Speaking of Denmark, everyone often thinks of Hans Christian Andersen, or the fairy tale kingdom of Denmark, which is also one of the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland) today), but when Denmark first originated and developed, it was also brutal and barbaric, of course, the Danes at that time were often called "Vikings".
Denmark
Historically, Denmark, and even Northern Europe, has entered a period known as the Viking Period or the Pirate Period, during which the whole of Europe was deeply affected by the Vikings
Vikings
These fierce Vikings either plundered along the coast or entered the interior along the river, and some even developed into new peoples, for example, it is said that a group of Vikings who entered the interior became the Varyags of Later Eastern Europe
Of course, there were also Vikings who lived on the sea and eventually even developed a large maritime empire, such as the Great North Sea Empire in Danish history.
In this issue, we focus on Denmark and take a look at the earliest development of the fairytale kingdom of Denmark, that is, the history of Denmark from the primitive era to the Viking period
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > primitive period</h1>
Around 10,000 B.C., the Jutland Peninsula (the peninsula southwest of Scandinavia and the northern part of Germany connecting the European continent) began to be inhabited
Jutland location
Because the Jutland Peninsula, which is located at the northern end of the northern temperate zone, is about to approach the northern cold zone, due to the constraints of natural conditions such as climate, it is not enough to support a huge agriculture, or there is no mature agriculture at that time, so the earliest local residents generally live by hunting.
Location in Denmark
Around 4200 BC to 3400 BC, the humans who settled in the area entered the Neolithic Age, and they began to use new tools and new ways to reclaim the land and cultivate agriculture.
Neolithic
But to be honest, this kind of barren agriculture is not enough to support a huge country, but Denmark is still a tribal period at this time, so under the condition of a small population, Denmark is still a way of life of gathering, hunting and farming
Around 400 BC, Denmark entered the Bronze Age, which made some progress, but the level of civilization was still not high enough, but compared with Sweden and other places further north, Denmark was also a big tall among the shorter ones.
Primitive period
But with the development of the productive forces, the changes in the mode of production, and the progress of civilization, other problems have ensued, that is, the problem of population, and of course, there are things like class differentiation, etc. In any case, the primitive era of mankind had almost common laws
Like the development of the primitive period in Denmark, it is basically similar to that of Greece and Sweden (for details, see tracing back to the source, looking at the Sweden and development of primitive society - A Brief History of Sweden 1)
In the Danes, with the expansion of tribal size, the emergence of private property and the increase of the population, the traditional farming of the past could no longer meet the needs of the "Danes" at that time, and the residents of that time had to find a new way out
Fortunately, the Jutland Peninsula at that time was on the coast, so the "Danes" at that time (there was no Danish concept like today' at that time, so it is convenient for everyone to understand, and will not be explained later) were good at sailing and other activities
So when farming was no longer enough to meet the survival needs of the population, the Danes began to "think poorly", using their good navigation and shipbuilding to find a way out at sea
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > target sea</h1>
Today's Denmark is located in the northwest of the European continent, and although it is not so "closely connected" to the European continent, it is an excellent maritime kingdom:
Geographical location of Denmark
Denmark is northwest of Norway, east of Sweden, south of Germany, the westernmost part of the United Kingdom across the North Sea, almost Denmark is surrounded by the Baltic Sea and the North Sea in an "S" shape, this geographical location is difficult not to enter the sea
Therefore, the Danes at that time often went south to the Roman Empire to exchange amber, flint, etc. for grain and other utensils. The way south is more often chosen by sea
Roman Empire location
At that time, the Baltic Sea region was one of the places that produced the most amber in the world (of course, today amber is more abundant), and the amber around the Baltic Sea at that time was called "sea perch".
Hyper
The essence of amber is nothing more than a special plant fossil formed by the resin or gum secreted by ancient plants, in other words, it is similar to the pine oil dripping from the tree, of course, humans prefer to call amber a "soft gem".
At that time, Europeans directly regarded amber as a gemstone, so the Danes at that time took the sale of amber as another way out, and took the Baltic Sea as the starting point to form an "amber road".
Amber Road
In the early days of Denmark, amber was one of the first regions to be found and mined, so amber accounted for a large proportion of the Danes' trade with the Roman Empire at that time
In fact, it is nothing to say but sell amber or smuggle trade points, that is, the development of early industry and commerce, people greece is not also industrial and commercial civilization? It also became the source of European civilization
amber
But this group of Danes, or Nordics, after the trade exchange, from the 6th century onwards also engaged in some "pirate activities", that is, plundering and plundering.
In addition, the natural environment and living conditions in Northern Europe at that time were indeed quite harsh, so the people were fierce, and the Nordics mostly took this as the main way of survival, so the countries and peoples that were plundered by these Norse peoples at that time called them "Vikings" or "Vikings".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="45" > Vikings</h1>
Of course, there are many problems that need to be explained here, first of all, the Vikings are not "professional pirates", they do loot, but at the same time, people also cultivate land, do handicrafts, etc
Vikings
These fearsome pirates may have been ordinary farmers, craftsmen, merchants, etc., but just like nomads are born warriors, these Norse people are born excellent sailors, so once they board the ship, they can quickly become invincible Vikings
Among these people, they are often merchants and thieves, and the trade amber mentioned above is actually a way of commerce, and if necessary, they can also be pirates
In a word, their goal is to get more wealth, so whether it is trade or robbery, or farming, as long as they can get money, they will do it.
Yikes! This brings us to our second question, that is, these "Vikings" are not strictly pirates in our sense today, which we talked about in the life of Swedish history (for details, see Viking Age Norse, see the development of Sweden in the Pirate Age - A Brief History of Sweden 2)
Social life of the Vikings
These Vikings did pirate their work, but it was an act of a nation-like nature, in other words, it was their unique way of living
In other words, if the Vikings of that time had gone to farm, they would have starved to death; they would all have to go to business, and they would have to die half; so they could only plunder (of course, this is not to justify them, the suffering of the Vikings to the plundered peoples is not in vain)
Plundering pirates
Let's also take the example of nomads: the ancient Chinese nomads went south every three to five years to plunder, so why don't we simply call them all "robbers" or "ringing horses"?
Human nomads do rely on grazing, but some daily necessities cannot be made by themselves and must be robbed in the south, so that is also their unique way of survival, although they have brought disasters to our agricultural civilization by going south, we also "curse" and "condemn" them, but from a macro point of view, this is indeed their living state
nomad
In fact, the development direction of human civilization depends largely on the natural environment, the sooner the more so, let's think about why China is an agricultural civilization? Why didn't our ancestors develop industrial and commercial civilization?
Therefore, under the constraints of the productive forces, the mode of subsistence and the natural conditions at that time, the "sea peoples" such as the nomadic peoples and northern Europe did have to rely on "plunder" to a considerable extent to develop
So after the feudalization of Northern Europe, the Vikings gradually disappeared, or because they had reached a certain stage of development. In other words, pirates in today's sense are also done by people who are detached from mainstream society, but who will do pirates who have cars, houses, and food?
Of course, this is not to whitewash the pirates, in fact, these pirates can not wash white, just to show you that the Vikings of the Viking Age are not strictly the same as today's "pirates"
So for a while, these people became the fear of the whole of Europe, and these Vikings were also very desperate, and their footprints were almost all over Europe, and even the farthest even crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas
Vikings route
In 793 AD, Vikings from Denmark attacked the English island of Lindisfarne. Since then, Danish pirates have invaded England on an increasing scale.
The Danes occupied London in 871 AD. In 878, King Alfred the Great of England made peace with Danish pirates, and the two sides divided England equally, and Danish immigrants began to establish the "Danish Quarter" in northeast England.
Alfred the Great
In 1016, King Cnut the Great of Denmark conquered all of England and established the famous "Great Empire of the North Sea", which at its peak included Norway, England, most of Scotland and southern Sweden. The empire eventually collapsed in 1042.
Great Empire of the North Sea (dark part)
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<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="64" > summary</h1>
All in all, Denmark throughout the 8th-11th centuries was in such a period of Vikings, during which a short-lasting but influential "Great Empire of the North Sea" was developed.
So what is this "Great North Sea Empire"? How did it come about step by step? How has it affected Danish history and even European history?
Stay tuned for this series, and stay tuned for the next issue!