Denmark of 9 April 1940 ISOT to 1 February 1864.

PM Office Copenhagen 12 May 1940/ 4 March 1864

PM Stauning, Min of Foreing Affairs P. Munch, Treausurer Vilh. Fibiger, Min of Defence Christmas Møller, Min of Justice Vilh. Buhl, Min of Social Service S.U. Larsen, Min of Procurement Johs. Kjærbøl.

PM Stauning: ”We are all working hard to overcome the hardship of our displacement in time though luckily not place! Minister Munch how is the Peace Treaty negotiations proceeding?”

P. Munch Min Foreign Affairs: ”Thanks to the German Confederation sans Prussia - though it seems to be mostly to demonstrate its place among the Powers - negotiations is proceeding smoothly. The German Confederation and Austria are very eager to reach a working solution – the South Schleswig-Holstein – Saxe-Lauenburg independent nation is guaranteed a seat with the GC at Frankfurt aM. France seems to have relaxed its position vis a vis Prussia and the Austrian Navy is back in the Adriatic at Pola Base. It really is only a matter of time – perhaps another month?”

PM Stauning: ”Very nice development indeed – is will be of no small importance in the upcoming elections if I may say so... well Minister Kjærbøl You have some inquiry to make?”

Johs. Kjærbøl Min Procurement: ”At the meeting of the Procurement working group this morning mr. Arnold Maersk Møller asked for a benefit on Diesel refining – we have been receiving 13,000 tons from incoming ships but in the Far East i.e. Siam there are a group of ships carrying 90,000 canisters of Gasoline and 16,000 tons of crude oil and more then 2,000 ton of Jute. All important items to secure for the continued operation of vital industries and the Armed Forces during our present situation untill we have a working supply of crude oil. The reason for the asked benefit is that most of the ships in the area are Dieselpowered vessels that will need bunkering on the journey home.”

PM Stauning: ”In my opinion it is a well funded request though I know the Army and Navy are Diesel consumers too...”

S.U. Larsen Min of Social Service: ”Well really Transportation may not rest with my Ministry but I don't see where else – a lot of the transport of goods is done with train which mainly run on Coal and to a lesser extend on Dieselpowered Trucks. In the current situation I expect it possible to grant the request.”

Christmas Møller MoD: ”The Army and Navy to use Diesel for both Trucks and Ships but as long as those requirements are met and stores kept for emergencies I have no problems with granting the request.”

PM Stauning: ”Seems that got You easily off the hook Kjærbøl! Anything else?”

Johs. Kjærbøl Min Procurement: ”Thank You, Gentlemen. I'll inform Arnold Maersk Møller... Another issue and really should be addressed by the Min of Science.. However it is also on my premises and I want to put this on the table – we have decided to intensify the survey for minerals in Greenland. The Faeroe Islands already yield Coal from Suderøy, the southern most island, but I think more should be done there. Also we are preparing for building a Hydropower plant in Iceland to supply Reykjavik with electricity but I thought of something and again the Min of Science but also any technically minded soul – as we use coal and oil to a lesser extend wood and peat would it in Iceland be possible to make some kind of Works to harness the natural heath sources?”

PM Stauning: ”Really Kjærbøl You ought to take that to the Polytechnic School – wouldn't You say so Christmas Møller?”

Christmas Møller MoD: ”Indeed so – there ought to be bright in there able to come up with a kind of solution or give good reason the reject the subject matter.”

Johs. Kjærbøl Min Procurement: ”Hmm, well yes I presume my field also extend into such matters but I wouldn't like to interfere in other Departments.”

PM Stauning: ”Good thinking Kjærbøl – one issue we all always should address. Please go on.”

Johs. Kjærbøl Min Procurement: ”To something really different but also related to procurement and this also interfere with other Departments... we have gotten our once sold Colony of the West Indies back due to circumstances but also our claim to the Nicobar Islands. About the ladder these wasn't successfully colonized previously but today we may have the Medical means to do so – Qinine and perhaps other advances in Medical Sciences. The placement of the Nicobar Is. en route to Siam is a kind of blessing to us because of the Pirate infested Nicobar Strait.”

Christmas Møller MoD: ”You want a Navy Base in the Nicobar Is.?”

Johs. Kjærbøl Min Procurement: ”I know it may stretch Navy resources but such would be a benefit to all in the area and to tradeships passing through the Strait.”

Christmas Møller MoD: ”We may have a ship or two to be used in such circumstances but it would require a large investment in a base in the Nicobar's. We would need mooring, oil and other storage facilities, Barracks and a small base for Aircraft be it Flyingboats or Floatplanes. Really to give a better assessment I'd like to take the issue to Navy Staff for such and of course require a quick reply.”

PM Stauning: ”Hmm, hmm, hmm... puffing on cigar... hmm, Kjærbøl You are really pulling some Rabbits out of Your hat today... hmm, I'm not totally against it but would prefer leaving it to post referendum... anything else?”

Johs. Kjærbøl Min Procurement: ”Well this may be controversial but it ties in with the Nicobar Is. and Siam – NEI Oilfields in North Sumatra.”

There was silence in the room then P. Munch spoke: ”Well technically there is no such thing yet in that area as I presume You are well aware of Kjærbøl since You bring up the issue. Though may I remind You that we have quite a number of Foreign Embassies at Copenhagen among these the Dutch one. I don't know if those are being surveilled at the moment – I wouldn't be surprised if this being done to the Soviet, German and Italian Embassies but apart from these...”

PM Stauning: ”Colonialism well we are about to eleminate the remnants of that in the West Indies – uplifting the poor working class from its present situation – and we would assume that mantel of Colonialism if we restate our Claim to the Nicobar Is. I think that in the interest of ourselves in this foreign World we ought to inform the Dutch of the situation but I ask Minister Munch to at first address the issue to the Dutch Minister. I assume we would be able to help out the Dutch in their survey for oil within the Colony and the extraction of such. That would be what I'd be willing to. That would also make us a beneficiary costumer I'd guess...”

P. Munch Min Foreign Affairs: ”I don't condone Colonialism and I strongly support the position of the PM. However I would expect the Dutch Minister would inform his Government of the Oil Field in North Sumatra and if we decide to throw in some assistance that it would be to our benefit. In that way a Navy Base in the Nicobar Is. make sense though we may negotiate such in Siam.”

Astonished talk around the table.

P. Munch Min Foreign Affairs: ”I have conducted talks with the Siamese Minister to be concluded very soon. The Siamese King express concerns about the French attempts at carving out parts of his Kingdom these years and the following such as the Minister have informed his Majesty of. I would expect that along our countrymen in Siam we should be able to negotiate such.”

Christmas Møller MoD: ”In that case I'm going to soon pull out some shelved Navy Projects for new ships to be build – we will need something rather different from today which will also be useable in the West Indies and North Atlantic.”

The Danish flag is going to be known across the globe.

Now some real culture:

June 1940/ March 1864

Writer Karen Blixen/Isak Dinesen issue a new book; it's a collection of short stories all more or less perceptily relayed to the displacement/ISOT of Denmark in time.
Modelled on talks she had with various persons such as the King and Queen, Officers, Politicians, Merchants, Shippingmen, Actors, Writers and many other peoples.
The main theme is peoples handling the effects of the situation – the War – the Missing peoples like Seamen - the return of ships from the seas and the stories of the Seamen of said ships. Also the reaction of the peoples of 1864 is related from the tales of main Seamen, Soldiers and Merchants.

The story of a sailors adventures in the Far East and specifically Thailand have some elements of the Danish participation in developing the country during 1850-1900 among these the Westenholtz brothers and is seen as a very correct picture of Thailand during 1864 though Blixen had no immediate information from it.

One of the stories told – though not directly revealed as such - by her father William Dinesen an Artillery Battery Commander of the 1864 Army who had participated in the Battles of Schleswig – Dannevirke and the final defeat of the Prussian and Austrian Corps north of the Ostsee Canal; the story is convoluted as it seems he was much shaken by the events but in reality he had been attributed much glory for his handling of the Battery.
Perhaps critics mulled he really had deeper ground than displayed and Blixen had dared reveal that perhaps seeking a reason for his suicide.

(Blixens father had comitted suicide 1895 at age 50 having led an adventurous life participating in the French-German war later served with the Turk Army during the Russo-Turk War and had an interlude as a Hunter in USA when not running his Estate, participating in Politics or writing.
Blixens aunt Mary Bess Westenholtz was sister to the Westenholtz' who had been very active in the Danish – Thai relations such as building a railway and negotiating trade but also served the Thai King)

First International 1864

Realizing the upcoming First International at London on September 28, 1864 Stauning worked hard to become a part of it and mobilize the German workers to participate.
The stories told by demobilized Prussian soldiers and Prince Friederich Karls experiences of captivity aided greatly in this respect; even if the Germans were loathsome of the mean Danes that were suppressing their countrymen they were genuinely curious as to how the small country up north could defeat two European major powers.
There was no lack of listeners when Danish Socialdemocratic Party and Unionist members/representatives were travelling German lands.
Though sometimes they would be held in custody for some days by authorities fearing subversive agitation or arousing the poor classes to unwanted activities; at least a couple would get beaten up before being thrown out of town or Princely State.

As a vehicle in this activity Stauning also worked to uncover the Communist/Komintern Network in Denmark that during 1938 had bombed a Spanish Fascist Fishing Trawler in Frederikshavn Port.
There were several motives for him to do so – the rejection of Communism and Syndicalism as well as violence as an instrument of politics but also to prove Denmark a valid business partner and a guarantor of private property and political freedom of the individual and thus deprive the Conservatives and Liberals of being able to paint the Socialdemocrats of Denmarks as Socialist's bent on World Revolution.
Stauning didn't officially comment on the case but Minister of Justice Vilhelm Buhl (Socialdemocratic Party) did speak of the necessity of guarding the borders but also the interior of the Nation in these new foreign and at times dangerous circumstances.

The bombing case of 1938 was unveiled in Copenhagen City Court during early September 1940. The real driving force behind the investigations which had included Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium and Nazi-Germany had been the Gestapo which had coordinated the investigations of the various countries.
Stauning had seen fit to use the leads incriminating the Danish Communist's uncovered during the investigations to his own means.
The Court Case concerned the firebombing of former liner on 3 September 1935 at Copenhagen Port the SS United States that had been sold to Italy for use as a Troop Transport, bombing of Spanish Trawlers Abrego and Cierzo in Frederikshavn 22 May 1938 and a plot to bomb Shipbuilders Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen.

The wider implications of the Communist Network Min. of Justice Vilhelm Buhl claimed – and didn't mention the Gestapo coordinated supra-national investigations - had been disclosed following the apprehension of two German nationals residing in Denmark.
Following the defeat of Prussian and Austrian Armies and cut off from the Komintern Network the pair had begun stealing to sustain themselves.
This criminal activity had been disclosed in raids by Aalborg Police on Speak-easy's, Gambling clubs and other illegal establishments in said North Jutland City led by Superintendent Anton Peder Petersen ”the Wrestler” and his son Inspector Anton Petersen ”long tall Anton”. The findings of the two Antons of the Uniformed Branch had caught the interest of the local Investigations Branch.
Following the arrest the connection to Danish Communist activist's being disclosed and what was a Komintern Cell was rolled up by Danish Investigating Flying Squad that had been doing the 1935-38 investigations though not been able to pinpoint the perpetrators.
The disclosing of the Komintern cell had served the Socialdemocratic Party well as a large number of core Communist voters had shifted their allegiance to the Socialdemocratic Party.
Some Investigators claimed years later that several of the Communists affiliated with the Komintern Cell had avoided doing prison time because of their timely change of political affiliation or by doing a deal with the Prosecutors Office.

(All generally OTL stuff)

The NE Caribbean 20 March 1864/ 8 June 1940

CSS Florida with a maximum of 9,5 knots when under steam (commander C.M. Morris) is spotted by the Danish West Indies Squadron Armoured Scooner Esbern Snare (Ensign Kraft) under extended patrol.
Kraft hailed the Florida which didn't answer him and he decided to inspect the ship.
Tailing the CSS Florida Esbern Snare was gaining with its slightly superior speed of 11 knots.
Being unable to shake off the pursuer Morris decided to face the annoying Danish ship.
Ensign Kraft and Morris had a short conversation across the waters and then Morris would steam off. The Danish ship continued for some hours to tail him but he thought it just a showing of the Flag; a new boy's in town and not afraid of You. Annoying and potentially dangerous; rumours of the Danish West Indies Squadron had been around. That steel ship seemed a nasty opponent.

10 April 1864/ 18 June 1940

Having accepted the will of the Mexican peoples Archduke Maximilian set sail at Trieste aboard the SMS Novara for Mexico to become its Emperor.