The 20th Century, 1900 - 1999 The European Union

1973 European Union

After the 2nd World War, the Scandinavian countries tried to make a new nordic union, but Norway and Denmark were poor countries after the German occuputation, Sweden was rich.

An agreement between the 3 countries couldn't be made, so instead Denmark was turning more and more to be an European country.

In 1972 there was a referendum about being a member of the EEC. A big majority of the Danes voted yes and the 1st of January 1973 Denmark became a member of what today is called the European Union.

1997 Denmark is getting smaller

The 1st of June the Danish queen Margrethe 2. is opening the railroadconnection between Zealand and Funen.

The railroadconnection was a much bigger success than the railroadcompany (DSB) expected, so the first months there wasn't enough trains to transport the people, who wanted to cross the Great Belt.

1998 The big bridge

A year later - the 14th of June 1998 - the bridge between the eastern and the western parts of Denmark was opened by the queen, Margrethe II. The bridge is the 2nd longest suspension bridge in the world! - only a Japanese bridge is longer.

When the queen opened the connection, she stopped at the middle of the bridge to drop a bouquet of flowers down to the last ferry, which was crossing the Great Belt.