Denmark 1939-1945 1949-1969






Denmark after World War II, 1945-1949



Foreign Policy : The allies treated Denmark as a victim of German expansion rather than as a German ally, evaluating the effort of Danish resistance over the administration's collaboration. Yet, Iceland, which had declared independence, was lost; the Faroes, during the war under British occupation, were granted political autonomy; US military presence on Greenland a political fact. The Russians ended their occupation of Bornholm on April 5th 1946; the British ended their occupation of the Faroes.
Discussions between the governments of Norway, Sweden and Denmark on a common defense policy failed because Norway wanted an alliance with Britain; Sweden insisted on neutrality. In 1949 Denmark joined both NATO and the Council of Europe; Denmark was a founding member of the UN. Inter-Scandinavian negotiations were to result in the foundation of the Nordic Council in 1952.
The Danish government was concerned about the resettlement of German refugees in Schleswig-Holstein, were it could affect the Danish minority concentrated in and near Flensburg. Schleswig Holstein granted a special status to the Danish minority, thus addressing Danish concerns.

The Economy : In 1940 Denmark had been occupied without resistance; by the time of Germany's surrender, core Denmark except for Bornholm were still held by German forces. Thus the country experienced comparatively litle damage during the war. By the end of the war, c. 200,000 German refugees were on Danish soil; they proved a heavy burden on the Danish state and were mostly repatriated in 1947-1948. Seamines laid during the war by the Germans continued to pose a problem for shipping.
Denmark's food production quickly returned to normal; the country's butter production was exported (for hard currency), a few food articles in Denmark remained rationed. A number of import items were hard to find. In 1948-1949, Denmark benefitted from the Marshall Plan.

Domestic Policy : With the termination of the German occupation, ordinary collaborators were publicly exposed and humiliated, war profiteers fined. King Christian X. (he had stayed in Denmark during the occupation) died in 1947, age 77; he was succeeded by Frederik IX.





EXTERNAL
FILES 		Denmark in the International Community, 1945-1972, in : History of Denmark, from Dan. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
German P.O.W.s held in Denmark, from Kriegsgefangen.de, text in English
Danmark under Besættelsen og Befrielsen Denmark during Occupation and Liberation), in Danish
Article Bornholm, from Wikipedia
DOCUMENTS Historical Population Statistics : Denmark, from Population Statistics at Univ. Utrecht
World Statesmen : Denmark, by Ben Cahoon
Danish banknotes, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money
REFERENCE Knud J.V. Jespersen, A History of Denmark, Basingstoke : Palgrave MacMillan 2004, KMLA Lib.Sign. 948.9 J58h
Article : Denmark, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1946 pp.258-259, 1947 pp.261-262, 1948 pp.247-248, 1949 pp.203-205, 1950 pp.226-227 [G]
Article : Denmark, in : Americana Annual 1947 pp.205-206 (on events of 1946) [G]
Article : Funk & Wagnall's New Standard Encyclopedia Year Book 1946 pp.131-134 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on March 3rd 2007

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