Editing Schleswig-Holstein (section)

===State of Federal Germany===
After [[World War II]], the Prussian province Schleswig-Holstein came under [[British occupation zone in Germany|British occupation]]. On 23 August 1946, the military government abolished the province and reconstituted it as a separate ''Land''.<ref>Ordinance No. 46, {{cite web |url= http://www.lwl.org/westfaelische-geschichte/que/normal/que1167.pdf |title=''Abolition of the Provinces in the British Zone of the Former State of Prussia and Reconstitution thereof as Separate Länder'' |access-date= 23 August 2006 |archive-date=11 October 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011113513/http://www.lwl.org/westfaelische-geschichte/que/normal/que1167.pdf |url-status=live }}&nbsp;{{small|(218&nbsp;KB)}}</ref>

On 9 September 1946, the British and Soviets offered Denmark South Schleswig, in the {{ill|Septembernote|de}}. In this note, they gave Denmark carte blanche on how to deal with the German-speaking South Schleswigers, whether to integrate them into the Danish state or to forcibly expel them from South Schleswig, as was [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)|being done to Germans in Eastern Europe]]. Denmark's then Prime Minister, [[Venstre (Denmark)|the Liberal Party's]] [[Knud Kristensen]], enthusiastically accepted the offer of South Schleswig reunification with Denmark. A survey showed that 75% of the Danish population supported the incorporation, 500,000 signatures had been collected in support of it and the Danish South Schleswig Association had sent the government a formal request for incorporation. However, the dominating [[Danish Social Liberal Party|Social Liberal Party]] feared that Denmark might again face destructive wars like the two Schleswig Wars once Germany recovered from World War II. Given that the Germans had conquered Denmark in six hours during the [[German invasion of Denmark (1940)|German invasion of Denmark]], they believed Denmark would not stand a chance in such a scenario. Therefore, they pressured the Prime Minister to call for [[1947 Danish Folketing election|new elections]], where the [[Venstre (Denmark)|Liberal Party]] did not secure enough votes to form a government. The [[Social Democrats (Denmark)|Social Democrats]] won the election with a minority government and could not gather a strong enough mandate for the incorporation of South Schleswig. This outcome created outrage within the Danish population and was considered a scandal.{{cn|date=September 2024}} 

Due to the [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)|forced migrations of Germans between 1944 and 1950]], Schleswig-Holstein [[Refugees in Schleswig-Holstein after the Second World War|took in almost a million refugees]] after the war, increasing its population by 33%.<ref>[http://www.hdg.de/lemo/html/Nachkriegsjahre/DasEndeAlsAnfang/fluchtUndVertreibung.html Flucht und Vertreibung] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228004729/http://www.hdg.de/lemo/html/Nachkriegsjahre/DasEndeAlsAnfang/fluchtUndVertreibung.html |date=28 December 2010 }} at [[Haus der Geschichte]] {{in lang|de}}</ref> 
[[File:DBP 1985 1241 Bonn-Kopenhagener Erklärungen.jpg|thumb|A German postage stamp conmemorating the Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations]]
A pro-Danish political movement arose in Schleswig, with transfer of the area to Denmark as an ultimate goal. This was supported neither by the British occupation administration nor the Danish government.{{cn|date=September 2024}} In 1955, the German and Danish governments issued the [[Bonn-Copenhagen declarations|Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations]] confirming the rights of the ethnic minorities on both sides of the border.<ref name="Landesportal Schleswig-Holstein-2">{{Cite web |title=Schleswig-Holstein – Urkunde von Ripen |url=http://www.schleswig-holstein.de/DE/Fachinhalte/L/landeskundegeschichte/Chronologie_Augenblicke_Landesgeschichte/1460_VertragRipen.html?nn=80cfdf51-1a24-4512-a0d7-d9cd524787ae |access-date=17 April 2022 |website=Landesportal Schleswig-Holstein |language=de |archive-date=25 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220425223630/https://www.schleswig-holstein.de/DE/Fachinhalte/L/landeskundegeschichte/Chronologie_Augenblicke_Landesgeschichte/1460_VertragRipen.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Conditions between the nationalities have since been stable and generally respectful.{{cn|date=September 2024}}