Asklemmy

In Denmark it happened rather quickly and less than 200 years ago. Soo many things happened in the late 1800s after the abandonment of absolute monarchy in 1849, that I'm not going to pretend that I can explain it all in a comment.

So... while Denmark has a long history with vikings and kings and stuff, our constitution is relatively new and written around the same time as Karl Marx and the industrial revolution redefining what work is.

If you ever get around Copenhagen, the workers museum is well worth a visit for an insight into the specific events that lead to the democratic socialist government. It was a long hard process and tightly tied to the history of worker's unions.

Very briefly told, it was a worldwide class war. The events in Scandinavia were heavily influenced by the "bloody week" in Paris in 1871 and the establishment of the world wide organisation First International.

It culminated in a several months long lock out in 1899, which eventually gave workers the right to organize for collective agreements. This was only made possible with support from workers from all over the world.

One of the most amazing things about it was how they even managed to organize anyone at all in a time where all workers were dirt poor and only the owning class had any freedom and income at all. The founders of the first unions realized that it would be an uphill battle and were brutally honest about it. They told workers "It might take several generations to succeed, but it needs to be done, so that your grand children will have a chance for a better life.", and yet they managed to organize almost everyone.

It succeeded though and also much faster. One of the three founders of the socialist democratic party lived long enough to see it become the largest political party in the country in 1924 - a position it held until 2001.