Copenhagen Bombing

At the beginning of the 19th century, Denmark , which maintained neutrality during the Napoleonic wars , had significant possessions in the form of Norway and Schleswig-Holstein , and also contained a large navy that could block access to the Baltic Sea through the Sound Strait. The British, who actively opposed Napoleon , considered this access vital for maintaining allied relations with Sweden and Russia . The performance of Denmark on the side of Napoleon, who was so feared in London, would have cut off Britain from communication with its allies, and first of all with Petersburg .

The Danish army was concentrated along the southern border with Prussia in order to counter the expected invasion of Napoleon. The metropolitan area, along with Copenhagen while remaining virtually unprotected. The British watched the events in Denmark with alarm. They were particularly disturbed by the fact that the timber needed for shipbuilding was delivered to the British shipyards in the Baltic Sea. After the refusal of the Danish prince regent to join the Anglo-Swedish-Russian alliance in London, rumors spread that he was ready to give Napoleon the right to pass through Danish territory to Zund in order to block it for British ships and then go to Sweden .

In January 1807, future Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson announced in the House of Lords that he had received secret dispatches that the fleets of Portugal and Denmark were preparing to take part in hostilities on the side of Napoleon. The same thing was reported to the Foreign Minister Cunninging by British diplomats from Tilsit , where negotiations between the French and Russian emperors were taking place .

A variety of indications of Denmark’s upcoming performance on the French side convinced the Treasury lord Spencer Perceval of attacking Copenhagen. Under pressure from Perceval and the Minister of War, Castlerey , who had long considered it necessary to transfer military operations from Spain to northern Europe, the British Cabinet approved on July 14, 1807 the dispatch of 21 ships to Kattegat to observe the movements of Danish ships. The Admiralty allocated more than fifty ships for this operation. Already on July 20, 25,000 soldiers were sent to Denmark.

Canning tried to prevent hostilities by offering Denmark alliances and protection from a British squadron of 21 ships. The French minister Talleyrand , in turn, demanded that the Danes renounce neutrality and armed support of the French army, threatening to send Marshal Bernadotte to conquer Holstein . Thus, the Danish government was between two fires.

Having been refused by the Danes from transferring their fleet to the "deposit" to the British government, the British and Hanoverians landed on August 14 on the island of Zealand and defeated a detachment of the Danish army near the city of Køge . For several days, General Wellesley managed to take Copenhagen to the encirclement.

From 2 to 5 September, the English fleet carried out artillery shelling of the Danish capital: 5,000 volleys on the first night, 2,000 volleys on the second night and 7,000 on the third. At the same time at least 2000 civilians of the capital died, every third building was destroyed. During the shelling, the rocket Congrive , which had the incendiary effect, was used, which caused fires in the besieged city.

Already on September 7, the Danish General Payman signed an act of surrender, according to which Copenhagen and the remains of the riddled Danish fleet were handed over to the British, who promised to leave the Danish coast within six weeks. On September 21, the English fleet headed for its native shores, taking with them the confiscated remnants of the Danish fleet, which has not been revived since then.

The bombing of Copenhagen sparked a lively debate in the British Parliament . Canning received news of the capture of the Danish fleet enthusiastically, stating that he had not heard "anything more brilliant, more sensible and more efficient" than this operation. Perceval held a similar opinion. Castlerey offered to occupy Zeeland as soon as possible, but this was opposed by the military, led by Wellesley, who sought to resume fighting in the Pyrenees .

The opposition, on the contrary, feared that an attack on neutral Denmark was fraught with an undermining of confidence in the British in Europe and that it was rash to turn a neutral side of the conflict into the enemy. Three attempts were made to adopt a resolution condemning the actions of the government in Copenhagen, but they all failed.

In a longer historical perspective, the bombing of Copenhagen, revealing the defenselessness of the Danish power, led to the loss of Norway and becoming one of the minor political states of Europe. The ghost of the Copenhagen bombing did not leave the German strategists, who even in the 20th century experienced so-called. " Copenhagen complex " - the fear of a sudden attack by the British fleet on the German naval bases and the "preventive" destruction of the German fleet.

• The bombing of Copenhagen is the historical background of one of B. Cornwell 's novels about Sharpe ’s shooter called “Sharp’s Prey”.
• These events are mentioned in the novel by G. L. Oldie and A. Valentinov "Alumen".
• The Danish poet Karl Bagger wrote a poem “The English Captain” about the events.

• Rolf hobson Navies in Northern Waters: 1721–2000. ISBN 0-415-40774-5 .
• Tony Griffiths. Scandinavia: A History of the Napoleonic Era to the Third Millennium. ISBN 1-85065-317-8 .
• Rif winfield. British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817. Chatham Publishing, 2005.
• Wendy Hinde. George Canning. Purnell Books Services, 1973.