Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

elections were held in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

on 23 March 1943 alongside Landsting elections, Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p524 except in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

where they were held on 3 May. They were the first and only elections held during the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

, and although many people feared how the Germans might react to the election, the event took place peacefully. The voter turnout was at 89.5%, the highest of any Danish parliamentary election, and became a demonstration against the occupation. The

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

remained the largest in the Folketing, with 66 of the 149 seats. After the elections, leading German newspapers expressed disappointment and indignation with the lack of political evolution among the Danish voters. The

Communist Party of Denmark The Communist Party of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti, DKP) is a communist party in Denmark. The DKP was founded on 9 November 1919 as the Left-Socialist Party of Denmark (, VSP), through a merger of the Socialist Youth League and ...

had been banned since 1941 and could not participate in these elections. 95% of the vote went to the four biggest, traditional democratic parties. In the years since, there has been some debate about whether this can be seen as democratic support for the government's "cooperation" policy (''samarbejdspolitikken'') with the German occupation authorities. Some have argued that the result showed a broad unity of opinion in the population and among politicians in support of the relatively cooperative line taken by the government.

Bertel Haarder Bertel Geismar Haarder (born 7 September 1944, in Rønshoved, near Aabenraa) is a Danish writer, teacher and politician, who was a member of the Folketing for the Venstre political party. He has served as minister several times, including Minis ...

, citing

Knud Kristensen Knud Kristensen (26 October 1880 – 28 September 1962) was Prime Minister of Denmark from 7 November 1945 to 13 November 1947 in the first elected government after the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. After the October 1945 ...

, has argued that the vote was sold as one of solidarity with the Danish constitution, democracy, and a rejection of totalitarian elements in society, and cannot therefore be seen as an explicit endorsement by the population of the government's line. The Nazis permitted the election to proceed. The Nazis had consistently maintained that Denmark was still an independent country. The Nazis reportedly provided substantial financial support for the Danish Nazi Party. The five democratic parties (Social Democrats, Conservatives, Venstre, Social Liberal and the Justice Party) urged voters to support any of them. Political scientist Ben Arneson wrote of the election in 1943, "the result of the elections clearly indicates that democracy, parliamentarism, and strong anti-Nazi attitudes retain well-nigh universal support of the Danish electorate."

Results

Notes

References