Adam Wilhelm Moltke

Adam Wilhelm Moltke
Prime Minister of Denmark
In office 22 March 1848 – 27 January 1852
Monarch	Frederick VII
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Christian Albrecht Bluhme
Personal details
Born	25 August 1785 Einsidelsborg
Died	15 February 1864 (aged 78) Copenhagen

Count Adam Wilhelm Moltke (25 August 1785 – 15 February 1864) was Prime Minister of Denmark from 1848 to 1852. He was the first Danish Prime Minister in the Danish constitutional monarchy outlined in 1848 and signed as the Danish Constitution on 5 June 1849 by Frederik VII of Denmark.

Life

Adam Wilhelm Moltke was the grandson of Adam Gottlob Moltke, the influential Lord Steward and companion of Frederik V of Denmark and the son of Prime Minister Joachim Godske Moltke. He was born at Einsiedelsborg on the island of Funen on the 25th of August 1785. He was known as a humane and patriarchal squire but was no outstanding political figure. From 1845, he was Minister of Financial Affairs. At the fall of the last absolute government, he too was dismissed but, a few days later, he was persuaded to form the new national government as the most suitable leader both as for his social position and as for his moderate views.^[1]

The cabinet created on 22 March 1848 was called the March Cabinet. On 16 November 1848 it was replaced by the November Cabinet, which in turn was replaced by the July Cabinet on 13 July 1851, which again was replaced by the October Cabinet on 18 October 1851. The cabinet, originally a Conservative-Liberal one, gradually became more and more openly conservative both because of the general liberal withdrawal and because of foreign pressure.^[1] On 27 January 1852, Christian Albrecht Bluhme replaced Moltke as Prime Minister.^[1]

Notes

1. Bain 1911.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bain, Robert Nisbet (1911). "Moltke, Adam Wilhelm, Count". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.