“Only three people have ever really understood the Schleswig-Holstein business — the Prince Consort, who is dead — a German professor, who has gone mad — and I, who have forgotten all about it.”
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Lord John Palmerston. The Schleswig-Holstein Question was a complex set of diplomatic and other issues arising in the 1800s over the relationships of two duchies, Schleswig (Danish: Sønderjylland/Slesvig) and Holstein (Danish: Holsten), their relationships to the Danish crown, their relationships to the German Confederation, and their relationships to each other.
The two duchies have a long history of connections to Scandinavia and the European mainland. At various points both have belonged to Denmark, to Germany, or been independent states. Schleswig is currently divided between Denmark and Germany, and Holstein is entirely in Germany.
