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Social and Economic Developments in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

The most important event in the history of Denmark in the second half of the century was the war of 1864, which deprived her of the duchies of Sleswick, Holstein, and Lauenburg, and which was a more especial grievance in that it separated the Danish inhabitants of northern Sleswick from Denmark, and, in spite of a solemn promise of speedy restoration, kept them under the heavy yoke of German rule. This event was to become of prime importance, not only for Denmark, but for the whole of Europe, as the hotbed of subsequent European conflicts and as an essential factor in the growth of Prussia as a military state. For the economic life of Denmark it was of still greater importance—just as the separation of Norway from Denmark in 1814—in that it gave industry a strong impetus for attacking and solving the many problems which pressed upon it within the country's narrowed boundaries. As a result certain industries grew ​so rapidly that they not only supplied the home market, but also secured a foothold in the world market. The task was further aided by a redistribution of the population, which, as stated above, had rapidly increased throughout the nineteenth century. Agriculture could not employ everybody, and large numbers were consequently thrown into trade and industry.