Princesses Alexandra and Dagmar of Denmark
-Jason
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King Christian IX of Denmark ruled a small kingdom in northern Europe, but his family had a major influence on the fate of world. Christian IX and his wife, Louise of Hesse-Cassel, became the “in-laws-of Europe” through the dynastic marriages they arranged for their daughters. Members of this tight-knit Scandinavian royal family were spread throughout Europe prior to the outbreak of World War I.
The children of Christian and Louise included the future King of Denmark Frederick VIII, Alexandra Queen of England, Dagmar Tsarina of Russia, Thyra Crown Princess of Denmark, George I King of Greece, and Prince Valdemar. These royal progenies further produced many of the future members of Europe’s royal families. Fate certainly seemed to have a destiny in mind for two of those children: the twin sisters Alexandra and Dagmar. These identical girls would marry into two of the most powerful monarchies in the world, Great Britain and Russia.
The events preceding these two weddings was one that shook the foundations of European power politics. King Wilhelm of Prussia and his chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, were slowly working towards uniting the various German states under Prussian leadership. By using economic, political, and military means, these two nobles absorbed the weaker nations around them. Between 1862 and 1871 a series of three wars culminated in the birth of the German Empire.
The first real test of Prussia’s growing military power took place after Bismarck made an alliance between Prussia and neighboring Austria. The victim of this alliance was tiny Denmark. Bismarck offered the Austrians territory if they would help Prussia crush the Danish. The regions that were to be stripped from Denmark were Schleswig and Holstein, the southernmost parts of the country. Beginning in January 1864, the Prussian and Austrian armies pushed into southern Denmark. By March, the allied troops had occupied Schleswig and waited to see if the Danes would ask for a ceasefire. When this did not happen further operations were launched, by August 1864 the Prussians entered the Danish capital Copenhagen.
King Christian IX was forced to sign the Treaty of Vienna stripped the disputed territories from Denmark. The defeat was humiliating for both the royal family and the Danish people. The lost territories and defeat were often discussed within the royal family. Denmark’s physical territories had diminished, and injuries suffered by the nation were not forgotten; they would cast a long shadow on European, and world, politics.
Despite this victory, Austria and Prussia plunged into conflict with each other between June and July 1866. The Prussians crushed the Austrians, much to the surprise of Europe, in seven weeks. Bismarck advised Wilhelm not to strip territory away from Vienna and this advice was followed; they did not desire additional enemies. Wilhelm and Bismarck formally announced the creation of the German Empire in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War ended. Bismarck’s advice about not taking French territory was ignored and Germany earned the hatred of France.
In 1863, Alexandra was married to the eldest son of Queen Victoria, Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales and future Edward VII of England. The two had been introduced by Edward’s sister, Crown Princess Victoria, in 1861. Despite the fact that the future queen of England was a member of the Danish royal family, Great Britain did not intervene on in the 1864 Danish-Prussian War. Denmark had been so expertly politically isolated by Bismarck that it was not worthwhile to the English to defend the Princess of Wales’ homeland.
Dagmar, also known as Maria Feodorovna, was married to Alexander, future Tsar Alexander III of Russia, in 1866. This marriage brought the Romanovs into Danish politics. By the time of Dagmar’s marriage, the damage to Denmark had been done, but she would not let her husband forget what happened. Dagmar and Alexandra told their children about Prussia’s aggression. This feeling of tension made interacting with Wilhelm II, son of Princess Victoria and Prince Frederick William of Prussia, difficult.
Alexandra, Dagmar, and their parents exchanged letters discussing the victimization of their kingdom and people. As often as possible, the twin sisters would bring their husbands and children to visit their parents in Copenhagen. Edward and Alexandra’s son George, the future King George V, and Alexander and Dagmar’s son Nicholas, the future Tsar Nicholas II, were nearly identical as well. A favorite trick for the boys was to change places with each other at these gatherings to confuse their relatives. George and Nicholas kept in close contact with each other throughout their lives and continued to bring their families together as often as possible.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, George and Nicholas had inherited their thrones. The years leading up to World War I had become increasingly tense between Great Britain, Germany, and Russia. While all three monarchs were cousins, political, economic, colonial, and personal interests had set their countries against each other. Britain and Russia adopted a loose understanding that they would not compete over territory anymore, leaving Germany out of the loop. Wilhelm II felt that George, and his father Edward before him, were trying to cripple his country and his aggressive rhetoric prior to 1914 further exacerbated tensions. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in July 1914 put the extended royal families of Europe on opposite sides of the most destructive war the world had ever seen.