First Schleswig War - Trigger

Trigger

On March 21, 1848, a crowd of Danish citizens in Copenhagen demonstrated for the creation of a liberal constitution for Denmark. Local government officials and other important people in Kiel, a city in Schleswig-Holstein and a settlement from which the German nationalist party operated, did not know fully what was going on in Copenhagen, and proclaimed a provisional government on March 24. They did this because they thought the King had fallen under the control of the revolutionaries who wanted to separate Schleswig from Holstein. The declaration was considered an act of rebellion by the central Danish government. Schleswig-Holsteinian Prince Frederik of (Schleswig-Holstein-Augustenburg-) Noer took the 5th "Lauenburger" Rifle Corps (Jägerkorps) and some students of Kiel university to take over the fortress of Rendsburg in Schleswig-Holstein. The fortress contained the main armoury of the duchies, and the 14th, 15th, and 16th Infantry Battalions, the 2nd Regiment of Artillery, as well as some military engineers. When Noer's force arrived, they found that the gates to the fortress had been left open for an unknown reason, and promptly walked in, surprising the would-be defenders. After delivering a speech to the defenders, the prince secured the allegiance of the battalions and regiment of artillery to the provisional government. Danish officers who had been serving in the defense of the fortress were allowed to leave for Denmark, but on the assurance that they did not fight against Schleswig-Holstein in the coming war.