How did Denmark defeat Prussia in 1848? (Short Animated Documentary)

Small nations don't often defeat much larger ones but in the First Schleswig War (1848-1850) Denmark did just that when it saw off Prussia and much of the German Confederation. So how did it do it? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

A special thanks to my patrons:
Jens Koch-Nommensen
Øystein Alsaker
Arcedia
Sergio M. Vela
MajesticFirebird
Harley Raptopoulos
George Kapoyanis
Colonel Oneill
Steven B
robert lalonde
CharÉTS
Gin Aldeguer
Dennis Vandeban
Mathias.C
Brendan W
Ethan
Heath Robertson
Southside Mitch
Justin Kubusch
John
Michael Kram
Leonard Frank
Cippalippus
ChrisRom
Travis Mount
Aaron Conaway
Sean Uzar
Nathan Mendelsohn
Christopher Godfrey
zockotron
Alex Teplyakov
Chach
Dr. Schtnizel
Ron Johnson
Steven Gibson
Jesse Plung
Matthew Toles
Handsoup
Jacob Zachs
Jason Vandeventer
Jason Hirsch
Leena Al-Souki
John Garcia
Joe DeVito
Matt Reed
Florian Mäder
Zachary Pascalar
Anthony McCann
Colm Byrne
Valentyn
No way
Stefan Møller
Cade Summers
William Yates
Brayden Perry
BattleGoat Studios
Clay Carroll
Joseph Reinsch
ZCoupon
Jonny Minogue
BenDrums24
Yared Cristiano
Tristan Kreller
Ishan Roychowdhury
Jeffrey Schneider
Jamie van Brewen
JT96
Ryan Haber
Alex G.
Wolf
Mik Scheper
Joell Bel
Aeryn and Lisa Toland
Kishan Nair
James R DeVries
Ken Fitzgerald
Sean Long
Jane Sumpter
Hunter Bayliss
0_DannyBoy
Shauna K
Tino
StarshockNova
Piotr Wojnowski
Tyler Bomkamp
Joshua Schneider
Tranier Bocaj
Nicholas Menghini
Tony Belmonte
Nolan Peale
Garrett Manarin
Nick Macarius
Angel Aguiñaga
Chris PeBenito
Duke
Duane Bridges
Flinnster00
Sahni
blaZzinG_FurY
ARandomPaperClip
Bartosz Zasada
Hexapuma
Tim Stumbaugh
Tim Stone
Windischgraetz
Justin Short
C. C. C.
Warren Rudkin
Juan Castillo
Ahmed Roshdi
Ned Burke
George Caponera
Logical Insanity
Johann_Gambolputty_of_Ulm
Geoffrey Sparrow
Tim Sweeney
TheFlyingDeutschland
erez87
Robin!
Robert Meehan
Burt Clothier
Ethan Harlow
Matthew Ward
Donald Weaver
SirAlpaka
David Spellmeyer
Moraxian
Charles Kwiatkowski
Mars Project
LambOfLeg
Paul Munro
Mark Littlehale
Juan Benet
Harrison Wiener
Roko Lisica
YugiJitsu Games
Oriki
Brian Giordano
Peter Hopkins
Philip Yip
Nathan Snyder
Will Sullivan
John Gross-Whitaker
Zachary Oertel
Dan Reiher
Kevin Phoenix
Sean D.
Mario Mejia
Martha Grondin
sharpie660
Andrew F
Erik Hare
Evan Ellingson
John Orr
Jack Nelson
Andreas Mosand
tegsirat
Andrew Patane
Alexandre Corbett
Manny F
ixs
Thomas McGraw
Aaron Larrow
The Funks
Ciege Engine
khaki enthusiast
Matthew O'Connor
Bobby Giordano
Remko Huisman
Patty Culp
Rosebird
george tyler
Joseph Hutchins
alexccg
Mr.Myoozik
Jakester1238
Nathan Ngumi
Steve Bonds
James
Magdalena Reinberg-Leibel
Joel Wasserman
Ben Jambor
Andrew Sever
Jon Wright
Nicolas Dronsky
Syagrius Beans
Vegard Tønnessen
Matt Busch
Matthew Venuti
T. c. north
Joshportunities
nullptr
Richard Wolfe
William Clark
Bort Ward
Ruben Rodriguez
I'm Not In The Description
Dustin Koellhoffer
Eric Askins
Sara Birnbaum
Mark Ploegstra
Dr. Sarno
Vance Christiaanse
Nuukov
Jonathan Niehaus
Mario Peshev
Adrian Marine
Allen Rines
Peter Marino
Tactical_Jackal
HelloAgain
Konstantin Bredyuk
D. Mahlik
Phillip Gathright
Liquid Chief
Bradley Backoff
Contdoko12
William Adderholdt
Serius_Loyola
Dullis
KNSTRKTVST
Darth Zayexeet
Colin Cecil
Chris Weisel
Jasmin Vikk
Tortle!
Jeff Sharon
ThePalestRose
WolfiZee
Chase Labiste
A. J. Smart
bas mensink
Spencer DeRosier
Tyler Jenkins
Carl Blanton
SketerK
Rob Rollins
Joseph Kerckhoff
Thomas Wang
Sethars
Ian M
Swanfleet
Jasdeep Brar
Melissa Prober
Bren Ehnebuske
Hiro P
Isabel Harrison
Ali Sadighian
Anthony Uk
Ted Ingram
Charles Doolittle
Shannon Cartee
Seth Reeves
Shakira Graham
Doug MacLean
Miky Hidalgo Morriss
Heytun
Robert Brockway
Tom Ebert
Samantha McCormick
Tom of Essex
blei95
Tommi Hewitt
Robin_Col
Lindorien
João Santos
Kameohawk
Typhoon2401
Russell Downing
Kasi
M Scho
Jan Bart Verbist
Daniel O'Reilly
Schwarzer Hai
Jackarice26
zemnmez
James
Gina Service
Rhys Jackson
Ben L
Tarsirrus
Rhys Little
Ash Elford
Twinny Hill
Phil Johnston
Roberticus1992

[stephansteenberg]

The statesman Lord Palmerston: "Only three people have ever really understood the Schleswig-Holstein business – the Prince Consort, who is dead – a German professor, who has gone mad – and I, who have forgotten all about it."

[Max-tsmw]

As someone with a modern point of view the idea of Denmark being a great power was a shock when I first got into history

[madskristiansen]

The Danish victory in 1848-49 became a great sense of national pride for Denmark. They called it "the spirit from 48", and there is a nationwide known marching song from back then called "Dengang jeg drog afsted" (That time I went forward) They forgot about the international help they got and became overwhelmed with nationalistic hybris. They tried to force Slesvig and Holstein into the national Danish kingdom again in 1864, which broke the treaty and started the war of 1864 against Prussia and Austria. Denmark thought they could win again like 1848. No other nations intervened, and Denmark got slaughtered. All of Southern Jutland got occupied and was only restored after WW1. The defeat was a nationwide national trauma for the Danes. It has affected how we modern Danes see ourselves and our country in the wide world. We modern Danes do not see ourselves as big romantic empires anymore, and we focus on bettering our state instead of expanding it. "Hvad udad tabes skal indad vindes" (What's lost outward shall be won inward) -Danish proverb.

[francesco]

More than a "Denmark defeated Prussia" it feels more "Prussia didn't win a war where Denmark happened to be on the opposing side".

[I_am_bacon._.]

I am danish and we learned about the schleswig wars in history class. Interesting to see you cover the first schleswig war.

[SolciteGuy]

Though it wasn't what was discussed in this video, it's so interesting to hear about the Schleswig-Holstein wars. One of my ancestors died by a grenade in the 1860's. The very last thing he ever did was write a poem to his family before dying in a hospital some days after

[belbrighton]

I loved your German volunteer with a different label on his helmet. Brilliant.

[saalok]

I didn't even know this was a thing. Your content on unusual questions and answers really never fails to impress.

[durzoblint]

3:20 For about 20 or so years before losing them again.

[xeanderman]

That Louis Napoleon bit never gets old

[rewriting-history]

Never knew about that conflict, thank you for making this video!

[stoissdk]

Wow I guess I as a Dane, have been too focussed on the war in 1864. It turns out one of my ancestors was from a small village called Sieseby, between Flensburg and Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein. He became a dragoon in the Danish Prince Ferdinand's Dragoon regiment in Aarhus (present day Denmark). Since he was born in 1815, that would have made him around 33 years at the time of the war in 1848... and of the right age to take part in the war. I have to look into this =)

[freddytang]

I was in Copenhagen few months ago and visited their war history museum. Most of their wars seem to be summarized as “we made a valiant effort. We had some wins. But in the end we lost”

[bololollek]

Then Bismarck came. Basically, the architect of Germany, he later planned the more successful war against Denmark as a way of training his army, then, the expedition to Austria to cement Prussia as the true princeps of the German states, and then finally, against the country he determined as an enemy to unite all Germans around, France. Then, Wilhelm the 2nd thought he would do a better job with his own policy 😅

[joshuaandre]

Good to know that this part of history that's so obscure is finally given the spotlight

[mrterp]

Another great vid! Five suggestions from me, a Patreon supporter, if you’re looking for future video ideas:
1.) How close did the world come to nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis? (aka Cuban Missile Crisis Explained)
2.) How has Spain held onto its lands in Africa?
3.) What was life like in China’s European concessions?
4.) How did Thailand remain independent?
5.) Why is the UN headquartered in New York City?

[Spielen_Videos]

1848:
Denmark: "You shall not *pass!!!"*

1864:
Prussia: "Guess who's back?"

[amberswafford]

“It’s weird that you even brought it up.” 🤣 It’s the lil cheeky remarks like that combined w my obsession w historical information that has me always looking forward to anything HM posts, regardless of the particular topic.

[Troels_T_Kjoeller]

It’s an interesting subject, but the video misses several times: 1. Schleswig and Hostein would not automatically be lost when the King died, and it did in fact not happen when he died i 1863. The two duchies also had different rules about the matter. 2. The Schleswig-Holstein rebels didn’t rebel because they thought the King had been overthrown - that was just the best political stance they could take. Rather, they were afraid that political developments in Copenhagen ment the Danish-national political movement would gain the power to tie Schleswig tighter to Denmark. 3. Schleswig and Holstein were not one uniform entity. While Holstein was a German duchy with a German population, Schleswig was a Danish duchy with a mixed German-Danish population, with a slight Danish majority (going by language - in reality many Schleswigers didn’t really define themselves by a national identity simply based on their language). The German-nationalist movement was therefore pretty representative of Holstein, but not of the whole of Schleswig, where the Danish-national movement pulled in the other direction, and created the central conflict in the matter. 4. The reason Denmark wanted to keep Schleswig and Holstein wasn’t because they were rich, but because of all the ties - historical, social, political, economical, you name it - that ties parts of a country or empire together. You wouldn’t say that Spain today don’t want Catalonian independence just because of money, or that Great Britain don’t want Scottish independence because of money. It’s a gross simplification. I’ll stop here. Sorry for the long post.

[Tathagatchat]

So many things happened in 1848, this kinda fell through the cracks