Better equipt danish army in 1864?

This year marks the 150s anniversary of the danish defeat at Dybbøl in 1864 by the hands of the German armed forces.

I wonder a better equipt danish army could it have made a difference?

What if Denmark had bought some Gatlings from the US? Before the battle?
 
This year marks the 150s anniversary of the danish defeat at Dybbøl in 1864 by the hands of the German armed forces.

I wonder a better equipt danish army could it have made a difference?

What if Denmark had bought some Gatlings from the US? Before the battle?

One aspect that comes to my mind is that Danish army was equipped with old muzzleloader muskets, while the Prussian was equipped with breechloaders ( The Heeresreform of the 1860es modernised the Prussian army). The Prussians also possessed Krupp breech loading artillery. I think Gatlings were used very seldom during the ACW. Weren´t there some early prototypes of mashineguns in Europe at this time like the French Dreyse ?
 
One aspect that comes to my mind is that Danish army was equipped with old muzzleloader muskets, while the Prussian was equipped with breechloaders ( The Heeresreform of the 1860es modernised the Prussian army). The Prussians also possessed Krupp breech loading artillery. I think Gatlings were used very seldom during the ACW. Weren´t there some early prototypes of mashineguns in Europe at this time like the French Dreyse ?

I'm not sure about this - I think the Prussian Army was still using muzzle-loading artillery in the wars against Denmark and Austria, and at Sadowa the Austrian guns (rifled muzzle loaders) outranged the Prussian smoothbores.
 
Danish army used rifled muskets with minieballs and outranged the Dreyseguns. The Dreyseguns had higher rate of fire but suffered from not being gastight.

The Danish army had evaluated rifled artillery and revolver rifles prior to the war but decided for economic reasons to not use either as the cost in increased ammo expenditure was too high.

The Prussians had a mix of smoothbore and rifled arty the latter outranging the Danish artillery of Dybbøl except for a battery of two 24pdr guns that was used to counter Prussian arty.

The lull of having "won" the first Schleswig War with powerful backing an army reform on the eve of battle and savings meant no concrete blockhouses at Dybbøl and earthworks and too few armoured ships for the Navy.

So get another government, another perception of the needs of military forces and will to do something and you may prolong the inevitable. ;)
 

Beer

Banned
I'm not sure about this - I think the Prussian Army was still using muzzle-loading artillery in the wars against Denmark and Austria, and at Sadowa the Austrian guns (rifled muzzle loaders) outranged the Prussian smoothbores.
Hi!

The Prussian Army already had their first Krupp breechloaders (C61) during the Danish-German War, but had not all artillery changed out yet.
In the case of Königgrätz, the superior Krupp cannons that would later devastate the French, were still on the drawing board/testing phase and would be delivered only after the war.
 
It isn't just guns...

...The Danish-born Princess Alexandra (Alix) did try to get Queen Victoria to (a) stop the Germans or (b) involve Britain, but although her husband Prince Albert Edward supported her, Old Vic supported Germany.

Change that outcome and you're in with a chance. Germany had been an ally but was starting to be a rival.
 
...The Danish-born Princess Alexandra (Alix) did try to get Queen Victoria to (a) stop the Germans or (b) involve Britain, but although her husband Prince Albert Edward supported her, Old Vic supported Germany.

Change that outcome and you're in with a chance. Germany had been an ally but was starting to be a rival.


Not until after 1871. No one in London was worrying about "Germany" (there was no such thing as yet) in 1864.
 
Not until after 1871. No one in London was worrying about "Germany" (there was no such thing as yet) in 1864.

And even if they were, getting into a major land war on the continent without allies and for no compelling reason less than a decade after the Crimean War seems foolish.
 
Sorry...

...Not Germany - greedy Prussia...:mad:

Vic remaining Queen of Hanover might do it - needs the Salic Law thrown out in the 1830s.
 
...Not Germany - greedy Prussia...:mad:

Vic remaining Queen of Hanover might do it - needs the Salic Law thrown out in the 1830s.

No one was worrying about Prussia either. Britain's main concerns were Russia and to lesser extent France. Austria was disliked because of her oppressive policy in Italy, but not seen as a threat. Prussia came nowhere on the list of concerns.

As for Victoria, she was entirely on the German side over Schleswig-Holstein, so I don't see how having her as Queen of Hanover would cause the Austro-Prussians any problem.

The big problem is that while a stronger army would put Denmark in a better bargaining position, her government would almost certainly throw the advantage away. Even OTL, she was offered peace on the basis of a personal union between Denmark and SH, or a division of S/H along ethnic lines (ie something close to the present day border) but rejected both. That being so, all the improved army does is prolong the war without affecting its outcome.
 
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