Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Series Editors
Carlo Ruzza
Department of Sociology and Social Research
University of Trento
Trento, Italy
Hans-Jörg Trenz
Department of Media, Cognition & Communication
University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology addresses contempor-
ary themes in the field of Political Sociology. Over recent years, atten-
tion has turned increasingly to processes of Europeanization and
globalization and the social and political spaces that are opened by
them. These processes comprise both institutional-constitutional change
and new dynamics of social transnationalism. Europeanization and
globalization are also about changing power relations as they affect
people’s lives, social networks and forms of mobility.
The Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology series addresses
linkages between regulation, institution building and the full range of
societal repercussions at local, regional, national, European and global
level, and will sharpen understanding of changing patterns of attitudes
and behaviours of individuals and groups, the political use of new rights
and opportunities by citizens, new conflict lines and coalitions, societal
interactions and networking, and shifting loyalties and solidarity within
and across the European space.
We welcome proposals from across the spectrum of Political
Sociology and Political Science, on dimensions of citizenship; political
attitudes and values; political communication and public spheres; states,
communities, governance structure and political institutions; forms of
political participation; populism and the radical right; and democracy
and democratization.
Popular Struggle
and Democracy
in Scandinavia
1700-Present
Editors
Flemming Mikkelsen Knut Kjeldstadli
Department of Sociology Department of History
University of Copenhagen University of Oslo
Copenhagen, Denmark Oslo, Norway
Stefan Nyzell
Department of History
Malmö University
Malmö, Sweden
1 Introduction 1
Flemming Mikkelsen and Stefan Nyzell
Part I Denmark
v
vi Contents
Part II Norway
Part IV Comparison
ix
List of Tables
xi
1
Introduction
Popular Struggle and Democracy in Scandinavia
In his book The Origins of Political Order the American social scientist
Francis Fukuyama discusses the development of democracy in Denmark
(‘or any other country in Scandinavia’) with the words that it ‘was far
less conflictual and violent in Denmark than it was in England, not to
mention France, Spain, and Germany’.1 Fukuyama is certainly right in
his assertion that collective violence was less common in Scandinavia as
compared to many other European countries; however, it is in our view
doubtful whether the development towards democracy was any less
1
Fukuyama (2012), 434.
F. Mikkelsen (*)
Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
e-mail: FM@soc.ku.dk; fmmikk@gmail.com
S. Nyzell
History, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden
e-mail: stefan.nyzell@mah.se
conflictual. The aim of this book is to argue that popular struggle was an
essential part in the overall political processes and instrumental in the
formation of democracy in Scandinavia.
In order do so we have compiled a temporal synthesis on popular
struggles in Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1700 to the present.
Popular struggle refers to an occasion on which several people assemble and
visibly make a collective claim, which would, if realized, affect the interests
of some other persons, organization or state. In a concrete historical con-
text, such collective manifestations could be anything from food riots, grain
seizures, tax rebellions and petition drives to occupations, social move-
ments, strikes, mass demonstrations or public meetings. Our approach is
founded on the writings of prominent figures within the field of study such
as E. P. Thompson, Eric J. Hobsbawm, George Rudé and Charles Tilly,
and numerous other scholars who have followed their example.2 These
scholars reject the so-called Whig interpretation of history, or moderniza-
tion theory as social scientists would express it, in which history is seen
as progressive process of ever-increasing democracy and liberal rights.
For instance, it is widely believed that social and political mobilization
usually takes place because of economic modernization and subsidiary class
formation. Our research, however, does not support this interpretation.
The main reason is that actual ‘protest events’, or ‘contentious collective
actions’, anchored in particular times, places and populations, reveal the
importance of introducing social, organizational, cultural and political
aspects in the explanations if one strives for better understanding of the
period’s numerous conflicts and phases of popular mobilization.
Three hundred years of popular struggle is a long period, and to guide
us through the many episodes we use the notion of repertoires of
collective action as an initial heuristic device. Tilly has coined the
concept of repertoire. He writes that the existing repertoire of conten-
tion grows out of the following factors3: (a) the population’s daily
routines and internal organization, (b) prevailing standards of rights
2
Hobsbawm (1959); Thompson (1963); Rudé (1964); Hobsbawm and Rudé (1969); Tilly
(1964).
3
Tilly (1986), 10. See also Tilly (2008).
1 Introduction 3
4
Tilly (1979), 131.
5
Tilly (1997), 217–44, 218.
4 F. Mikkelsen and S. Nyzell
frame a clear sense of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ that create a ‘fire in the belly
and iron in the soul’.6 However, it does not preclude coercion and
other means of social control as a way to mobilize for a cause.7
The contentious repertoire changes gradually over time and, with
particular reference to French and English history, Tilly himself distin-
guishes between ‘old’ and ‘new’ repertoires of contention. The old
eighteenth-century repertoire displays many local direct actions such as
field invasions, seizures of grain, attacks on machines, inter-village
battles, turnouts, charivaris, pulling down and sacking of private houses,
and expulsions of tax officials, foreign workers and other outsiders.
Violent skirmishes occurred frequently, but generally, people refrained
from large-scale confrontations, just as the authorities only occasionally
deployed troops to avoid further escalation of the conflict.
Ordinary people tried to correct abuses and to restore and protect
their rights and moral obligations. Their claims when acting collec-
tively aimed directly at their targets and their grievances were often
complied with if they did not interfere with the foundation of power.
This immediate connection between claim making and outcome
slowly broke down with the gradual expansion of the state and the
capitalist market that paved the way for a ‘new’ popular repertoire of
contention. It was national in scope and characterized by interaction
with political parties, encompassing pressure groups and centralized
state institutions. Mass demonstrations, strikes, public meetings, elec-
tion rallies, petition marches, planned insurrections, and social move-
ments formed the cornerstone of popular claim making in the
nineteenth century. Besides establishing direct contact between clai-
mants and nationally significant power centres, it was modular in being
easily transferable from one setting to another, and allowing otherwise
separated groups ‘to march under the same banners and confront the
same opponents . . . [which] . . . made possible the coming of the
national social movement’.8
6
Gamson (1992), 32.
7
Reiss (2007), 1–21; Calhoun (2012).
8
Tarrow (1998), 42.
1 Introduction 5
9
Sewell Jr. (2005).
10
Zolberg (1972), 182–207.
11
Tarrow (1995), 89–115.
12
Tilly (1992), 9–37.
13
Andrews and Chapman (1995), 4.
14
Markoff (1996).
6 F. Mikkelsen and S. Nyzell
the decisive causes of their politics lie outside their own boundaries’.15
Thus, the repertoire of contentious actions, types of social movements,
forms of organization, strategies, ideologies, and the cycles of social and
political protests in Denmark, Norway and Sweden were to a large
extent shaped and timed by international, political and economic devel-
opments and the transfer of movement ideas, tactics, and resources from
other European countries and from the United States.
How collective claim making as a process towards citizen rights
intervenes in the political system contains elements of repression, incor-
poration, transformation and democratization.16 Repression occurs
when protesters and challengers are denied any kind of support and
are sometimes being violently intimidated. The second mechanism
indicates that demands and movements are incorporated in existing
structures and procedures without transforming the basic rules, whereas
transformation indicates a ‘transfer of power’ that fundamentally alters
the distribution of power within society. If the transfer of power leads to
rule by the people, that is, when people exercise control over collectively
binding rules and policies, we may talk about democratization.17
Therefore, democratization is a process and could easily take the oppo-
site direction, that is, de-democratization, when elite factions and/or the
state impose changes that reduce citizen rights.
In this book, we will show how ordinary people struggled for self-
determination at the local level, and how popular mobilization
opened the way for the introduction of democratic political rights
such as freedom of speech and assembly, the rule of law, free and
open elections, broad-based suffrage, and government accountability
to parliament. However, democracy is more than formal rules,
procedures and institutions. It is also about meaningful and sub-
stantive political participation. As it has been captured by Kaldor
and Vejvoda: ‘[S]ubstantive democracy [is] a process that has to be
continually reproduced, a way of regulating power relations in such a
15
Moore (1967), x.
16
Giugni (1998), xi–xxvi.
17
Beetham (1992).
1 Introduction 7
18
Kaldor and Vejvoda (1997).
19
Arbetarhistoria (2014); Pinto et al. (2015), 93–110.
8 F. Mikkelsen and S. Nyzell
historians and social scientists in Norway and Sweden mainly base their
analysis on in-depth case studies.
Our book begins with Denmark. Denmark was the first of the
Scandinavian countries approaching the European conflict pattern.
Norway was under Danish rule from 1536–1814, and under heavy
influence from the Danish monarchy during these years. After the
Napoleonic wars, Norway was detached from Denmark and subjugated
to a personal union with Sweden that lasted until 1905; therefore,
Norway follows the Danish case with Sweden as the third country.
Although the focus of this book is on the specific development in each
country, we explicitly try to include the transnational connections and
processes between Denmark, Norway and Sweden and between
Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. The book ends with a comparison
of popular struggle in the three Scandinavian countries seen in a wider
European perspective.
The final aim of this book is to be a starting point for further research in
the field of popular struggle. We believe that the next step is to carry out a
truly transnational analysis of popular struggle, and to move away from the
methodological nationalism that very much dominates our viewpoints today.
We see this book as a first step towards this development within the field.
Bibliography
Arbetarhistoria 2014, 1–2.
Andrews, Georg Reid, and Herrick Chapman (1995) ‘The Social Construction
of Democracy, 1870–1990: An Introduction’ in George Reid Andrews and
Herrick Chapman (eds.) The Social Construction of Democracy, 1870–1990
(London: Macmillan Press).
Beetham, D. (1992) ‘Liberal Democracy and the Limits of Democratization’,
Political Studies, special issue, 40, 40–53.
Calhoun, Craig (2012) The Roots of Radicalism. Tradition, the Public Sphere, and
Early Nineteenth-Century Social Movements (Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press).
Fukuyama, Francis (2012) The Origins of Political Order. From Prehuman
Times to the French Revolution (London: Profile Books).
1 Introduction 9
Tilly, Charles (1992) ‘Where Do Rights Come From?’ in Lars Mjøset (ed.)
Contribution to the Comparative Study of Development (Oslo: Institute for
Social Research).
Tilly, Charles (1997) ‘Parliamentarization of Popular Contention in Great
Britain, 1758–1834’ in Charles Tilly (ed.) Roads from Past to Future
(Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield).
Tilly, Charles (2008) Contentious Performances (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press).
Zolberg, Aristide R. (1972) ‘Moments of Madness’, Politics and Society, 2, 183–207.
The revolt of Skipper Clement in 1534 was the last major peasant
uprising in Denmark. It occurred during the War of the Count,
1533–36, when the exiled Christian II and Christian III, the successor
to Frederic I on the Danish throne, were vying for power.1 Not until the
1840s, did the Danes again seriously challenge the power holders and
created the preconditions for political, economic and social changes. To
better understand what happened in the years up to 1848 and the fall of
the absolute monarchy, I have compiled information from various
historical case studies and presented the findings in Fig. 2.1. Although
the recording only relies on secondary and selective sources I doubt that
the catalogue overlooks any significant disturbances, and therefore
reports enough of social and political contention sufficiently well for a
1
Tvede-Jensen (1985), 196–217.
F. Mikkelsen (*)
Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
e-mail: FM@soc.ku.dk; fmmikk@gmail.com
100
90
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70
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20
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17
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
Riot and violence Villeinage refusal Strike
2
The catalogue has been named Protest-Database-DK 1700–1864.
3
For a review see Karpantschof and Mikkelsen (2013).
2 Denmark 1700–1849: Crowds, Movements . . . 15
4
Hansen (1972), 39–40.
5
Olsen (1960).
6
Bjørn (1981).
16 F. Mikkelsen
the landlord knew how to deal with single disobedient peasants, but
when a whole village or, worse, several villages mobilized he had a
problem.
In spite of daily pinpricks the rural village made up a rallying ground
for the local population, and ‘to blow the village horn’ meant to gather
people and make decisions concerning division of labour, harvest, build-
ings, and sometimes how to resist cession of a farmhouse or an increas-
ing work load. The village council based its authority on traditions and
common experiences, and if the villagers knew how to act together they
had a good chance of being heard.7 Otherwise, the peasants had to
include other villages in the protest but that was a risky and rare
phenomenon.8 Few peasants had experiences with regional defiance,
and if the authorities suspected any form of ‘conspiracy’ they were
quick to intervene. Therefore, peasants often used passive forms of
resistance, and were able to play on a wide repertoire: work to rule,
sabotage, slow and poor work, and not least ‘refusal to understand’.9
This attitude confirmed the authorities of their perception of the stupid
and lazy peasant who, on the other hand, could not be held responsible
because of his ignorance.
Although we do not have any systematic data on the timing of peasant
protests, selective studies draw attention to the late 1760s and late 1780s
as periods of intense unrest due to the reforming efforts of the royal
administration.10 Endeavours to lift the burden of work on the manor
and to redistribute taxes, including the abolition of the tithe, promised
well for the future and strengthened the peasants’ expectation of an
impaired opponent, that is, the landlords and their supporters. The
peasants reacted with strikes and collective supplications,11 but after
7
Løgstrup (1986).
8
As example of a regional conflict see Dombernowsky (1985).
9
Bjørn (1981), 103–04.
10
See Bjørn (1981).
11
The supplication had a long tradition that goes back to the sixteenth century. It took the form
of a humble formalized and taxed appeal to the king, and by far the most supplications represented
a single person and very seldom a collective or an association. The petition, on the other hand, was
a new collective manifestation that in principle must be distinguished from the supplication; see
Bregnsbo (1997).
2 Denmark 1700–1849: Crowds, Movements . . . 17
12
Løgstrup (2011).
13
There are very few studies on famine and food riots in Denmark, but see Hvidtfeldt (1945);
Henningsen (1981); Stender-Petersen (1993).
18 F. Mikkelsen
14
Hvidtfeldt (1945), 133–34.
15
Henningsen (1981), 52.
2 Denmark 1700–1849: Crowds, Movements . . . 19
16
The authoritative work on artisanal disturbances is Ravn (1986).
17
Ravn (1986), 77.
20 F. Mikkelsen
The agricultural crisis and rising food prices put pressure on wages, and
when the journeymen collectively stopped working instead of indivi-
dually leaving the work place they were accused of breaking the law.
The police intervened and the most active journeymen were arrested.
The strict rules against ‘conspiracy’ and police surveillance effectively
prevented the journeymen’s associations to function as interest and
combat organizations, but during the 1840s, journeymen, who now
were called ‘workers’ by the masters, underwent a political revival, and
after a bricklayers’ strike in 1851 workers got the right to organize and
collectively to walk out.
Artisans were active in the labour market but they also took part in
other types of popular disturbances together with discontented inhabi-
tants. In the record beneath, the historian Bent Blüdnikow has enum-
erated clashes between ordinary people and the authorities in
Copenhagen, 1789–182018:
1789: 4 1805: 7
1790: 6 1806: 4
1791: 6 1807: 6
1792: 7 1808: 1
1793: 8 1809: 1
1794: 9 1810: 1
1795: 5 1811: 2
1796: 4 1812: 1
1797: 10 1813: 3
1798: 6 1814: 4
1799: 2 1815: 5
1800: 4 1816: 3
1801: 6 1817: 0
1802: 10 1818: 0
1803: 7 1819: 26
1804: 4 1820: 1
18
Blüdnikow (1986).
2 Denmark 1700–1849: Crowds, Movements . . . 21
The disturbances were classified in four groups: food riots, walkouts, legal and
moral cases, and others. Besides minor incidents in 1795, 1800–01 and
1813, Blüdnikow seldom comes upon food riots, and there are many
indications that the royal government attempted to keep the supply of corn
and other necessities intact simply to avoid disorder too close to the centre of
power. The section on walkouts, that is, strikes, does not add much to the
reading above, but underlines that the biggest workplace in Copenhagen,
Holmen, with many timber workers and sailors, was the most strike prone.
Legal and moral cases, with 31 incidents, cover mostly everyday specta-
cles between groups or small scale breaches of social order such as pilfering,
prostitution and vagrancy, where the police tried to split the combatants
and pick up the offenders. The crowd often reacted with attempted
liberation of the culprits, when it felt the police interfered with their rights
and morals. The last category ‘others’, with 33 incidents, mainly consists of
violence against the police, but unlike the casual episodes already men-
tioned above, some of these events were planned and were an expression of
a political critique of the monarchy and its allies. Beneath I have listed the
most important violent episodes in 1700–1830, which if not threatening
the regime then alarmed the power holders.19
19
The title of the disturbances has been copied from the historical literature.
22 F. Mikkelsen
Besides war between Denmark and Sweden, the first half of the eighteenth
century was peaceful and without drama, but on the background of
economic crisis, famine and political encroachment a military corps pro-
tested against redeployment and clashed with other military units on
Christmas Eve 1771.20 Next year, the German autocrat Count Struensee
was ousted from power on 17 January 1772, and riotous inhabitants of
Copenhagen pulled down several brothels in Copenhagen. Assaults on
brothels were a well-known European phenomenon, but the direct cause
seems to be an economic, moral and religious one based on hatred towards
the reform regime of Struensee.21
In 1782 and 1787, large dissatisfied crowds smashed windows and
collided with police forces, troops and guards.22 These events ques-
tioned the authority of the prevailing law and order, whereas the
anger of the crowd on 16 September 1790 was levelled at people
close to the king.23 According to rumours, a handwritten letter with
revolutionary statements circulated months before the quarrels, just
as groundless fear of a revolutionary situation made the Chief
Constable of Copenhagen crack down on students and ordinary
people on 2 February 1793. Some months later the arrest of a
merchant named Michael Brabrand, who had published a leaflet
critical of civil servants at the Copenhagen Court, ended in minor
riots. Brabrand’s pamphlet and his ability to mobilize people from
the middle class and the lower classes scared the officials, who
imprisoned Brabrand for several years before he was deported.24
Next year, the fear of revolutionary tendencies also made the officials
take side with the timber masters against the journeymen in spite of
the fact that the root cause of the strike was wage claim.25 When the
journeymen did not return to work, they were put on bread and
water and interrogated. At the same time the strike spread to other
20
Christensen et al. (1983).
21
Stevnsborg (1980).
22
Stevnsborg (1980), 588–90; Langen (2009).
23
Stender-Petersen (1990).
24
Stevnsborg (1980), 590–94; Blüdnikow (1986), 38–41.
25
Ravn (1986), 70–75; Manniche (1974a).
2 Denmark 1700–1849: Crowds, Movements . . . 23
26
Manniche (1974b); Blüdnikow and Christensen (1986).
27
Blüdnikow (1983).
24 F. Mikkelsen
neighbourhoods. After a few days the riots had been throttled; the king
could breathe again, and law and order had been restored in the absolute
monarchy – for a while.
This kaleidoscopic view of 130 years of social unrest, disturbances and
risings in Denmark shows deep discontent with local power-holders,
whereas national political authorities only momentarily were criticized.
When the unrest happened the forces of law and order were quick to
intervene with a mixture of brutality and repressive tolerance. In 1831,
however, the relationship between the absolute monarchy and its sub-
jects began to alter for real.
28
These and many other contentious gatherings in 1830–48 have been studied by Jonassen
(1995) and Jonassen (1997); Skovgaard-Petersen (1985).
2 Denmark 1700–1849: Crowds, Movements . . . 25
innovation was the collective petition, also named the address.29 One of
the first known petitions, signed by 572 honourable men from the
academic elite, was addressed to the king on 20 February 1835 asking
for retaining the freedom of expression. Henceforth followed one peti-
tion after another with thousands of signatures forwarded to the pro-
vincial assemblies and the king. Most petitions demanded agricultural
reforms, solidarity with Schleswig and a constitution for all.
Both the political cheering and the petition belong to the core
elements of the new repertoire of collective claim making but they
were accompanied by other minor novelties too. The demonstrative
silence of the popular crowd when the king paraded the streets of
Copenhagen or when the audience applauded or whistled loudly during
a theatrical performance where the king or other officials were present
was also a sign of dissent, just as the celebration and the banquet were
used as political expressions. These soft forms of opposition were often
difficult to handle for the authorities and gave the opposition important
degrees of freedom, especially in a situation where police spies infiltrated
any attempt to organized resistance.30 The disciplined mass demonstra-
tion – we know so well from the twentieth century – as a vehicle of
political expression was first introduced during the last years of the
absolute monarchy, reaching a climax on 21 March 1848, when
15,000 people gathered in the streets of Copenhagen and peacefully
marched to Christiansborg, where the king dismissed his ministers, and
thus paved the way for a constitution.
The format of a new repertoire with cheering, petition drives, forms
of demonstrative dissent and mass demonstrations also had the conse-
quence that mobs, disturbances, sacking and damages of houses, and
verbal and physical attacks were descending (see Fig. 2.1). The Liberal
opposition united around a set of claims, and tried hard to keep a
distance from the popular crowd in order to display collective worthiness
and not to provoke the power holders. Only now and then did the
liberals engage with the ‘masses’ as a warning to the royal government.
29
See note 10.
30
Stevnsborg (2010), ch. 3; Tarbensen (1999).
26 F. Mikkelsen
To have the hordes rumbling in the streets was skilfully used by Orla
Lehmann, when he, in an address to the king, the day before the soft fall
of the absolute monarchy, wrote that ‘we implore Your Majesty not to
drive the nation to desperate measures’.
One question we have to ask ourselves is why did the repertoire of
collective performances alter with such a velocity in the early 1830s? The
introductory remarks about the student rally on 11 February 1831 give
the answer. It was the decision of the king – under pressure from the
German Confederation and indirectly the July revolution in Paris – to
set up consultative provincial assemblies that established a political
platform from where citizens could rightfully and peacefully seek redress
of the state’s errors and injustices.31 The provincial assemblies also
fostered a new generation of political entrepreneurs who knew how to
organize meetings, bring out hosts of supporters, and draft public
statements.
Election to the provincial assemblies instigated a process of public
politicization that continued with issues of freedom of the press and the
debate about a constitution, followed by the first real peasant movement,
student Scandinavianism and the Schleswig issue. From the assembly
election in 1834 the Liberal opposition learned that to gain influence
they had to organize; these experiences were utilized in the beginning of
1835, when the royal government tried to restrict the freedom of the
press.32 A prolonged debate on freedom of expression was unleashed in
the press, and when the king resolved to put an end to the growing
‘writer impudence’, the newly elected deputies to the Estates General
contacted three university professors who decided to turn directly to the
king in terms of an address. The government retreated from its decision
to tighten control of the press, but in 1836 it presented the Estates
General with a bill regulating the limits of the freedom of expression,
which turned into law the following year. Other political issues that were
able to mobilize the Liberal opposition revolved around the publicity of
the provincial assemblies, economic liberalism, private property, public
31
Skovmand (1971), 129; Jones (1986), 29–34.
32
Juelstorp (1992).
2 Denmark 1700–1849: Crowds, Movements . . . 27
33
Skovmand (1971), 181–90; Skovgaard-Petersen (1985), 184–90.
34
Nørgaard (2015).
35
Østerud (1978), 246–47; Clemmensen (1994).
28 F. Mikkelsen
36
Nilsson (2000).
2 Denmark 1700–1849: Crowds, Movements . . . 29
First with the student skirmishes from 1831 and the introduction of a
new repertoire of contentious performances, large segments of the rural-
urban population, with the Copenhagen middle class in a leading
position, united behind a challenger with considerable organizational,
communicative and strategic capacity.
An international-national economic crisis in 1847 with rising food
prices may have fuelled the dissatisfaction, but it was the foundation of
the provincial estates in 1834, which created a political stage from where
the opposition could articulate and frame the claims. Although the pro-
vincial assemblies formed the cornerstone of the emerging political infra-
structure, other types of organization had a role to play as well. During the
1820s and 1830s, patriotic societies, political clubs, popular religious
revivalist movements, parish council associations, agricultural societies
and several newspapers saw the light. Most of these organizations were
non-political and did not take part in any political manifestations or claim
making. On the other side, they did become part of broader political
awareness and schooling, and fostered ideas and men (later in the century
also women), who rose to become organizational and political leaders.37
We have already seen that the inauguration of consultative provincial
assemblies owes much to pressure and inspiration from abroad, whereas
the European revolutions since 1789, including the insurrections and
risings in 1848,38 hardly caused any dissent or mobilization of ordinary
Danes besides a few flyers and slogans. The real effect of international
revolutionary events seems to be the fear they imposed on the power
holders, especially the royal establishment, who often identified with
royal houses in other countries.
Although international revolutions only produced marginal changes,
war, or in our case civil war, had a more direct impact on the mobiliza-
tion capacity of common people. Shortly after the fall of the absolute
monarchy and the outbreak of civil war between pro-Germans in
Schleswig-Holstein and the new constitutional government in
37
Wåhlin (1980), (1986); Clemmensen (1987).
38
Sperber (1994).
30 F. Mikkelsen
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Nutid, bd. 33, hf. 1, 1–54.
Blüdnikow, Bent, and Bent Christensen (1986) ‘Jødefejden 1819’ in Flemming
Mikkelsen (ed.) Protest og oprør. Kollektive aktioner i Danmark 1700–1985
(Århus: Modtryk).
39
Recently, Danish historians have begun to name the conflict between the pro-German and pro-
Danish constituency in the duchies a ‘civil war’; see Bjørn (1998).
40
Bjørn (1985).
41
Bjørn (1985), 136.
2 Denmark 1700–1849: Crowds, Movements . . . 31
Bregnsbo, Michael (1997) Folk skriver til kongen. Supplikkerne og deres funktion
i den dansk-norske enevælde i 1700-tallet (København: Udgivet af Selskabet
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Christensen, John, Henning Koch, and Henrik Stevnsborg (1983) ‘Sikkerhed,
fred og orden. ”Opløb” og ”Oprør” i 17- og 1800-tallets København’, Den
jyske historiker, nr, 25, 39–61.
Clemmensen, Niels (1987) Associationer og foreningsdannelse i Danmark 1780–
1880 (Bergen: Alvheim & Eide).
Clemmensen, Niels (1994) ‘Bondevenner og bondevenner – to alen af et
stykke?’, Fortid og Nutid, hf, 2, 134–157.
Dombernowsky, Lotte (1985) ‘Slagsmål ere nu om Stunder langt sjældnere’
Retsopfattelse og adfærd hos fynsk landalmue omkring år 1800 (Sønderborg:
Landbohistorisk Selskab).
Hansen, Svend Aage (1972) Økonomisk vækst i Danmark. Bind I: 1720–1914
(København: Gads Forlag).
Henningsen, Lars N. (1981) ‘Misvækst og kornspekulation i Sønderjylland
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32 F. Mikkelsen
R. Karpantschof (*)
Sociology, Independent Scholar, Copenhagen, Denmark
e-mail: r.karpantschof@gmail.com
The political system, which they created and wanted for the future, was a
constitutional monarchy based on traditional master’s (householder’s)
rights rather than modern concepts of equality. A system with a built-in
conservative balance between the aristocratic and the democratic, so the
last-mentioned did not go too far. Therefore, only 14–15 percent of the
population received the franchise, and the king was to appoint the
government.1 Furthermore, in the period 1850–1900 Denmark was on
some occasions on the verge of becoming a quasi-dictatorship; even in
1920 the king interfered in the formation of a government in a way which
triggered off accusations of a coup d’état.
In order to study the political activity in Denmark in this important
period of democratization I have gathered data about 231 collective
petitions in 1850–1919, 1,412 contentious gatherings (crowds, riots,
political rallies, marches etc., at street level) in 1850–1913, and 1,527
public debate meetings in 1865–99.2 A glance at Fig. 3.1 and Fig 3.2
produces an initial overall result. The second half of the nineteenth
century was indeed a period of popular breakthrough. More precisely, it
took place in the middle of the 1880s where collective street actions,
strikes, petitions and electoral participation reached untold heights and
ushered in a completely new era of genuine popular participation.
The modern era of mass politics. It was first here that the people became
1
Knudsen (2006); Jacobsen (2008); Nevers (2011); Nevers (2015); Svensson (2012); Møller
(2014).
2
My investigation covers five political event surveys, which for most part has been carried out in
connection with a PhD and a postdoctorate project at the Department of Sociology, University of
Copenhagen. Petition Database DK 1850–1919: 231 collective petitions. Sources: official docu-
ments, e.g. parliamentary papers and secondary historical literature. Protest Database DK 1850–
1864: 56 contentious gatherings. Sources: secondary historical literature. Protest Database DK
1865–1887: 364 contentious gatherings. Sources: the daily newspapers Berlingske Tidende and
Politiken. Protest Database DK 1888–1913: 992 contentious gatherings. Sources: the daily news-
papers Politiken and Dagbladet. In the databases I have recorded all kinds of events, where a group
of people in public has promoted a given cause and/or protested against certain social conditions
or other social groups. Only petitions with a minimum of 500 signatures and contentious
gatherings with a minimum of 20 participants have been recorded. The surveys are geographically
limited to the Kingdom of Denmark, i.e. events in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein are not
included. Political Meeting Database DK 1865–1899: 1,527 public information/debate meetings
about politics and various causes, e.g. women’s cause, labour cause etc. Source: ‘Registrant over
danske avisartikler’ (index cards regarding Berlingske Tidende 1865–1899 and Politiken 1884–
1899), The Royal Danish Library.
250
140
Labor strikes
Unruly crowd, clash, riot
40
50 Labor strike
20
0 0
1850
1853
1856
1859
1862
1865
1868
1871
1874
1877
1880
1883
1886
1889
1892
1895
1898
1901
1904
1907
1910
1913