7 January 1839, Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover
For the first time in weeks, the king had deigned to attend his Privy Council. Most of the time, he just cared for redesigning the gardens of the Herrenhausen Palace to his liking. Day to day politics was beneath him. Yet, he still demanded to set the general direction. The Privy Council had assembled in the ornate cabinet room and everybody waited for the king to arrive. When he did, servants opened the door and helped him into his seat. Expectantly, the men waited until the king had settled and would open the session.
‘Welcome gentlemen. Please brief me on how the preparations for the war against Denmark have progressed. Professor Dahlmann, maybe you could begin to tell me about the political preparations.’
‘Of course, your majesty. We are making good progress whipping up opposition and inciting German nationalist feelings in Schleswig and Holstein. It’s a pity that Lornsen died a couple of weeks ago, he was an excellent agitator. But at least we still have Hegewisch and Beseler working for us. As far as we can gauge it, the public opinion has swayed considerably in our favor. People now openly demand to speak German in official correspondence. The Danish nationalists have reacted as we expected and proposed oppressive measures and even changing the Holsteinian constitution to make it an integral part of Denmark. This plays into our hands. Once they try to force this through, we shall have our casus belli. Interesting enough, an ancient treaty, the Treaty of Ribe of 1460, was quoted in quite a few debates. It postulates the indivisibility of Schleswig and Holstein.’
Important Schleswig-Holsteinian nationalists: Hegewisch, Beseler, Lornsen, Dahlmann
The king looked delighted. ‘So, would that mean, we could even go beyond the Eider River?’
The king’s brother groaned at that. ‘Please, this is folly. The great powers will not accept us taking Schleswig. Even our spurious claim on Lauenburg will be hard to assert. An independent Holstein would be something that the great powers could probably live with, but annexing it like you plan? And now Schleswig too? You are a megalomaniac, brother.’
‘Don’t dare speaking like that with me, Adolphus. I am the king, not you. Not yet at least. Your time will come when I die. But for now, we will do as I say. And Lauenburg had been ours for more than 100 years before it was taken away.’
The brothers had struggled over the ambitious plans ever since King Augustus had arrived in Hanover to announce them.
‘As you wish. I am only voicing caution.’
‘Well, where were we? Count von Alten, what did the Duke of Augustenborg say?’
‘My king, I told him we would back his claims. He is of course enthusiastic and will help us to sway the nobles. Yet, I fear that he will see your plans as betrayal once they fully unfold. He thinks that Holstein will be independent, not a mere province of your kingdom with him as titular, but powerless duke.’
‘Well, too bad for him. As long as the fool supports us, we shall make use of him. What about the military, Baron Halkett?’
‘We have stockpiled munitions, trained our troops, and silently activated some reserves already. Once the war breaks out, we will still need a couple of weeks to mobilize all men, but then the Danish will probably need even longer. We can’t mobilize earlier, as then it will be obvious that we planned this war for a long time and that it was not based on Danish oppression. But our regular forces shall be enough to quickly reach and conquer the Danewerk. Once we hold the fortress, Denmark will have no choice but to accept our demands. The Danish navy will be of little concern as they will use most of it to guard the sound. Furthermore, they won’t dare to interrupt trade out of Bremen, Hamburg or Lübeck, so a blockade should be relatively painless for us as most of our trade is through those harbors anyway.’
‘Excellent.’ The king was clearly happy with what he heard. Everything proceeded as per his plans. Soon, Holstein and perhaps even Schleswig would be his.
7 February 1839, Kiel, Duchy of Holstein
The angry masses converged on the palace of the Danish representative. Their anger had been roused by the Danish reaction to earlier demands for more Holsteinian independence. The Danish government had announced that they would change the constitution to make Holstein an integral part of Denmark. This had provoked protests by the German Federation, led by Hanover and Prussia. Especially Hanover’s new King seemed to be outraged by the proposal and publicly denounced the Danish policies and voiced support for the German nationalists in Holstein.
And now, order had broken down in Kiel. Groups of loyalists and protestors had fought in the night and now a big group of protestors marched through the streets. But a small cavalry unit of Danish regulars stood in their way now, pistols ready. The mass pressed onward anyway and with only a few paces between the cavalry and the first row of protestors, all of a sudden a first shot fell and a man in the first row was hit and screamed in pain. The mass of people surged forward towards the cavalry and all of a sudden, shots were heard and the cavalrymen started lashing out with their sabers. The crowd was dispersed two hours later, but twelve protestors were dead. They would be celebrated as heroes of the German nationalist resistance in later years.
21 March 1839, near Mölln, Duchy of Lauenburg
The Hanoverian officers overlooked the battlefield from a vantage point in the rear. Next to general Baron von Halkett were other veterans of the King’s German Legion of the Napoleonic Wars. Even thirty years later, they were still the core of the Hanoverian Army. Carl von Jacobi, Georg von Baring, Julius von Hartmann. They had fought against Napoleon together and now they were fighting another war – only this time they were the attackers. A young captain approached the group and addressed the generals.
‘Baron, our forces are ready for the attack. Waiting for your command.’
‘Very well, let this be the first strike of this war. Gentlemen, ride to your troops now. Captain, signal the attack in five minutes.’
Right after the signal had been given, von Hartmann’s massed artillery corps opened fire on the Holsteinian loyalist lines. This was the signal for the Holsteinians to approach into firing range for their guns and thus the first battle of the Hanoverian-Danish War had begun.
They had estimated that their roughly 12000 men faced a bit smaller army under the loyalist commander Kunze. But their advantage was mostly in more modern equipment and much better artillery. None of the Hanoverian generals doubted the outcome of this battle.
The left wing of the Hanoverian troops und von Jacobi advanced supported by the massive artillery barrage and it was obvious soon that the right wing of the Holsteinians would not be able to hold long against this concentrated fire.
The battle was over after less than three hours and the Holsteinians withdrew to the north with hundreds of causalities left on the battlefield. The Hanoverians did not pursue them for now as their strategy was to first secure the province.
For the first time in weeks, the king had deigned to attend his Privy Council. Most of the time, he just cared for redesigning the gardens of the Herrenhausen Palace to his liking. Day to day politics was beneath him. Yet, he still demanded to set the general direction. The Privy Council had assembled in the ornate cabinet room and everybody waited for the king to arrive. When he did, servants opened the door and helped him into his seat. Expectantly, the men waited until the king had settled and would open the session.
‘Welcome gentlemen. Please brief me on how the preparations for the war against Denmark have progressed. Professor Dahlmann, maybe you could begin to tell me about the political preparations.’
‘Of course, your majesty. We are making good progress whipping up opposition and inciting German nationalist feelings in Schleswig and Holstein. It’s a pity that Lornsen died a couple of weeks ago, he was an excellent agitator. But at least we still have Hegewisch and Beseler working for us. As far as we can gauge it, the public opinion has swayed considerably in our favor. People now openly demand to speak German in official correspondence. The Danish nationalists have reacted as we expected and proposed oppressive measures and even changing the Holsteinian constitution to make it an integral part of Denmark. This plays into our hands. Once they try to force this through, we shall have our casus belli. Interesting enough, an ancient treaty, the Treaty of Ribe of 1460, was quoted in quite a few debates. It postulates the indivisibility of Schleswig and Holstein.’
Important Schleswig-Holsteinian nationalists: Hegewisch, Beseler, Lornsen, Dahlmann
The king looked delighted. ‘So, would that mean, we could even go beyond the Eider River?’
The king’s brother groaned at that. ‘Please, this is folly. The great powers will not accept us taking Schleswig. Even our spurious claim on Lauenburg will be hard to assert. An independent Holstein would be something that the great powers could probably live with, but annexing it like you plan? And now Schleswig too? You are a megalomaniac, brother.’
‘Don’t dare speaking like that with me, Adolphus. I am the king, not you. Not yet at least. Your time will come when I die. But for now, we will do as I say. And Lauenburg had been ours for more than 100 years before it was taken away.’
The brothers had struggled over the ambitious plans ever since King Augustus had arrived in Hanover to announce them.
‘As you wish. I am only voicing caution.’
‘Well, where were we? Count von Alten, what did the Duke of Augustenborg say?’
‘My king, I told him we would back his claims. He is of course enthusiastic and will help us to sway the nobles. Yet, I fear that he will see your plans as betrayal once they fully unfold. He thinks that Holstein will be independent, not a mere province of your kingdom with him as titular, but powerless duke.’
‘Well, too bad for him. As long as the fool supports us, we shall make use of him. What about the military, Baron Halkett?’
‘We have stockpiled munitions, trained our troops, and silently activated some reserves already. Once the war breaks out, we will still need a couple of weeks to mobilize all men, but then the Danish will probably need even longer. We can’t mobilize earlier, as then it will be obvious that we planned this war for a long time and that it was not based on Danish oppression. But our regular forces shall be enough to quickly reach and conquer the Danewerk. Once we hold the fortress, Denmark will have no choice but to accept our demands. The Danish navy will be of little concern as they will use most of it to guard the sound. Furthermore, they won’t dare to interrupt trade out of Bremen, Hamburg or Lübeck, so a blockade should be relatively painless for us as most of our trade is through those harbors anyway.’
‘Excellent.’ The king was clearly happy with what he heard. Everything proceeded as per his plans. Soon, Holstein and perhaps even Schleswig would be his.
* * *
7 February 1839, Kiel, Duchy of Holstein
The angry masses converged on the palace of the Danish representative. Their anger had been roused by the Danish reaction to earlier demands for more Holsteinian independence. The Danish government had announced that they would change the constitution to make Holstein an integral part of Denmark. This had provoked protests by the German Federation, led by Hanover and Prussia. Especially Hanover’s new King seemed to be outraged by the proposal and publicly denounced the Danish policies and voiced support for the German nationalists in Holstein.
And now, order had broken down in Kiel. Groups of loyalists and protestors had fought in the night and now a big group of protestors marched through the streets. But a small cavalry unit of Danish regulars stood in their way now, pistols ready. The mass pressed onward anyway and with only a few paces between the cavalry and the first row of protestors, all of a sudden a first shot fell and a man in the first row was hit and screamed in pain. The mass of people surged forward towards the cavalry and all of a sudden, shots were heard and the cavalrymen started lashing out with their sabers. The crowd was dispersed two hours later, but twelve protestors were dead. They would be celebrated as heroes of the German nationalist resistance in later years.
* * *
21 March 1839, near Mölln, Duchy of Lauenburg
The Hanoverian officers overlooked the battlefield from a vantage point in the rear. Next to general Baron von Halkett were other veterans of the King’s German Legion of the Napoleonic Wars. Even thirty years later, they were still the core of the Hanoverian Army. Carl von Jacobi, Georg von Baring, Julius von Hartmann. They had fought against Napoleon together and now they were fighting another war – only this time they were the attackers. A young captain approached the group and addressed the generals.
‘Baron, our forces are ready for the attack. Waiting for your command.’
‘Very well, let this be the first strike of this war. Gentlemen, ride to your troops now. Captain, signal the attack in five minutes.’
Right after the signal had been given, von Hartmann’s massed artillery corps opened fire on the Holsteinian loyalist lines. This was the signal for the Holsteinians to approach into firing range for their guns and thus the first battle of the Hanoverian-Danish War had begun.
They had estimated that their roughly 12000 men faced a bit smaller army under the loyalist commander Kunze. But their advantage was mostly in more modern equipment and much better artillery. None of the Hanoverian generals doubted the outcome of this battle.
The left wing of the Hanoverian troops und von Jacobi advanced supported by the massive artillery barrage and it was obvious soon that the right wing of the Holsteinians would not be able to hold long against this concentrated fire.
The battle was over after less than three hours and the Holsteinians withdrew to the north with hundreds of causalities left on the battlefield. The Hanoverians did not pursue them for now as their strategy was to first secure the province.
