Editing History of Denmark (section)

=== The Napoleonic Wars ===

[[File:The Battle of Copenhagen, 2 April 1801 RMG BHC0529.tiff|thumb|left|The Battle of Copenhagen, 1801.]]

The long decades of peace came to an abrupt end during the [[French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars]]. Denmark-Norway initially attempted to stay neutral in the ongoing conflict in order to maintain their trade with both France and Britain. However, British fears that the Dano-Norwegians would ally with France led to a [[Battle of Copenhagen (1801)|naval battle]] outside of Copenhagen in 1801, in which a [[Royal Navy]] fleet delivered a crushing blow to the Dano-Norwegian navy. Despite this, Denmark-Norway continued to remain neutral until 1807, when a British fleet [[Battle of Copenhagen (1807)|bombarded Copenhagen]] and captured most of the Dano-Norwegian navy in order to prevent it from assisting [[Napoleon]] against Britain. This led to the [[Gunboat War]], in which Danish [[gunboat]]s fought against the British navy until 1814, though major engagements ended after the last Danish frigate was captured by the Royal Navy [[Battle of Lyngør|at Lyngør]] in 1812.

In 1809 Danish forces fighting on the French side participated in defeating the anti-Bonapartist German rebellion led by [[Ferdinand von Schill]], at the [[Battle of Stralsund (1809)|Battle of Stralsund]]. By 1813, Denmark could no longer bear the war costs, and the [[National bankruptcy|state was bankrupt]]. When in the same year the [[War of the Sixth Coalition|Sixth Coalition]] isolated Denmark by clearing Northern Germany of French forces, [[Frederick VI of Denmark|Frederick VI]] had to make peace. Accordingly, the [[Treaty of Kiel]] was concluded in January 1814 with Sweden and Great Britain, and another peace was signed with Russia in February.

The post-Napoleonic [[Congress of Vienna]] demanded the dissolution of the Dano-Norwegian union, and this was confirmed by the [[Treaty of Kiel]] in 1814. The treaty transferred [[Heligoland]] to Great Britain and [[Norway]] from the Danish to the Swedish crown, Denmark was to be satisfied with [[Swedish Pomerania]]. But the [[Norway in 1814|Norwegians revolted]], declared their independence, and elected crown-prince Christian Frederick (the future [[Christian VIII of Denmark|Christian VIII]]) as their king. However, the Norwegian independence movement failed to attract any support from the European powers. After a brief war with Sweden, Christian had to abdicate in order to preserve Norwegian autonomy, established in a [[personal union]] with Sweden. In favour of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]], Denmark renounced her claims to Swedish Pomerania at the [[Congress of Vienna]] (1815), and instead was satisfied with the [[Duchy of Lauenburg]] and a Prussian payment of 3.5 million talers. Prussia also took over a Danish 600,000-taler debt to Sweden.

This period also counts as "the Golden Age" of Danish [[intellectual history]]. A sign of renewed intellectual vigor was the introduction of compulsory schooling in 1814. Literature, painting, sculpture, and philosophy all experienced an unusually vibrant period. The stories of [[Hans Christian Andersen]] (1805–1875) became popular not only in Denmark, but all over Europe and in the United States.<ref>{{cite book |title=Hans Christian Andersen: Danish Writer and Citizen of the World | editor=Sven Hakon Rossel |year=1996 |publisher=Rodopi |pages=52–54 }}</ref> The ideas of the philosopher [[Søren Kierkegaard]] (1813–1855) spread far beyond Denmark, influencing not only his own era, but proving instrumental in the development of new philosophical systems after him. The sculptures of [[Bertel Thorvaldsen|Thorvaldsen]] (1770–1834) grace public buildings all over Denmark and other artists appreciated and copied his style. [[N. F. S. Grundtvig|Grundtvig]] (1783–1872) tried to reinvigorate the Danish National Church and contributed to the hymns used by the church in Denmark.