Republic of Iceland
Government: Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic
Ruler: Christian X of Denmark and Sveinn Bj rnsson
Area: 39,699 square miles
Population: 110,000
Military Personal: None of it's own.
Under allied occupation with 20,000 garrison troops
The first written report of settlements on Iceland was from the Norwegians during the
mid 9th century.
The written works of slendingab k and Landn mab k as well as some Norse Sagas do make
mention of Irish holy men by the name of Papars that had met the Norwegians as they landed
and were reported to have lived on the land since the century prior.
Papars were a group of Irish or Scottish monks referred to as the Holy men of the north by
other Gaelic peoples, with them supposedly leaving the island due to the Norsemen being
pagans, and being unable to live with non-followers of the faith.
Some others have suggested that Iceland was the Phantom island of Thule (hint hint, click
my video on that subject), which had been on record for centuries.
Greek historian Strabo, citing earlier Roman work, came to the conclusion that Iceland
was inhabited or possibly conquered by Picts at some point in time.
Little archaeological evidence exists for either of these claims however.
Some cabins have been found in the Southern sections of the island that would collateral
with with 8th century settlement but many agree that they were used as outposts only,
rather then permanent living quarters.
The first recorded settlement was that of Norwegian-Norse chieftain Ing lfr Arnarson
when he built his homestead in present-day Reykjav k in 874.
Iceland was a commonwealth and a vassal under the Norwegian crown from the 10th century
until the 13th and it was pretty much completely autonomous for most of it's existence when
it came under union with the Norwegian crown.
Iceland had been under the control of two main powers during it's settled existence.
Norway had control of the island for years while still a sovereign nation, and was later
a dependency of Norway once the nation merged with Denmark after the dissolution of the
Kalmar Union in 1536.
The island was hit with the black death twice in the early 15th century, killing 50-60%
of the population in the first wave and 30-40% in the second wave.
It also became very poor as time went on, the soil became increasingly infertile, deforestation,
volcanic eruptions and the harsh climate made it very difficult for a society that was solely
dependent on agriculture.
Once Sweden gained Norway in the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, the previous Norwegian possessions
were kept under Danish control.
Iceland was given limited home rule in the 1860's after the appeal of nationalism was
ingrained in the island.
The home rule act slowly gave more power to the Icelandic chamber and cultivated in independence
under personal union with the Danish crown in 1918.
On 9 April 1940, German forces launched Operation Weser bung, invading both Norway and Denmark.
Denmark was subdued within a day and occupied.
On the same day, the British government sent a message to the Icelandic government (as
they were a personal union at this time), stating that Britain was willing to assist
Iceland in maintaining her independence but would require facilities in Iceland to do
so.
Iceland was invited to join Britain in the war as a belligerent and an ally.
The Icelandic government rejected the offer opting to stay neutral.
To say that this didn't go over well with the British government and the admiralty is
an under-statement.
An invasion fleet was hastily assembled which consisted of 746 extremely green troops, who
most hadn't even gotten to fire their rifles, or get trained properly, or knew the Icelandic
language, or knew where they were going.
As you can imagine the invasion went absolutely perfect and they encountered zero resistance
and..
Oh right.. they did?
Iceland didn't contain much in the way of a defense force.
The Icelandic police was only 70 men and had only been briefly trained by the chief who
had been in the Danish Airforce.
The invasion was to for-stall any German planned invasion but none existed at the time.
After the invasion, a plan was created called Operation Ikarus.
It was a report on the feasibility to conduct an invasion and the report said that an invasion
was possible, but defense and re-supply was not.
In July of 1941 the then still Neutral United States entered into an agreement with the
Icelandic government that would allow them to station troops as protection and thus free
up the Commonwealth troops to fight in other theaters.
Iceland s occupation brought an tremendous boost to the economy, which had been crippled
by the Great Depression and years of economic stagnation.
To many Icelanders, WW2 is actually known as blessa str i or the blessed war . The foreign
presence created significant employment opportunities and dramatically upscaled Iceland s infrastructure
and technology.
Finding only dirt roads and no airports, Allied troops built tarmacked roads and airports,
including Iceland s biggest and most important today Keflav k International Airport.
During the occupation, foreign military numbers outnumbered the whole of Icelands male population,
and their was actually a pretty heavy concern over Icelandic women being in romantic relationships
with these foreigners.
The Minister of the Judiciary actually appointed a committee to address the matter but little
came of it.
These women were deemed either prostitutes or traitors and corrupt by some, so much so
that two institution houses were created for these so called corrupt women.
When Denmark was invaded in 1940, all communication between the Danish government and Iceland
had been cut off.
This led the Icelandic government to elect their own Governor, Sveinn Bj rnsson.
Iceland had a history of independence movements but they normally didn't have much support
from the loyalist population.
Now, with the Danish homeland fully occupied.
The desire for independence skyrocketed, especially as the economic situation on the island improved
dramatically.
On May the 14th 1944, Iceland held a referendum for independence, with 95% voting in favor,
and Iceland officially declared their independence on Jun the 17th.
This day was chosen to coincide with J n Sigur sson s birthday, one of the leaders of the
Icelandic independence movement.