Prior to the state of emergency, Denmark had an
elective monarchy. The king was elected upon the death of the previous king by a council of noblemen known as the
Riksråd, which also functioned as a counterbalance to the king's power while they were in office. Frederik III was elected king in 1648, following the death of his father,
Christian IV of Denmark. However, the political situation surrounding his election was tense, and following a brief period of
interregnum he had to offer several concessions to the
riksråd in return for their vote. Part of this process was a concession fixing the number of nobles on the council to 23, when previously the number had been chosen by the king. These concessions meant that Frederik had limited use of his powers early in his reign, until the late 1650s when, using some clever political manoeuvering, the young king was able to oust two of his primary rivals from the council:
Hannibal Sehested in 1651 over mismanagement of funds as the
Governor-general of Norway, and
Corfitz Ulfeldt in 1657 over treasonous conduct in helping Sweden during the
Dano-Swedish War (1657–58). This paved the way for him to begin to solidify his power.
First war with Sweden to the
Treaty of Roskilde. Painting (1658) by Erik Dahlbergh. On 6 June 1654,
Charles X Gustav became the king of Sweden. This was a source of concern to Frederick, who considered that the new Swedish king's temperament would lead to much aggression. An opportunity came when in July 1655, the Swedish king started a campaign against Poland, the
Polish War. This was a source of relief to Frederick, who was concerned about a direct attack on Denmark. He saw this as a distinct opportunity, and with his power in the
Riksråd secured, he was able to convince them on 23 February 1657 to grant significant subsidies for a mass military mobilisation for a strike on Sweden while their army was overseas in Poland. On 23 April 1657, he got permission from the council to attack Swedish holdings in Germany, and war was formally declared on 5 June 1657. However, this proved to be a mis-step for the Danish king - the Swedish army quickly abandoned their polish campaign and invaded jutland, and then marched quickly across the frozen sea to unexpectedly conquer the rest of Denmark in the
March Across the Belts. This was a crushing defeat for Frederick, who was forced to sign over almost a third of the territory he controlled in the
Treaty of Roskilde. One of the provisions of the treaty was to renounce any anti-Swedish alliances, and a second condition was that
Denmark-Norway must provide troops to fight in Sweden's wars, effectively making Denmark-Norway a Vassal of Sweden. Frederick, seeing the precarity of his position, resolved to make amends with his former enemy, inviting
Charles X Gustav to his palace as an honoured guest, throwing banquets in his honour. The two kings were observed to speak amicably, and signs pointed towards friendship in the near future.
Second war with Sweden However, peace did not last long. The Swedish king was not content with his territorial gains, and made a surprise landing in
Zealand on 17 July 1658. Nobody had foreseen the possibility of such a surprise attack, and the defences of the Danish capital,
Copenhagen, were not well prepared or garrisoned at all. The situation seemed dire, but impressively the Danish-Norwegian king made a name for himself by dismissing advice given to him by the council to flee the city, famously insisting "Jeg vil dø i min rede", or "I will die in my nest". The king personally led the defence of the city. The Danes had only three weeks of warning of the invasion, and the unprepared and dilapidated line of defence had at first only 2,000 troops garrisoned. However, the city was led well and by September all the breaches in the wall had been repaired, cannons had been hoisted into positions around the walls, and the defending troops had swelled to over 7,000. It was during this siege that the king worked with and struck up a personal friendship with the merchantman
Hans Nansen, who also took a hand in the defence and spent much of his own money to assist in the equipping of the garrison, making him also popular. with the citizens. This friendship proved invaluable to the king later on at the meeting of the estates. The Swedish king had originally planned to directly assault the capital, but upon seeing the improved defences, began a protracted siege. The siege was broken just over a year after it had begun when the Dutch fleet came to copenhagen's aid, defeating the Swedish naval fleet at the
Battle of the Sound and cutting off the besieging Swedish army from supply. The Dutch then assisted in liberating the rest of the Danish isles, and shortly afterwards the
Treaty of Copenhagen (1660) was signed on 27 May 1660. The king's well known and valiant defence as well as refusing to abandon his people caused him to become immensely popular with the people, setting the stage for his consolidation of power. == Declaration of Emergency ==