Dengang Jeg Drog Afsted - A Danish AAR

[Admiral Fisker]

Dengang Jeg Drog Afsted

Table of Contents
Recovering from the Napoleonic Wars
The Norwegian War, Part I
The Norwegian War, Part II
Industrialisation
The Liberal Revolution
The Rise of Nationalism
The Three Years War, Part I
The Three Years War, Part II
The Three Years War, Part III
The Three Years War, Part IV
Among the Great Powers
Prussian Aggression
War of 1860
Interlude
The Sugar War, Part I
The Sugar War, Part II
The Sugar War, Part III
The Succession Crisis
The Swedish Question
The Prussian Threat
War of the Dual Alliance, Part I
War of the Dual Alliance, Part II
War of the Dual Alliance, Part III
War of the Dual Alliance, Part IV
The Failure
The Copenhagen Conference
Mecklenburgian War, Part I
Mecklenburgian War, Part II
Mecklenburgian War, Part III
The Gay Nineties
End of a Century
Reign of Frederick VIII
Fall of the Tsar
The Great War, Part I
The Great War, Part II
The Great War, Part III
The Great War, Part IV
The Great War, Part V
The Great War, Part VI
The Great War, Part VII
The Great War, Part VIII
The Lion's Last Roar
The End, 1936​

Note: This is my first AAR.

 

[Admiral Fisker]

Recovering from the Napoleonic Wars

Frederick VI, King of Denmark​

Denmark had been France's closest, and most loyal ally during the Napoleonic Wars, and it had cost Denmark dearly. At the treaty of Kiel in 1814, Denmark had been forced by the coalition to cede Norway to Sweden, Denmark's archrival. As compensation Denmark had only got the small duchy of Lauenburg, and Swedish Pomerania - Which was sold to Prussia in 1815 for 3.5 million Thalers - Which was much appreciated, since Denmark had gone bankrupt in 1813. On the 12th of May 1836, Denmark's economy was still in the gutter, and the Danish Navy, which had been lost in 1807, was still nowhere as big as it was pre-1807.

Frederick VI, who had ruled Denmark through all of this misery, was now sitting at his desk, staring at a portrait of his former ally, Napoleon. The door behind him suddenly opened, and in stepped Frederick of Hessen, the man who had commanded the Danish Auxiliary Corps during the Napoleonic Wars. It was he who had commanded the Danish forces at the great victory at Sehested. Beside Frederick of Hessen stood Poul Christian Stemann, considered by many a quiet genius.

Frederick VI looked at these two men, signaling for them to come closer. He proceeded to pull out a paper, as he said "Gentlemen, our nation is saved!". The paper contained a map of Scandinavia, including a plan for the invasion of Sweden, and proposed new political borders between the two countries. Hessen and Stemann looked stunned at the King, as he said:

"Gentlemen, we need to restore our borders, and to save our economy.
Hessen, report to the Army HQ.
Stemann, I want you to report to the Swedish ambassador that a state of war now exists between our two countries.

Gentlemen, our hour has come again."​

 

[Attalus]

That's quite a beginning

What are your aims ?

 

[Admiral Fisker]

That's quite a beginning

What are your aims ?

My only goals right now is to take back Norway, Scania, Halland, Blekinge, Bohuslen and Jämtland - And to get an alliance with France.

 

[Admiral Fisker]

The Norwegian War, Part I

Prince Frederick of Hessen​

It didn't take long before most of the Danish Army under Frederick of Hessen had landed in Scania and captured the cities of Malmö and Helsingborg. An army of 9000 men from the duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg was stationed in reserve at Helsingør, where it was supported by a Danish division under the command of Christian Julius de Meza, a young and promising officer. This small division was mostly made up of volunteers, who didn't have much military training. But as Alexander the Great famously said "An army of sheep led by a lion is superior to an army of lions led by a sheep.".

After a few minor skirmishes in Scania, the army of Frederick of Hessen moved towards Halland. Its goal was to take Halmstad, and then move further north in order to take Göteborg and Christiania. The army of de Meza would liberate Blekinge, and then move further north in order to take Småland. However, on June 29th the Swedish army under command of Carl Johan XIV Bernadotte was spotted, advancing towards the Danish positions. The Danes entrenched themselves at the small town of Ängelholm, and prepared for battle. The Swedish Army outnumbered their Danish counterparts by about 6500 men.

The Battle of Ängelholm

The Royal Danish Life Guard at Rönne River​

Bernadotte had planned to attack the city with his main force, and to cross the Rönne River which ran through Ängelholm with a 1000 Royal Swedish Life Guards, this was in order to outflank Prince Frederick, and thereby surround him. At 4:00 AM, the Danish artillery opened fire - The Battle of Ängelholm had begun. Bernadotte started by ordering the Swedish Cavalry to charge the Danish Lines, but the Swedes were encountered by the Jyske Regiment Lette Dragoner, the finest Cavalry regiment in the whole Danish Army. The Swedish Cavalry were slaughtered, and what was left of it retreated to Halmstad.
Prince Frederick observed this, and ordered the Danish infantry to move forward, and at 7:00 AM the Swedes were forced to retreat. Bernadotte tried a last desperate attack at the Rönne River, which was defended only by a 100 Danes from the Royal Life Guard. But despite being outnumbered 10-1 by the Swedish Life Guards, the Danes were able to push the Swedes back. This was thanks to a young lieutenant by the name of Glode du Plat, who also managed to capture the Swedish Crown Prince, Oscar.

The Battle of Ängelholm - A Decisive Danish Victory​

Minor Battles​

A few days after the battle of Ängleholm, a Swedish squadron intercepted Adm. Jørgen Conrad de Falsen outside of Göteborg. The battle began at 2:00 AM, and lasted around 3 hours. Adm. de Falsen had been wounded early on in the battle, but a young captain by the name of Edouard Suenson had turned the tide. And while the battle was not particularly bloody, it had given Denmark naval supremacy. The Danish Navy suffered 4 dead and 7 wounded, including Adm. de Falsen. Swedish casualties were estimated to be as high as 350 dead and wounded.

At the end of October, de Meza was tasked with capturing Karlskrona. 6000 Swedes had entrenched themselves in Kungsholms fort, but de Meza was confident that he would be able to take the fortress by storm. And at midnight between the 20th and 21st, he managed to get a breach. The Danish soldiers stormed the fortress, and after a brief but bloody battle the Swedes surrendered. Around 200 Danes were either dead or wounded, while all 6000 Swedes had been either killed, wounded or captured. The old provinces were now under full Danish control.

Swedish Invasion of Bornholm​

2 months before de Meza's attack on Karlskrona, the Swedes had invaded the Danish island of Bornholm. Edouard Suenson suddenly saw an opportunity, and sailed to Bornholm, using the Danish naval supremacy to keep the Swedes on Bornholm. For this decisive action Suenson was promoted to Rear Admiral. The Swedish army was now stuck on Bornholm, and were not able to get supplies from Stockholm. The Swedish Army on Bornholm was also bothered by guerilla warfare from the Bornholmian population, who refused to sell food and other goods to the Swedes.

The Swedish Invasion of Bornholm​

 

[oxfordroyale]

Wow, trapping that army in Bornholm was a really great move by you. How many more Swedish troops are left on the mainland.

 

[Admiral Fisker]

Wow, trapping that army in Bornholm was a really great move by you. How many more Swedish troops are left on the mainland.

The entire Swedish army is stuck on Bornholm.

 

[Mikkel Glahder]

This is a very nice AAR. Also a nice tactic of trapping the Swedes on Bornholm. Subbed.

 

[oxfordroyale]

The entire Swedish army is stuck on Bornholm.

That is even better than I'd assumed! Nice job, I will be following this as well.

 

[Admiral Fisker]

The Norwegian War, Part II

Stockholm has Fallen
​

The rest of 1836 went without any major battles or confrontations. The Danish Army continued its advance into Sweden, and the Swedish Army was still stuck on Bornholm. By late January 1837 Frederick of Hessen had reached the gates of Stockholm, and a 5 month long siege began. In the eastern theater de Meza had entered and liberated Frederiksten and Christiania, and was moving further into Norway.
The Siege of Stockholm was uneventful, the city peacefully surrendered and Bernadotte fled further north.

In January of 1838 it was agreed upon that the Swedish Armed Forces had to be completely annihilated, and that Bornholm was to be liberated in a final decisive battle. Frederick of Hessen was given the task of executing this operation. He relocated to Karlskrona, and was ready to liberate Bornholm by May.

Liberation of Bornholm

The Coastal Fortress of Hammershus
​

The Danish Army embarked at 20:00 PM from the harbour at Karlskrona, and by 1:00 AM it had reached the shores of Bornholm. The Swedes had entrenched themselves in the old medieval fortress of Hammershus, where they could look down at the Danish infantry storming the beaches. But despite being under heavy fire from the Swedish positions, the Danes managed to enter Hammershus, where it came to close combat. After 3 hours of bloody fighting, the Danes managed to drive the Swedes out of Hammerhus, and force them to retreat to the small villages of Allinge and Sandvig, where they surrendered after a few small skirmishes at 6:30 AM.

The Danish Army suffered 2734 men dead and wounded, while the Swedish Army under command of Maj. von Hohenhausen suffered 4547 dead and wounded, and 27 659 captured. The whole Swedish Army annihilated in a few hours.
It was a major succes for Frederick of Hessen, who had led his troops from the front during the initial assault on Hammershus.

The Battle of Bornholm - Yet another Decisive Danish Victory​

The Battle of Sundsvall

Suenson crossing the Swedish T
​

After the great succes at Bornholm, the Danes continued their push into Sweden. Bernadotte had appointed himself as Admiral of the Swedish Navy, and a young officer by the name of Albrecht Ulner as Rear Admiral. And now that Edouard Suenson wasn't needed to blockade Bornholm, he was sent to the waters of Northern Sweden, in order to destroy the Swedish Navy and bring an end to this war. Bernadotte had anticipated this, and was ready to engage the Danish Navy. But the morale of the Swedish crews were rather low, and their quality poor. The crews of the Danish Navy on the other hand had an excellent morale, and was of great quality. The presence of King Frederick VI was also a huge boost to morale - The King had decided that he wanted to follow his ancestor, Christian IV's example, by commanding the navy heroicly in a great battle.

The two fleets engaged each other on the 30th of May, 1839. Suenson started by turning SW, while the Swedes turned NE - but at 12:00 AM Suenson managed crossed the Swedish T. Due to this manouever, two Swedish ships-of-the-line and one frigate exploded after a few lucky Danish shots hit their ammunition depots. By 15:00 PM the Swedish navy had been completely routed, and the Swedish flagship on which Bernadotte found himself, had been captured.
Bernadotte was invited onboard the Danish flagship "Danmark", where Frederick VI was waiting for him with pen and paper.

The peacy treaty was signed onboard "Danmark" at 17:00 AM, in the peace Sweden was forced to cede the former Danish provinces of Norway, Scania, Halland, Blekinge, Jämtland, Gotland and Bohuslän. The city of Göteborg was also ceded to Denmark, which meant that Sweden had lost its entire western coast.

Battle of Sundsvall - The Last Battle of The Norwegian War​

 

[Mikkel Glahder]

Quite an accomplishment I must say. Can we get some sort of map next update to get a greater perspective of the fantastic, powerful(now also full of people from Norway) country of Denmark .

 

[guillec87]

interesting! Subbed!

 

[Admiral Fisker]

I should probably note that I've changed the population of Norway, Scania, Halland, Blekinge, Jämtland and Bohuslen to be Danish, and added Danish cores on them.

 

[Zoor]

I should probably note that I've changed the population of Norway, Scania, Halland, Blekinge, Jämtland and Bohuslen to be Danish, and added Danish cores on them.

That's cheating to me - a bunch of newly conquered Swedes and Norwegians would bring a lot of instability. But, well, nevermind
Show us the map!

 

[VibraniumTaco]

You might as well promote Suenson to full Admiral for winning you the war. Subbed!

 

[metalinvader665]

Very nice start with taking down the strongest country in the North.

I would've just added Norwegian as accepted culture, since Norway had only been out of Denmark's control for a few decades at that point.

 

[guillec87]

Norwegians should be an accepted culture and so they don't have to loose their national identity

 

[Admiral Fisker]

Industrialisation

The New Borders of Scandinavia
​

Now that the old borders of Denmark were restored and Denmark's archrival had been crushed, Frederick VI was able to stabilize the Danish economy, which had been in gutter since 1813.
With all the newly acquired land, and by raising the Sound Dues - Frederick VI quickly able to turn the once ruined Danish economy into one of the strongest in the world. This was also partially thanks to the industrialisation, which had reached Denmark. One of the most prominent advocates for this industrial revolution was J.C. Drewsen - A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, and the owner of a paper mill north of Copenhagen.

The general staff also benefited from the war. Frederick of Hessen, de Meza, Suenson and du Plat were all promoted due to their heroic efforts during the war.

J.C. Drewsen

The Death of Frederick VI

The Death of Frederick VI and the Coronation of Christian VIII
​

Frederick VI fell ill at the end of November, and on December the 3rd, 1839, the old King died at the age of 71. He had been the king of Denmark for 31 years, and the de facto ruler of Denmark for 55 years. His reign had almost resulted in the complete dissolution of the Danish State. But despite this he had managed to re-establish Denmark as the dominant power in the North, and reacquire the territories that he and his ancestor's had lost.
His heir Christian VIII, had been the king of Norway for a few months in 1814, and was very popular both in Norway and Denmark.

His first goal was rebuilding the Danish Navy, which had suffered extreme losses during the Napoleonic Wars. He started by ordering the production of five ships-of-the-line, and by modernising various harbour's in Norway, Iceland and Scania.

The Rise of Liberalism

C.C. Hall - A True National-Liberal
​

The newly crowned Christian VIII was a well known liberal, who was very sympathetic towards the Danish National-Liberal party. And so in 1843, on the 19th of April, he decided to make C.C. Hall, the leader of the National-Liberal party Denmark's Privy Councillor. C.C. Hall was a true National-Liberal, a staunch liberal who wanted to make Denmark a constitutional monarchy. He was also in favour of incorporating the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein fully into the Danish State. Loved by the people, and a fantastic diplomat.

Liberalism was on the rise in Europe.

 

[Admiral Fisker]

The Liberal Revolution

The Abolition of Slavery
​

It didn't take long before C.C. Hall with the help of other prominent National-Liberals such as D.G. Monrad and Orla Lehmann had instituted such political reforms as the free press and the abolition of slavery. However, he failed to make a Denmark a constitutional monarchy, since Christian VIII refused the proposal. This was due to the unrest he thought it would cause among the Conservatives and Reactionaries, and fear of limiting his absolute power. C.C. Hall reacted by resigning as Privy Councillor, handing the position back to Poul Christian Stemann, who had become increasingly reactionary.

However, while C.C. Hall, D.G. Monrad and Orla Lehmann refused to give up, they also refused to resort to violence. They still supported the monarchy, they were as patriotic as ever, and they had managed to gain the support of many Danes due to their many reforms in such a short timespan.

Danish Steamers

Current amount of Steamers in the Danish Navy - All new except for Kiel
​

Other than the resignation of C.C. Hall, the year of 1845 also saw the death of Gen. Frederick of Hessen, and the addition of eight new steamers to the Danish Navy. These new steamers had an armament of 4 x 60-pounder smooth-bore cannons, and was beautifully designed. The Danish Navy was slowly beginning to become great again.

Events in France
​

France had been ruled by King Louis Philippe I for 16 years, and now found itself at war with the Prussians. The war went quite well at first, as the French Army advanced into the Rheinland and Hannover. But after a few larger battles the French Army was forced back to Alsace-Lorraine. A war which had looked like a French victory at the beginning ended with a status quo. This angered the French people tremendously, and it didn't take long before King Louis Philippe I had a revolution in his hands.

This was a major event not just for France, but for all of Europe. Many people saw an opportunity, including the National-Liberals and Christian VIII - Who acknowledged that a constitution was needed in order to prevent a similar revolution in Denmark.

A Revolution​

 

[guillec87]

great! the Danish are doing very well.. do you control Iceland and Greenland too?