Storm on the Stock Exchange

The Storm on the Stock Exchange was a violent attack on the Børsen (Denmark's stock exchange) in Copenhagen on 11 February 1918. The attack was organized by unemployed syndicalists.

Storm on the Stock Exchange
Date	11 February 1918
Location	Børsen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Caused by	High levels of unemployment
Methods	Direct action
Resulted in	Leaders fined, some prison sentences received
Parties
Syndicalists Trade Union Opposition Association Young Socialist Association Government of Denmark Police
Lead figures
Andreas Fritzner Poul Gissemann Jørgen Mortensen Alfred Mogensen Christian Christensen Carl Theodor Zahle
Number
35,000-40,000

Background

Great inequality in Danish society intensified during World War I. There was high unemployment, rationing, housing shortages and lack of fuel, and the unemployed received little support. At the same time, speculators could make huge sums of money. Denmark was neutral and exported food to the German Empire at substantial profits. During 1918, Danish syndicalists were behind a series of unemployment demonstrations. The first unemployment demonstration led by the syndicalists took place on January 29, 1918, and went from Grønttorvet in Valby to the Riksdag in Fredericiagade. According to Solidaritet, 35,000-40,000 took part in this demonstration, and although this number may be exaggerated, the demonstration was undoubtedly large.^[1][2]

Storming

The storming took place on Shrove Monday 1918 and started from two meetings, one in Folkets Hus (The People's House) at Jagtvej 69 and one in Arbejdernes Forsamlingsbygning (The Workers' Assembly Hall) on Rømersgade. Only the leaders knew where the demonstration procession was going, and to fool the police they falsely leaked that the target was the Pork Hall, which was to be looted.^[3] The demonstration was led by the syndicalists Andreas Fritzner, Poul Gissemann and Alfred Mogensen, and it ended with a spontaneous attack on the Stock Exchange. The participants were armed with clubs, and they walked into the Stock Exchange and attacked the stockbrokers.^[4] Later, they attacked the police with rubble from the construction site of the third Christiansborg.

The attack was organized by, among others:

• Andreas Fritzner,^[5] from the Trade Union Opposition Association and Young Socialist Association (USF).
• Poul Gissemann from the Trade Union Opposition Association
• Jørgen Mortensen from the Young Socialist Association
• Christian Christensen from Trade Union Opposition Association

The leaders were punished with fines of 500 kroner, which Andreas Fritzner called "a ridiculously small punishment". Five others received sentences ranging from 120 days to two years in prison.

Reactions and aftermath

The storming of the stock exchange made a great impression on the contemporaries and especially bourgeois politicians and media distanced themselves from the revolutionaries. Illustreret Tidende compared the storm with the ravages of the Red Army and looting in the Finnish Civil War, which was at its height, and added: "On the 259th anniversary of the assault on Copenhagen, we experienced the Danish storm on the stock exchange. It is truly time that the bourgeoisie again awakens."^[6]

After the storming, the syndicalists formed the Organization of the Unemployed (D.A.O.) which received great support. The syndicalists' struggle for the conditions and rights of the unemployed culminated in November 1918. The syndicalists convened a protest meeting on 10 November at Grønttorvet, which gathered 50,000 participants,^[1] and again on 13 November, where 30,000-40,000 participated.^[7]