Editing History of Denmark (section)

== 20th century ==

=== 1901–1939 ===
In the early decades of the 20th century the new [[Det Radikale Venstre|Radical Party]] and the older [[Venstre (Denmark)|Venstre Party]] shared government. During this time women gained the [[Women's suffrage|right to vote]] (1915), and the United States purchased some of Denmark's colonial holdings: the three islands of [[Saint John, United States Virgin Islands|St. John]], [[St. Croix]], and [[Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]] in the [[West Indies]]. The period also saw Denmark inaugurating important social and labour-market reforms, laying the basis for the {{As of|2008|alt=present}} [[welfare state]].

[[Denmark during World War I|Denmark remained neutral]] during [[World War I]], but the conflict affected the country to a considerable extent. As its economy was heavily based on exports, the unrestricted German submarine warfare was a serious problem. Denmark had no choice but to sell many of its exports to Germany instead of overseas nations. Widespread [[war profiteer|profiteering]] took place, but commerce also suffered great disruption because of the conflict and because of the ensuing financial instability in Europe. Rationing was instituted, and there were food and fuel shortages. In addition, Denmark was forced by Berlin to mine the Sound to prevent British ships from entering it. Following the defeat of Germany in the war (1918), the [[Treaty of Versailles]] (1919) mandated the [[Schleswig Plebiscites]], which resulted in the return of [[Northern Schleswig]] ({{As of|2008|alt=now}} [[Southern Jutland|South Jutland]]) to Denmark. The king and parts of the opposition grumbled that Prime Minister [[Carl Theodor Zahle]] (in office 1909–1910 and 1913–1920) did not use Germany's defeat to take back a bigger portion of the province, which Denmark had lost in the [[Second Schleswig War]] in 1864. The king and the opposition wanted to take over the city of [[Flensburg]], while the cabinet insisted on only claiming areas where a majority of Danes lived, which led to a plebiscite in the affected areas over whether they wanted to become a part of [[Denmark]] or remain within [[Germany]]. Believing that he had the support of the people, King Christian X used his [[reserve power]] to dismiss Zahle's cabinet, sparking the [[Easter Crisis of 1920]]. As a result of the Easter Crisis, the king promised to no longer interfere in politics. Although the [[Danish Constitution]] was not amended at that time, Danish monarchs have stayed out of politics since then. The end of the war also prompted the Danish government to finish negotiating with [[Iceland]], resulting in Iceland becoming a sovereign [[Kingdom of Iceland|Kingdom]] on 1 December 1918 while retaining the Danish monarch as [[head of state]].

In the [[1924 Danish Folketing election|1924 Folketing election]] the [[Social Democrat]]s, under the charismatic [[Thorvald Stauning]], became Denmark's largest parliamentary political party, a position they maintained until 2001. Since the opposition still held a majority of the seats in the [[Landsting (Denmark)|Landsting]], Stauning had to co-operate with some of the right-wing parties, making the Social Democrats a more mainstream party. He succeeded in brokering an important deal in the 1930s which brought an end to the [[Great Depression]] in Denmark, and also laid the foundation for a welfare state.

Denmark joined the [[League of Nations]] in 1920 and during the interwar period was active in promoting peaceful solutions to international issues. With the rise of [[Adolf Hitler]] in Germany during the 1930s, the country found itself in a very precarious situation. Berlin refused to recognize its post-1920 border with Denmark, but the Nazi regime was preoccupied with more important matters and did not make any issue of it. The Danes tried unsuccessfully to obtain recognition of the border from their neighbor, but otherwise went out of their way to avoid antagonizing Germany.

=== Second World War ===
{{main|Occupation of Denmark}}
[[Image:Christian X.jpg|left|thumb|During the German occupation, King [[Christian X]] became a powerful symbol of national sovereignty. This image dates from the King's birthday, 26 September 1940. Note the lack of a guard.]]

In 1939, Hitler offered non-aggression pacts to the Scandinavian nations. While Sweden and Norway refused, Denmark readily accepted. When WWII began that fall, Copenhagen declared its neutrality. Nevertheless, Germany (so as to secure communications for its invasion of Norway) invaded and subsequently occupied Denmark on 9 April 1940, meeting limited resistance. British forces, however, [[British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II|occupied]] the [[Faroe Islands]] (12 April 1940) and [[Invasion of Iceland|invaded]] Iceland (10 May 1940) in pre-emptive moves to prevent German occupation. Following a [[1944 Icelandic referendum|plebiscite]], Iceland declared its independence on 17 June 1944 and became a republic, dissolving its union with Denmark.

The Nazi occupation of Denmark unfolded in a unique manner. The Monarchy remained. The conditions of occupation started off very leniently (although the authorities banned [[Communist Party of Denmark|Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti]] (the Communist party) when the Wehrmacht [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union]] in June 1941), and Denmark retained its own government. The new coalition government tried to protect the population from Nazi rule through compromise. The Germans allowed the Folketing to remain in session. Despite [[Deportation of the Danish police|deportations of nearly 2,000 of its members]], the police remained largely under Danish control, and the German authorities stayed one step removed from the population. However, the Nazi demands eventually became intolerable for the Danish government, so, in 1943, it resigned and Germany assumed full control of Denmark. From that point, an armed resistance movement grew against the occupying forces. Towards the end of the war, Denmark grew increasingly difficult for Germany to control, but the country remained under occupation until near the end of the war. On 4 May 1945, German forces in Denmark, North West Germany, and the Netherlands surrendered to the Allies. On 5 May 1945, British troops liberated Copenhagen. Three days later, the war ended.

Denmark succeeded in smuggling most of its Jewish population to Sweden, in 1943, when the Nazis threatened deportation; see [[Rescue of the Danish Jews]]. Danish doctors refused to treat German citizens fleeing from Germany. More than 13,000 died in 1945 from various causes, among them some 7,000 children under five.<ref>Manfred Ertel. [http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,355772,00.html A Legacy of Dead German Children] Spiegel Online, 16 May 2005</ref>

=== Post-war ===
In 1948, Denmark granted [[home rule]] to the [[Faroe Islands]]. 1953 saw further political reform in Denmark, abolishing the Landsting (the elected upper house), colonial status for [[Greenland]] and allowing female rights of succession to the throne with the signing of a new constitution.

Although not one of the war-time United Nations, Denmark succeeded in obtaining a (belated) invitation to the UN Charter conference, and became a founding member of the [[United Nations]] organisation in 1945.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1080/03468750410004594 | title=Prestige and lack of alternative: Denmark and the United Nations in the making | year=2004 | last1=Götz | first1=Norbert | journal=Scandinavian Journal of History | volume=29 | issue=2 | pages=73–96 | s2cid=145403585 }}</ref> With the [[USSR|Soviet]] occupation of Bornholm, the emergence of what evolved to become the [[Cold War]] and with the lessons of World War II still fresh in Danish minds, the country abandoned its former policy of neutrality and became one of the original founding members of the [[NATO|North Atlantic Treaty Organisation]] (NATO) in 1949. Denmark had originally tried to form an alliance with Norway and Sweden only, but this attempt had failed. A [[Nordic Council]] later emerged however, with the aim of co-ordinating Nordic policies. Later on, in a [[1972 Danish European Communities membership referendum|referendum in 1972]], Danes voted in favour of joining the [[European Community]], the predecessor of the [[European Union]], and Denmark became a member on 1 January 1973. Since then, Denmark has proven a hesitant member of the European community, opting out of many proposals, including the [[Euro]], which the country rejected in a [[2000 Danish euro referendum|referendum in 2000]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Denmark says no to the euro |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/sep/29/euro.eu1 |work=the Guardian |date=29 September 2000 |language=en}}</ref>