Germans actually worried about a Danish entry during the autumn of 1916 when the Romanian fron had recently opened. They had too many fronts already, and worried that pulling people from other fronts to block the Danes would make them vulnerable. This was shortly after the Kornilov offensive, so I guess their fear was that the Eastern Front might crumble if they pull away men.
This was actually discussed by the German High Command, it could be a) that they didn't really know how weak Denmark was, or b) that they assumed Britain and France would provide troops to a Danish front too.Why Denmark would join to WW1? For that not be much if anything benefit or reason to join and if it would join to Entente, Germany would crush that as bug and as CP it is totally useless. More plausible participant Nordic nation is Sweden.
Wasn't Denmark quiet weak in military issues? It might help France or Russia if Germany would deploy some troops to invade Denmark but not so much.
Especially when Germany was pretty much the only country they had ANY reason to go to war with.This was actually discussed by the German High Command, it could be a) that they didn't really know how weak Denmark was, or b) that they assumed Britain and France would provide troops to a Danish front too.
But I agree that Denmark had no real good reason for entering the war.
Best to also look at the Eastern Crisis of 1920. The Danish government was going about working on plebiscite areas in Schleswig so people could vote on if they wanted to join Denmark or not. The King wanted it all so dismissed the Prime Minister and Cabinet. That... did not go down well. His powers were curbed, three zones for voting were created, the northern most being annexed. Southern Schleswig voted to stay in Germany, so the Danes left them and didn't bother going through with the plebiscite in Holstein. Makes sense anyways, since the Schleswig-Holstein Crisis many decades before was that the Danes wanted to annex Schleswig, while the locals demanded both duchies stay together. Anyways, either we have the parliament who knows they will be crushed in a war trying to go after Germany to get their land back, we have the king trying to take it back, backed by his relatives relatives married to the Russian and British royal families (though in the case of the British, I think only his brother, the king of Norway, was married to a Saxe-Coburg Gotha girl), or you have them supporting Germany in the hope of getting a sliver of land back from the bullies who had invaded literally every country their bordered (iffy with the Swiss' and they did try bullying the Dutch), including their own allies. Considering how the Danes trying to an armed neutrality league with the Russians and Swedes in the Napoleonic Wars got their fleet blasted out of the water by the British, I doubt they would have a good chance here. On the plus side, the modern UK can stretch from Newfoundland to England in an arch through formerly Danish islands. Danish Virgin Islands would be tricky, though...I am assuming that Denmark was making money selling food to the Germans and also marking up any goods sent to Denmark and reshipped to Germany. So why would they risk that to go to war with Germany?
Was the lands that they lost more important?
"Denmark lost the Duchy of Schleswig, as well as the German Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg, to Prussia and Austria in 1864 in the Second War of Schleswig. Following Austria's defeat in the Austro-Prussian War (1866), all three provinces were annexed to Prussia."
Not necessary. The Danes closed and mined their starits by themself after a simple and polite (no bullying involved) request by Germany.Germany gains control of the Danish straits. Either because Denmark is an ally, or because they are an enemy and they take it by force.
Not Juteland and Kopenhagen. Kopenhagen was heavy fortified. I could actually Entente troops landing ob the main Islands of Denmark to counter an invasion.Crushed like bugs.
Germans actually worried about a Danish entry during the autumn of 1916 when the Romanian fron had recently opened. They had too many fronts already, and worried that pulling people from other fronts to block the Danes would make them vulnerable. This was shortly after the Kornilov offensive, so I guess their fear was that the Eastern Front might crumble if they pull away men.
So apparently I'm mixing up Brusilov and Kornilov again, I always do that.I never heard of Kornilov Offensive. When did it happen?
Waouv, I didn't know of that "detail"! But I've read somewhere that the King shortly afterwards wrote to King George and said something like: " Sorry old chap, but I've had to mine the straits. Nothing personal, but you know those tuchy Huns..."Denmark joining WWI would either need a POD several decades before WWI (especially if they joined against Germany), or it would demand incredible stupidity from the British side.
But there's one potential POD, where Denmark can accidental join. When the Germans asked the Danes to mines the straits, the king ordered the navy to ignore the order in secret. The navy ignored the king and mined it anyway and didn't tell the king. If the king had let the British know that it wasn't mined, the British could decide to try the entire Baltic naval landing. The result would have been a disaster and a clusterfuck worse than Gallipoli. Imagine a British navy attempting to sail through mined Danish waters with a warships and troop transports. It could be a naval disaster and it would break the Danish neutrality and forcing Denmark into the war.
Why was Denmarck Germanys "vassal" at that time ?By WWI Denmark was a de facto German vassal ....