In 1917 Denmark sold the Virgin Islands, in the West Indies, to the United States. Constitutional reforms enacted in 1915 established many of the basic features of the present governmental system. Universal suffrage went into effect in 1918. The same year Denmark recognized the independence of Iceland, but continued to exercise pro forma control of the foreign policy of the new state, and the Danish king remained Iceland’s head of state. In 1920 North Schleswig was incorporated into Denmark as a result of a plebiscite carried out in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles; the southern part of Schleswig had voted to remain in Germany.

In May 1939 Denmark signed a ten-year nonaggression pact with Nazi Germany. In April 1940 Germany invaded and occupied Denmark, although the Danish government was able to maintain much control over its legal and domestic affairs until 1943. The Danish police helped Denmark’s 6,000 Jews to escape safely to neutral Sweden on the eve of their arrest and deportation. Britain occupied the Faroes, and in 1941 the United States established a temporary protectorate over Greenland, building various weather stations and air bases on the island. In 1944 Iceland, following a national referendum, severed all ties with Denmark and proclaimed itself a republic.

After World War II Denmark joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949. Subsequently it has become a member of other international organizations including the European Free Trade Association (1959) and the European Economic Community (1972).

In 1953 Denmark adopted a revised constitution. The constitution created a unicameral parliament, permitted female accession to the throne, and included Greenland as an integral part of Denmark. Greenland was granted home rule in 1979.

Four decades of dominance by the Social Democratic party ended with the 1968 elections. Hilmar Baunsgaard, leader of the Radical Liberal party, formed a coalition government that lasted until 1971, when Jens Otto Krag, a former Social Democratic prime minister, retained office. King Frederick IX died in 1972 and was succeeded by his daughter, Margrethe II. Later that year Krag resigned and was replaced as prime minister and party leader by Anker Jorgensen. The Social Democrats suffered losses in the elections of late 1973, and Poul Hartling, a Liberal, formed a minority cabinet. Following elections in early 1975, however, Jorgensen returned to power, also at the head of a minority government. He retained his leadership until September 1982, when Poul Schluter, a Conservative, was named to head a right-of-center coalition. Elections in January 1984 increased the plurality of the coalition, which retained power in the elections of September 1987, May 1988, and December 1990. In 1985 the Folketinget passed legislation against future construction of nuclear power plants in the country, and the government agreed to help establish a Nordic nuclear-free zone. Disputes in the Danish government over NATO-related policies damaged Denmark’s relationship with the organization, but good relations were largely restored by 1988. Destruction of lobster colonies in the strait between Denmark and Sweden in 1988 and other ecological disasters resulted in the passage of rigorous environmental protection measures by the Folketinget.

In the wake of a scandal concerning immigration visas, Prime Minister Schluter resigned in January 1993. A new majority coalition government was formed, with Social Democrat Poul Nyrup Rasmussen as prime minister. In 1992 Danish voters narrowly rejected the Maastricht Treaty, which provided for increased political and monetary integration within the European Community. After modifications to the pact that promised exemptions from certain standards for Denmark, the Danes voted their approval in May 1993. In elections held in September 1994, the coalition headed by Rasmussen retained power, but it lost its majority in the Folketinget. After shuffling his coalition slightly, Rasmussen was returned to office once again in 1998 with a thin majority.

The center-right Liberal Party emerged as Denmark’s largest political party in the November 2001 elections. A minority coalition government composed of the Liberal Party and the Conservative People’s Party replaced the Social Democrat-led government, and Liberal Party leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen was named prime minister. The far right, anti-immigration Danish People’s Party, which became the third-largest party in the Folketinget, pledged to support the Liberal-Conservative coalition. The Liberal Party campaigned on a platform that included promises to tighten immigration, reduce foreign aid, and improve health care.