Editing Danish Defence (section)

===Origins===
[[File:Christian IV by Vilhelm Marstrand.png|thumb|left|[[Christian IV of Denmark]] on the warship ''Trefoldigheden'' during the [[Battle of Colberger Heide]] in 1644]]

The modern Danish military can be traced back to 1510, with the creation of the permanent [[Royal Danish Navy]]. During this time, the Danish Kingdom held considerable territories, including [[Schleswig-Holstein]], [[Norway]], and [[Danish colonial empire|colonies in Africa and the Americas]].<ref name=FVHis />

Following the defeat in the [[Second Schleswig War]], the military became a political hot-button issue. Denmark [[Denmark during World War I|managed to maintain its neutrality]] during the [[First World War]], with a relative strong military force. However, following the [[Interwar period]], a more pacifistic government came to power, decreasing the size of the military. This resulted in Denmark having a limited military, when Denmark was [[German invasion of Denmark (1940)|invaded in 1940]].<ref name=FVHis />

Since the establishment of the Danish military, the two branches operated independently, without much cooperation. They both had their own ministry, and their own air force.{{sfn|Olsen|1985|p=1-2}} The first proposal for a [[Unity of command|unified command]] came in 1928, when {{ill|Hjalmar Rechnitzer|da}} suggested an independent air force, with all three branches collected under a central {{lang|da|Rigsværn}} ({{translation|Realm Defence}}).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kongstad |first1=Jan O. |title=Den militære flyvnings udvikling i Danmark 1910-1932 |language=da |trans-title=The development of military aviation in Denmark 1910-1932 |date=2008 |isbn=978-87-7674-175-4 |page=73}}</ref> It was however only after the lessons of [[Joint warfare|joint operations]] in [[World War II]], the branches were reorganized and collected under the newly created Danish Defence.<ref name=FVHis />