ABSTRACT
Denmark was forced to enter the war on the side of its eventual loser Napoleon, ending up as the greatest loser of the Napoleonic Wars in terms of population and territory. For Britain it was vitally important to be able to convert her own exports and colonial produce into precious metals for paying her allies' wars of coalition against Napoleon and for her importation of naval stores and of grain. Denmark reacted by moving part of her army towards the border in Holstein in order to resist violations of her neutrality. Two peasant militia regiments were broken up by Sir Arthur Wellesley, and after the commandant of Copenhagen had refused to deliver up the navy, the Danish capital was exposed to three nights of bombardment. In essence, therefore, Frederik VI was his own foreign minister during the war. Eight months earlier Denmark had concluded a hurried status quo ante-peace with Sweden.
