1940: Iceland

Separation from Denmark.

The year 1940 will go down as a key date in the historic annals of Iceland. This little country has been independent since 1918, but has remained bound to Denmark by a personal union under which King Christian X ruled both countries, and the Danish Foreign Minister represented Iceland in international matters. The Act of Union provided that in 1943 either the Danish Rigsdag (Parliament) or the Icelandic Althing (oldest representative assembly in the world, founded in 930 ad) might sever this dual bond. Immediately after the occupation of Denmark by German troops on April 9, the Althing unanimously adopted two momentous measures in a proclamation issued by the Icelandic Government:

'(1) Whereas: the present situation has made it impossible for the King of Iceland to exercise the powers vested in him by the Constitution, the Althing hereby proclaims that it empowers the Government of Iceland to assume these functions for the present.

'(2) Whereas: owing to the present situation Denmark is unable to conduct the foreign affairs of Iceland in accordance with Article 7 of the Danish-Icelandic Act of Union, and the coast defenses in accordance with Article 8 of the same Act, the Althing hereby proclaims that Iceland shall take complete charge of these matters for the present.'

Prime Minister Hermann Jónasson explained to the Icelandic people that in accordance with this declaration the home government would temporarily assume powers formerly vested in the King. As a result of the Althing's action, on April 25 Mr. Bertil Kuniholm was appointed first United States Consul to Iceland, and the Icelandic Trade Commissioner in New York, Mr. Vilhjalmur Thor, was elevated to the rank of Consul General. (See also DENMARK.)

British Occupation.

On May 10 British forces occupied Iceland as a preventive measure to forestall possible German seizure of the island. Britain pledged to evacuate its troops as soon as hostilities ceased. When the need for British manpower became more acute in the British Isles, during the campaign in Flanders, some troops were withdrawn from Iceland, and on June 18 the first contingent of a Canadian expeditionary force landed on the island. The sudden addition of almost 35,000 men to Iceland's population of only 120,264 created serious housing problems, which were solved by the construction of cottages for soldiers all over the island. This work, as well as the building of roads between strategic points, provided full-time employment for every available Icelandic laborer. At the end of the year, the British were employing 1,300 Icelandic workers at union rates in Icelandic money. Defense works were erected by Canadian troops in the first few months after their arrival at the island, and in December the establishment of a protected anchorage for British naval vessels was indicated by a warning to mariners to avoid a 'dangerous area' in Hvalfjordr, a deep-water fjord about 15 miles north of Reykjavik, the Icelandic capital. Since the British forces did not interfere with Icelandic government, and paid for all their local purchases in sound currency, relations between the troops and the island population were unusually cordial. The Icelandic radio and press remained uncontrolled, and the people were free to hear nightly broadcasts from both London and Berlin. Iceland's 1940 fishing season was extremely productive, both in the total catch and its monetary return. Britain bought the entire haul of codfish as well as the whole output of herring meal and herring oil.