Denmark was officially neutral during World War I, although many Danes fought for Germany, and many were drafted. After the war ended on November 11, 1918, the Treaty of Versailles offered Danes large portions of northern Germany (Prussia), including areas that had a Danish majority. The offer of German land to Denmark and of other German land to other countries was one effort to prevent Germany from ever becoming a military threat or important European power again.

In 1920, referendums (plebiscites) were held for the citizens in Northern Schleswig and Central Schleswig, so they could determine whether the areas would become Danish or remain with Germany. The poster pictured here, which proclaims, "Denmark Calls Her Children Home," appealled to Danes in the Schlewig area, urging a positive vote for reunification. In Northern Schleswig, the vast majority of citizens agreed with the sentiment of the poster and voted to join Denmark, but in Central Schleswig, the vast majority of citizens voted to remain a part of Germany.

The Treaty of Versailles offered to Denmark land that ran past the city of Flensburg, which would have added considerable land mass to the country as well as a rich harbor and would have weakened Germany by depriving her of a large industrial city. Danish Nationalists, including King Christian X, wanted all the land the Treaty of Versailles offered, despite the wishes of the citizens living in the area.

When the plebiscites indicated Northern Schleswig would rejoin Denmark and Central Schleswig, including Flensburg, would remain German, King Christian X ordered Danish Prime Mnister Carl Zahle to add Flensburg to the reunification. Zahle refused to follow the king's orders, suggesting he (the prime minister) had that right because Denmark was not a monarchy but a parliamentary democracy. Thus, for Zahle and the vast majority of Danes, elected officials, not the king, had the final say in political decisions.

Following his refusal to include Central Schleswig within the reunification plans, Zahle resigned, and King Christian X replaced all members of the prime minister's cabinet, claiming that, as the Danish monarch, he, not an elected official, was the highest legislative and judicial power in the land. The year, 1920, was probably not the best time to test the power of a monarchy in Europe, considering the 1917 forced abdication and 1918 execution of Czar Nicolas II of Russia, whose family died with him.

Danish citizens reacted far less violently to King Christian X's 1920 power play; the country was in far better economic shape than Russia had been in 1917, and most Danes continued to value their monarchy, if not their king. Riots followed King Christian X's efforts to determine the Danish/German border, and for a few days Denmark's monarchy seemed the next one to fall in Europe. King Christian X negotiated with leaders of the Social Democrat party and dismissed his hand-picked government. The Social Democratic leaders installed a temporary government, and new elections soon legitimized the new ruling order. Since Easter 1920, the Danish monarchy has functioned as an important but officially powerless part of the government. To learn more about the King Christian X Lois Lowry offers in her book and my family members' views of the king, navigate back to the King Christian X room and go to My Family's Views.