Part II - The Jutland War - Chapter 10

The Jutland War
Part II

The defining moment in this conflict came on March 25, 1871, when the Swedish fleet left port in Stockholm. Danish agents in the city immediatly reported this to Copenhagan, and the main bulk of the Danish flet was dispatched to intercept the force at it's predicted point of arrival, southest of Copenhagan. Exactly as the Swedish Admiralty had planned.

First blood in the Battle Mon Island was drawn by the Danes. A swedish frigate had sailed ahead of the main fleet to socut, and just happened to run into the Danish ironclad, Dannebrog. A brief skirmish ensued, with the frigate suffering severe damage before fleeing.

Within an hour the Swedes had arrived to face a large and prepared Danish force. It didn't matter. In a battle between primarialy Iron versus primarialy Wood, Iron would always win. Cannons belched fire, smoke and death as Swedish Admiral Sjoblad aggressively charged his ships into battle. The Danies, short of ironclads, had decided to spread their capital ships out between the fleet. Admiral Sjoblad noticed this and began breaking the enemy formation apart, piece by piece, much like Nelson had done at Trefalgar. The Danes put up a fierce battle, but in the end it was quality that beat out quanity. Whar remained of the once mighty Danish fleet hurried back to Copenhagan full steam.

The Battle of Mon Island

The Swedish General Staff in Stockholm couldn't be happier. When word of the Danish Navy's departure from port came, stage two of their plan went into action: the invasion of Jutland.

Unknown to the Danies, for weeks troops and ships had been ferried to Oslo. Once ready, the force weould set sail for Jutland. Everything was ready on March 25, and the small fleet left port at nightfall, hoping to land the two division force before sunrise.

The Operation went off without a hitch, and before Copenhagan knew it, 22,000 men, 3,000 horse, and 10 batteries of cannon had landed near Skagen in Northern Jutland and taken it without resistance. The Danish army, containing but a few Infantry regiments, a few Cavalry squadrons, and some outdated cannons, were completely unprepared. What little men they did have in Jutland were spread throughout the pennisula. THe Swedish force made quick progress, easily defeating any resistance that faced them. Within a few weeks, the Swedish flag flew throughout Jutland.

Swedish Infantry quickly secured Jutland

Now all that remained was the Island of Copenhagan. With Jutland under control and the Danish Fleet all but destroyed, Sweden was free to do whatever ir wished in the Baltic. Sweden chose to blockaded the capital and starve it into submission, and for almost three months, just that happened. The Danes were starved into accepting unconditional surrender on June 3rd, 1871. A month of negotiating later, and on July 15th, 1871, the Kingdom of Denmark was officially annexed by Sweden.

To Be Continued...

Part II - The Jutland War - Chapter 9

The Jutland War

Part I

Like most European wars, the Jutland War started over something that, in retrospect, seems rather petty to was lives over. Some wars have been over money, others over the beliefs of people. The Jutland conflict was fought for the most popular excuse for conflict, land.

Denmark was once the sole power of the Baltic. With the emergence of Sweden and Russia as powers in the early 18th Century, and then Prussia in the Late 18th Century, this power was severely diminished. The Rostock Purchase, in King Christian IX's eyes, served only to weaken further the Danes' already weak hold on Baltic Trade.

Christian IX let the Swedish government know of his displeasure over the purchase in an Ultimatum, starting that "Denmark considers Rostock and the area around it to be of Prussian belonging." and that, "If any Swedish force attempts to make landfall in the province." that, "military action will be taken at all haste to restore the province to Prussian hands.
Needless to say, King Charles XV was not satisfied with this, although no reply was sent stating so.

King Christian IX of Denmark

After some time, with no movement into the Rostock Purchase reported, the Danes felt that had won the affair, until three brigades of Swedish infantry arrived in Rostock ot assume control of the new Swedish acquisition. This news throughly shocked King Christian, who promptly issued a statement starting that "On this date, Febuary 27th, 1871, a state of war officially exists between the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of Sweden and Norway.

The Jutland War had begun.

The Swedish General Staff had anticipated a conflict with Denmark for some time. They had decided long before the declaration of War that the key to defeating Denmark lay in the pennisula of Jutland, not the island and capital city of Copenhagan. Before anything could be done however, the Danish fleet had to be eliminated. The Danish Navy was larger than it's Swedish counterpart, but the large majority of her vessels were of wooden construction, vastly obsolete compared to the largely ironclad Swedish Navy. This was Sweden's trump card in the Naval war, and she planned to use it well.

The first action was taken my the Danes. Immediatly after the declaration of war, the straits and channels between Copenhagan and Sweden were heavily mined to ensure no landing could take place without heavy losses in ships. Large cannons were also brought up and a spordiac bombardment of the city of Malmo began. In retilation, the Swedes started a bombardment of Copenhagan.

Large Mortar Brought in to Bombard Malmo

Meanwhile, the handover of power from Prussia to Sweden int he Rostock Purchase was proceeding very smoothely. Local administration was being handed over without incident.