that the king of Denmark was bound to defend Schleswig so long as there was a sword in Denmark and a drop of blood in the veins of the Danish people. He rejected the insulting ultimatum of the Russian emperor. He placed the best French general of the day at the head of the well-equipped Danish army. But just as the Russian and Danish armies had come within striking distance, the tidings reached Copenhagen that Peter III had been overthrown by his consort, Catherine II. After the war Bernstorff was one of the first to recognize the impotence of the French monarchy after the Seven Years' War, and in 1763 he considered it expedient to exchange the French for the Russian alliance, which was cemented by the treaty of the 28 April 1765. This compact engaged Denmark to join with Russia in upholding the existing Swedish constitution, in return for which Czarina Catherine II agreed to resolve the Gottorp Question by the cession of the Gottorp portion of Holstein in exchange for the counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst, an exchange realized in the 1773 Treaty of Tsarskoye Selo. For his part in this treaty Bernstorff was created count. Fall from power On the accession of Christian VII, in 1766, Bernstorff's position became very precarious, and he was exposed to all manner of attacks, being accused of exploiting Denmark, and of unduly promoting foreigners. It is remarkable, however, that though Bernstorff ruled Denmark for twenty years he never learnt the Danish language. His last political achievement was to draw still closer to Russia by the treaty of the 13 December 1769, the most important paragraph of which stipulated that any change in the Swedish constitution should be regarded by Denmark and Russia as a casus belli against Sweden, and that in the event of such a war Denmark should retain all the territory conquered from Sweden. This treaty proved to be a great mistake on Denmark's part, but circumstances seemed at the time to warrant it. Nine months later, on the 13 September 1770, Bernstorff was dismissed as the result of Johann Friedrich Struensee's intrigues, and, rejecting the brilliant offers of Catherine II if he would enter the Russian service, retired to his German estates, where he died on the 18 February 1772. References Attribution Sources Poul Vedel, Den ældre Grev Bernstorffs ministerium (Copenhagen, 1882); Correspondence ministirielle du Comte J. H.