Nuuk, Gronelândia
Trump says the US was “stupid” in returning the territory to Denmark — even though it never controlled it. In 1721, a shepherd raised the Danish flag on the island and sealed (at least to this day) its fate.
Speaking this Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, mentioned the German invasion of Denmark during the Second World War and the fact that the USA defended Greenland against the Nazis. that the Americans were “stupid” in returning the territory to Denmark, a nation they called “ungrateful”.
In fact, the The United States never had any sovereignty over Greenland. Denmark signed an agreement in 1941 for the Americans to defend the island, but never transferred control of the territory to the US.
Before Trump expressed his interest in the island in the Arctic Circle, it wasn’t exactly a focus of global attention. With the American president’s insistence that the US “needs Greenland,” that has changed. But this is not the first time the island has sparked interest.
Early immigrants and a Viking
Around 4,500 years ago, the first inhabitants settled in Greenland from the North American continent. In the 12th century, they were gradually replaced by Asian immigrants, from the Thule culture, who arrived on the island from Siberia through the Bering Strait. Their descendants are the , from whom most of the 56,000 inhabitants of present-day Greenland descend.
The island owes its name to a Viking: Erik the Red. Around the year 982, he was banished from Iceland for involuntary manslaughter, as recorded in the Vinland Saga. He and his companions sailed west in their ships and landed on the Arctic island. To attract more settlers, he called it Greenland – Greenland, “green land”. In fact, when the Vikings colonized it, the island was green, at least along the coast.
The settlements of the “Greenlanders” persisted for around 400 years; Afterwards, they were never heard from again. The Inuit were once again left to their own devices. But stories about Norsemen who supposedly lived deep in the fjords of southern Greenland and possessed great wealth continue to circulate, even today, in northern European countries.
How a Shepherd Started Danish Colonization
These stories also reached the ears of the Norwegian pastor Hans Egedewho wanted to find the legendary Vikings. On July 3, 1721, after a two-month journey, his boat docked in Greenland.
But, contrary to what he expected, the cleric did not find lost Norsemen, but rather pagan Inuit. He wanted to convert them to Christianity, as, in his opinion, they desperately needed the “civilization of their souls”. To do this, he had to learn their language and customs. As bread was unknown in Greenland, he rewrote the prayer that said “give us this day our daily bread” for “Give us today our daily focus.”
Three years after his arrival, Egede baptized the first Inuit child. He built a church and, with the creation of the first settlement, laid the foundations for what would later become the capital, Nuuk. A statue of the Norwegian missionary, with whom Greenland’s inglorious colonial history began, has remained there since 1922 – even against the wishes of many Inuit.
Who owns Greenland?
Upon arriving in Greenland, the Norwegian Egede raised the Danish flag – which was not formally incorrect, since, since 1380, Denmark and Norway formed a union that would last until 1814. After the dissolution, Greenland remained under the rule of the Danish crown, which did not please the Norwegians.
The dispute between the two countries intensified when Norway occupied parts of Greenland in 1931 and – in honor of Erik the Red – gave the name Land of Erik Raude to the territory.
Finally, in 1933, the Permanent Court of International Justice in The Hague put an end to the conflict by ruling that all of Greenland belongs to Denmark.
How the US got involved
In the 19th century, the USA was in full swing expansion. They had purchased Louisiana from the French in 1803, Florida from the Spanish in 1819, and Alaska from the Russians in 1867. Secretary of State William Seward also wanted to acquire Greenland; its strategic location offered a possible route to annexing Canada. However, the American Congress balked at the immense costs of the uninhabited “ice region.”
Instead, in 1916, the US purchased the Danish West Indies – today’s Virgin Islands – for 25 million dollars. In return, they gave a guarantee of respecting Danish rule over Greenland.
When the Germans occupied Denmark during World War II, the link between the country and Greenland was severed. The Danish envoy in Washington, Henrik Kauffman, signed an agreement with the USA: they were to supply the island and protect it from the Nazis. In return, the Americans could establish weather stations and air bases on the island. The Inuit were not consulted.
A year after the end of the war, the US offered Denmark 100 million dollars in gold to buy Greenlandaiming to secure a strategic position in the emerging Cold War. President Harry S. Truman probably had in mind the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that everything on the American continent was subject to US influence. Geographically, Greenland belonged to North America. Greenland’s vast mineral resources also made the island attractive.
A Denmark rejected the proposal. In 1951, the two countries signed an agreement around the Thule Air Base (now Pituffik Space Base), which the Americans have been able to use without restrictions since then.
Colonial injustice and desire for independence
In 1953, Greenland was officially promoted from colony status to province of Denmark. Two seats were granted in the Danish parliament. Initially, this didn’t change much: Denmark continued to determine what happened on the island.
Attempts were made to impose Danish culture on the local population, as the island of hunters and fishermen was supposed to be “modernized”. Nomadic culture did not fit into this scenario, which led to the Inuit being resettled in larger cities.
In the 1950s, 22 Inuit children were forcibly separated from their parents and taken to Denmark. The children were to be raised as “Danes” and later take on leadership positions in Greenland. Furthermore, population growth was a problem for the government in Copenhagen, as maintaining Greenland cost money. THE Forced contraception was practiced until the 1970s sometimes without the women’s knowledge and against their will.
It was not until 1979 that the island received its own parliament and government, although initially with limited powers. In 2009, Greenland became practically autonomous. From then on, Copenhagen was only able to decide on the island’s foreign and security policy.
Even so, Greenlanders’ preference is for complete independence from Denmark – and they don’t want to be Americans either. According to recent polls, 85% of Greenlanders oppose US annexation. However, the freezing winds coming from Greenland do not, so far, appear to have deterred President Trump.
