In the history of Denmark from 10,000 to 1500 B.C., the population evolved from a society of hunters and fishers into one of farmers of present-day what Denmark is. By the end of the 8th century Denmark was known as Jutland, its mariners were among the Vikings, or Norsemen, who raided Western Europe and the British Isles from the 9th to 11th century.
Saint Ansgar and Harald Blaatand -the first Christian king during the 10th century Christianized the country. Harald's son, Sweyn, conquered England in 1013. Sweyn's son, Canute the Great, who reigned from 1014 to 1035, united Denmark, England, and Norway under his rule; the southern tip of Sweden was part of Denmark until the 17th century. The Denmark history saw a civil war taking place after the Canute's death, it tore apart the country until Waldemar I (1157–1182) reestablished Danish control over the north.
The nobles won the Great Charter in the year 1282, and Eric V was enforced to share control with parliament and a Council of Nobles. Waldemar IV (1340–1375) reinstated Danish power, checked only by the Hanseatic League of north German cities joined with ports from Holland to Poland. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden united under the rule of his daughter Margrethe in 1397. Though, Sweden later attained independence and in 1523, under Gustavus I, independence. Denmark supported Napoléon, for which it was rebuked at the Congress of Vienna in the year 1815 by the loss of Norway to Sweden. In 1864, the Prussians under Bismarck and the Austrians attacked on Denmark as first step in the alliance of Germany. Denmark remained neutral during the World War I.
In the history of Denmark the Nazis started an assault on Denmark in the year 1940. The King Christian X of the country unwillingly asked his people Danes to accept the occupation, but this resulted in extensive conflicts against the Nazis. During the World war II Denmark was the nation which remained occupied to save all its Jews from extinction, by smuggling them out of the country.
In the year 1944, Iceland confirmed its independence from Denmark, ending the unification that had existed since 1380. In the year 1948, the Faroe Islands, which were under Denmark since 1380, was granted home rule, and in 1953, Greenland officially became a territory of Denmark.
The year 2001 saw the dominant Social-Democrat Party losing to Anders Fogh Rasmussen of the center-right Liberal Party, which formed an alliance with the Conservative Party. Migration to Denmark fell considerably in 2002, after Fogh Rasmussen introduced Europe's most restrictive laws for refuge seekers. Because of Denmark's social welfare benefits, the country had become a much-sought-after haven for refugees.
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