Concept

Duchy of Schleswig

Summary
The Duchy of Schleswig (Hertugdømmet Slesvig; Herzogtum Schleswig; Hartogdom Sleswig; Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland (Sønderjylland) covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) 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. Unlike Holstein and Lauenburg, Schleswig was never a part of the German Confederation. Schleswig was instead a fief of Denmark, and its inhabitants spoke Danish, German, and North Frisian. Both Danish and German National Liberals wanted Schleswig to be part of a Danish or German national state in the 19th century. A German uprising in March 1848 caused the First Schleswig War which ended in 1852. The Second Schleswig War (1864) ended with the three duchies being governed jointly by Austria and Prussia. In 1866, they became a part of Prussia. From early medieval times, the area's significance lay in being the buffer province of Scandinavia and the Danish Realm towards the powerful Holy Roman Empire to the south, as well as being a transit area for the transfer of goods between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, connecting the trade route through Russia with the trade routes along the Rhine and the Atlantic coast (see also Kiel Canal). Roman sources place the homeland of the tribe of Jutes north of the river Eider and that of the Angles south of it. The Angles in turn bordered the neighbouring Saxons. By the early Middle Ages, the region was inhabited by three groups: Danes (including assimilated Jutes), who lived north of the Danevirke and the Eckernförde Bay, North Frisians, who lived in most of North Frisia, including on the North Frisian Islands, and Saxons (including Germanized Wagrians and Wends), who lived in the area south of the Danes and the Frisians.
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