Ministry of Defence (Denmark)

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Forsvarsministeriet

Coat of Arms of the Danish Forsvarsministeriet
Established May 27, 1950
Activated October 1, 1950
Defence Minister Søren Gade
Budget (2005) 19,1 billion DKK
Employees 130 civilian
~30.000 military
Webpage www.fmn.dk
Ministry of Defence in Holmens Kanal with the Ministry of Social Affairs on the right

The Ministry of Defence of Denmark (Danish: Forsvarsministeriet, short FMN) is a ministry in the Danish government. It is charged with overall planning, development, and strategic guidance of the entire area of responsibility of the Danish Defence minister, including the armed forces and the emergency management sector. It is the secretariat of the Danish Defence Minister.

[edit] History

The Ministry of Defence was established following the Danish defence law of May 27, 1950 (law #272), about the central structure of the military of Denmark. This combined the two previous ministries; Ministry of War (Krigsministeriet) and the Marine ministry (Marineministeriet). The Minister of Defence had already been created in 1905 as the head of both ministries, though still with branch (Army and Navy) chiefs as administrators.

This new Ministry can though trace its history back to 1660, when King Frederick III established a War collegium (Krigskollegium) for the Army to in both war- and peacetime to administrate the Army. A similar command had previously been created for the Navy, the Admiralty (Admiralitetet) of 1655.

The War collegium changed name to Krigskancelliet in 1679 and later to Generalitets- og Kommisariatskollegiet. The day after the de facto end to absolute monarchy in Denmark, March 21, 1848, Anton Frederik Tscherning became the first War minister of Denmark, with the Generalitets- og Kommisariatskollegiet changing name into the Ministry of War on March 25, 1848. Likewise Adam Wilhelm Moltke became the first Marine minister (simultaneous Prime minister), while the Admiralty changed into the Marine ministry on April 21, 1848.

[edit] Departments and areas of responsibility