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| Title: | All about Scandinavia |
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| Moderator: | TLE::SAVAGE |
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| Created: | Wed Dec 11 1985 |
| Last Modified: | Tue Jun 03 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 603 |
| Total number of notes: | 4325 |
417.0. "Bits of Danish history" by CHARLT::SAVAGE () Tue Sep 18 1990 11:46
From: [email protected] (Rene' Seindal)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: [Obscure] Danish history
Date: 12 Sep 90 18:29:14 GMT
Organization: Department Of Computer Science, University Of Copenhagen
[email protected] (Jon Taylor) writes:
> Seriously, though - I didn't know Denmark had any African colony.
> Where was it? How and when did Denmark lose control of it?
As a warning, it should probably be mentioned that these informations
are based purely on recollections from earlier readings. I haven't
looked up anything for this, so it might be inaccurate. Besides that,
why is Danish colonial history obscure? As a sea-faring nation of
merchants, of course we had colonies!
The colony, Guldkysten (The Golden Coast), was a tiny colony in what is
now Ghana. I think Akra was the main city of the colony, but I am not
sure (it might have belonged to the British neighbour colony (to the
east of the Danish)). The colony was not more that a place the slave
ships could land on the beaches to pick up their "cargo". There was
one or two fortresses by the coast, but they were only used to control
the access to the tribes in the inland, which sold their prisoners of
war to the merchants. This was how most of the slaves were captured.
When the different tribes found out they could get guns and other goods
for the slaves, they started kipnapping members of other tribes to sell
(I almost said: naturally!, but times were different, and so was the
mentality)
The colony was never integrated into the kingdom, but was more or less
run by a trading company (maybe it was the East Asian Company, which is
still in business). The king appointed a governor, but didn't
interfere much in what happen down there, as long as it payed off well.
The state was a mayor shareholder in the different colonial trading
companies, and the colonial trade was big business for the time.
To understand why it was big business, we need a little background. In
the 18th century, Europe was repeatedly shaken by what comtemporary
sources called "world wars", which, of course, meant european wars,
mostly between different alliances of the super powers of the time:
Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and the collected German
states (Tyske Forbund -- what is that in english?). In this constantly
varying net of alliances and counter-alliances, secret agreements,
etc., Denmark was neutral. It was an armed neutrality, in the sense
that Denmark possessed the second largest fleet in Europe, outnumbered
only by the British.
Britain used her fleet to close the harbours of her enemies,
confiscating ships and cargo travelling under their flag. This was
exploited by the Danish merchants, which often took over the colonial
trade for countries under British embargo. Thus, for several periods
in the decade, the East Asian Company was handling all Dutch colonial
trading, under a secret contract with the Dutch colonial trading
company, and secured by the kings fleet (which was in part financed by
the profit from the Dutch colonial trade!). Danish ships were hardly
ever brought up by the British, in part because they were protected by
arms (and the will to use them), and in part because Britain had to
make sure Denmark did not join her enemies, since that would constitute
a constant threat of invasion. The Danish fleet on Danish hands were a
lot better for the British, than the Danish fleet in the hands of the
French! This became crucial in the napoleonic wars.
I guess I am beginning to answer other questions than asked. Why were
the African colony deserted? In 1792 the trading of slaves were
forbidden by law (the influence of the Enlightment, I guess), but it
was not to be enforced for 10 years (I think), so the plantation owners
in the Caribean colonies had time to work up a sufficient stock.
Slavery was not abolished, only the transatlantic trading of slaves.
This decision took away a lot of the justification for keeping the
Golden Coast.
Second, in 1807, the British send a fleet to Copenhagen, to take the
Danish fleet into custody, as to ensure it did not fall in the hands of
Napoleon. They gave the king an ultimatum, saying that he should let
the British take away the fleet for the duration of the war, to be
returned by the end of the war. As the head of an independent, neutral
state, the king refused (he was in southern Jutland at the time,
causing severe communication problems), and the British placed
Copenhagen under siege (tha harbour with the fleet was in the centre of
the town). After several days and night of heavy shelling, the city
surrendered. At that time, mayor parts of the town were completely
destroyed. (This "incident" gives the British the dubious honour of
being the first to use terror bombings against a civilian population).
In any case, the British took the town, and after a month occupation of
the harbour area, they sailed away with the almost complete Danish
fleet, never to be returned again. This affair caused the king to join
the French side in the napoleonic wars, but without the fleet, it meant
almost nothing for the outcome of the war. For Denmark, it meant the
loss of Norway, which had been Danish since 1397, in 1814.
Without the fleet, the merchant fleet was unprotected, and within few
years it was almost entirely lost (mostly brought up by the British),
meaning an end to almost all communication with the colonies.
The combination of a loss of significance for the African colony, and
the inability to communicate and trade with it in a reliable fashion,
made the military presence there unprofitable, and consequently, it was
more or less abandoned. At some point (I do not have the exact year,
but it was probably during the economic crisis that followed the war.
This crisis lasted until the 1840's), it was sold, probably to the
British. At that point it had surely lost all economic significance
for Denmark.
So, to answer your questions: We had an African colony, located in
Ghana. It became economically insignificant to Denmark, and was sold
in the first half of the 19th century.
Why give a short answer, if you can make it long and boring :-)
Rene' Seindal ([email protected])
| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 417.1 | Island of Bornholm | CHARLT::SAVAGE | | Fri Sep 21 1990 16:04 | 34 |
| From: [email protected] (Steen Linden)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Obscure Danish history
Date: 13 Sep 90 15:55:03 GMT
Organization: Department Of Computer Science, University Of Copenhagen
Bornholm has always belonged to Denmark. It was lost to Sweden in 1658,
but the Bornholmers threw the Swedes out again in 1659 and turned
themselves over to the Danish king.
According to the legend it was believed that the infamous Swedish
commandant could not be killed by normal bullets, so the rebels shot
him with a silver button. On Storegade (big street) in R|nne on
Bornholm, you can still see where he was shot.
In 1945 Bornholm was lost again. This time to the Russians who terror
bombed R|nne and Nex| because the Germans had orders not to surrender
to the Russians. (R|nne and Nex| were the two single Danish towns that
where terror bombed during WWII).
At the night of the Danish liberation May 4. 1945, the amtmand (the
kings representative) on Bornholm called the Danish Home Office to ask
for help. They were told that that it was closed due to celebration.
The Bornholmers will never forgive this. You may still see candle
lights in the windows of many Danish homes on May 4. but NOT on
Bornholm.
Bornholm was given back to Denmark in 1946 after some discussions with
the Russians who claimed that Bornholm was on their side of the line.
The Swedes helped rebuilding the bombed towns by building Swedish
"wood" houses. They are still very popular and very pretty.
--Steen
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| 417.2 | Re: .1 (& 124.21): more about Bornholm | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Jul 25 1991 12:45 | 39 |
| From: [email protected] (Steen Linden)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Nordic flags
Date: 24 Jul 91 10:24:51 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen
Bornholm
Regional flag: red with a green cross.
[This is probably more touristic than official but the colors are used
more and more on Bornholm by for instance the public transportation
company.]
Bornholm is a small Danish island situated in the Baltic Sea between
Sweden and Poland. The south-western part of the island is traditional
Danish farmland whereas the north-eastern part consists of cliffs and a
wilder nature. The economy of the island is based on fishing, farming
and tourism. Especially many Germans go to Bornholm because of the fine
nature and good possibilities for sea-sports and bicycle vacation. (You
really have to hand it to those Germans. Even the rain doesn't stop
them. You can always tell a German on Bornholm by his yellow or orange
rain coat ;-)). Lately also many Swedes have gone there on one-day
trips maybe because of the newly established tax-free liquor sale on
the ferries from Sweden to Bornholm ;-).
The Bornholmers speak a Swedish sounding Danish dialect but as far as I
have heard the Swedes have more difficulties in understanding it than
the Danes. This nice sounding dialect is often mistaken for the IMHO
horrible dialect spoken in the largest city R\{oe}nne known as
R\{oe}nne-fint. This is the dialect of the dreaded Danish ultra right
wing politician Mogens Glistrup (if this rings a bell).
--
Steen Linden <[email protected]>
Dept. of Computer Science (DIKU)
University of Copenhagen
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| 417.3 | Kofoed: Very common name on Bornholm.......... | BEAGLE::BEAGLE::KOFOED | I have my future behind me... | Thu Nov 28 1991 10:49 | 5 |
|
Yes, and people from Bornholm are known to travel a lot. ;-)
-pELLE (From Valbonne)
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| 417.4 | Fr� Vestermarie �!! | COPCLU::RUD | Ʒط� - when A...Z is not civilized enough! | Sat Nov 30 1991 10:14 | 8 |
|
Also people from Bornholm seems to go back to the island more often
than people from other area of Denmark returns to there place of birth.
In terms of dialect - Bornholm has 14 different dialects plus the ones
comming from other parts of Denmark (50%).
Claus
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| 417.5 | Danish might have been a 'world language' | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Jul 13 1995 12:29 | 55 |
| From: Henrik Ernoe <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Why don`t the English speak Danish?
Date: 12 Jul 1995 18:56:41 GMT
Organization: Ecole Normale Superieure
>If Alfred hadn't been so Great, might we all be speaking Danish
>today??
Well, the reason that we are having this exchange in english and not in
danish, alas!, have nothing to do with Alfred's greatness. Danelagen
(Danelaw) was still ruled by the Danes more 150 years after Alfred.
No, the real reason is that the winds were in the wrong corner all the
time one long summer in the 1080s. (I have forgot the precise year, but
if someone insists, i`ll check it out).
William of Normandy had won the battle of Hastings but he had still
lots of problems in pacifying England, especially the danish areas of
Yorkshire and Northhumberland. And while the Danish earls in England
were preparing the rebellion, King Knud the Holy of Denmark was calling
out the full Danish "leding".
By springtime more than 1200 Danish longships with they crews were
assembled at Agger in Jutland getting reaby to liberate England from
the Norman yoke. The only thing they were waiting for was a
reinforcement of some 80 Flemish ships under Count Otto of
Flandern...... Unfortunately, the flemish were late in getting ready,
and got delayed again and again. The Danish crews were getting more
and more impatient, afterall summer`s passing, they had to pay their
own food, their wives were left all alone on the farms....
So by Midsummer they went to the King and demanded to set sail for
England. But the King insisted that they waited for the Flemish, in
fact he knew that they had already left Flandern and was sailing up
the west coast. So the crews decided to wait a little longer, but only
a little!.
BUT all this summer a strong North wind was blowing, so the poor
Flemish had to row all the way against the wind.
Meantime at Agger the Danish crews called a "Ting" and decided that
they had waited long enough, and if Knud did not set sail now, they
would pack their gear and sail HOME!. The King refused, so the Danes
took their ships and sailed home leaving only Knud the Holy and his
hird (personal household troops) at Agger. The King was of course
furious, but could not do a thing. So when the very weary Flemish
arrived six weeks later he could only thank them for their valiant
effort and send them home again.!
So the only reason this is written in English is freak weather
conditions one summer 900 years ago. SATANS OSSE !
--
Henrik Ernoe
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| 417.6 | Honesty higher than piety | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri Oct 25 1996 16:03 | 32 |
| 417.7 | Danish Immigrant Museum, near Omaha/Des Moines | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri Apr 25 1997 12:59 | 56 |
| From: "David Lorenson" <[email protected]>
Subject: Danish immigrant Museum
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997 03:22:12 -0500
Organization: Cedar Valley Communications, Inc.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Website at http://www.netins.net/showcase/dkmuseum/index.html
The Danish Immigrant Museum is dedicated to the education and fostering
the traditions and customs of the Danish American people.
Location: between Omaha, NE and Des Moines , IA, take I-80 to Exit 54,
8 miles North of I-80
Organized in 1983,The Danish Immigrant Museum, a non-profit
corporation, opened its first core phase in the June of 1994. The
building suggests a Danish farm, and future expansion will be connected
buildings around a central courtyard like the farms in the Old Country.
The Museum is dedicated to telling the story of the Danish immigrant's
experience across North America -- from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, to
Solvang, California, and from Danevang, Texas, to Dalum, Alberta. The
traditions carried on by later generations of Danish Americans will be
presented in programs and special events. Now the Museum is a national
center for the Danes.
Contributions from many individuals have made the Museum possible. The
Museum invites your support to keep the Danish American tradition
alive.
The Danish Villages of Elk Horn and Kimballton make up the largest
rural Danish settlement in the United States. After your visit to the
Museum, visit the authentic Danish Windmill or have a Danish meal at
The Danish Inn in the downtown business district. There are many craft
shops and Bed and Breakfasts home in the Elk Horn/Kimballton, IA area.
Call the Museum for more information at 1-712-764-700 1 or toll free at
1-800-759-9192.
Most recently, The Cedar Valley Danes of Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa
took part in moving of a small chapel to the grounds of the Museum.
This small chapel was built by a Danish immigrant at age 85. Danes
never stop working when they come to America. The carpenter had built
several large churches in the NE part of Iowa, but he wanted to built
just a small chapel before he died. Some 50 years later, his son was
nearing death and wanted the chapel preserved to honor his father. The
son gave the chapel to the Museum and donation for the moving expense.
The trip was about 250 miles from the back yard the north part of
Waterloo, Iowa where it had sat for 50 years to the Museum.
A present day carpenter and his brother, a pattern maker, and a few
other helpers undertook the job of strengthening the chapel for the
move. The chapel was 7 feet wide and 11 feet long. And the steple was
18 ft. tall. The chapel is now setting on the grounds of the Museum and
will be used for very, very, small weddings and baptisms at the Museum.
Pictures of first wedding in the chapel will be at this site soon.
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