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King Christian IX
Christian IX of Denmark (April 8, 1818 – January 29, 1906) was King of Denmark from November 15, 1863 to January 29, 1906.
He was born in Gottorp the fourth son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Louise Caroline, Princess of Hesse. Through his mother, Christian was a great-grandson of Frederik V of Denmark, great-great-grandson of George II of Great Britain and descendant of several other monarchs, but had no direct claim to any European throne.
Through his father, Christian was member of a junior male branch of the royal Danish clan of Oldenburg and was (albeit a junior) agnatic descendant of Helwig of Schauenburg (countess of Oldenburg), mother of the first king Christian of Denmark, who was the "Semi-Salic" heiress of his brother Adolf of Schauenburg, last Schauenburg duke of Schleswig and count of Holstein. As such, Christian was eligible to succeed in the twin duchies of Schleswig-Holstein, but not first in the line.
He grew up in Denmark and was educated in the Military Academy of Copenhagen.
As a young man, he unsuccessfully sought the hand of Queen Victoria in marriage. In 1842 he married Luise of Hesse-Kassel, a niece of Christian VIII.
In 1847, he was, under the blessing from the great powers of Europe, chosen as heir presumptive to the Danish throne by Christian VIII, as the future Frederik VII seemed incapable of fathering children. A justification for this choice of heir was through Christian's wife Louise of Hesse-Kassel. (She was, as a great-niece of Christian VII, a closer heir to the throne than her husband.)
Therefore, he succeeded Frederik VII to the throne on November 15, 1863. Christian was immediately plunged into a crisis over the possession and status of Schleswig and Holstein, two provinces to Denmark's south when, under pressure, he signed the November Constitution, a treaty that made Schleswig part of Denmark. This resulted in a brief war between Denmark and a Prussian/Austrian alliance in 1864. This Second war of Schleswig's outcome was unfavorable to Denmark and led to the incorporation of Schleswig into Prussia in 1865. Holstein was likewise incorporated into Prussia in 1865, following further battle between Austria and Prussia.
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