Erik Scavenius

Erik Scavenius (1921)

Erik Scavenius (left) and Werner Best

Erik Julius Christian Scavenius (born July 13, 1877 in Klintholm , Møn , † November 29, 1962 in Copenhagen ) was a Danish liberal politician of the Radical Venstre . He served as a non-party prime minister of Denmark on 9 November 1942 to de jure May 5, 1945.

Scavenius studied political science and joined the Foreign Service in 1901. In 1909 he was appointed foreign minister in the first Zahle cabinet. In 1912 he became the Danish ambassador in Vienna and Rome and became a member of Det Radikalische Venstre . He was foreign minister during the First World War and was considered pro-German. In April 1940 he became foreign minister in again Cabinet of Thorvald Stauning . During this time he campaigned for Denmark to be closer to Germany, u. a. in economic policy in order to be able to take a privileged position in the reorganization of Europe after a German victory that was to be expected at the time. After Prime Minister Vilhelm Buhl had to resign under German pressure, Scavenius became head of government on November 9, 1942. His government resigned on August 29, 1943 , when King Christian X did not accept it, when the German occupation authorities under Werner Best had given the Danish government an ultimatum to stop unrest among the population.

Scavenius' so-called pro-German stance was an expression of his fundamentally pragmatic approach to Danish foreign policy. During the First World War, he was well aware that Denmark could never be Germany's adversary for geographical reasons alone. That was also his basic attitude during the Second World War. During the occupation of Denmark, Scavenius often tried to weaken the German demands by anticipating them. Whether it went too far in some cases is still up for discussion. When in August 1943 the German demands could no longer be reconciled with basic Danish values ​​(death penalty, persecution of Jews), he had the courage to say no. His policy is still controversial; but it is generally accepted that Erik Scavenius was one of Denmark's greatest political figures in the 20th century.

source

• Viggo Sjøquist: Erik Scavenius. Copenhagen 1973, ISBN 87 00 68 781 2 (Danish).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ruth Meyer-Gohde: Denmark's economic policy reaction to the occupation of the country in 1940/41. In: Northern Europe Forum. (2006: 2), pp. 51-70. Online version PDF .