It follows two brothers from a remote village on Funen who enlist in the Danish army just before the outbreak of war, and experience the horrors of combat in Schleswig.

Among the soldiers is farmer Thøger Jensen, who has incurred a severe leg wound and returns to his wife Karen and sons 12-year-old Laust and 11-year-old Peter.

Didrich has been severely damaged psychologically by the war and has also been tainted by cowardice; his father reveals that he bribed his fellow officers not to report him to the military authorities.

Didrich's mother died giving birth to him, and his father (Waage Sandø) has never forgiven him; while kind to his tenants, he treats his son with scorn.

In Copenhagen, the leader of the National Liberal Party, D. G. Monrad, meets famous actress Johanne Luise Heiberg, who begins to encourage him in his nationalist ideas.

There they befriend Alfred, a naive young man from Skagen, Erasmus, a cheerful bearded giant who is a miller in civilian life, and Johan Larsen, a middle-aged veteran who has a reputation for being psychic and is soon promoted to corporal.

They also form good relations with the company's second-in-command, the young Second Lieutenant Wilhelm Dinesen, and with their senior NCO, Sergeant Jespersen.

Monrad's plans are finally realised when he announces that Denmark has fully annexed Schleswig and Prussia decides to declare war.

They are also assigned a new company commander to replace the former ancient and senile officer, who has died en route; it is Didrich, who has been recalled to the colours.

It becomes obvious to the Danish commander, General Christian de Meza, that he cannot hold the Danevirke because the marshes and water on which he had relied to defend its flanks have been frozen solid by the hard winter, and he asks for permission to withdraw to Dybbøl, but Monrad refuses.

[11] Peter, Einar and Jespersen are among a small party led by Dinesen who volunteer to remain behind at the Danevirke to spike the guns after the Danish withdrawal.

Celebrating after the successful raid, Alfred, who has joined the group, has too much to drink and climbs onto the parapet, where he has both hands blown off by an exploding shell.

They are now commanded by the highly competent Prince Friedrich Karl, the Prussian king's nephew, who has replaced the 80-year-old and increasingly senile Field Marshal von Wrangel.

The 8th Brigade attacks, led by Dinesen after its commanding officer refuses to advance without orders from his superiors, and manages to push the Prussians back temporarily.

A counterattack, however, destroys the brigade and kills Jespersen, and Peter, trapped behind enemy lines, finally realises that he has to find his brother.

Peter, arriving too late but witnessing his brother's death, falls into shock and is captured and confined to a prisoner of war hospital in Austria.

Realising his country is defeated, King Christian surrenders, although Monrad, abandoned by Mrs Heiberg, still tries to persuade him to continue fighting.

Johan infiltrates the Prussian lines the night after the battle and collects all the papers, letters and photographs from the bodies of his dead comrades.

Two years later, Peter, now sane, fit and healthy once more, is finally released and works his way back across Austria and Prussia to Denmark, encountering en route Prussian troops now marching to fight their former allies, the Austrians.

He falls in love with and marries Sofia, who is now capable of at least limited speech, celebrating with his family and friends, including Einar, who has also survived the war.

Troubled teenage tearaway Claudia and her drug dealer boyfriend Zlatko are taken on a school trip to the Dybbøl battlefield, where they are bored and smoke marijuana.

Soon afterwards Claudia, whose brother was killed while serving in the army overseas (probably in Afghanistan) and whose parents have retreated into depression, leaves school and is found a temporary job as carer for Baron Severin.

While looking for things to steal to finance her boyfriend's drug dealing, Claudia finds a handwritten journal, which turns out to be Inge's memoirs, written just before her death in 1939.

[20] The series divided reviewers in Denmark; some were enthusiastic, praising the lavish cinematography, while others considered the cost should have been used for other programming, especially more Scandinavian noir.

[3][21] Some Danish critics and historians felt that the series contained historical inaccuracies, particularly in its assertion that excessive nationalism drove Denmark into a war that was bound to end in defeat.

Andrew Collins of The Guardian said that "1864 really is in television's top rank", and that "the most expensive TV series in Danish history puts every krone up there on the screen.