COLUMN: Mess with Denmark at your peril, Russia learning

Back in the 16th and 17th centuries, two-thirds of the Danish kingdom’s income came from taxes paid by every ship passing through the Oresund strait (The Sound), the only exit from the Baltic Sea. Each ship had to declare the value of its cargo and if the Danes thought they were understating it, Denmark had the right to buy the entire cargo at the declared value.