Innledning: Det danske imperium og 1814

Denmark has not traditionally been categorized as an empire for three major reasons. First, ‘empire’ was not a self-referencing term historically. Second, Copenhagen lost its overseas colonies in Asia and Africa before the second wave of European imperial expansion in the 19th century. Third, ‘empire’ has been a politically loaded term ever since the end of that century. In this article the Danish case is seen through the lens of conceptual history and politics, with the conclusion that, analytically, Denmark was an empire on a par with other European empires not just around 1814, but from the very beginnings up until the present.