Denmark-Russia relations in the years 1493-1924: Vikings, the Baltic Sea, Sweden, Poland-Lithuania, royal dynasties, Tsar Peter III, naval officers and trade companies

For more than 1,000 years there have been relations between Denmark and Russia in political, cultural and economic affairs. There has never been a real bilateral war between the two countries. However, it is not said that the relationship has always been harmonious or close, neither in state nor in popular terms. 525 years ago, in the year 1493, the Danish-Russian relations were finally written down in the so-called Treaty of Copenhagen on the 8th of November. Since then diplomatic relations between the two countries have been parts of the foreign policy of both countries. In the following half a century, especially Russia had interfered in the historic destiny of Denmark, whereas Denmark tried to interfere in the development of Russian agriculture and industry in the beginning of the 1900s. In this article it will be analysed what has meant the connection between Denmark and Russia throughout the ages and what have been the reasons for the political actions in the two respective countries toward each other.