These years are mostly covered by the reign of Christian V, with Frederick IV reigning only the last two years of this period, but telling them apart by looking at the way Denmark was governed is almost impossible.
[color=99ffff] Lingby’s Expedition[/color]
Having left Denmark in 1677 the great explorer Lingby had by 1679 reached southern Africa, and, from there set sail towards the fabled spice islands from which various european countries were gaining huge profits. By 1684, extensive knowledge of eastern Africa, the Indian ocean and the Indian subcontinent had been added to the royal libraries in Copenhagen.
After mapping these regions, Lingby and his expedition sailed further east, discovering more and more of these lands that made Europe rich. Late in 1687 Lingby’s expedition return to Copenhagen with accurate maps of the sea and land as far east as Timor, and as far north as China and Japan.
Unfortunately, Lingby had died in early ’87 and could thus not be rewarded for his great services. The crown would remain forever in the debt of the Lingby family, and it was decreed that whenever the Lingby family would be in need of money they would need but ask the crown.
[color=33cc33] Economic and domestic policy [/color]
In 1679 it was clear that the current economic policies were no longer sufficient to keep Denmark even close to other powers in the region namely Sweden, Russia, Poland and Brandenburg. If one compared Denmark to nations such as Holland or Spain, it was even clearer that a strong hand was needed to guide the Danish economy.
Decrees were issued stating that minting would be kept to an absolute minimum, trade was promoted and Denmark signed agreements of free trade with various nations in Europe.
In 1684 a new law was signed to make sure the king would have the power to keep these policies in effect. This law also protected the peasantry of Denmark and Norway, thus increasing the production of the lands.
The strict economic regime was not welcomed by everyone, leading to a governmental crisis in 1686, a trade company withdrawing investments in 1688, and even a crisis in 1695.
The benefits of this strict policy, however, began to show slowly but steadily, and in ’98 harvest were so good, and trade flourished so much, that this was indeed an exceptionally good year for the Crown and the Country.
All in all, the monthly income available for improving the country increased from a mere 47.5 in 1679 to 53.8 in 1700. In the same period inflation decreased from 16.1% to only 6.5% a great feat indeed.
[color=ffcc33] Diplomacy and Foreign relations[/color]
As mentioned earlier, various agreements were signed, mostly concerning free trade, but not all. This period also saw the settling of a few boundary disputes with electors in the Holy Roman Empire.
Most noteworthy, however, was the incorporation of Holstein into Denmark after long and tough negotiations with the Holy Roman Emperor. In the end it was decided that Bremen would from now on be governed by the Electors of Brandenburg. In exchange for this concession, the Holy Roman Emperor would authorise the incorporation of Holstein into Denmark.
Denmark was shocked when France decided to attack the Holy Roman Empire in 1700, and even more when news was received that a Bourbon had inherited the Spanish throne.
[color=bb0000] The Military, war and peace[/color]
This was a period of peace for Denmark, and most of the army saw no more action than some parading and exercises in the Norwegian mountains and Danish forests.
Both the Army and the Navy increased in size during this period. The army filled its ranks with fresh infantrymen and cavalry, supported with Swedish funds. The navy also increased dramatically. The explorations by Lingby’s expedition convinced various merchants that the navy was the place to be. An even greater increase came from a great effort concerning the so-called “Great Northern Conflict”. Few knew why we would want to attack our brethren in Sweden, but increasing the navy with unwanted individuals paying for it was too good an opportunity to pass.
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