Make Southern Schleswig hold a referendum to join Denmark after 1945.
Why was the Danish government against it? I can only infer that:
- they didn't want conflicts with the British;
- they didn't want the then economical burden of a German minority;
- they didn't want the social burden of a German minority as they knew the Germans' desire to join was circumstantial.
- they weren't confident that denazification would fully succeed and they were afraid to face a revanchist Germany in a generation or two.
(If you disagree with any of the above and/or know some other reason, please share.)
Your challenge: make the conditions possible for the Danish government to actually push for a referendum and getting it. What would the results be? Shall we see a repartition of Schleswig or will it probably be an all-or-nothing deal?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_minority_of_Southern_Schleswig said:After World War II, many people chose to join the Danish minority in hopes of joining the much more prosperous Denmark, partly caused by a wish to live in a free and democratic country, partly motivated by social hardships in the aftermath of the war that played another distinctive role, especially as over one million refugees had come to Schleswig-Holstein and also a high proportion of the 'new Danes' had a lower class background, while only very few of the old elite changed nationality. As the Danish government provided food aid to the minority during 1945–49 this contingent became derogatorily known as "Speckdänen",ie. "bacon Dane". At the end of 1946 the minority had thus reached a membership of 62,000 and in 1948 78,000. The Danish political party got almost 99,500 votes in 1947.
However, the Danish government and the British Occupation Zone governors both opposed Southern Schleswig rejoining the Kingdom, and a referendum was never held in Southern Schleswig. Controversy over the issue divided two of the main Danish parties, and both Venstre leader and Prime Minister Knud Kristensen and Conservative leader John Christmas Møller ultimately broke with their respective parties over the issue.
Why was the Danish government against it? I can only infer that:
- they didn't want conflicts with the British;
- they didn't want the then economical burden of a German minority;
- they didn't want the social burden of a German minority as they knew the Germans' desire to join was circumstantial.
- they weren't confident that denazification would fully succeed and they were afraid to face a revanchist Germany in a generation or two.
(If you disagree with any of the above and/or know some other reason, please share.)
Your challenge: make the conditions possible for the Danish government to actually push for a referendum and getting it. What would the results be? Shall we see a repartition of Schleswig or will it probably be an all-or-nothing deal?