Denmark 62
While the country had been spared the devastation seen elsewhere in Europe, it still found itself with massive economic problems and it soon became apparent that the liberation government could not function. In the ensuing election there was a swing to the Communists, and a minority Venstre government was formed. The immediate concem was to strengthen the economy, although the resurfacing of the southern Schleswig issue began to dominate the Rigsdag.
Domestic issues soon came to be overshadowed by the international situation as the Cold War began. Denmark had unreservedly joined the United Nations in 1945, and had joined the IMF and World Bank to gain financial help in restoring Its economy. In 1947 the Marshall Plan aid brought further assistance. As world power became polarised between East and West, the Danish government at first tried to remain impartial, but in 1947 agreed to join NATO a total freak with the established concept of Danish "eutrahty (though, to this day, the Danes remain
opposed to nuclear weapons).
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Social reforms, however, continued apace, not least with the 1960s' abandoning of all forms of censorship and institution of free abortion on demand.
Such measures are typical of recent social policy, though Denmark's odd position between Scandinavia and the rest of mainland Europe still persists. A referendum held in 1973 to determine whether Denmark should join the EC resulted in a substantial majority in favour, making Denmark the only Scandinavian country in the community, though public enthusiasm for the EC was lukewarm.
¦ The 1970s and 1980s
Perhaps the biggest change in the 1970s was the foundation and subsequent influence of the new Progress Party, founded by Mogens Glistrup, who came to national attention on TV, claiming to have an income of over a million kroner, but through manipulation of the tax laws paid no income tax at all. The Progress Party stood on a ticket of drastic tax cuts and Glistrup went on to compare tax avoidance with the sabotaging of Nazi rail lines during the war. He also announced that if elected he would replace the Danish defence force with an answering machine saying "we surrender" in Russian. Eventually he was imprisoned after an investigation by the Danish tax office; released in 1985, he set himself up as a tax consultant.
What the success of the Progress Party pointed to was dissatisfaction with both the economy and the established parties' strategies for dealing with its problems. In September 1982, after yet more lSocial DemocratSocialist coalitions. Pout Schliiter became the country's first Conservative prime minister of the twentieth century, leading the widest ranging coalition yet seen the Conservatives joined by the Venstre, Centre Democrats, and Christian People's Party.