重商主義時代のデンマークによる海上貿易ネットワーク

概要

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Eighteenth-century Denmark was one of the conglomerate states. Danish Kings ruled over the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway, the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The small colonies in India and the West Indies, present Ghana, as well as the old Norse possessions of Iceland, the Faeroes and Greenland (since 1721) were under their rule. Lying at the gateway to the Baltic Sea, Copenhagen was the political and economic centre of 'the Danish Empire'. Danish government tried to regulate international trade and shipping and to maintain its proper position in the international commercial network. One of the most important aims of the mercantilist government was to create a stable market of goods, in particular, for re-export. To achieve the aim, it was necessary to use privileges and exemptions as protective measures controlling merchant activities through regular trading companies. Denmark chose to keep political neutrality during the wars by dominant maritime powers, which recognized the rights of neutrals, summarized by the formula 'free ships, free goods'. The neutral policy brought Denmark great success in trade and shipping in the latter part of the eighteenth century. This paper presents a general overview of Danish neutral policy and mercantile activities with a focus on the operations of trading companies, and examines the linkage between the government's intentions and Danish commercial success.