The Discovery of Iceland and Norse
Settlements
In
around 870 AD, Iceland was settled first by Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson, who
deliberately sailed to Iceland as the news of a new country in the West reached
Norway, and became the forst Scandinavian to do so. When he climbed a mountain
in what is now Vatnsfjörður (a nature reserve that is located in the
north-western area of Iceland), he spotted some drift ice in a fjord. This in
term gave name to the country, Iceland. In 874, the settlement of Iceland
begins after Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent Nordic settler of the
newfound country.
Iceland
still to this day is very proud of their Nordic roots and heritage, and this is
representative in many different areas of their culture, such as their
language, architecture, and even their own folklore.
Iceland becomes a Republic
Iceland
has only recently gained its independence, after centuries under rule of either
Norway or Denmark. In around 1258, we see that a man named Gissur Þorvaldsson
is appointed the Earl of Iceland by the King of Norway, which further
solidified the king’s control over Iceland, which was still independent. Then
in 1262, The Old Covenant is delivered to Iceland. This agreement made
Icelanders the subjects of the King, and gave equal rights to both Norwegians
and Icelanders in each other’s countries. This went into effect in 1264.
Then
in 1397, the Kalmar Union was established. This was a personal union among Norway,
Denmark and Sweden. This in turn, is what started in how Denmark was able to
achieve control over Iceland. In 1602, the King of Denmark granted Danish
merchants a monopoly on trading with Iceland, and this was only the beginning. In
1814, Norway entered an agreement with Sweden, leaving Iceland in the hands of
Denmark alone.
In
1874, Iceland is granted limited autonomy and a constitution by the King of
Denmark, which was a huge development in Iceland becoming independent. Then in
1918, Iceland became its own sovereign, independent nation, however the King
still is in charge of any foreign affairs, and remains the head of state.
Finally
in 1944, the union through the king was finally abolished due to many different
factors, as during this time period, Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany. The
Act of Union, which was signed in 1918 by both Iceland and Denmark, was what
allowed Iceland to become its own sovereign nation. In 1943, this agreement runs
out of time, and is not re-signed. A referendum was held in May of 1944, asking
to abolish the union with Denmark, and it was overwhelmingly approved with
99.5% agreement. The Republic of Iceland was then proclaimed on June 17th,
1944, finally becoming free from any country intervention or rule.
This
was a huge achievement for Iceland, as they were finally their own country and
had their own government, with again, no interventions from outside forces. In
the late 1800s-early 1900s, there was actually very little turnout in signing
of the Act of Union. This is interpreted that this seemed unimportant to
Icelanders at the time. Nowadays, having that freedom and now being a republic seems
to be a huge importance to those who reside in Iceland, and it seems that
Icelanders are very proud of that fact.
The Cod Wars
The
Cod Wars were a series of confrontations in the mid-late 20th
century between Iceland and the United Kingdom about fishing rights in the
Northern Atlantic, around Iceland. The first disputes began after Iceland
declared in 1952 to increase its territorial waters from three nautical miles
(nm) to 4 nm, or 7 km. The UK the responded by then banning any Icelandic ship
from landing their fish in British ports. British fishing boats were escorted
by their Royal Navy to the fishing grounds, and the Icelandic Coast Guard
attempted to chase them away, using hawsers to cut nets. Both sides suffered
damages to their ships from ramming attacks. There were 3 series of
confrontations through a 20-year period: 1958-1961, 1972-1973, and 1975-1976.
Iceland
threatened many times to withdraw their membership from NATO, which would have
caused issues, as NATO would then lose access to most of the GIUK gap, which was
a critical anti-submarine warfare chokepoint throughout the Cold War. In 1976,
the UK accepted the establishment that Iceland made of a 22 km exclusive zone
around its shores and a 200 nm (370 km) Icelandic fishery zone, where other
nations’ fishing fleets needed permission from Iceland to fish in that area.
This agreement brought end to more than 500 years of Britian having
unrestricted fishing in these areas. In turn, Britian declared a similar 200 nm
zone around their own waters, and since 1982, this 200 nm exclusive economic
zone has become the internation standard underneath the UN Convention on the
Law of the Sea.
This
was a huge win for Iceland in all 3 of these conflicts, as each of these
conflicts was concluded with some form of agreement that was favorable for
Iceland. Threatening to withdraw from NATO established the importance of
Iceland in the intergovernmental alliance between all of these countries. This
has lead to a higher respect to Iceland and their people, as they provide
access to a vital naval checkpoint.
References and Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Icelandic_history
https://www.visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=6729
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalmar_Union
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_independence_movement
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17386859
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/iceland-becomes-republic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIUK_gap
Image Sourced from: Arctic Adventures