Scandinavianism During the Crimean War

This chapter begins with the Treaty of London in 1852 to end the First Schleswig War (1848–1851) and ends with the conclusion of the Crimean War in 1856. It discusses the controversial instalment of Prince Christian of Glücksburg as heir presumptive to the childless Danish King Frederick VII and the constitutional and national struggles that bedevilled the Danish state after 1852, and accounts for the changing face of the Scandinavianist movement following their disappointment at the outcome of the war. However, the war had brought the Scandinavianists and royal houses closer together, a relationship that was rekindled when King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway looked to bring his realm into the Crimean War. This presented a major opportunity for the unification of Scandinavia, only for the sudden conclusion of the war in early 1856 to get in the way. Still, the first half of the 1850s had witnessed Scandinavianism going from disappointment to being endorsed by several leading politicians and officials in all three Scandinavian countries, to say nothing of the royal houses. The chapter shows how Scandinavianism had also expanded its base and become more ideologically flexible through the embrace by such diverse circles as conservative Swedish aristocrats and democratically minded Danish agrarian nationalists. Like many nationalists elsewhere in Europe, the Scandinavianists readied themselves to seize opportunities offered by Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War and the shattering of the international system established at the Congress of Vienna. Indeed, in 1857–1858 Scandinavian unification was brought up in the French Emperor Napoleon III’s discussions with the British government and the Prussian diplomat Otto von Bismarck.