Christian IX (8 April 1818 – 29 January 1906) was from 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently, and.Growing up as a prince of, a junior branch of the which had ruled Denmark since 1448, Christian was originally not in the immediate. However, in 1852, Christian was chosen as heir to the in light of the expected extinction of the senior line of the House of Oldenburg. Upon the death of King in 1863, Christian (who was both Frederick's uncle and cousin) acceded to the throne as the first of the.The beginning of his reign was marked by the Danish defeat in the and the subsequent loss of the duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg which made the king immensely unpopular. The following years of his reign were dominated by political disputes as Denmark had only become a in 1849 and the balance of power between the sovereign and was still in dispute. In spite of his initial unpopularity and the many years of political strife, where the king was in conflict with large parts of the population, his popularity recovered towards the end of his reign, and he became a national icon due to the length of his reign and the high standards of personal morality with which he was identified.Christian married his second cousin, in 1842. Their six children married into other royal families across Europe, earning him the 'the '.
Among his descendants are,. Upon the death of Frederick VII on 15 November 1863, Christian succeeded to the throne as Christian IX. Denmark was immediately plunged into a crisis over the possession and status of and, two provinces to Denmark's south. In November 1863 Frederick of Augustenburg claimed the twin-duchies in after King. Under pressure, Christian signed the November Constitution, a treaty that made Schleswig part of Denmark.
This resulted in the between Denmark and a Prussian/Austrian alliance in 1864. The broke up without having arrived at any conclusion; the outcome of the war was unfavorable to Denmark and led to the incorporation of Schleswig into Prussia in 1865.
Holstein was likewise incorporated into Austria in 1865, then Prussia in 1866, following further conflict between and.Following the loss, Christian IX went behind the backs of the Danish government to contact the Prussians, offering that the whole of Denmark could join the German confederation, if Denmark could stay united with Schleswig and Holstein. This proposal was rejected by, who feared that the ethnic strife in Schleswig between Danes and Germans would then stay unresolved. Christian IX's negotiations were not publicly known until published in the 2010 book by, who had been given access to the royal archives.
The Royal Family Episode 3
The six children of Christian IX and Queen Louise, photographed in 1882. From the left:, and.Christian's family links with Europe's royal families earned him the 'the '. Four of Christian's children sat on the thrones (either as monarchs or as consorts) of, the and.His daughter Thyra could have become Queen of Hanover had her husband, not been deprived of the throne of Hanover upon its annexation by in 1866. His youngest son, Valdemar, was offered the crown of Bulgaria, but had to decline under international pressure. The great dynastic success of the six children was to a great extent not attributable to Christian himself, but the result of the ambitions of his wife. Some have compared her dynastical capabilities to those of Queen. An additional factor was that Denmark was not one of the, so the other powers did not fear that the in Europe would be upset by a marriage of one of its royalty to another royal house.Christian's grandsons included, and.Today, most of Europe's reigning and ex-reigning royal families are direct, and most current European monarchs are descended from him, including Queen, Queen, King, King, King and Grand Duke.
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The consort, and former consort are also descendants of Christian IX, as is, the former and last King of the Hellenes, and his consort the former. And his wife were also descendants of Christian IX. Titles, styles, honours and arms Styles ofKing Christian IX of DenmarkSpoken styleYour MajestyTitles and styles.