Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-10-19
BY LAUST RASMUSSEN.
Danish MiniAtef of Defenne.

n ! million inhabitants and on
NV account of her geograph-
ical position. Denmark is.
from a military point of
view, the most impotent country in
Europe. Denmark's coast line is
longer than that of France, and even
with the utmost eXertions the coun-
try would be absolutely powerless
against any serious attack.
During the World War the military
arrangements in Denmark were
founded on an act of 1909 based al
most entirely on a defense against
attacks from land and sea on Copen-
hagen. the capital.
Against the opposition of the So
cial Democrats and the Radical Left
party this arrangement was carried
through by the two conservative par
ties. tn eRight and Left. which par
ties at that time commanded a major
ity in the two chambers of the Rigs
dag-the Folketinget the lower
house) and Landstinget the upper
house,.
1T was stated in the remarks &C
campaigning the defense bill in 1909
that the primary object was to Sc
cure Copenhagen against an attack.
Open to Bombnr dment.
When the World War broke out the
minister of war asked the command
erin 1chief of the navy for informa-
ton about the defensive arrangements
against q naval attack on topenha-
gen. He was told the navy would not
be able to prevent a bombardment of
that part of Copenhagen between the
sea and the Town Hall Square-the
part in which the King has his resi-
dence. and in which the Rigsdag and
the army and navy's stores are sit
uated.
AS regards land defense, the COM
mander- in chief of the army wrote:
There are various defects in re-
Spect of the Notifications of Copen-
hagen which no system OF work can
remedy, as it is impossible to secure
the town against a bombardment of
heavier guns"
At the outbreak of the war Den
mark was asked by Germans to lay
mines in the fairway through the
Great Belt-the only free passage TO
the Baltic for ships of deep draught.
Belt Mined During War.
In Denmark opinion was divided
in this respect. If the request had
been declined there is every reason
to believe that in 1914 conflict with
Germany would have arisen.
However, the government laid mines
and during the whole World War
passage through the Great Belt was
impossible for warships.
That this request was made rather
in order to gauge Denmark'S feelings
toward Germany than because any
great defensive Importance was at
tached to it appears clearly from
the fact that farther down the Belt
the German navy laid a strong mine
,aI pvin Hajr rir n
der-in-chief of the German Baltic
feet, wrote of the Danish mining
after the war:
ITO d persistent opponent these
mines did not offer special Difficult
ties for an attack on the Bay of
Kiel (the base of the German faeeD.
Armed opposition on the part OF the
Danish ships could not be expected
and would not have presented any
actual obstacle"
Armed Strength Reduced.
Thus it appears now that in 1914
the defensive arrangements of 1909
would have been entirely inefficient
for Denmark. So the two conserva-
tive parties, directly after the war,
proposed a Encouragement of the de-
Tense system. which was carried
through in 1922 and is still in force.
AS the war demonstrated that
direct defense of Copenhagen eN-
ceeded our strength, the idea was
now entirely abandoned. The main
force of the army was transferred
to Jutland the part of the country
which is contiguous to Germany.
The strength of the army was con-
siderably reduced; only 1000 men
were trained annually, as against
10000 formerly.
At the time when the new military
ARRANGEMENT was carried through it
was denounced by a number of OH
GERS in the army. In the Officers
Gazette it was stated that the ar