Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1937-05-13

Hague, everywhere received with not
merely ceremonial flutter but with
real cordially because of their demo-
cratic yet dignified bearing.
None ventured in those days to
dream of the imminence of a world
war, but when it came, it found
King Christian ready to take meas
ures which first of all aimed at pre-
serving the neutrality of his country.
Denmark was, of course, in most
exposed position, commanding the
entrances to the Baltic Sea, and there
was fear that either Germany or
Great Britain might choose to disre-
gard Danish neutrality and force
passage through the Sound and the
Belts, but wise craftsmanship on the
part of the king and his advisers pre-
vented that crisis.
AS for the king personally, he was
in a painfully precarious position,
for his siSter-in-law, Cecilie, was
crown princess of Germany; his ia
theirs sister was Queen Alexandra
of Great Britain, and another aunt
was Dowager Empress Maria Feo-
dorowna (Dagmar) of Russia.
In December, 1914, the famous
meeting of the three Scandinavian
kings at Malmoe, Sweden, took place;
here King Christian and his younger
brother, King Haakon of Norway
conferred with King Gustaf of Swe-
den and agreed that the peace of the
North was to be maintained by strict
neutrality supported by solidarity.
This meeting was followed by others,
and the foreign ministers of the three
nations did their part in cementing
the friendship which already held
them together-not in the form OF
alliances or treaties, but merely by
spoken words, wholly informal agree
ments.
And while the war progressed on
the battlefelds of France and Bel
GUM, the kingdom of Denmark, al
ways keeping its eyes open to the
undeniable danger of being drawn
into the cauldron, peacefully SET
about revising its national conStitu-
ton. This document originally was
signed by King Frederik VII on June
S, 1849, but had in 1866 been sc
drastically altered as to deprive the
people of most of the privileges
given by the 1849 fundamental law
In 1901-when the government was
democratiZed to a certain extent
the situation was somewhat eased
but the revised constitution still re-
manned a nightmare.
On June 5, 1915, Christian x signed
new and very considerably liber-
allied constitution which, among 9TH
er reforms, introduced complete wom-
ans suffrage into the country.
The following year the king was
sorely veXed because of Danish bit
terness incident to the negotiations
between Denmark and the United
States for the American purchase
of the Danish West Indies (now the
Virgin Islands), and in 1918 Iceland
partially seeded from Denmark, re-
, tanning merely personal-union with
: Christian as king of Denmark and
Iceland.
Trouble threatened about Easter
time in 1920 when a general strike
seemed very close possibility; there
were several and hurried changes
of government and much talk OF
revolution being in the air was heard
From that period an anecdote is told
about the king replying to certain
Social-DemocratS who had asked him
to state his opinion about Denmark
possibly becoming republic:
Cali right, gentlemen" he is re-
ported to have said-"but in that
case won't you, please, show me the
courtesy of making me your first
! PRESIDENT"
| The crisis passed, and couple OF
months later arrived what was, per-
haps, the greatest moment in the
kings official life The Versailles
peace treaty had provided that the
population of Schleswig- Holstein Cor
as the Danes prefer to spell it, Sles-
Observation-Disclosures coded to
Prussia as result of the Dano-Ger-
man war in 1864-by series of pleb-
isciteS decide whether they wanted to
remain German citizens or return to
their old motherland. The result
was that the northernmost part OF
) SchleSWig voted Danish, and on July
10, 1920, the king, sitting on a white
charger, crossed the former Dano-
German border while thousands OF
Danish flags-forbidden display for
fifty-six years-were unfurled. The
, king officially took possession of an
ancient part of his country and in
: doing so, did something very hand
: some, the memory of which still
. brings tears to the eyes of the Schles-
} wigers, for just as he rode across the
. line, he bent down from his horse