Schleswig

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This article is about the region of Schleswig on the German/Danish border. For the city of the same name see : Schleswig (city). There is also Schleswig, Iowa, in the United States of America.
Schleswig prior to its partition (also encompassing Ribe as well as the Baltic islands of Fehmarn and Ærø, identified as 9a and 4b, respectively).
Schleswig prior to its partition (also encompassing Ribe as well as the Baltic islands of Fehmarn and Ærø, identified as 9a and 4b, respectively).
Sønderjylland 1918
Sønderjylland 1918
The contemporary transnational Euroregion Sønderjylland-Schleswig covers most of historical Schleswig.
The contemporary transnational Euroregion Sønderjylland-Schleswig covers most of historical Schleswig.

Schleswig or South Jutland (Danish: Sønderjylland or Slesvig; German: Schleswig; Low German: Sleswig; North Frisian: Slaswik or Sleesweg; Dutch: Sleeswijk) is a region covering the area about 60 km north and 70 km south of the border between Germany and Denmark. The region is also known archaically in English as Sleswick.

The area's traditional significance lies in the transfer of goods between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, connecting the trade route through Russia with the trade routes along Rhine and the Atlantic coast (see also Kiel Canal).

[edit] History

Schleswig formed part of the historical Lands of Denmark as Denmark unified out of a number of petty chiefdoms in the 8th to 10th centuries. During the early Viking Age, Hedeby - Scandinavia's biggest trading centre - was located in this region which is also the location of the Danevirke. This construction, and in particular its great expansion around 737 has been interpreted as an indication of the emergence of a unified Danish state.[1]

During the 10th century, ownership over the region between the Eider River and the Danevirke became a matter of dispute between the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark, resulting in several wars. In 974, Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor concluded a successful campaign by erecting a fortress, which was however razed by Sweyn Forkbeard in 983.[2] In 1027, Conrad II and Canute the Great settled their mutual border at the Eider.[3] In 1115, king Niels created his nephew Canute Lavard - a son of his predecessor Eric I - Earl of Schleswig, a title used for only a short time before the recipient began to style himself Duke.[4] In 1230s, Southern Jutland (Duchy of Slesvig) was allotted as an appanage to Abel Valdemarsen, Canute's great-grandson, a younger son of Valdemar II of Denmark. Abel, having wrested the Danish throne to himself for a brief period, left his duchy to his sons and their successors, who pressed claims to the throne of Denmark for much of the next century, so that the Danish kings were at odds with their cousins, the dukes of Slesvig.

Feuds and marital alliances brought the Abel dynasty into a close connection with the German Duchy of Holstein by the 15th century. The latter was a fief subordinate to the Holy Roman Empire, while Schleswig remained a Danish fief. These dual loyalties were to become a main root of the dispute the between German states and Denmark in the 19th century, when the ideas of romantic nationalism and the nation-state won popular support (see "Das Lied der Deutschen"). The title Duke of Schleswig was inherited in 1460 by the hereditary kings of Norway who also regularly were elected kings of Denmark simultaneously, and their sons (contrary to Denmark which was not hereditary). (This was an anomaly - a king holding a ducal title, which he as king was the fount of and its liege lord - the title and anomaly survived presumably because it was already co-regally held by the king's sons.)

Conflict between Denmark and German states over Schleswig and Holstein led to the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the 19th century. Denmark attempted to integrate the Duchy of Schleswig into the Danish kingdom in 1848, leading to an uprising of ethnic Germans who supported Schleswig's ties with Holstein. The Kingdom of Prussia intervened and defeated Denmark in the resulting First War of Schleswig, but was forced to return Schleswig and Holstein under pressure from the Austrian and Russian Empires.

Denmark again attempted to integrate Schleswig in 1864, but the German Confederation defeated the Danes in the Second War of Schleswig. Prussia and Austria respectively assumed administration of Schleswig and Holstein under the Gastein Convention of 14 August 1865. However, tensions between the two powers culminated in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, in which victorious Prussia annexed Schleswig and Holstein, creating the province of Schleswig-Holstein.

Two referenda held in 1920 resulted in the partition of the region. Northern Schleswig joined Denmark, whereas Central Schleswig voted to remain a part of Germany. In Southern Schleswig no referendum was held as the likely outcome was apparent. The name Southern Schleswig is now used for all of German Schleswig.

Nowadays, both parts cooperate as a Euroregion.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Michaelsen, Karsten Kjer, "Politikens bog om Danmarks oldtid", Politikens Forlag (1. bogklubudgave), 2002, 87-00-69328-6, pp. 122-123 (Danish)
  2. ^ Danmarkshistoriens hvornår skete det, Copenhagen: Politiken, 1966, p. 51 (Danish)
  3. ^ Meyers Konversationslexikon, 4th edition (1885-90), entry: "Eider" [1](German)
  4. ^ Danmarkshistoriens hvornår skete det, Copenhagen: Politiken, 1966, p. 65 (Danish)
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