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1864: Highly recommend

Just finished watching this on PBS Masterpiece (through Prime here in Canada) and it was fantastic. It's a true story and is just beautifully told. Reminded me of Band of Brothers.

"This Danish drama series focuses on the Second Schleswig War between the Kingdom of Denmark and the German Confederation. In the middle of the 19th century. Two brothers, Laust and Peter, grow up in poor conditions in south Funen, away from other troubled lands. Their father returns home after a three-year battle with Prussia in 1851 and, as they get older, they become more curious about the world outside their hometown. Both brothers fall in love with the estate manager's daughter, Inge, a beautiful, well-read and fearless woman. In 1864, however, war is on the horizon as Prime Minister Monrad stirs up political unrest when he declares the province of Schleswig as property of the Danes, despite a peace treaty stating otherwise."

I am of Danish ancestry, so for me it was very interesting to learn about how nationalism was (and is?) a very big part of their cultural identity.

Posted by
2461 posts

Very interesting post. Since I was just in Denmark at the end of May, I will look for this on my PBS Masterpiece on my Prime account.

1864 as a title triggers thoughts of the the American Civil War in my mind. Obviously there was a lot of other serious issues going on in the wider world at that time!

Posted by
6265 posts

Judy B, we tend to be pretty insular. It's a mind-awakening experience to look at what was going on in other parts of the world at various times in our history.

Posted by
2274 posts

"we tend to be pretty insular"

"While other allied nations such as Canada and Australia joined Britain and France in their fight against Nazi aggression in Europe, the United States remained on the outside. The United States would not join the Allied war effort until 1941 when it was attacked by the Japanese Empire in Pearl Harbor on December 7th."

Posted by
354 posts

As a Canadian, I found the parallels between Denmark at that time and the US then and now quite striking. We don’t really do nationalism here.

Politicians engendering an ideology from the cradle to the grave that citizens are willing to send their children to die to uphold is strange concept to me. I’m not talking about fighting human rights atrocities however. I’m deeply grateful to those who fought in those wars.

Having a national identity is one thing, but it is so often exploited by those in power. Add in leaders with mental illness (so many seem to have narcissistic personality disorder) and it’s no wonder human history is what it is.

After watching this, I see my family’s pride in their heritage through a slightly different lens and am more keenly aware of how our politicians use the trope of “unification” to divide us.

Posted by
14482 posts

I have seen "1864" , a very good portrayal of the Schleswig-Holstein Question, these two duchies, even though a few historical mistakes are present, but no matter, the film is well worth seeing, far superior to "Band of brothers"

The historical personalities, Palmerston, Bismarck, William I, Moltke, Monrad, Queen Victoria, Prince Frederick Charles, etc are well and accurately portrayed. In 1848-49 the German Confederation attempted to change the status quo agreed to in 1815 but met with diplomatic opposition from the Great Powers. It was threatened with outside intervention. Monrad counted on outside help. This referred to in the film. In 1864 there had been a change in rulers who adopted a different view from that agreed to status quo of 1815.

Posted by
2274 posts

Hopefully that historical reference was only to Field Marshal Count Moltke and not to his totally incompetent nephew Helmuth von Moltke ! Gosh, what a disaster WWI was for the Germans.

Posted by
14482 posts

Moltke the Younger never wanted that job anyway He was picked because of his name. Obviously, in "1864" the historical reference is to Moltke the Elder, ie, his uncle.

Posted by
14482 posts

Thanks for the useful information. As to that decisive battle, in various German cities I have seen streets named after that battle called by Prince Frederick Charles in the film , Düppel.