Bismarck's Rise: Schleswig Wars 1848-1864

[@realtimehistory]

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[@Angrymuscles]

Great work as always, I learned a lot and I'm hungry for more. But I have a singing tip for you Jessie. Don't give up your day job.

[@waltervondervogelweide]

8:38 the Paulskirchenverfassung (which you revere to) explicitly sets the borders at the borders of the German confederation (with caveat about Schleswig) which includes the Austrian lands, later in the constitution by the seat contipution for the reichsrat (representation of the single states in the empire) Austria is explicitly mentioned

[@Jon.A.Scholt]

I didn't realize Jesse had such a lovely singing voice!

[@jessealexander2695]

@@Angrymuscles I have no illusions, not to worry.

[@olexandrs6639]

Hi! I have one question. U said that Danes broke the status quo and tried to annex duchies breaking the international law (agreements) thus why did u said then that it was Prussia who initiated the war? plus danes refused reasonable split of Schleswig based on ethnic groups during the war and chose to war one more time.

[@billkallas1762]

I had a Great Grandfather who Danish, and was also in the Prussian Army in the early 1860's He enjoyed Army life because it was a time of peace. When the Schleswig War was ready to start, he decided that he didn't want to shoot any Danes and didn't want any of them trying to shoot at him. He deserted, got on a ship, and eventually worked his way to Chicago.

[@element4element4]

That's really interesting. I believe that most danish immigration to the US happened around this time and after the war.

[@shaquille.oatmeal.9623]

That’s really interesting

[@jatojo]

Highly interesting.

[@thunderbird1921]

Utterly fascinating. Believe it or not, at least one of my family's ancestors was Prussian and immigrated to the US (with his wife IIRC) in 1866. We've wondered for some time if it was at least partially because he did not want to fight in the ugly Austro-Prussian War that happened that year. Since the war was controversially against fellow German peoples, a number were very upset or even opposed to it (Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia felt it was absolutely immoral and comparable to killing one's own family members, but his father Wilhelm I and Bismarck overruled him). Therefore, he might have been in a similar situation to your Great Grandfather. Eventually, descendants of that couple made their way to the Iowa farmland, where they met some of my other ancestors.

[@danielramirez1529]

@@thunderbird1921 sounds like your ancestors got out at the right time by 1866. There was that war with Austria and then 4 years later, the war with France which I believe was more bloodier than the former.

[@bjarkeeiler2649]

As a Dane, this is really great work! I am happy that this is told in such a way, that is it only the bare historical facts that is important. Despite the troubled history, Denmark and Germany today are very close allies, and close to the border there is still many Germans in Denmark and Danes in Germany. I hope that this close relationship always will exist.

[@TacitusSempronius]

Fun fact: The Danish minority has an MP in the Bundestag.

[@paulpaulsen7309]

"I hope that this close relationship always will exist.", ... as a German, born in Flensburg and living near by, I see it the same as you do 👍...

[@bjarkeeiler2649]

@@paulpaulsen7309 Danes have always been closely knitted with Germans. Danish is by far the most german influenced language i Scandinavia. Danish mentality is also very similar to German, liberalism, order, social justice etc. Danish culture are also historically heavy influenced by German culture: music, science, religion and in litterature. A bad relationship between us is from a historical standpoint: idiotic.

[@gooseX00]

Greetings from flensburg:)

[@szaarth4954]

I lobe denmark🇲🇦🇲🇦🇩🇰🇩🇰❤️❤️

[@manfredgrieshaber8693]

During the war of 1864 the 80 years old General von Wrangel was the commander in chief of the prussian army. This old man was so confused and so doting he couldn't overlook the military operations so the army was led by his junior officers. Soon afterwards some nasty jokes were told in the streets of Berlin. Here's one example: In the morning General von Wrangel mounts his horse in the wrong way. A soldier comes up and tells the General that he is sitting on his horse in the wrong direction. The General angrily replies: Shut up you bugger, you don't know in which direction I want to ride also I can turn around my horse at any time.😂💥

[@jakobole]

General von Wrangel - that's a name I haven't heard in a long time :)

[@rennor3498]

Well, Wrangle was born during the reign of Frederick the Great, and got to see the German unification. By all means his life must have been pretty fulfilling.

[@H3LLS3NT4SS4SS1N]

German “comedy” at its finest 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@todortodorov940]

But he won the war - that's all that counts.

[@OmmerSyssel]

Anyone even half familiar with horsemanship will know that story is utter bullshit.. But who cares, if it finally brings a German to smile 🤷🏼

[@ane-louisestampe7939]

What a pleasure to get Danish history through foreign eyes. It's not an opportunity given often. And then from such a sober and competent source. Thank you very much!

[@jesperrasksuldrup1541]

so true

[@paulpaulsen7309]

... well, ... grew up and went to school in Flensburg , I have to say that these conflicts were not really dealt intensively at school, ... or I was roaming around somewhere else that day 😁, ... all the better now, 50 years later, learning more on that ...

[@trueKENTUCKY]

What?

[@kasperh6287]

Having a host that can properly pronounce names and locations is such a delight. Kudos to Jesse for being able pronounce Danish names without suffering a stroke in the tongue.

[@mortenfrosthansen84]

Perhaps Fredericia could be improved upon

[@NicolasMogensen]

Considering Danish pronounciation is extremely difficult to get right, he did a very decent job. Gluttal stops, silent letters, weak v hard consonants, 3 special Nordic vowels and the Danish special laryngisation make Danish one of the most difficult languages to achieve native speaker level in. Grammatically it's not as complicated as the Romantic languages but some things are really complicated, like gender assignment of words which has few rules and standards but the modifiers can kill you unless you've got it down pat.

[@ianmoriarty2199]

To anyone interested in more, I strongly recommend watching the miniseries '1864'. It is a dramatized retelling of the events of the second war. The production level is amazing, the acting stellar, and the fact that everyone speaks their native languages instead of just English, is particularly appreciated.

[@llkdk]

The series actually caused a huge scandal in Denmark because of its low levels of historical accuracy and heavy handed politization from a ostensibly neutral state producer. Would not recommend as a historical series, only as a drama one.

[@janwacawik7432]

That send-off was epic. Whoever came up with it is a genius. Jesse's delivery was superb, too.

[@jessealexander2695]

Why thank you.

[@jackstarr4726]

My ancestors left the current Denmark/Germany border region & emigrated to New Zealand after that war. They were Danes who spoke German. They sailed out from Hamburg. The resulting border change made it that our family were split on both sides of the border.

[@samsongarner1741]

Really well done as always. I watched a dramatic mini series covering the 1864 war several years ago, called "1864". It's nice to learn the real history behind the dramatized events. Thank you Jesse!

[@paulinelarson465]

I am 72, so old and my father was 52 when I was born, he was born in 1897 Aarhus, Denmark, the last of a dozen kids. I watched that mini-series and my grandchildren are still not totally convinced that my Danish grandparents (long gone) were young children during that conflict ! ! How close we are to world events that feel like "History" !

[@buddhasattva]

@@paulinelarson465 po raz

[@buddyroeginocchio9105]

Yes, the movie 1864 was very entertaining and was a superb mini series; but history? About equal to the average American western movie.

[@yj4003]

V

[@williamberry8895]

At the same time across the Atlantic the USA was fighting a civil war. It ended in 1865 but the north and south have an iffy relationship to this day

[@Tom_Quixote]

The history of Denmark is like a Risk player starting out by rolling a lot of sixes, and then suddenly a whole lot of ones.

[@theq4602]

at least they have lego to subsidize the whole country LMAO

[@Ggeorgiev89]

the next century turned better for the Danish though. German imperialism ended with a Soviet flag on the Reichstag

[@SStupendous]

@@Ggeorgiev89 What you mean to say is that it turned better nearly half the century in, but yeah

[@jesperrasksuldrup1541]

And still we are here :0) The only heartland we lost was southern Sweden. Since the Middle Ages, Schleswig and Holstein have been self-propelled areas under the power of the Danish king. Norway our twin was a subsurface for about 500 years

[@murrayscott9546]

Outch !

[@AndreasNoelle]

Eine hervorragende Dokumentation. Fundiert, detailreich dargestellt, aber trotzdem den weiten politischen Hintergrund spannend erläutert - einfach wow!

[@Rex1987]

Det er godt at dansker og tysker kan dele grænse idag i fred - og at mindretallene begge steder kan tale både dansk og tysk som de frit ønsker. Må der være fred i mange år imellem vores lande :)

[@danishcommander4dk]

​@@Rex1987 jamen jeg kender nogle sydslesviger der siger at de hellere vil være en del af Danmark igen

[@danishcommander4dk]

​@@Rex1987 typisk naiv dansker som ik erkender faren som stadig udgør fra tyskerne og deres AfD 🤦 Har du aldrig læst de tysk- imperialistiske kommentarer som stadig kræver Sønderjylland tilbage?

[@Rabauke84]

I'm from todays german state of Schleswig-Holstein and I always wondered, why so many history channels on KZbin have never made a video about this war, although it had so much impact on Europe! I'm also astonished on why so many claim, that this wasn't part of their education. We had this topic in history and in politics, back in school. The way how we settled down the problems with germans in Denmark and danes in Germany, was also taught to me at the university, because it was seen as some type of benchmark, regarding how to avoid conflicts between majorities and minorities!

[@SaschaBosedesign]

I'm from Kiel and I went to school from the 90's until 2005 and I never heard about this conflict in school. Funny enough I'm living near the Eider now and for 30 years of my life I didn't know that this was a border to denmark since Karl dem Großen. Then I read the Wikipedia- Article about the Eider. :-D

[@OmmerSyssel]

Actually the clever solution of our minority issues became leading example for Slovak/Hungary border conflicts. Locals told they went to DK for inspiration, including a visit to Legoland ... 😁 Apparently an EU project. Skål & Alles Gute 🇩🇪🍻🇩🇰

[@henryreinecke6036]

Fun fact: Two Austrian soldiers lie buried in Wyk auf Föhr on the North Frisian Island of Föhr. They didn’t die in combat, but rather stabbed each other to death over a local girl

[@paulpaulsen7309]

... ok, ... one more is buried in a still existing tomb beside the main road in a small village near Tarp, ... but whether a local girl was also responsible for his death is unknown and not noted on the tombstone ...

[@jinsvunsolved]

​@@paulpaulsen7309 Er ist in der Schlacht gefallen!

[@ThatVeryStrangeMan]

Another oft-forgotten yet important European conflict treated with the clarity and depth we have come to expect from this great channel. Thanks RTH, once again I've learned a lot! 👍

[@nirfz]

I read somewhere that during the battle of Översee/Oversø in 1864 between the danes and austrians, the first official field hospital under the flag of the recently founded red cross was established in the oldest tavern in the area. (The tavern was called "The historic jar / Historischer Krug / Den historiske kro") Many years came past the Överseegasse in Graz and never knew where the name came from. By shear coincidence i read something about this war a few years ago and the name Översee came up. ->Most of the austrian soldiers in that battle had their garrison in Graz, so the city got an alley named after the place of the battle. (Usually roads and alleys here are named after some long gone "celebrity" or a direction it leads to eventually, like vienna or triest, so it's rather unique in that regard)

[@DebatingWombat]

I think the translation is not “The Historic Jar”, but “The Historic Inn”, based your rendition of the German and Danish names.

[@nirfz]

@@DebatingWombat My mistake, i just took the german name and translated into english. Krug means Jar/Jug, and i didn't try to translate the danish name... (I asumed that the words Kro and Krug would mean the same.)

[@DebatingWombat]

@@nirfz No worries, but apparently Krug can also mean something like inn in German and you can still find several examples of such inns called something like Der Alter Krug, as well as a reference to this use of the word on German Wikipedia.

[@xzarx]

Wow that is interesting. Did not know that and I am living so close to these places. Thanks

[@KarlReimerGodt]

Think, I'm going to the well tonight ... #GloryDays by Bruce Springsteen. Kro in Danish is also a 'hook', to go fishing for example. Krumm would be a German word for something bended, curved.

[@zetectic7968]

Looking forward to watching this 😀 Lord Palmerston: Only three people ever really understood the Schleswig-Holstein question. One of them was a German professor and he's gone mad, another was the Prince Consort and he's dead, and the third was myself. And I've forgotten all about it.

[@rheijm9201]

Let s recap..you re saying?

[@Andjac2010]

I love how what most people know about this war is a quote about how no one knows anything about this war.

[@biologicalengineoflove6851]

Thanks again to RTH for so entertainingly filling these gaps in knowledge. I came across these wars on Wikipedia awhile back, but this video makes the complex conflict much easier to understand. Profoundly so, as these frictions persist.

[@OmmerSyssel]

Which frictions are you talking about? These days there is absolutely no tensions between Denmark and Germany, neither on political nor local scale.. Two generations ago you could meet resentments based on their forefathers experienced abuse and oppression, which became refuelled by the German occupation.

[@larsmunch4536]

An excellent video about this period in Danish-German history. Just a few additions: - In March 1848, Frederik 7th had been king for just a few weeks. - In November 1863, Christian 9th had been king for just a few days. - Christian 9th did not want to sign the November constitution, but as a constitutional monarch he was obliged to do it. Also, I don't think, anything was mentioned about the death of king Friederich Wilhelm 4th of Prussia in 1861 without a heir, so he was succeeded by his younger brother, the future emperor Wilhelm 1st. Maybe it is not that important. Fun fact: The famous author Karen Blixen was a descendant of officer Dinesen, mentioned under the battle of Dybbøl. Blixen was the family name of her husband. Before her marriage, her name was Dinesen.

[@muhammadfarhanfadillah32]

Wow way to go real time history covering more wars and historical events that was never being covered in general history. I like the wars and events in 18th & 19th century and I'm looking forward for your next video

[@realtimehistory]

Glad you enjoyed it! And we will cover much more, there will be a roadmap update soon.

[@extrahistory8956]

Gotta love how you're hitting your stride with the "The only KZbin history channel" segments.

[@yrobtsvt]

Danes: "How foolish to attack a sea power on its own coast!" Exceptionally cold winter of 1863-4: "I'm about to end this sea power's whole career"

[@Tom_Quixote]

Our sea power days were ended in 1807.

[@juandeag5194]

@@Tom_Quixote half true. Compared to prussia the danish navy in 1864 was by far superior. Compared to the former rivals of United Kingdom it was a Shell of its former self

[@NicolasMogensen]

Denmark has quite a history of bad winter timing where the navy is of little use. Denmark lost an incredibly important war against Sweden a few hundred years earlier because the Swedes simply marched across the ice, leaving the best navy in Northern Europe at the time entirely useless. The cost ended up being the entirety of East Denmark (Today South-western Sweden).

[@madsl118]

It's so cool to see a high quality video on the wars that shaped the area i live in.

[@ravenfeeder1892]

Great to see this. As someone with family roots in Northern Schleswig this feels very personal.

[@LarsPallesen]

Northern Schleswig/Slesvig - that would be Denmark today ( since the 1920 referendum). Which city or area did he come from?

[@ravenfeeder1892]

@@LarsPallesen near Sonderborg. Yes they were in Germany until 1920. I never met anyone alive during that period, but I've got to presume they kept their Danish traditions alive as I was brought up to be proud of my Danish heritage.

[@OmmerSyssel]

​@@ravenfeeder1892If you learned to be proud of your Danish heritage, it's rather infuriating misplacing Danish Sønderborg in German Schleswig! 😱

[@brianoneil9662]

I just recently discovered that a German ancestor of mine who came to the U.S. in 1848 was actually from Schleswig. I don't know if this war was why he left for the U.S. but it does seem likely.

[@hazzardalsohazzard2624]

I wouldn't be surprised if he was running from the wars in Europe, it's one of the arguments used for America to stay out of WW1. How detailed are his immigration records?

[@T.K.P.]

That is so interesting!

[@alexanderlapp5048]

I have a great great great grandfather who came over about that time as well. He obtained his citizenship in time to vote for Abraham Lincoln. So ironic that Germans came to the United States to avoid war there only to be involved with the U.S. civil war.

[@musicuniverse1356]

There was also a lot of political turmoil in Germany at this time which led to mass migration. This is why Germans are the largest ethnic group in the U.S. still (I think).

[@jesperrasksuldrup1541]

The first war of the Schleswig-Holstein War took place in 1844 so it is not unlikely

[@hansmarheim7620]

I had to pause this video, just to make a comment. This is first class history telling. Thanks a lot for uploading!

[@henrikg1388]

Although being (half-) Danish, I think "Real Time History" is the best of it's crowded field.

[@LarsPallesen]

This was very well told and quite accurate. Thumbs up from a history interested Dane born in Slesvig (Schleswig).

[@thomaspetersen2823]

Great as always. As a Dane with family roots in the northern part of Schlesvig I am interested in this part of history. Alot of the information about the misdoings of the ruling class in the 1850-64 has been toned down alot in Danish history writing and only in recent years information has been highlighted. Am happy that this is not the edited version that was taught for many years in Denmark. The most recent information that was "lost" to history was the fact that the Danish king offered the whole country into the German federation and was rejected was virtually unknown in Denmark until recently. Later on in 1920 the king faced his final defeat when the Eastercrisis of 1920 ended with his defeat as a political entity in Denmark and the peaceful partition of Schlesvig into "Sønderjylland" and Schlesvig. The Eiderdanes had lost entirely.

[@realtimehistory]

the possibility of Denmark joining the German confederation was also news to us

[@thomaspetersen2823]

@@realtimehistory it was only mentioned in the Kings private correspondance to king Leopold and the King of Preussia and The King of Austira and was "hidden/forgotten" German and Danish archives only recently opened up to historians. He seems to have tried 3 times to join the confederation denied by Bismark and the Austrians. It makes for a "fun" counterfactual thinking... what if...

[@unsrescyldas9745]

@@thomaspetersen2823 lmao that would have been wild. could have made some sorta Germanic Empire from there onward.

[@jmccallion2394]

Jesse is a great narrator and this whole programme is how military history telling should go! Please more of the same!

[@julienf2301]

I only knew Schleswig from Victoria 2 (the game). You get it when forming the North German Federation. That's a relatively trivial step, compared to getting Elsass to form the German Empire. Otherwise I had never heard about the Schleswig wars anywhere else, and I had no idea there were two of them.

[@vicbrother]

You don't know about it? It's the first of the three Einigungskriege!

[@Rex1987]

@@vicbrother whats the 3rd war?

[@vicbrother]

@@Rex1987 1. PRussia/Austria vs Danmark 2. Prussia vs Austria (1866) 3. Germany vs France (1870)

[@OmmerSyssel]

​@@vicbrotherThere is nothing like a fast war for a decent Preuße! In our time you went the totally opposite direction to lame pacifism.. Germans always struggle to find a healthy middle way 😆🤷🏼

[@stanleyrogouski]

Interesting that the Battle of Dybbol takes places at the exact same time Grant's Overland Campaign is beginning its final push towards Richmond. The Battle of Dybbol took place on April 18, 1864 the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5, 1864. If you look at the scale of both battles, the Battle of Dybbol is actually pretty small.

[@Ruhrpottpatriot]

Mainly because the Second Schleswig War was a quick stomp by the German states. If you look at the Franco-Prussian War the numbers are about the same size.

[@cravinghibiscus7901]

The size of battle might have been small, but the strategic and political ramifications were immense. There is a world where the "first world war" started in '64

[@Ruhrpottpatriot]

@@cravinghibiscus7901 No, the political ramifications of the Second Schleswig War were pretty minor. Denmark hoped that Russia and/or Great Britain would intervene on their behalf, but that was never going to happen. Russia had to deal with a polish insurrection and needed Prussia for that (not wanted -- needed) and Great Britain simply hadn't enough soldiers to intervene and therefore would only involve herself if France did so, too. Napoleon III however hadn't anything against the war since he hoped to gain compensation later on. The same goes for the Austro-Prussian war. London had no interest, Russia was on the side of Prussia (because Austria didn't support them in the Crimean war and Prussia helped Russia in the polish insurrection a few years earlier). France hoped for land, as did Italy. The real gamechanger was the Franco-Prussian war, but that's... nothing new.

[@Rex1987]

This is what i as a dane only started to see when i became older. History in my danish public school was all about how big of a national truma the war of 1864 was. But considering how few around 2000-4000 people is by a international scale, especially compared to the American civil war, that happend at the same time, the war in 1864 is really a minor war.

[@ohauss]

@@Ruhrpottpatriot But the Franco-Prussian war would never have happened without the Second Schleswig War and the Austro-Prussian War before them. It was the culmination of a long-term development.

[@AndrewH2791]

Another great concise documentary from Real Time History, a pleasure as always.

[@kylianvanhoorn2859]

If anyone is interested in seeing more about this specific topic i(and probably others in this comment section too) highly recommend the 8 part Danish tv serie 1864, it' really immerses you in the time and it has amazing battle scenes too. And also if I'm not mistaken at the time 1864 was also the most expensive European tv series ever made, and i believe you can currently see it on Netflix(might differ depending on what country you're in tho)

[@johnroche7541]

Great TV series and in the end credits it shows the beautiful monument dedicated to the Danish fallen with names inscribed. There is a couple of familiar faces too in the cast. Sorry I dont have names but one of the actors who plays a Prussian soldier came in a wonderful German TV series called "Generation War" which follows a German squad on the Eastern Front. I suppose one could call it a German "Band of Brothers". I would highly recommend it. One of the Danish soldiers was also in a "Game of Thrones". The Danish actor who plays the grizzled veteran soldier comes in Danish police series which have become popular under the title of "Nordic Noir".

[@makutas-v261]

Can't find it

[@johnroche7541]

@@makutas-v261 The series is called "1864" and it is available on DVD. A number of years ago British TV(Channel 4) broadcast this 8 part Danish TV series which came with English TV subtitles.

[@thomasbaagaard]

If one care about actual history, is is a rather bad TVseries, that changes a lot of historical things and make up a lot of things. But visually it look great and much of the military equipment is very well done. Things like orders, formations and tactics have very very little to do with history however.

[@trondeaf]

Use a VPN and change your region to watch region locked content

[@benrlego]

My knowledge of this conflict before today was only a passing reference from a 1960s British TV show called 'The Prisoner' in which the Village teaches a dry version of European history including this war. The irony is that I watched that very scene only 10 hours before this video came up. Their account of it is as follows: Number Two: Who was Bismarck's ally against Danish Prince Christian of Glücksburg? Prisoner: Frederick of Augustenburg. He and the German Bundestag had never accepted the Treaty of London in 1852. Bismarck wanted war, but he wanted it waged by Prussia and Austria in alliance and not by the whole German Bund. He realized that a successful war against the Danes in 1864 would serve the same purpose as Cavour of Italy's entrance into the Crimean War... Both: ... namely that it would indicate future leadership and would at the same time raise Prussia's prestige. I can probably quote 2/3 of the dialogue from that show... Glad to have this timely post on that subject.

[@realtimehistory]

Crimea War will also come early next year on our channel

[@TheRealDerekL]

Hey real time history crew! Hope y'all are well! I was so happy to see this episode up and a new series running! Looking forward to more! P.S. Alex I love the way you read the personal accounts in every series!

[@Artur_M.]

It's great to see you covering this interesting and often overlooked topic. Maybe one day I'll see something of this quality about the Polish national uprisings in 19th century, especially the two major ones: the November Uprising of 1830-1831 and the January Uprising of 1863-1864.

[@realtimehistory]

yeah we could cover them. just need to find an angle for them. Unfortunately the word "Uprising" doesn't do as well as "war" for videos.

[@catriona_drummond]

@@realtimehistory Title suggestion: "The Polish war of independence (that it almost was)"

[@flobuhler9881]

Just visited the museum in Dybbœl on our trip back to germany. I highly recommend it!

[@LarsPallesen]

Dybbøl is in Denmark though 😏

[@JasonSputnik]

Thanks for shedding light on two wars I knew almost nothing about. Besides, Jesse's final singing cracked me up for real!

[@majcorbin]

My mothers ancestor's emigrated to IOWA from this area to escape this war, Our local newspaper was published in German until 1918

[@musicuniverse1356]

Yes. German immigrants were a huge percentage of the US population and there were many German language newspapers, but World War I changed that much like how the British royal family changed its dynasty name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor during World War I.

[@unsrescyldas9745]

should have stayed in German.

[@ELcinegatto87]

Incredible channel. Absolutely love you guys' work. I would love to see a series on the 1877-1878 Russo-Ottoman war which resulted in the freedom and independence of a newly formed Bulgarian state. Also would be interested to see something on the Greek war of independence vs the Ottomans as well. The 19th century was a fascinating time in Europe.

[@tim10243]

I was born and grew up in Husum, less than 50km south of the german-danish border. During my time in school we never had lessons about this period which I hardly can understand because it's such an important issue for the relation between our two countrys still. One the german side it was the first of three wars which were used by Bismark to form our nation and for the danes it seems to be still a tragedy which especialy for the older ones has an impact on their relation to Germany.

[@OmmerSyssel]

Of course past Danish population carried resentments. During two generations they were discriminated, like severely punished for speaking their native language, during WW1 forced to see thousands of their men crippled or dying for a occupying force, which interests no Dane shared.

[@janzanville6401]

Thanks for the history. Now I know why my grandfather got so upset about being called Danish. He spoke German (with a Danish accent!) Family lived on barrier islands 19 km from Denmark.

[@unsrescyldas9745]

It probably wasn't a Danish accent rather Plattdeutsch, which just sounds northern in general. sometimes sounds like English tbh

[@Arltratlo]

i am born 200m south of Denmark!

[@casparcoaster1936]

My oldest son started business (IBM reseller) in 1990s, married Danish girl (major competitor) he did business with, learned Danish, fathered three (my fine Dansk GKs!!) got Dansk citizenship (chucked his US passport).... so thanks very much for helping my Fafa cred!! Really helped me understand why when I mentioned plan to tour Germany to his inlaws, his mother in law said, "Why?"

[@wyndellwind7438]

nice to see coverage from my home "Duchy" ;) - The rebellion was a brutal one, lost 5 men and boys in my family alone. And im German NordSchlewiger. Just tells how brutal the first engagement the Rebels took on against the Danish Army. Its still a proud memory in my family, also German tho also North Frisian (Dutch)

[@noobster4779]

Prussia during this entire conflict to Denmark: "Brave, but foolish, my old northern friend"

[@AL73250]

24:37 - Wilhelm I. of Prussia became Duke of Lauenburg in 1865, Bismarck was given the title in 1890 by Wilhelm II., upon being removed as chancellor. However he refused to carry the title. Also even when he got the title he did not become sovergein of the Duchy, which remained with the Prussian state. Other than that - great video :)

[@muhammadaliffbinmuhammadla7846]

The singing at the end really pure gold. Nothing last forever. 😂

[@derekscott7912]

The delivery of that final 'constitution' was comic genius!

[@johnpoole3871]

These, and the Napeolonic, wars are what turned Denmark from an important European country into an afterthought. Traumatising times for them I would bet.

[@crownprincesebastianjohano7069]

And it can be said in both 1813-1814 and 1864, the King behaved most foolishly, vastly overrating their ability to resist superior forces.

[@larsbundgaard5462]

Growing up in the 80ies and 90ies most of my Danish history classes had more focus on old viking kings and queens and back when Denmark ruled the world. Well technically we didn't but the teachers would pull down these huge maps of the world and show us kids just how big Denmark used to be. 1864 was this weird thing, noone ever really spoke about it. I was pretty old before I heard about the first of the 2 wars this episode is about. The history books kind of let out a lot of information about 1864 the reasons and consequences, as this episode briefly touches upon, with the narrative changing to a Danish state that had been bullied and violated by Prussians/Germans. There are so many new books, television and radio shows these days on this topic. Not only due to the 100 year anniversery for the reunification of some of the area lost in 1864 in 1920. I highly recommend the books by Tom Buk Swienty on the 1864 war. The other stuff I have seen online is in Danish, but there might be more content on youtube that has been translated.

[@luisangelgonzalezmunoz2417]

I watched the 1864 TV show (at least part of it) and what struck me the most was how the danish politicians could be so overconfident of a danish victory, and how beligerant. No doubt nationalism clouded their minds. There was no way they could get a victory over the combined forces of Prussia and Austria. Prussia alone was much more powerful than Denmark. It was a clear case of wishful thinking.

[@vicbrother]

@@luisangelgonzalezmunoz2417 In history it was the time of the golden age danmarks. Greetings from Schleswig-Holstein!

[@michaelsmyth3935]

@@vicbrother I might slide that Golden Age Marker back to Canute and the Northern Sea Empire. In that Era, Denmark was the center of the Northern European World.

[@freesoftwareextremist8119]

I am from Holstein and in grade school we did a lot of Viking stuff too. Kinda weird, I don't think Vikings were really a big thing here.

[@rosie8059]

Interesting. When I was learning danish history in the early 2010s, the War of 1864 was a major part of our curriculum.

[@DeepCrossing1]

First video I’ve seen of this channel, fantastically clean production. The thing I love are the sketches and artist interpretations of battle.

[@theobaldvongoebben234]

A small detail, but it shows, how well-made your documentaries are: The Bismarck-speech you quote at 15:28 is known as „Blut- und-Eisen-Rede“ („Blood And Iron Speech“) in Germany. Its named after Bismarcks famous quote from the end of the excerpt presented in the video. But the quote was misremembered: as correctly shown in the video, Bismarck said „iron and blood“ („Eisen und Blut“), not „blood and iron“ („Blut und Eisen“). So the speech got its name from a misquote and Bismarcks speech is often misquoted until this day. That you got that right shows great attention to detail and how dedicated this Channel is to his work!

[@alexzero3736]

Huh? Does that change anything?

[@roi089]

Danke!

[@tellyonthewall8751]

That is one of the best presentations of the political, royal and wartime turmoil in that area and at that time, that I've seen. Me .. being ½ German ½ Danish, family coming from/living in first Schleswig then Schleswig - Holstein now Nordschleswig (Sønderjylland in my native tongue) through a century or 2, family fighting on both sides in The Great War and WW II, great great? grand father being involved in forming the Danish minded "Nordslesvigsk Vælgerforening" in the late 1800'red ending up over time in SSW today (I should be schizophrenic with all that forth & back) and my family having done history checks on this too looking for ancestors and ancient family, did learn quite a few things here. I can only say, if other presentations are just as well prepared and presented, it is worth with notification, bell and everything

[@jonglewongle3438]

Certainly, Television.

[@OmmerSyssel]

Only a overly patriotic German will label danish Sønderjylland as a part of Nordschleswig... You also lost that region long ago 😉

[@Paul-eb4jp]

I'm English and we were never taught much about European history, so this is really interesting, thanks for this.

[@OmmerSyssel]

You can start with Danelaw, to learn how England became civilised ✌🏻🇩🇰

[@gunnarlund6633]

Excellent video! I am born in the Nothern part of Schleswig - called Sothern Jutland. Because of the referendum in 1920 this land again became Danish. The world could learn a lot from that type of referendum! In WW1 Danish young men from Sothern Jutland were forced to fight on the German side - that applies also to my grandfather.

[@KarlReimerGodt]

As I understand it, the countryside was majority pro-Danish, but the large towns, even Tønder were majority pro-German. As I read, up to 40% of people living in Denmark were of German immigration background, and likely as immigrants do today, those accumulate in the cities, and avoid the land.

[@OmmerSyssel]

​@@KarlReimerGodtonce again you need to study a bit more carefully.. Like megalomaniac RuZZians always tried to influence local minds, Preußen resettled German population to lost Danish territory, simply to influence local population. Those days migration were tough while the majority of work was agriculture dependent on relatively miserable farm land. Like our days workshy migrants most Germans preferred settling in towns, where they created parallel communities. Luckily they weren't obsessed with violence and crime as migrants in our time, but contributed with skilled craftsmanship and intelligence!

[@thecouncilofthirteen2943]

the referendum was allright except for the fact that they divided it into 2 parts, one with small communities and one large in the North, which was a steal because Tondern was a historically german city and was therefore guaranteed to vote to stay german, as did the surrounding countryside. Else it was allright

[@danishcommander4dk]

​@@thecouncilofthirteen2943 Yeah, historically occupied and germanized by Prussia. Historically danish cities would be Flensborg, Slesvig, Egernførde or Rendsborg

[@guleet75]

40% of people living in denmark are of German immigrant background ! Really ?

[@omarzkietero5699]

After watching the series "1864", I was looking for a documentary video about Schleswig war in youtube. Finally, I found this very informative. 👍

[@kjmav10135]

My great grandfather left Flensburg in the 1860s because he didn’t want to fight in Bismarck’s army. He was a Bruhn, and I’m pretty sure he was German speaking for the most part, but we had plenty of Danish names in our family tree.

[@ChrisandKen]

Impressive video and so well-delivered. Much respect and kudos from Denmark!

[@chrisedrev9519]

Thank you, this is the first comprehensive video on the topic that I watch. You guys really upped your game in the last year, and it shows. Awesome work Jessy and Flo! :)

[@Andy_Babb]

Really enjoy this channel. Great story teller and well done… I was bummed not to see some earlier history though lol

[@gualbertochavez211]

This has become one of my favorite history KZbin channels! Thank You for your awesome work Real Time History!

[@knagarnson8805]

Theres not many videos about this topic so im so glad that i found this video!

[@klaesfuglsang6769]

great video on the subject. This whole conflict to me is the end of a 1000years chapter of a complicated border mess that imo has it roots all the way back to Charlamagne and the saxon wars. For just a tldr Schleswig used to be 100% under the danish kingdom, until middle age feudalisme mess that turned Schleswig into a dutchy. Danish monarcs spent decades even centuries to try to get it back. just like Scania denmark lost one of its most developed and prosper regions. leading up to the 19th century conflicts that ended in these 2 wars, was that The British came in 1807 and literally destroyed a close to a 1000 year history identity as a big time naval power in europe. The loss of that identity in the napoleonic wars brought up old "unfinished bussines" in the duthcies that had at least, got along well for over a century was headed up again, and ended up in these 2 wars. Probally the biggest tragedy in all of this is the reduction of denmarks importance in european affairs. Denmark is now seen (atleast it feels like that) as a little kingdom with no big importance in the larger european history (except for being vikings) when that isnt true. Denmark has a very rich and facinating history, that seems to be ignored or forgotten to alot of international audience that interest in european history. when you mention someting big from danish history alot, of people seems schoked or totally unknown. People get the impression that denmark is just an afterthought when it was normally a big player in european politics for most of its history. Well this is alot but this was just my thoughts i wanted to share.

[@stanleyrogouski]

Interesting that these complicated border messes are still going on in Europe. Only difference is they've moved East.

[@michaelverbakel7632]

Almost all the royal houses of Europe today including the British royal family have Danish royal blood running through them.

[@Asbjoern]

@@michaelverbakel7632 Not for nothing that Christiab the 4th was called the grandfather of europe.

[@Masada1911]

Always interesting to hear about a war I never knew happened before I saw this video.

[@ADogNamedStay]

There is a series on this one in particular I believe, it's in Danish though. I've only seen clips when just researching general Prussian history.

[@Rex1987]

one of the lesser know consequences of this war was that due to the fact that southern jylland or "sønderjylland" remaining under german control until 1920, several people that saw themselfs as danes where conacripted into the german army. This meant that there where soldiers that spoke danish and saw themselfs as danes, forght in german uniform during ww1.

[@GabdeVue]

Loved this episode - especially the visual presentation and as always clear structure and contemporary background.

[@dritzzdarkwood4727]

As a Dane, I agree that 1864 is still deeply embedded in the collective national trauma of our people. It forced us to recognize the fact, that being a significant power had been an illusion for at least the past 80-100 years. To lose Schleswig-Holsten(there's no 'i' in the Danish version of 'Holsten') was to lose one's leg.

[@unsrescyldas9745]

There also isn't an "Sch" sound. there actually mostly isn't a Sch sound in Schleswig German dialect either ironically enough, they call it Sleswig as well. In older English it was Sleswick, forgot what Sles meant but Wick means village, we still use it quite a bit in England's place names. the "Sch" was added wrongly in the name, as it is not natural like the "Sch" in Schuss, or Schande, who were originally always there. In anyway what killed Denmark was nationalism and liberalism and a very weak King, Denmark is what Prussia would have become if it succumbed to liberal revolutions and other retardations.

[@OmmerSyssel]

​@@unsrescyldas9745thanks for the enlightening view into the ever present Preußen obsession with conflict and oppression! 😅 How would you as decent conflict obsessed Preuße have lead tiny Denmark to victory against superior Preußen? Btw, our "weak" or sensible(!) King actually paved a peaceful way to a successful democracy, while our ever stubborn neighbours experienced a murderous revolution or two... But what's not to like for a decent warrior caste ☠️🤷🏼

[@Schampu4000]

Happy you lost your leg, they didn't belong to you in the first place. Op ewig ungedeelt! 💙🤍♥️

[@crownprincesebastianjohano7069]

The sad thing is both in 1813 and 1864 the worst could have been avoided by negotiation. Both kings refused to make a deal despite facing vastly superior enemies.

[@CaptainHarlock-kv4zt]

Things that come in my mind when I think of Denmark. A) Their unbelievable 1992 Football National team B) Their Royal family, the Glucksburgs, since it was the Royal Dynasty which ruled in Greece from 1864 until 1974 C) Hans Christian Andersen D) Wellington's horse in waterloo E) Hamlet F) Sindse Babett Knudsen 😍 The last one is enough to know that Denmark is awesome!!!

[@ItsJakeTheBrake]

Funnily enough, Schloss Glücksburg is located in Glücksburg, Germany right next to the danish border

[@CaptainHarlock-kv4zt]

@@ItsJakeTheBrakeThanks for the interesting information. At least.. interesting to me! 😉

[@ernstschloss8794]

Not Danish, nor german nor greek, but you have Corto Maltese as avatar: That clearly shows, you know your stuff bro :)

[@CaptainHarlock-kv4zt]

@@ernstschloss8794 Yes, all of Hugo Pratt's works are great but Corto is really exceptional.

[@Rex1987]

@@ItsJakeTheBrake Sissel barbett Knudsen does star in a fairly important role in a TV show about the war in 1864 🤓

[@carlosn894]

During the Battle of Dybbol when the fighting was most tense and a prussian attack on one of the fortifications has grinded to a halt, prussian pioneer Carl Klinke blasted a hole in the palisade wall of the danish fortifications with a 30-pound powder sack and thus blew himself up with it. Legend says he called out: "Ick bin Klinke. Ick öffne dit Tor." (I am Klinke, i will open this gate). "Klinke" is also the german word for door handle. German poet Theodor Fontane likely spread this legend as he was writing his accounts of the battle as a war correspondent. The late Klinke thus became a war hero and had serveral small monuments erected to honor him.

[@saxoDK_1600]

Thank you very much for this video, you're one of my favorite youtubers. I'm surprised how well you Pronounced the Danish battlefields of the wars, in your Napoleonic series your French pronounciation is also outstanding Please continue on this kind of forgotten historical content :) - Alot of of gratitude from Denmark

[@realtimehistory]

thanks, we're currently looking into covering some pre-20th century topics again. just need to find the budget.

[@saxoDK_1600]

@@realtimehistory No haste, i'm definetely looking forward to it

[@ISawABear]

Yes! Ive wanted to see someone cover these wars since watching the fantastic, if flawed, Danish series "1864"

[@VladderGraf]

For a tv show about love and war, it had some pretty cool battle scenes, especially the battle of Dybbol. Definitely worth watching.

[@Krutamuzyka]

A fantastic subject, very clearly and engagingly explained!

[@SasBald]

Thanks!

[@jonatanvermeersch9546]

First time I watch a video about this war. Always interesting to learn more about history

[@isaactomangrief9158]

The worst thing about a Real Time History/Great War video coming out is that we have to wait so long for the next one. I had just such a hollow feeling upon finishing their excellent video about the Greco-Turkish war, but this they heard my pleas and came out with my favourite teenage topic, the unification of Germany. Praise Jesse and the team! There's an interesting slice of history in the second war, where Prussia made a very costly attack against a Danish fort in order to match their war record with the Austrians, who up until that time had performed much better. Interesting counter-veiling evidence to the narrative of Prussia's march to unification by military excellence

[@realtimehistory]

that cadance of episodes works best for our small team currently. we're always thinking whether it would be possible to have two video a month on the channel, but we don't know yet how to do that especially considering some limited resources like Jesse's voice which can only record so much in a day

[@isaactomangrief9158]

@@realtimehistory No worries folks, it was meant as a compliment, not a complaint!

[@ronnyb9416]

Excellent. My quest to learn as much history as possible is happening on Real Time History

Very nice Video. I learned a lot Was expecting the outtro line to be "The only KZbin channel that know all about the Schleswig-Holstein question and hast forgotten any of it!"

[@gwaptiva]

I've lived in the Duchy of Lauenburg for over a decade now, and it's so rare that you find out anything about its "Danish" past. Don't think anyone here actually spoke Danish, though. Bismarck's estate is a brisk walk away from here and I really oughtta go visit it some day.

[@MegaShens]

Recently visited Sønderborg/Sonderborg Castle which has a great exhibit about the history of the area and the lose of Slesvig had on Denmark. For example a lot of Danes living in the area where forced to fight on the German side in WW1.

[@RailfanDownunder]

Fascinating.... Interesting and informative on a subject I knew nothing of - thanks for posting - much appreciated

[@kingmichealthefirstofroman2278]

Finally someone is covering our more obscure part of Danish history

[@haisheauspforte1632]

I don't think it is obscure, it is one of the most important events in Danish history! It created Denmark as we know it today

[@josephtriola9053]

Jesse, when it comes to singing, you're a great historian.

[@SirWilliamKidney]

This video is a nice prequel to one RTH series and sequel to the other! For anyone interested, KZbin channel Historia Civilis is doing a great series on the Vienna Conference which set the stage for many of the events in this video. Great job as always! Much love for Jessie

[@jessealexander2695]

Thanks!

[@extrahistory8956]

Not to mention a great set up to the Austro-Prussian War.

[@donlars1]

Excellent as always! The Danish guy approves.

[@lluisbosch2683]

Great documentary, enjoyed every minute of it. And a wonderful historical complement to understand the politics behind the Danish drama series "1864"

[@jamesbay115]

Palmerston’s best quote hands down

[@GizmoDuck_1860]

Excellent video. Thank you. This conflict first came to my attention in the novel Britannia's Innocent by Antoine Vanner. I've been learning about it here and there since.

[@Rex1987]

great video as an overview of this interesting but strange conflict that many still dont understand - like Palmerson said. As a dane i can also give more info that might not be covered in this video: this war meant that people from southern jylland or "sønderjylland" took part in ww1 on the german side even if they felt themselves as danes. And Denmark was neutral during ww1. one of the lesser know consequences of this war was that due to the fact that southern jylland or "sønderjylland" remaining under german control until 1920, several people that saw themselves as danes where conacripted into the german army. This meant that there were soldiers that spoke danish and saw themselves as danes, forght in german uniform during ww1. Also that Adolph Wilhelm Dinesen who is quted here had a son called Wilhelm Dinesen. Both father and son served in the war of 1864. The son as officer in the 8th brigade. Wilhelm Dinesen (the son) has a pretty intering story. He even serves as a officer during the Franco-Prussian War. He joins up with the french army - and stays with it until the parsian commone happens. He writes the only danish eyewitness account of the Paris commune, Paris under Communen (1873) He ends up migrating to the US living as a hunter and has his share of adventures there.

[@benzo4504]

Real Time History strikes again with a brilliant documentary! The quality of your videos is at another level. Keep it up! PS Are you planning on a video from the 1792-1815 timeline soon?

[@extrahistory8956]

A video on the Seventh Coalition is coming sometime in November or December.

[@guilhermesbm]

Part of my ancestor were danes and they imigrated to Brazil in 1870-1873 (we dont know exacly). They lived in a City which was danish, propably the integration of the region to the German confederetion and the affects of the war propably made they flee the region.

[@LuisAldamiz]

I had two deja vu moments watching this video: first when listening to what the old English politician said, this one probablye because it was also mentioned in a previous episode. The second one was when I realized how similar are in many ways 19th century Schleswigh-Holstein and 21st century Ukraine. The latter one is which troubled me the most.

[@jespercarlsen3976]

The excuse for the 1864-war was not actually the breach of the London agreement, but rather the breach of a bilateral sub-agreement outside the London conference

[@Carewolf]

And it was Prussia and Austria that intervened. The German Confederation didnt care, and didnt consider it a breech.

[@murrayscott9546]

A little known ( to me, at least ) conflict with so many important consequences. Thanks, team, for a well put together piece of enlightenment !

[@hannahskipper2764]

Better late than never! Finally got to watch this. Great job.

[@brickproduction1815]

19:22 I recognised that iconic painting!

[@zammy7155]

Every time a big battle is about to begin Exceptionally cold winter: Hello there

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Excellent introducing of this informative Episode (allot thanks) I appreciate this Hard work too much ...always (Real Time History ) introducing amazing Historical enlightening episodes & Sufficiently introducing Political Backgrounds with essential Documentaries

[@carztendk]

As a dane I found it very interesting to hear this story from a german perspective. I think the greatest tragedy was the danish stance not to give up the southern part of Schleswig. It could have saved a lot of pain, if the danish government had done that prior to 1864. Fun Fact. If you think the eyewitness account from Wilhelm Dinesen are well written, it might be something that runs in his family. His daughters name is Karen Blixen...

[@vespelian]

My great, great, great, great grandfather was wounded at the battle of Dybol, later emigrating to Tasmania from where he petitioned the Danish government for a pension.