Danmark 1972 By Kuusinen Watch

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This is an alternate historical map over Denmark, set in 1972 just after the administrative reform of 1970. The map is in Danish which is not my mother language, so please correct me if there are some obvious errors there. I'm thinking that in Vigen, the area which historically has belonged to Norway, most people speak some sort of a Danish-Norwegian hybrid, which the is consider a dialect of Danish - in addition to a significant minority population of pure Norwegian speakers. This is especially true in the rural areas along the borders. In Skånelandene (OTL Sweden), the majority is Danish-speaking, but with some minority Swedish-speaking population. The map, supposedly made by the Danish National Survey, has all place-names in standardised modern Danish.





Those of you familiar with my maps will know that I am not a big fan of conjuring up large alternative histories (any more), but here is a rough timeline of events which I had in mind when making the map:



The point of divergence is a series of events and developments in the 17th century. The Danes, being economically and militarily stronger than they were in OTL, not only manage to avoid loosing Skånelandene to the Swedes in the 1650s, but are able permanently capture the area around Elfsborg castle, where the Swedes had recently established the town of Göteborg. The area had been harshly contested by the two powers for centuries, and now the castle becomes a mighty fortification withstanding further Swedish assaults.



After a series of skirmishes in Skånelandende, the Swedes failed to recapture the area around Elfsborg castle including Göteborg. However, they make a successful invasion of Norway and occupy Trøndelag. The Treaty of Elvsborg was signed in 1665, where the Swedes formally ceded Göteborg in exchange for Trøndelag. The new Swedish town of Göteborg was renamed Elvsborg in honour of the castle, a name the Danes were more accustomed to.



The treaty was a historical milestone in the political history of the region because from then on, the main geopolitical concern of Denmark became to preserve the territorial integrity of the Danish state in and around Skagerak, and the Swedes marked the beginning of their policy of gaining influence in Norway and the northern parts of Scandinavia. Sweden established a firm hold on Trondheim and Trøndelag during the 1700s and in all practicality the rest of Northern Norway. The Danes even agreed to allow Swedish and Trønder merchants to trade with Northern Norway which firmly attached the area to Sweden economically. Finally in 1781, Denmark was forced to sign an agreement with Sweden on the threat of war, that the whole of Northern Norway was considered part of the Swedish crown. The Swedes never made any effort to force political rule in Northern Norway, as the area was by then administered from Trondheim. This division of Norway would have a huge impact on Norwegian society. Norwegian nationalism developed late and struggled to materialise. The elite in Christiania was increasingly loyal to the Danish court, the elite of Trondheim was firmly attached to the Swedes and the rest of Norway was rural and isolated. Only in and around Bergen did Norwegian nationalism materialise to any real extent.



Denmark and Sweden found themselves in opposing camps during the Napoleonic Wars but did not engage in any huge decisive battles. Even despite the British seizure of the Danish fleet, the Danes managed to keep quite a tight grip on Southern Norway logistically because of the land route through Skånelandene. Drafting the 1814 Treaty of Kiel, the Great Powers decided that Denmark would cede Norway to the Swedes in compensation for the Swedes relinquishing control of Finland to Russia. This caused much militancy in and around Christiania, but instead of there being a national uproar (somewhat like what happened in OTL), the local elite rallied around the cause of remaining with Denmark. When Swedish troops invaded Eastern Norway the local regiments resisted with military action, supported by Copenhagen. In order to avoid further bloodshed, the Danes, Swedes and the Great Powers agreed that Christiania and the adjacent provinces would remain within Denmark, while the rest of Norway would join a union with Sweden. These provinces were Akershus amt, Smålenenes amt, Bratsberg amt within Akershus stiftamt and the Duchies of Jarlsberg and Larvik. For practical purposes, some parishes in the far eastern corner of Buskerud amt were also included. This area would become known by the historical name Vigen (Viken in Norwegian), and kept the same constitutional relationship with Copenhagen that Norway had had until then.



During the 1800s, Norwegian nationalism grew in and around Bergen, and increasingly in Trøndelag as well. The Danes and the local elite in Christiana kept a somewhat loose policy of exiling national dissidents out of Vigen, most of whom were welcomed in Bergen and Trondheim. Eventually, Norway gained full independence from Sweden in 1919. Vigen, however, remained part of the Danish Kingdom and was increasingly danishized.



In 1864, the Danes lost Holstein to the Prussians in the Dano-Prussian War and Iceland received full sovereign status within the Danish kingdom in 1918. With the constitutional reform of 1925, the Duchy of Slesvig, Vigen and the Faeroe Islands became a fully integrated part of Denmark while Greenland remained a colony. In 1944, Iceland became an independent state, the Faeroe Islands gained home rule with a special status in 1948 and Greenland became an integrated part of Denmark in 1959.



EDIT: Fixed spelling errors, edited bottom text and edited paper-like effect.

IMAGE DETAILS Image size 5485x6182px 47.71 MB Show More

Published : May 24, 2018