Danmark vil sejre - A Danish AAR

[Pietbont]

Hello there, this is my very first AAR, and its about Denmark, as you probably may have noticed *cough* please, do give tips/ideas/constructive criticism, in fact, i order you to do it, so dont hold back on that. Other than that, i owned the game for about 2 months, but ill try to make this fun, so enjoy , oh , and for the danes/norwegians under us, if i make any typos, do say

Small introduction

Kingdom of Denmark
Kongeriget Danmark

Country: Denmark
Difficulty/Aggressivenes: Normal/Normal
Primary Goals:
- Retaking the whole of Norway, the Swedish provinces of: Malmo,
Karlskrona, Visby, Ostersund, basically: recreating Denmark-Norway
- Gaining colonies
- Be the ruler of Scandinavia (Don't get me wrong, i'm not aiming to actually unite scandinavia, just stronger than sweden will do)
Secondary goals:
- Take some city states along the baltic coast
- Canada is ours! The vikings first discovered it, so it belongs to us! (though, will be very, very hard with UK around)

PS: This game will be played with the latest V.I.P Mod

[Fiftypence]

I like your goals, Canada may be a bit optimistic though. Denmark's probably my all time favourite country in Vicky, quite difficult but with lots of possibilities.

Also, welcome to AAR writing.

[robou]

Canada will be difficult, but Danish AARs are rarely seen so you have me following!

[Capibara]

Interesting goals, good luck and I'll be following

[Pietbont]

The Situation of the Kingdom of Denmark as of 1836

King Frederick the 6th


Amalienborg, 1836
"Grr, where is it!?"

*Advisor Christoffer walks in* "What is it, your majesty, have you lost something?"
"Yes, i need a map right now of Denmark"
"It's right there at your feet, your majesty" "Ah, yes, you're right, here it is.. let me take a closer look.



"Your majesty, our nation is the one in re.." "I NOTICED!" says Frederick angrily
"We also own the virgin islands in the Caribbean and the Nordic territories of Iceland and Greenland, which does supplies us with products such as sugar. We are also allied with Holstein in the south" "I dont care about them! At all! All i see on this map is a weakened Denmark. We must reunify with Norway and retake Southern sweden, we must rule the baltic sea once again!"

"Your majesty, that will be very hard, Norway is allied with Sweden, and as you know, they arent the weakest of enemies"
"I realize that, but we must take what is rightfully ours!"

"Your majesty, if that is really what you want, we must first strengthen ourselves" " I agree, could i get a report on our current situation in Europe?""
"Ofcourse sire"

The Military

"As you can see sire, our army consists out of 3 divisions, 2 infantry and 1 cavalry unit. Each of those consisting out of 7500 men. If war is to come, we can mobilize 1 division in defense of our nation. If we want to, we can always enlargen our army by recruiting new soldiers.

Secondly, the navy. 10 Ships, 2 transports, 4 Men-o-War and 4 Frigates.
Not too bad, but as our small population forces us not to have a big army, we have to rely mainly on our navy. We better keep it in good shape and expand it regularly."

"I see, and our economy? How are the finances going?"

The Economy


"With taxes and tariffs at a maximum so the population stays happy, we have a positive income.
If we want, we can already afford a small enlargement of our navy and/or army . But not to much, as if we do, we could get into debt."

[asd21593]

A Danish AAR sounds good to me

This looks interesting! Good start and good luck!



asd

[robou]

navy is certainly a good step for Denmark, as manpower prohibits you doing much else...

[Pietbont]

Foreign Relations --------- Political situation----------Technology


"Another thing, the Royal Danish Bankers association have decided to implement a new currency in our nation, so that taxes and other sources of income will be more efficient"

"Aha, how will the currency be named?"
"They havent decided quite yet, but they already put a few options, a public poll will be released of it soon. Now onto other matters. The political situation, do you think the current one is effective your majesty?

"Ofcourse it is!" "No need to get angry, sire, but with our current system the wealthy can not create private enterprises, which can boost our economy. If we leave it at the current system, the building of industry has to come right of our pockets, which is very expensive, not to mention the lack of certain parts to build them.

"Grmbl.. maybe in the future, i want to get some insight first on the rest of Europe, how are they doing?"
"As you may probably know, industry is developing quickly in countries like Belgium or Britain, as i said earlier, we may also want.." "Yes, yes, i know, just go on "
"Allright,we dont have anyone who particularly dislikes us. But we might want to get some other allies beside Holstein, as there are many enemies nearby"

"Really? tell me about them"
"First of all, Sweden. The big blue blob north of us, good relations, but dont be fooled. They can be very treachery, as we have noticed during the Napoleonic wars. Second of all Prussia, one of the most dangerous. They want both holstein and the South of Denmark. We should defend our southern border heavily. And last but not least the UK. Very dangerous, huge fleet, may interfere on our search for colonies.

But of course , my sire, we have also potential allies. As France did lose the Napoleonic wars, they supported us in every way possible and we should be thankful, despite having lost land. Plus, they can help us contain the UK and Prussia, if they are up to that task. The Netherlands is a good second choice, having a good sized navy of 28 ships, and having colonies of their own. Both of our interests are similar."

"Thank you, advisor Christoffer, i will be handling some other duties today. You can go now" "Thank you, your majesty"


As the advisor left, Denmark went into the victorian age, will Denmark prevail in this dangerous but potentially prosperous age?

"Ofcourse she will! Danmark vil sejre!" as the king probably would have said

[robou]

not Russia? They look friendly!

[Pietbont]

not Russia? They look friendly!

We'll see, maybe in the future, but for now, Russia's only importance for us is containing Prussia

[stnylan]

One has to tread carefully as Denmark, in the beginning at least.

[likk9922]

Interesting... looks like a good one.

[Pietbont]

Getting Things Started, Denmark 1836 - 1840

As income gradually increased, so could the expenses of Denmark be furthered. More money was invested in education and crimefighting, aswell as in the navy, as that is one of the most important factors of our nation.

Also, his Majesty Frederick the 6th realised that he could not stay behind the other nations of Europe in the sense of industry. So was decided to give people with a high income the right to vote (wealth). Along with this his majesty also decided to allow some freedom of speech. Thus a state press were implemented, and for the first time in Danish history liberal parties were allowed. As effect of all these changes, denmark no more had the characteristics of a monarcy, and thus turned into a Constitutional Monarchy ! in 1837



The result of the wealth voting right was that in after the elections in 1838
the Hojre, an interventionist party came to power, the exact thing advisor Christoffer had been hoping for.

Another effect of the liberal ideas spreading over Denmark was the question whether slavery was to be made illegal? For too long has Denmark embraced slavery and is slowly being looked down upon by the great powers. Even the Danish population questioned the policy on it.

Therefore his Majesty King Frederick the 6th announced a meeting with all the governors and leaders in Denmark. They decided to abolish slavery, but not compensate them with education or money. This would, simply put, cost to much money and put the State into debt



In february 1939, the railroad was now officialy known to Denmark.
Taxes for the rich were lowered and import tariffs were lowered to encourage companies to build railroads and private industries.

However, despite a liberal party being into party, industrialisation was still going very slowly.
With advice from Christoffer, his majesty King Frederick the 6th put down the Hojre party and put a laissez-faire party into power instead, the Liberal nationalist party.
Despite the army being mobilized to prevent riots from forming, not much people went to protest, which pleased the King.

Because of the even more liberal government, low import tariffs,
and low taxes for the rich, the first railroads were being constructed
and done in december 2, 1839, between Odense And Copenhagen.
And barely a few months later, a second railroad track was ready
between Aarhus and Viborg, to much joy of his Majesty.



Even things on Military area were doing great. Despite being on a low credit because of the low tax incomes and low tariffs, therefore having to sell a tech to Russia for 5900 pounds, a new danish ship was now onto the sea, the frigate "Holstein"

And in may 1840, even better news came, An Alliance with France




Denmark was glad to be with an Alliance with her former ally once again. This way great nations like Prussia and Great Britain would think twice before attacking us.

However, to really become secure, envoys were being sent to St Petersburg with the goal of a possible future alliance with Russia, to keep down both Prussia AND sweden.

With the current industrial advances, and the alliance with France, Denmark is now more safe in Europe. The leaders of Denmark, led by his majesty King Frederick the 6th, assisted by advisor Christoffer held a meeting to discuss the further plans of Denmark in the future. Economical treaties were being proposed, laws discussed, but most importantly of all; Norway and Sweden...

[germanpeon]

Interesting! I was just thinking about how cool a Denmark AAR would be earlier today.

[Davisx3m]

Denmark

[likk9922]

France will be a huge help, whatever you choose to do.

[Ladislav]

Cool AAR. I really like playing Denmark, although its not an easy one. Any plans to historically expand into Yemen?

[Pietbont]

France will be a huge help, whatever you choose to do.

Yes, but as robou previously mentioned, russia would be a very nice ally aswell damn the slow flow of diplomatic actions

Cool AAR. I really like playing Denmark, although its not an easy one. Any plans to historically expand into Yemen?

We'll see, maybe, whatever area's are the easiest to grab and the most profitable, and with all the oil around later on i might expand in that area yes

[Pietbont]

Room for Improvement, Denmark 1840 - 1844

Amalienborg, 1841
"Christoffer, come here!" "Yes, your majesty, what is it?"
"Do you see that, over there at the docks?" "Yes, i see ships, i guess, your majesty, what is there so special ?" "Warships! tons of them! Our navy is ever growing, soon we will be the masters of the baltic sea"

"That is poetic , my lord, but the Russians also have a huge navy"
"Forget about the Russians, our own nation is more important.
How are things going as of lately, advisor?"

"Fine sir, industry is expanding, all the old and muddy roads in Denmark have already been replaced by railroad tracks.
Because of that, production is increasing everywhere, and grain/livestock
supplies are no longer of our worries"

"At the end of the previous year the First ship of the line "Skania"
has been added to our royal navy, as you have already noticed.
Our navy now consists out of 13 ships in total, 2 transports, 6 frigates and
5 men-o-war"



"Good, good. I approve of the situation as it is. Oh, and another thing, how are the current relations with St. Petersburg? Any chance of us having an Alliance with the Russians soon?"
"Well, relations are getting better. But it's not the time yet for an Alliance, so we might want to wait abit" "But if an alliance would be to formed soon, perhaps we could use them against Sweden, so that they would invade from the north?"

"I do know that, your majesty, but as i said already, relations are not yet on the point where we want to ask for an alliance, besides, if you are truly that optimistic about our position, we might not need the russians. The French might also send troops"
"Very well, you've got a point there. I can deal with the rest of the issues myself. You can go now"

"Thank you, your majesty"

[Pietbont]

Room for Improvement, Denmark 1840-1844, Part 2

During late 1941 and in the 1942's, things were looking good. The Economy improved as a result of railroad constructing, in 1841 , continental Denmark was full of railroads, and by 1842, the colonies were aswell. As a result, the sugar production of the Virgin islands increased, and as sugar was an expensive product, income increased rapidly.

Even isolated area's such as Iceland and Greenland were void of muddy roads. And in september 1842, the only form of transportation you could ever find in Denmark, were railways.



Better news came, the first private enterprise factory was completed in july 1842.
Workers from the South of Denmark were quickly educated to be good industrial workers, and after that put in the liquor factory of Danish Holstein.
Both the state and the workers profit from the factory, a win-win situation!

However, after those events, the Hojre party was again given leadership
of Denmark by the parliament. His Majesty, King Frederick the 6th did not like this at all.
As their interventionist policy would limit industrialisation.

After a talk with his advisor Christoffer , he had decided to again put the
Liberal Nationalist party into power, and even thought of eventually banning
the Hojre party.




Everyone is free to practice his own religion in Denmark

More and more money was spent on the navy each year as Ships were
almost nonstop in production, this because the navy was very important for Denmark, no navy, no might.



Even though the navy was a very important factor, the army could not
possibly be neglected. Despite a small population a division of infantry had been managed to be raised, to great pleasure of pro-militarists.



To predict the current Danish position in Europe, Advisor Christoffer examinated the size of the Danish Military. His foundings were:

Army Navy

2 Units- 15 ships - (2 in constr.)
Danske Heeren: Infantry - 7500 (Artillery) Danish royal fleet - 7 frig
Infantry - 7500 5 m-o-w
Cavalry - 7500 Transport Flotilla - 3 C. TP
1st Corps Infantry - 8840
Mobilisation divisions: 1

"Hmm, your majesty, come here"
"What is it, christoffer?" "If we mobilize, we have 5 divisions, and we have 12 warships and 3 transportation ships. The norwegians have 1 divisions and the Swedes 4, if they both mobilize, i would guess their Armies combined would be around 6 or 7. The Norwegian navy consists out of 2 transportation ships, we can take those out fast. The Swedish navy is stronger, 11 ships, where of 2 transportation, 6 men of war, and 3 frigates. If we would go to war with them, it would not be easy, but doable"

"Yes, the only thing we need now, Christoffer, is a good excuse for attacking them.."

*DOORSLAM*

""Majesty, majesty, dire news!" "What is it ,congressman Aamund?"
"One of our commercial liners has been sank by a Swedo-Norwegian ship, a political disaster!"

"A disaster?.. hmm, maybe not"


2 days later, on December the 4th, a Norwegian diplomat visited Amalienborg

"Your majesty, King Frederick the 6th of the Kingdom of Denmark, i am a diplomat sent from Oslo" "Hmm, i see, i believe you're here because of the recent *incident*..?" "The crew of our ship was sailing in a very foggy area, when they met the Viborg X, they thought it was a pirate ship, as they thought they saw a pirate flag"
"Pirate flag!? nonsense, the flag of the Viborg X may be black, but i could not recognize a pirate flag in it!"



"It was accidently, we are hereby offering 500 pounds in compesat.."
"Nonsense! we don't accept money from you. This was no accident, it was on purpose. Guards, put this man in jail, and sent word to Oslo and Stockholm that this means war!"




WAR with Norway and Sweden

The Army was mobilized, and the navy put ready for action. However, the first bad news came.
France did not join in the war, this meant Denmark was alone in the fight.