Journal Article

The story about how Denmark joined NATO

On how historical lessons can play a pivotal role in decision-making
danmark-nato
Anders Samuelsen (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Denmark) shaking hands with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Photo: NATO

The Danish decision to join NATO in 1948-49 was not an easy one. Instead, it came about only after months of internal deliberations, and only after the preferred Danish alliance option – to join with the other Scandinavian countries in a Scandinavian Defense Union – had proved to be impossible. This article explains the Danish hesitation and eventual decision to join NATO through a focus on the key historical lessons of history affecting Danish policy makers at the time: The old lesson of Danish neutrality and the new trauma caused by the humiliating German occupation of Denmark on April 9 1940. These two lessons, the article argues, together explain why Denmark first preferred a Scandinavian solution for dealing with the threat from the Soviet Union, and also why NATO was eventually chosen as a second best option: both lessons could be adhered to through an alliance-free Scandinavian Defense Union while only the strongest of the two – the lesson of the German occupation of April 9 – could be satisfied with Danish NATO-membership.

The research for this article was supported by Independent Research Fund Denmark | Social Sciences (FSE).

Regions
Denmark

DIIS Experts

Mikkel Runge Olesen
Foreign policy and diplomacy
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How Denmark Almost Stayed out of NATO, 1948–1949
Journal of Cold War Studies, 20, 63-98, 2018-06-19T02:00:00