Windows of opportunity and the political anatomy of Scandinavianism, 1848−1858
Year: 2023

The European revolutions of 1848 opened the lid on national strife and made pan-nationalism the order of the day. This chapter argues that a changing and an increasingly unstable political climate after 1848 offered at least two windows of opportunity for Scandinavian unification. The First Schleswig War of 1848−51 very nearly turned into a war of Scandinavian unification, contingent on Swedish-Norwegian intervention. War, upheaval and prospects for dynastic union in 1848−51 contributed to the t