Strangers in Slesvig

Little Denmark has next to no army or navy. Yet in the last 13 years it has won more territory proportionately to its size than any other world nation. Last fortnight the Permanent Court of International Justice at The Hague clinched Denmark's claim to all Greenland, 50 times as big as Denmark (TIME, April 17). Last week like a small dog that has just buried one bone. Denmark whirled bristling to protect another.

A much-gnawed bone is Schleswig-Holstein. In 1460 the Kings of Denmark became Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein, agreed never to join it to Denmark. They kept their word for almost 200 years, then lost it to Sweden, got it back in chunks. In 1806 Schleswig-Holstein was joined to Denmark. In 1848 Denmark allowed German-populated Holstein to join the German Confederation and during the next two years beat off Prussia's ungrateful attempt to seize Schleswig too. But in 1864 Austria and Prussia ganged up on Denmark, bloodily took Schleswig away. For 50 years Schleswig and Holstein were both German. The Paris Peace Conference allowed Germany to keep Holstein and German Southern Schleswig. By the Versailles Treaty plebiscites were held in northern and central Schleswig. The Danish northern zone plumped for Denmark. To Denmark's rage & grief the central zone voted to stay German. Since then, both Slesvig Danes and Schleswig Prussians have looked covetously across the new border. Lately a new glitter has come into Prussian Nazi eyes. Last week Danes heard that Nazis planned an Easter visit to Danish Slesvig in full Nazi uniform.

The Danish Parliament thought fast. They concluded that a Nazi in Denmark is only a German in a uniform. They then acted fast. They called an extraordinary session and passed a law providing for 100 extra police in Slesvig. They also passed a law forbidding the wearing of all political party uniforms and emblems. An airplane scudded to King Christian's Easter residence at Skaw in Jutland, scudded back with his signatures on the new laws. On Easter Day Slesvig Danes saw a lot of strangers, no uniforms.

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