_Christian VII. (1766-1808)_
At the death of Frederick V., his son Christian, who was hardly
seventeen years of age, ascended the throne; and, shortly afterward,
married the fifteen year old Caroline Mathilde, a sister of the English
king, George III. Christian led a most dissipated life, eventually
resulting in insanity. In 1768 the king made a journey abroad, during
which his body physician, the German free-thinker, Johan Frederick
Struensee, became his dearest favorite, and got him completely under
his influence. Upon their return the king's old counsellors, including
the experienced and deserving Bernstorf, were discharged and replaced
by a privy council, in which the strong and ambitious Struensee soon
became the real master. By the influence which he had gained over the
debilitated, and at times insane, king, and the queen, he succeeded in
reaching the highest positions. He was made a count and prime minister
and became an almost absolute ruler, the cabinet orders being given
the force of royal commands simply by being signed by Struensee. His
power lasted only sixteen months; but during this time he introduced
many reforms, which were in themselves commendable, but, in many
cases, came too abruptly and without preparation. On account of the
violent changes, and his contempt for the Danish language and customs,
he soon had many enemies, chief among whom was the queen-dowager,
Juliana Maria, who wished to get her son, the king's half-brother,
Prince Frederick, into power. With the aid of the prince's teacher, the
learned Ove Hoeg Guldberg, she formed a conspiracy against Struensee
and obtained the signature of the insane king to an order for his
arrest, together with that of others. On the night of January 17,
1772, after a ball at the palace, Queen Caroline Mathilde, Struensee,
Count Brandt, and others, were arrested. The queen was imprisoned
at Kronborg, and afterward at Celle, Hanover, where she died in her
twenty-fourth year (1775). The others were accused of high treason and
condemned to death. Struensee was cruelly executed, April 28, 1772.
During the following twelve years (1772-1784) Prince Frederick's
teacher, Ove Guldberg, virtually conducted the government, and this
period has therefore been called the Guldberg period. A great many of
Struensee's reforms were revoked, and former rules were re-established.
The liberty of the press, which Struensee had granted, was curtailed
and a censorship again introduced. The plan of establishing a
university in Norway, which had been promised, was given up. Everything
was now to be "Danish," even Norway. Guldberg even wished to abolish
the very name of Norwegian, and wrote: "No Norwegian exists; all are
citizens of the Danish state."
Many of the strong men, whom Struensee had made use of, were removed,
and mediocrity was again raised to dignity. In spite of the large
revenues which flowed into the treasury during the flourishing
commercial period, the public debt, which had been reduced to sixteen
millions, rose to twenty-nine millions. Still, there are some things to
the credit of the Guldberg ministry. Thus the foreign minister, Andreas
Bernstorf, by his negotiations, succeeded in removing any cause for
conflict with the powerful Russia, when the Russian grand-duke, Paul,
relinquished his part of Holstein to the king of Denmark, in return for
Oldenborg and Delmenhorst. On February 15, 1776, the so-called _native
right_ was published, an ordinance providing that hereafter only native
citizens could be appointed to office under the government. Finally, it
was ordained that the Danish language should be used both in the army
and as a business language.
During the long period of peace (since 1720) Norway had made great
progress in commerce, shipping and population. The population, which,
in 1660, was only 450,000, had reached about 723,000 in 1767, and the
merchant marine had grown from fifty to 1,150 ships, many of them large
and engaged in trade with distant countries. The peasant class had
advanced considerably, as a consequence of the sale of the estates of
the crown in order to raise revenue; the number of freeholders was now
nearly double that of the tenant farmers. The officials sent their sons
to be educated at the University of Copenhagen, so that the country
was gradually furnished with a native class of officials, who could
replace the Danish and advocate the cause of their countrymen.
In 1784 Crown Prince Frederick was confirmed, and immediately took
charge of the government as regent for his insane father. He had the
sense to surround himself with able counsellors, and the foremost among
them was Andreas Bernstorf, a nephew of the elder Bernstorf. While he
was at the head of the government (1784-1797), the united countries had
happy and prosperous days. He succeeded in maintaining an honorable
neutrality, while the French Revolution, which commenced in 1789,
shook Europe and involved nearly all the countries of Europe in war.
Much was done for Norway during this period. The trade of Finmarken
was made free, and the cities of Tromsoe, Hammerfest and Vardoe
were founded. In order to expedite judicial matters four superior
courts were established, and, in order to avoid litigation as much as
possible, courts of conciliation were introduced in all parts of the
country.
During Bernstorf's administration, Norway was involved in a short war
with Sweden, the Swedish king, Gustavus III., having attacked Russia,
whereupon the Russian empress, Catherine II., demanded, according to
agreement, an attack upon Sweden by Denmark. A Norwegian army of 10,000
men, under Prince Charles of Hesse, invaded Sweden in the fall of 1788,
and, after some successful encounters, marched against Gothenburg;
but an armistice was concluded, which was changed into a convention,
November 5th, the Norwegians agreeing to retire from Sweden.
England continued the war with France with great vigor, and, in order
to weaken the enemy as much as possible, raised the point with neutral
powers that meat, flour and grain must be considered as contraband
of war, and should not, therefore, be shipped to France or any other
enemy of England. In order to protect their commerce, Denmark-Norway
then, in 1800, together with Russia and Sweden, renewed the so-called
"Armed Neutrality," which, through the untiring efforts of Andreas
Bernstorf, had been agreed upon in 1780, based upon the principle that
"free ship carries free cargo." After an unsuccessful attempt, through
negotiations, to persuade Denmark to withdraw from this alliance,
England declared war against her, and sent a fleet, under the command
of Admirals Parker and Nelson, to Oere Sound. On April 2, 1801, a
battle was fought in the roadstead of Copenhagen. Although the Danish
and Norwegian sailors defended themselves with great bravery, they
finally had to yield to superior force. An armistice was concluded,
which, at the death of the Russian emperor, Paul, ended with a peace,
by which Denmark consented to withdraw from the Armed Neutrality.
The country now enjoyed peace until 1807, when a new war with England
broke out. At the peace of Tilsit, July 7, 1807, Emperor Napoleon and
Alexander I. of Russia made certain arrangements of European affairs
with a view to helping Napoleon in his conflict with England. Russia
was to be allowed to conquer Finland from Sweden, and Napoleon was
to take possession of the Danish fleet, by means of which he might
dispute the dominion of England at sea. Although this agreement was to
be kept strictly secret, the English government, in some way, heard
of it, and decided to anticipate the action of Napoleon. A strong
fleet was sent to Copenhagen, where the British commanders demanded
that Denmark should surrender its fleet to England, where it was to
remain until peace was concluded between England and France. The demand
was answered by the Danish minister, who protested that there was no
cause for it, since Denmark had no idea of letting Napoleon have the
fleet. The British, however, would not listen to any assurances of
Denmark's peaceful attitude. An army of about 38,000 men was landed
and defeated the Danish force outside of Copenhagen, which, all told,
hardly amounted to 10,000 men. Thereafter preparations were made for
bombarding the city. The bombardment commenced on September 2d and
lasted for three days. During this bombardment the cathedral and three
hundred and five other buildings were burned, and 1,200 buildings were,
more or less, damaged. Valuable libraries, and collections of art
and other valuable property, were destroyed by fire, 1,100 soldiers
and citizens were killed and eight hundred wounded. The Danes had
to surrender their whole fleet, which was then brought to England.
The English government now gave Denmark the choice between three
conditions: neutrality, an alliance, or war. In case of war Denmark
was threatened with destruction of the Danish and Norwegian merchant
marine, the occupation of Copenhagen by the Swedes, and, possibly,
the forcible transfer of Norway to England's ally, Sweden. Crown
Prince Frederick answered that, after what had taken place, peace was
impossible, and so the war was continued, Denmark entering into a close
alliance with France.
When it became difficult to maintain communication between Norway
and Denmark, the Danish government, in August, 1807, established a
"Government Commission" for Norway, consisting of Prince Christian
August of Augustenborg as chairman, "Stiftamtmand" Gerhard Moltke,
Justice Enevold Falsen, and Chamberlain Marcus Rosenkrantz. Prince
Christian August was commander of the troops in the southern part of
Norway, having been appointed as such in 1805. He was greatly beloved
by the Norwegians. After having performed its arduous duties for three
months, the commission lost its ablest member, Enevold Falsen, whose
body was found in the bay, November 17, 1807. His health had been
greatly impaired, and he had probably been driven to suicide by his
sufferings. While performing his duties on the Government Commission,
he also edited the journal "Budstikken," in which he did much to
arouse and maintain the courage and perseverance of the people. He was
succeeded, in January, 1808, by Count Herman Wedel Jarlsberg, who had
gained the high respect of his countrymen by the zeal and vigor which
he had shown in his efforts to provide the famine-threatened country
with the necessary grain by importation from Denmark, which numerous
British cruisers tried to prevent.