AT the death of Frederick V., his son Christian, who was hardly seventeen years of age, ascended the throne; and, shortly afterward, married the fifteen year old Caroline Mathilde, a sister of the English king, George III. Christian led a most dissipated life, eventually resulting in insanity. In 1768 the king made a journey abroad, during which his body physician, the German free-thinker, Johan Frederick Struensee, became his dearest favorite, and got him completely under his influence. Upon their return the king’s old counsellors, including the experienced and deserving Bernstorf, were discharged and replaced by a privy council, in which the strong and ambitious Struensee soon became the real master. By the influence which he had gained over the debilitated, and at times insane, king, and the queen, he succeeded [Pg 287]in reaching the highest positions. He was made a count and prime minister and became an almost absolute ruler, the cabinet orders being given the force of royal commands simply by being signed by Struensee. His power lasted only sixteen months; but during this time he introduced many reforms, which were in themselves commendable, but, in many cases, came too abruptly and without preparation. On account of the violent changes, and his contempt for the Danish language and customs, he soon had many enemies, chief among whom was the queen-dowager, Juliana Maria, who wished to get her son, the king’s half-brother, Prince Frederick, into power. With the aid of the prince’s teacher, the learned Ove Hoeg Guldberg, she formed a conspiracy against Struensee and obtained the signature of the insane king to an order for his arrest, together with that of others. On the night of January 17, 1772, after a ball at the palace, Queen Caroline Mathilde, Struensee, Count Brandt, and others, were arrested. The queen was imprisoned at Kronborg, and afterward at Celle, Hanover, where she died in her twenty-fourth year (1775). The others were accused of high treason and condemned to death. Struensee was cruelly executed, April 28, 1772.

During the following twelve years (1772-1784) Prince Frederick’s teacher, Ove Guldberg, virtually conducted the government, and this period has therefore been called the Guldberg period. A great many of Struensee’s reforms were revoked, and former rules were re-established. The liberty of the press, which Struensee had granted, was curtailed and a censorship again introduced. The plan of establishing a university in Norway, which had been promised, was given up. Everything was now to be “Danish,” even Norway. Guldberg even wished to abolish the very name of Norwegian, and wrote: “No Norwegian exists; all are citizens of the Danish state.”

Many of the strong men, whom Struensee had made use of, were removed, and mediocrity was again raised to dignity. In spite of the large revenues which flowed into the treasury during the flourishing commercial period, the public debt, which had been reduced to sixteen millions, rose to twenty-nine millions. Still, there are some things to the credit of the Guldberg ministry. Thus the foreign minister, Andreas Bernstorf, by his negotiations, succeeded in removing any cause for conflict with the powerful Russia, when the Russian grand-duke, Paul, relinquished his part of Holstein to the king of Denmark, in return for Oldenborg and Delmenhorst. On February 15, 1776, the so-called native right was published, an ordinance providing that hereafter only native citizens could be appointed to office under the government. Finally, it was ordained that the Danish language should be used both in the army and as a business language.

During the long period of peace (since 1720) Norway had made great progress in commerce, shipping and population. The population, which, in 1660, was only 450,000, had reached about 723,000 in 1767, and the merchant marine had grown from fifty to 1,150 ships, many of them large and engaged in trade with distant countries. The peasant class had advanced considerably, as a consequence of the sale of the estates of the crown in order to raise revenue; the number of freeholders was now nearly double that of the tenant farmers. The officials sent their sons to be educated at the University of Copenhagen, so that the country was gradually furnished with a native class of officials, who could replace the Danish and advocate the cause of their countrymen.

In 1784 Crown Prince Frederick was confirmed, and immediately took charge of the government as regent for his insane father. He had the sense to surround himself with able counsellors, and the foremost among them was Andreas Bernstorf, a nephew of the elder Bernstorf. While he was at the head of the government (1784-1797), the united countries had happy and prosperous days. He succeeded in maintaining an honorable neutrality, while the French Revolution, which commenced in 1789, shook Europe and involved nearly all the countries of Europe in war. Much was done for Norway during this period. The trade of Finmarken was made free, and the cities of Tromsoe, Hammerfest and Vardoe were founded. In order to expedite judicial matters four superior courts were established, and, in order to avoid litigation as much as possible, courts of conciliation were introduced in all parts of the country.

During Bernstorf’s administration, Norway was involved in a short war with Sweden, the Swedish king, Gustavus III., having attacked Russia, whereupon the Russian empress, Catherine II., demanded, according to agreement, an attack upon Sweden by Denmark. A Norwegian army of 10,000 men, under Prince Charles of Hesse, invaded Sweden in the fall of 1788, and, after some successful encounters, marched against Gothenburg; but an armistice was concluded, which was changed into a convention, November 5th, the Norwegians agreeing to retire from Sweden.

England continued the war with France with great vigor, and, in order to weaken the enemy as much as possible, raised the point with neutral powers that meat, flour and grain must be considered as contraband of war, and should not, therefore, be shipped to France or any other enemy of England. In order to protect their commerce, Denmark-Norway then, in 1800, together with Russia and Sweden, renewed the so-called “Armed Neutrality,” which, through the untiring efforts of Andreas Bernstorf, had been agreed upon in 1780, based upon the principle that “free ship carries free cargo.” After an unsuccessful attempt, through negotiations, to persuade Denmark to withdraw from this alliance, England declared war against her, and sent a fleet, under the command of Admirals Parker and Nelson, to Oere Sound. On April 2, 1801, a battle was fought in the roadstead of Copenhagen. Although the Danish and Norwegian sailors defended themselves with great bravery, they finally had to yield to superior force. An armistice was concluded, which, at the death of the Russian emperor, Paul, ended with a peace, by which Denmark consented to withdraw from the Armed Neutrality.

The country now enjoyed peace until 1807, when a new war with England broke out. At the peace of Tilsit, July 7, 1807, Emperor Napoleon and Alexander I. of Russia made certain arrangements of European affairs with a view to helping Napoleon in his conflict with England. Russia was to be allowed to conquer Finland from Sweden, and Napoleon was to take possession of the Danish fleet, by means of which he might dispute the dominion of England at sea. Although this agreement was to be kept strictly secret, the English government, in some way, heard of it, and decided to anticipate the action of Napoleon. A strong fleet was sent to Copenhagen, where the British commanders demanded that Denmark should surrender its fleet to England, where it was to remain until peace was concluded between England and France. The demand was answered by the Danish minister, who protested that there was no cause for it, since Denmark had no idea of letting Napoleon have the fleet. The British, however, would not listen to any assurances of Denmark’s peaceful attitude. An army of about 38,000 men was landed and defeated the Danish force outside of Copenhagen, which, all told, hardly amounted to 10,000 men. Thereafter preparations were made for bombarding the city. The bombardment commenced on September 2d and lasted for three days. During this bombardment the cathedral and three hundred and five other buildings were burned, and 1,200 buildings were, more or less, damaged. Valuable libraries, and collections of art and other valuable property, were destroyed by fire, 1,100 soldiers and citizens were killed and eight hundred wounded. The Danes had to surrender their whole fleet, which was then brought to England. The English government now gave Denmark the choice between three conditions: neutrality, an alliance, or war. In case of war Denmark was threatened with destruction of the Danish and Norwegian merchant marine, the occupation of Copenhagen by the Swedes, and, possibly, the forcible transfer of Norway to England’s ally, Sweden. Crown Prince Frederick answered that, after what had taken place, peace was impossible, and so the war was continued, Denmark entering into a close alliance with France.

When it became difficult to maintain communication between Norway and Denmark, the Danish government, in August, 1807, established a “Government Commission” for Norway, consisting of Prince Christian August of Augustenborg as chairman, “Stiftamtmand” Gerhard Moltke, Justice Enevold Falsen, and Chamberlain Marcus Rosenkrantz. Prince Christian August was commander of the troops in the southern part of Norway, having been appointed as such in 1805. He was greatly beloved by the Norwegians. After having performed its arduous duties for three months, the commission lost its ablest member, Enevold Falsen, whose body was found in the bay, November 17, 1807. His health had been greatly impaired, and he had probably been driven to suicide by his sufferings. While performing his duties on the Government Commission, he also edited the journal “Budstikken,” in which he did much to arouse and maintain the courage and perseverance of the people. He was succeeded, in January, 1808, by Count Herman Wedel Jarlsberg, who had gained the high respect of his countrymen by the zeal and vigor which he had shown in his efforts to provide the famine-threatened country with the necessary grain by importation from Denmark, which numerous British cruisers tried to prevent.