Knud Kristensen (26 October 1880 – 28 September 1962) was

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

from 7 November 1945 to 13 November 1947 in the first elected government after the

German occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral, but that neutrality did not prevent Nazi Germany from occupying the country soon after the outbreak of war; the occupation lasted until Germany's defeat. The ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the October 1945 election, Knud Kristensen formed the Cabinet of Knud Kristensen (), a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

consisting only of his liberal party ().

Biography

Knud Kristensen was educated in agriculture and was a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

by profession. He was from 1901 to 1902 a student at Frederiksborg University College, 1903–04 at Dalum Agricultural School and 1906–07 at Askov Folk High School. In 1907–20, he owned a farm at Ødsted in

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality (''Municipalities of De ...

, then Biviumgård in

Humlebæk Humlebæk is a town within the Municipalities of Denmark, municipality of Fredensborg Municipality, Fredensborg in North Zealand in Denmark, approximately 35 km north of Copenhagen. Humlebæk is located at the shore to Øresund and has a popu ...

. He was first elected to the parliament in 1920. He was re-elected from 1932 until he resigned on 15 January 1949. In social policy, Kristensen's time as Prime minister saw the passage of the National Social Insurance act of June 1946, which raised benefits and, although it increased the age limit for old age pensions for men from 60 to 65, it granted old-age pensions to people from the age of 60 in cases of ill-health or special circumstances. Under the Building Subsidy Act of April 1946 low interest rates were made available to central government to support housing construction for the needy, while rent supplements were introduced for families with smaller children. Kristensen resigned as Prime Minister when the

Folketing The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...

passed a

vote of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

because of his failed enthusiasm for incorporating

Southern Schleswig Southern Schleswig ( or ', ; ) is the southern half of the former Duchy of Schleswig in Germany on the Jutland Peninsula. The geographical area today covers the large area between the Eider river in the south and the Flensburg Fjord in the no ...

into Denmark. Denmark was forced to cede

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig (; ; ; ; ; ) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been di ...

and

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

in the

second war of Schleswig The Second Schleswig War (; or German Danish War), also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig–Holstein question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 Februar ...

in 1864, and had recovered parts of

Northern Schleswig Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

in the

aftermath of World War I The aftermath of World War I saw far-reaching and wide-ranging cultural, economic, and social change across Europe, Asia, Africa, and in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were a ...

as a result of the Schleswig Plebiscite, but had failed to regain

. Denmark's new attempt of re-annexation in the vacuum of power after WW2 was unsuccessful due to the opposition of South Schleswig's inhabitants. German public opinion was supported by the British military governor

Hugh Champion de Crespigny Air Vice Marshal Hugh Vivian Champion de Crespigny, (8 April 1897 – 20 June 1969), often referred to as Vivian Champion de Crespigny, was a Royal Flying Corps pilot who fought in France during the First World War, and senior Royal Air Force o ...

who feared the chaos that would arise in view of the doubled German population within the area after ingesting expellees of former German territories handed to Poland. The defeat in the Southern Schleswig case estranged Kristensen from his party and when the new constitution was issued 1953 he terminated his membership of ''Venstre'' and founded a new party, the Independent Party (). This new party was unable to gain influence.

References

Other sources

*Kristian Hvidt (1995) ''Statsministre i Danmark fra 1913 til 1995'' (Copenhagen: Nyt nordisk forlag A. Busck) *Hanne Eriksen (1978) ''Partiet De Uafhængige 1953-1960'' (Odense Universitetsforlag) .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kristensen, Knud 1880 births 1962 deaths Ministers of the interior of Denmark Prime ministers of Denmark Members of the Folketing 20th-century Danish politicians Leaders of Venstre (Denmark) 20th-century Danish farmers