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never for a single day passed out of actual possession of the Danish crown, this right must be of a different nature from that claimed to Alsace-Lorraine German territory reverting to the mother-country after a long period of estrangement. Behind the phrase "historic right" there lurks in reality another idea. It is charged that Denmark through misrule and abuse of her German wards forfeited her title to the province, and that the Danish population is now simply being paid back in coin of Denmark's own mintage with interest added.
Does one wrong, then, justify another ? Must punishment be meted out to innocent people for mistakes committed by their government in years gone by? If this rule were to hold, where would the Germans themselves be today?
But as to the facts in the matter, let these things be noted : It is true that for long centuries Sleswic was treated as a step-child in the Danish household. Ever since the times of Charlemagne a buffer against German aggressions, it suffered the fate of all border provinces. Away back in the Middle Ages the kings of Denmark sliced it up into fiefs for younger sons to keep them from plotting against the throne. Matrimonial alliances between these and the Holstein counts led to close political relations ; and thus the trouble began. In course of time a sort of quasi-sovereignty was obtained by the Sleswic dukes, more or less reluctantly acknowledged by their Danish suzerains. Constant intrigues and family feuds added fuel to the flame. Aided by the old historic doctrine of the "inseparable- ness " of Sleswic and Holstein, a strong separatistic sentiment the so-called " Sleswic-Holsteinism" developed, aiming at independence under the protectorate of the North German Confederation, to which Holstein, though a part of the Danish monarchy, belonged since 1815. These aspirations were winked at by Germany; and finally in 1848 the Danish government, which by its indifference had so long been sowing the wind of particularism, reaped the whirlwind of open rebellion. It took three years to quell the insurrection ; and the fire of discontent still smoldered in the ashes. In 1864 the separatists hailed Germany as liberator and fought valiantly under her banner.
