Editing Christian IX (section)

===Constitutional struggle===
[[File:Christian IX af Henrik Olrik.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Portrait by [[Henrik Olrik]], 1871]]
The defeat of 1864 cast a shadow over Christian IX's rule for many years and his attitude to the Danish case—probably without reason—was claimed to be half-hearted. This unpopularity was worsened as he sought unsuccessfully to prevent the spread of democracy throughout Denmark by supporting the authoritarian and conservative prime minister [[Estrup]], whose rule 1875–94 was by many seen as a semi-dictatorship. However, he signed a treaty in 1874 that allowed Iceland, then a Danish possession, to have its own constitution, albeit one under Danish rule. In 1901, he reluctantly asked [[Johan Henrik Deuntzer]] to form a government and this resulted in the formation of the [[Cabinet of Deuntzer]]. The cabinet consisted of members of the [[Venstre Reform Party]] and was the first Danish government not to include the conservative party [[Højre]], even though Højre never had a majority of the seats in the [[Folketing]]. This was the beginning of the Danish tradition of [[parliamentarism]] and clearly bettered his reputation for his last years.{{sfn|Scocozza|1997|pp=185–88}}

Another reform occurred in 1866, when the Danish constitution was revised so that Denmark's upper chamber would have more power than the lower. Social security also took a few steps forward during his reign. Old age pensions were introduced in 1891 and unemployment and family benefits were introduced in 1892.
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