Thanks to all those who responded, whether to the group or by e-mail. Once I was pointed towards Lord Palmerston as the speaker, it was relatively easy to find the source. Curiously, the answer was in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, despite not being in my own copy of the full dictionary! Here's what it says:
"Palmerston once said that only three men in Europe had ever understood the Schleswig-Holstein question, and of these the Prince Consort was dead, a Danish statesman [unnamed] was in an asylum, and he himself had forgotten it." (R W Seton-Watson, "Britain in Europe" [chapter 11] 1937.)
In soc.history.moderated schreef sistersara@aol.com (Sistersara) op 19 Nov 1997:
The Quote of Lord Palmerston:
"Only three people understood the Slesvig-Holstein question. The first was
Albert, the Prince consort and he is dead; the second is a German professor,
and he is in an asylum: and the third was myself-- and I have forgotten it."
Attribute to Palmerston, who in 1864 was out manoeuvred by Bismark. That date of 1864 is the date of the loss to Denmark of the crown dutchies Slesvig & Holstein. This is after three wars -- 1848, 1862 & 1864
Of much greater importance: The Danish-German border remained a matter of intense dispute until the Versailles Treaty. That treaty prescribed a plebiscite as the means for adjusting national boundaries -- and Denmark carried out the only honest one in 1921 -- and north Slesvig was returned to Denmark at that time. In 1945 the British tried to offer Denmark a bit more of a slice of Germany -- the disputed city of Flensborg, for instance, and the Danes decided not to persue the matter, even though at the time Flensborg was pro-Danish.
The Palmerston quote is usually viewed as highly cynical from a "danish" point of view, because it rather excuses various guarentees on the part of the British over the years regarding Danish lands. The dispute has many origins -- Bismark's interest in a bit more land to secure the Keil Canal, the difference between the manner Denmark was proceeding in building constitutional democracy in the 19th century as compared with German practice, and a profound cultural difference regarding the use of language.
The primary way this dispute impacted US history is that the Danish farmers in those lands taken into Germany who did not want to become "Germanized" are the primary source of immigration to the US in the 1860's and 70's. Most settled in Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska, as there was no unoccupied farming land in what was left of Denmark in 1864.
The other great impact of 1864 is the profound re-orientation that occurred in Danish Culture as a result of this loss. NFS Grundvig's life and works derive in a profound way from the loss.
De twist over Sleeswijk-Holstein tussen het Duitse rijk en Denemarken gaat ver terug in de geschiedenis van Sleeswijk-Holstein.
© Nic van Holstein