| Battle of Mysunde (1848) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of First Schleswig War | |||||||
 Danish soldiers return to Copenhagen in 1849 by Otto Bache (1894) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Prussia |  Denmark | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 28,000 | 11,000 | ||||||
The Battle of Mysunde (1848), or the First Battle of Mysunde took place in the First Schleswig War at Mysunde, Germany. The battle occurred April 23, 1848. The battle resulted in a Danish defeat. [1]
It was fought between Denmark and Germany over the Schleswig-Holstein Question - that is, who should control the duchies of Holstein and Schleswig. Prussia and Sweden were also involved in the war. Mysunde was a critical site for battle because it had a ferry over the narrowest point of the Schlei. Previously, the Danes had met the insurgents at Flensburg and forced the German army to fall back, but the insurgents then received reinforcements from the Germans. [2]
Germany, Prussia, and the insurgents together brought an army of 28,000 men. They also had more modern weapons than the Danes, who had an army of only 11,000 men. After a long day of fighting, the Danes were forced to retreat to the island of Als, and therefore lost the battle. [3]
The Danes were able to regroup at the island due to a deep sound that separated the island from the mainland. They were also able to use their ships to harass the main German army, to the point that the commander of the Prussian army, Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, demanded four million rix as compensation for the damage caused. The Germans and the Prussians were so crippled by the Danish navy that they were forced to seize a part of Jutland as security. However, the Prussian court forced Wrangel to retire from the battle. Oscar I of Sweden then attempted to send an army to assist Germany, but before that army could arrive, the Great powers of Europe forced a treaty that caused a seven months' peace. Both sides were so dissatisfied with the peace, however, that both continued fighting at the end of the seven months. [3]
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig. Its capital city is Kiel; other notable cities are Lübeck and Flensburg. It covers an area of 15,763 km2 (6,086 sq mi), making it the 5th smallest German federal state by area. Historically, the name can also refer to a larger region, containing both present-day Schleswig-Holstein and the former South Jutland County in Denmark.
Southern Schleswig is the southern half of the former Duchy of Schleswig in Germany on the Jutland Peninsula. The geographical area today covers the large area between the Eider river in the south and the Flensburg Fjord in the north, where it borders Denmark. Northern Schleswig, congruent with the former South Jutland County, forms the southernmost part of Denmark. The area belonged to the Crown of Denmark until Prussia and Austria declared war on Denmark in 1864. Denmark wanted to give away the German-speaking Holsten and set the new border at the small river Ejderen. Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck concluded that this justified a war, and even proclaimed it a "holy war". He also turned to the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph I of Austria for help. A similar war in 1848 had gone poorly for the Prussians. With Prussia's modern weapons and the help from both the Austrians and General Moltke, the Danish army was destroyed or forced to make a disorderly retreat. The Prussian-Danish border was then moved from the Elbe up in Jutland to the Kongeåen creek.
The Duchy of Schleswig was a duchy in Southern Jutland covering the area between about 60 km north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been divided between the two countries since 1920, with Northern Schleswig in Denmark and Southern Schleswig in Germany. The region is also called Sleswick in English.
The history of Schleswig-Holstein consists of the corpus of facts since the pre-history times until the modern establishing of the Schleswig-Holstein state.
The First Schleswig War, also known as the Schleswig-Holstein Uprising and the Three Years' War, was a military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig-Holstein Question: who should control the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg, which at the time were ruled by the king of Denmark in a personal union. Ultimately, the Danish side proved victorious with the diplomatic support of the great powers, especially Britain and Russia, since the duchies were close to an important Baltic seaway connecting both powers.
The Second Schleswig War, also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 February 1864, when Prussian and Austrian forces crossed the border into the Danish fief Schleswig. Denmark fought troops of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire representing the German Confederation.
The Schleswig–Holstein question was a complex set of diplomatic and other issues arising in the 19th century from the relations of two duchies, Schleswig and Holstein, to the Danish Crown, to the German Confederation, and to each other.
Friedrich Heinrich Ernst Graf von Wrangel was a Generalfeldmarschall of the Prussian Army.
Als is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea.
The Battle of Dybbøl was the key battle of the Second Schleswig War, fought between Denmark and Prussia. The battle was fought on the morning of 18 April 1864, following a siege that began on 2 April. Denmark suffered a severe defeat which – with the Prussian capture of the island of Als – ultimately decided the outcome of the war, forcing Danish cession of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.
Southern Jutland is the name for the region south of the Kongeå in Jutland, Denmark and north of the Eider (river) in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The region north of the Kongeå is called Nørrejylland, 'Northern Jutland'. Both territories had their own ting assemblies in the Middle Ages. Southern Jutland is mentioned for the first time in the Knýtlinga saga.
Missunde is a village on the Schlei coast of Schwansen in Southern Schleswig in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, about 7 miles from Schleswig. It is part of the municipality Kosel. It has a ferry over the Schlei to Angeln. Knud Lavard built a fort there in 1120. It is near the east end of the Dannewerk.
The Peace of Lund, signed on 16 September (O.S.) / 26 September 1679, was the final peace treaty between Denmark–Norway and the Swedish Empire in the Scanian War.
The Battle of Schleswig occurred near Dannevirke on Easter morning, 23 April 1848 as the second battle of the First Schleswig War of 1848–1850.
The Battle of Mysunde on 2 February 1864 was the first battle between the Prusso-Austrian allied army and the Danish army in the Second Schleswig War. The Prussian vanguard force of 10,000 men attempted to break through and outflank the Danish defenses at Danevirke, but were repulsed by the fortification garrison and two battalions of the Danish army.
The London Conference of 1864 was a peace conference on the Second Schleswig War that took place in London from 25 April to 25 June 1864.
Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Oskar Freiherr von Wrangel (1812-1899) was a Prussian General of the Infantry who was notable for commanding at the Battle of Kolding during the First Schleswig War.
The capture of the North Frisian Islands and Rømø in July 1864 was the last military operation of the Second Schleswig War between Denmark on the one hand and Prussia and the Austrian Empire on the other hand around the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, which belonged to Denmark. It ended with the occupation of the North Frisian Islands and Rømø by Austrian troops.
The Danish Unitary State was a Danish political designation for the monarchical state formation of Denmark, Schleswig, Holstein, and Saxe-Lauenburg, between the two treaties of Vienna in 1815 and 1864. The usage of the term became relevant after the First Schleswig War, when a need for a constitutional framework for the monarchy was present, which ought to follow the premises of the London Protocol, which prohibited a closer connection between two of the monarchy's possessions. The political designation was ultimately eliminated after The Second Schleswig War and was replaced by the national state in 1866.