Is it possible for the Denmark to be a larger and more significant empire in the 19th century?
What about not backing Napoleon and losing Norway as a result for starters?Is it possible for the Denmark to be a larger and more significant empire in the 19th century?
Is it possible for the Denmark to be a larger and more significant empire in the 19th century?
What about not backing Napoleon and losing Norway as a result for starters?
If the PoD is in the 19th century, then it will be pretty hard. Stop the sale of Danish Gold Coast to the UK and maybe they will be better poised for expansion into central Africa in the 1860s, '70s and /80s?
Of course, any Denmark with S-H is on a collision course with a pan-German movement. The Prussians might well swoop in and take the whole thing at some point anyway.
depends heavily on your POD ... in reverse the most obvious would be...
Better succes in First Schleswig War (making the London Protecol accepting the fait accompli of Denmark integrating Schleswig-Holstein and the other duchies, instead of 'merely' a personal union), and not getting goaded into the Second Schleswig War might help.
Just a comment: In 1850, this United Denmark would have roughly 1,4 mn Danes and 0,9 mn Germans, ie a Germanophone population of c.40%. By 1900, it would be still about 36% Germanophones (apparently many Schleswig-Holsteiners emigrated to other parts of Germany after 1864 in OTL.)
Even with that rate of emigration intact or even a bit higher, once full democracy becomes a reality, there will be a huge minority inside Denmark's borders that will probably desire closer relation to the gargantua at the southern border. OTOH, in the Reichstag elections after 1867, Holstein voted mostly Left Liberal (ie anti-Bismarck) and Schleswig either Danish of National Liberal. Having Prussia turn towards open reaction after 1850 and Danmark-Schleswig-Holstein as a bilingual liberal refuge would be very interesting.
(And if we envision Denmark even gobbling up Hamburg and Lübeck, as I have seen in some Danewanks, then the rate of Germanophones will rise to 45% in 1850 and even 48% in 1900.)
Either the First Northern War or the Scanian war going better helps Denmark, but I would argue that it helps Prussia even more.
As for the 1852 London protocol, how about a compromise? Granted at the time it could be seen as a loss, but it might not be that bad on the longer run.
The house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg will succeed in Denmark and Denmark is allowed to integrate Schleswig/Slesvig.
The house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg will succeed in the German duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg and will become/stay German. However ITTL they won't end up Prussian.
I know this breaks the old bond between Schleswig and Holstein, but it would be an achievable compromise.