The History of Denmark

Denmark's story is one of the most overlooked in European history. Most people know it for Vikings, maybe Hans Christian Andersen, and not much else. But this small Scandinavian country played an outsized role in shaping Northern Europe, from the age of longships to the creation of one of the world's most successful welfare states. The full arc of Danish history unfolds from early Viking raids and the rise of powerful medieval kings to the Reformation, the loss of empire, occupation during World War II, and the modern welfare model that other nations keep trying to copy. It is a story of a country that kept reinventing itself, sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity. From Danish raiders shaping the coastlines of Europe to the rise and fall of the Kalmar Union, from absolutism and reform to Nazi occupation and the rescue of Danish Jews, and finally to the building of one of the most equal societies in the world. How a small northern country became a global model for quality of life.