Quickly, tell me what it was!

The Battle of Copenhagen was the bombardment of Copenhagen by The British in September 1807. The British had shelled Copenhagen before in 1801, but this bombardment was even more devastating. It ended with Copenhagen surrendering and giving away most of its navy. Also all the ships under construction and the timber at the shipyard were destroyed.

Okay, but why?

At the end of 1806 Napoleon issued a decree that ordered the French and their allies to stop all trading with the English. England wanted Denmark to give them the Danish fleet as a sign of neutrality (they even tried to buy it), but the Crown Prince Regent Frederik VI refused the terms almost immediately. Therefore the English sent 30.000 soldiers and a fleet(who was leaded by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington who is famous for winning over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo), that invaded at Vedbæk just north of Copenhagen on August 16, 1807. Copenhagen only had around 13.000 soldiers to defend the city.

The Bombardement

After Copenhagen refused to surrender the fleet for the 3rd time, the British saw no alternative but to bomb the city. The bombing began at half past seven on the evening of September 2. On September 6 Copenhagen surrendered. The population of Copenhagen at the time was around 102.000 people. The death toll until recently was believed to be around 188 soldiers and around 1.600 civilians. But Forsvaret recently made an investigation and discovered that "only" around 200 civilians died.

What happend after?

Denmark was forced to not be neatural anymore and became allies with France. It was also the end of the golden period that had made Copenhagen into one of the most important cities in the Baltic region.