Scandinavia’s Holy War

Abstract

On the surface of things, Scandinavia might appear as a quiet corner during Europe’s years of revolution in 1848–1849. Yet, as this chapter demonstrates, beneath this surface was a cauldron of constitutional and national issues that raised fundamental questions about Scandinavia’s future. As the end of absolutism and a regime change in Denmark, along with a rebellion in Schleswig and Holstein, brought Denmark into a national war with the German Confederation, Sweden-Norway nearly joined into the fray in what many anticipated would turn into a Scandinavian war of unification. Although political disturbances in Sweden and Norway were relatively minor compared to elsewhere in Europe, Scandinavianist currents had grown influential, and a variety of considerations—including a prospect for dynastic union—made King Oscar I decide, with consent from his parliaments, to intervene in the First Schleswig War. However, no sooner had Sweden-Norway made this leap than Britain and Russia, the latter being a formidable opponent of Scandinavian unification took steps to end the war. The revolutions of 1848–1849 were nevertheless a window of opportunity for Scandinavianism, albeit one limited by structural inhibitions. Still, as this chapter shows, the events of 1848–1849 were monumental to the Scandinavianist movement and would prove crucial in determining the movement’s future course of development and action.