Relations between Denmark and Russia

Abstract

The article deals with relations between Denmark and Russia in the last thousand years. The article presents examples of the early common history of the Viking age, dynastic relations between the two countries, diplomatic relations after the Copenhagen Treaty of 1493 and, with particular emphasis, of Denmark and Russia’s alliance against Sweden during the Great Northern War. The article also deals with examples of Danes in Russian services such as Eberhard Isbrand Ides, Vitus Bering and CA Koefoed. There are stories about Danish artists Vigilius Erichsen and Laurits Tuxen, about Princess Dagmar, Emperor Marija Fjodorovna, about Thor Lange and three other classical Danish philologists and their activity in Russia, about Danish-Russian cooperation in agriculture and the Danish contribution to the Russian butter production at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and finally about “The Long Liberation” of Bornholm of 1945–46. The article treats and compares cultural and social codes, deals with religious beliefs and how differences in confession influence dynastic, diplomatic and other relations between Russia and Denmark. Furthermore, the article focuses on unexplained or insufficiently well-studied research areas regarding Russian- Danish relations, the common history, as well as knowledge and culture exchange.