Editing Christian IX (section)

== Early reign ==
===Accession===
[[File:2 rigdalers Denmark 1863.png|thumb|2 [[Danish rigsdaler|rigsdaler]] – death of [[Frederick VII of Denmark|Frederick VII]] and accession of Christian IX<ref>Year: 1863; Quantity released: 101,000 coin; Weight: 28.893 gram; Composition: Silver 87.5%; Diameter: 39.5 mm – https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces23580.html</ref>]]
During the last years of the reign of King Frederick VII, his health was increasingly poor, and in the autumn of 1863, during a visit to the [[Danevirke]] fortification, he contracted a severe cold, which after his return to [[Glücksburg Castle]] turned into [[erysipelas]]. Shortly after, on 15 November, King Frederick VII died unexpectedly at the age of 55 after a sixteen-year reign, thus ending the 415-year reign of the main line of the [[House of Oldenburg]] on the Danish throne. Upon the death of Frederick VII, Christian succeeded to the throne at the age of 45. He was proclaimed king from the balcony of [[Christiansborg Palace]] by the [[Council President (Denmark)|Council President]] [[Carl Christian Hall]] on 16 November 1863 as Christian IX.

[[File:Christian Carl Magnussen - Herzog Friedrich VIII von Schleswig-Holstein.jpg|thumb|left|[[Frederick VIII of Schleswig and Holstein|Prince Frederick of Augustenburg]], [[pretender]] to the duchies as ''Frederick VIII'' (1863).]]
Christian and Denmark was immediately plunged into a crisis over the [[Schleswig-Holstein Question|possession and status of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein]]. Already in November 1863, [[Frederick VIII of Schleswig and Holstein|Prince Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg]] (1829–1880) (the future father-in-law of [[Kaiser]] [[Wilhelm II of Germany]]) claimed the twin-duchies in [[Order of succession|succession]] after King [[Frederick VII of Denmark|Frederick VII]] and proclaimed himself [[Frederick VIII of Schleswig-Holstein|Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein]]. Frederick of Augustenburg (as he was commonly known) had become the symbol of the nationalist German independence movement in [[Schleswig-Holstein]] after his father (in exchange for money) renounced his claims as [[Line of Succession|heir]] to the throne of the duchies of [[Schleswig]] and [[Holstein]]. In view of the London protocol of 8 May 1852, which concluded the [[First War of Schleswig]], and his father's concurrent renunciation to claims to the throne, Frederick's claim was not recognized by the parties to the protocol.

===Second Schleswig War===
{{main|Second Schleswig War}}
{{Wikisource|Denmark and Germany}}
Under pressure, Christian signed the November Constitution, a treaty that made Schleswig part of Denmark. This resulted in the [[Second Schleswig War]] between Denmark and a Prussian/Austrian alliance in 1864. The [[London Conference of 1864|Peace Conference]] broke up without having arrived at any conclusion; the outcome of the war was unfavorable to Denmark and led to the incorporation of Schleswig into Prussia in 1865. Holstein was likewise incorporated into Austria in 1865, then Prussia in 1866, following further conflict between Austria and [[Prussia]].

Following the loss, Christian IX went behind the backs of the Danish government to contact the Prussians, offering that the whole of Denmark could join the [[German Confederation]], if Denmark could stay united with Schleswig and Holstein. This proposal was rejected by [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]], who feared that the ethnic strife in Schleswig between Danes and Germans would then stay unresolved. Christian IX's negotiations were not publicly known until published in the 2010 book ''[[Dommedag Als]]'' by [[Tom Buk-Swienty]], who had been given access to the royal archives by Queen [[Margrethe II]].<ref>[http://politiken.dk/kultur/article1038865.ece Hemmeligt arkiv: Kongen tilbød Danmark til tyskerne efter 1864] 18 August 2010 (politiken.dk)</ref>