History of Iceland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 Early history
2 Age of Settlement (874-930)
3 Commonwealth (930-1262)
4 Civil War and the End of the Commonwealth
5 Iceland as a Norwegian and Danish vassal
6 18th, 19th and early 20th century
7 World War II
8 Post-WWII Iceland
9 After the Cold War
10 See also
11 References
12 External links

[edit] Early history

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Iceland is, in geological terms, a young island. It started to form about 20 million years ago from a series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic ridge. The oldest rock samples found in Iceland date back 16 million years. The Iceland hotspot is likely partly responsible for the island's creation and continued existence.

Iceland remained one of the world's last larger islands uninhabited by humans. It has been suggested that the land called Thule by the Greek merchant Pytheas was actually Iceland although it seems highly unlikely considering Pytheas' description of it as an agricultural country with plenty of milk, honey, and fruit. The exact date that men first reached the country is uncertain. Roman coins dating to the 3rd century AD have been found in Iceland, but it is unknown whether they were brought there at that time, or came later with Viking settlers, having circulated as currency already for centuries.

There is some literary evidence that Irish monks had settled in Iceland before the arrival of the Norse. However, there is no archaeological evidence to support such settlement. The 12th century scholar Ari Þorgilsson wrote in his book, Íslendingabók, that small bells, corresponding to those used by Irish monks, were found by the settlers. No such artifacts have been discovered by archaeologists, however.

[edit] Age of Settlement (874-930)

Main article: Settlement of Iceland

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According to Landnámabók, Iceland was discovered by Scandinavian sailor Naddoddr, who was sailing from Norway to the Faroe Islands, but got lost and drifted to the east coast of Iceland. Naddoddr named the country Snæland (Snowland). Swedish sailor Garðar Svavarsson also accidentally drifted to the coast of Iceland. He discovered that the country was an island and named it Garðarshólmi (literally Garðar's Island) and stayed for the winter at Húsavík. The first Scandinavian who deliberately sailed to Garðarshólmi was Flóki Vilgerðarson, also known as Hrafna-Flóki (Raven-Flóki). Flóki settled for one winter at Barðaströnd. It was a cold winter, and when he spotted some drift ice in the fjords he gave the island its current name, Ísland (Iceland).

The first permanent settler in Iceland is usually considered to be a Norwegian chieftain named Ingólfur Arnarson. According to the story he threw two carved pillars overboard as he neared land, vowing to settle wherever they landed. He then sailed along the coast until the pillars were found in the southwestern peninsula, now known as Reykjanesskagi. There he settled with his family around 874, in a place he named Reykjavík (Bay of Smokes) due to the geothermal steam rising from the earth. This very place would eventually become the capital and the largest city of modern Iceland. It is recognized, however, that Ingólfur Arnarson may not have been the first one to settle permanently in Iceland — that may have been Náttfari, a slave of Garðar Svavarsson who stayed behind when his master returned to Scandinavia.

It should be noted that all of the above information comes from Landnámabók (Book of Settlement), a book that Icelandic historians mostly eschew as a scholarly source, due to many inconsistencies, but in many ways remains a primary historical source. However, archeological findings in Reykjavík seem to confirm the date given there: there was a settlement in Reykjavík around 870.

Haraldur the Fair-haired receives the kingdom of Norway from his father

Ingólfur was followed by many more Norse chieftains, their families and slaves who settled all the inhabitable areas of the island in the next decades. These people were primarily of Norwegian, Irish and Scottish origin, the Irish and Scots being mainly slaves and servants of the Norse chiefs according to the Icelandic sagas and Landnámabók and other documents. A common explanation for this exodus from Norway is that people were fleeing the harsh rule of the Norwegian king Haraldur Harfagri (Harald the Fair-haired), who is believed to have been uniting some parts of modern Norway during the period. It is also believed that the western fjords of Norway were simply overcrowded in this period. The settlement of Iceland is thoroughly recorded in the aforementioned Landnámabók, although it should be remembered that the book was compiled in the early 12th century when at least 200 years had passed from the age of settlement. Ari Þorgilsson's Íslendingabók is generally considered more reliable as a source and is probably somewhat older, but it is far less thorough. It does say that Iceland was fully settled within 60 years, which likely means that all territory had been claimed by various settlers.

[edit] Commonwealth (930-1262)

Main article: Icelandic Commonwealth

In 930, the ruling chiefs established an assembly called the Alþingi (English: Althing). The parliament convened each summer at Þingvellir, where representative chieftains (Goðorðsmenn or Goðar) amended laws, settled disputes and appointed juries to judge lawsuits. Laws were not written down, but were instead memorized by an elected "lögsögumaður", or Speaker of the law. The Alþingi is sometimes stated to be the world's oldest existing parliament. Importantly, there was no central executive power, and therefore laws were enforced only by the people. Such an environment is very conducive to blood-feuds, which provided the writers of the sagas with plenty of material.

Iceland enjoyed a mostly uninterrupted period of growth in its commonwealth years. Settlements from that era have been found in south-west Greenland and eastern Canada, and viking sagas, such as Eiríks saga Rauða and Grænlendinga saga, speak of the settlers' exploits.

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The settlers of Iceland were dominantly pagans and worshipped, among others, Odin, Thor and Freyja — but in the 10th century political pressure from Europe to convert to Christianity mounted. As the end of the millennium grew near many prominent Icelanders had accepted the new faith. In the year 1000, as a civil war between the religious groups seemed possible, the Alþing appointed one of the chieftains, Þorgeirr Ljósvetningagoði, to decide the issue of religion by arbitration. He decided that the country should convert to Christianity as a whole — but pagans were allowed to worship secretly. The first Icelandic bishop, Ísleifr Gizurarson, was consecrated by bishop Adalbert of Bremen in 1056.

[edit] Civil War and the End of the Commonwealth

Main article: Age of the Sturlungs

As the 11th and 12th centuries passed, the centralization of power had worn down the institutions of the Commonwealth, as the former, notable independence of local farmers and chieftains gave way to the growing power of a handful of families and their leaders. The period from ca. 1200 - 1262 is generally known as Sturlungaöld - The Age of the Sturlungs. This refers to Sturla Þórðarson and his sons: Þórður, Sighvatur and Snorri. They were one of two main clans fighting for power over Iceland, causing havoc in a land comprised almost entirely of farmers who could ill afford being away from their farms to travel across the land, fighting for their leader's cause. In 1220 Snorri Sturluson became a vassal of Hákon, King of Norway, and subsequently his nephew Sturla Sighvatsson also became a vassal in 1235. Sturla used the power and influence of the Sturlungar family to wage war against the other clans in Iceland.

The Icelandic Commonwealth remained independent until 1262, the end of the Age of Sturlungs, when it entered into a treaty, Gamli sáttmáli (Old Covenant), which established a union with the Norwegian monarchy.

[edit] Iceland as a Norwegian and Danish vassal

Little changed in the decades following the treaty. Norway's consolidation of power in Iceland was slow, and The Althing intended to hold onto its legislative and judicial power. Nonetheless, power slowly shifted to ecclesiastical authorities as Iceland's two bishops acquired land, at the expense of the old chieftains.

Possession of Iceland passed to Denmark-Norway in the late 14th century when Norway and Denmark were united. When the united kingdoms were separated by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, Denmark kept Iceland as a dependency.

Though geographically removed from Europe, Iceland was never isolated. Mariners from many nations — Christopher Columbus perhaps among them — came to call and trade at Iceland's ports throughout the Middle Ages and early modern period.

[edit] 18th, 19th and early 20th century

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In 1783, the Laki volcano in Iceland erupted, spitting out three cubic miles of lava. Floods, ash, and fumes wiped out 9,000 people and 80 percent of the livestock. The ensuing starvation killed a quarter of Iceland's population.[1]

During the 19th century the country's climate changed for the worse, resulting in mass emigration to the New World, particularly Manitoba, Canada. However, a new national consciousness was revived in Iceland, inspired by 18th century romanticism and nationalism from mainland Europe. An independence movement developed under Jón Sigurðsson. The Alþingi had remained for centuries as a judicial body but was finally abolished in 1800. In 1843 a new body by the same name was founded as a consultative assembly. Continuity with the Althing of the Icelandic Commonwealth is sometimes claimed.

In 1874, a thousand years after the first acknowledged settlement, Denmark granted Iceland home rule, which again was expanded in 1904. The constitution, written in 1874, was revised in 1903, and a minister for Icelandic affairs, residing in Reykjavík, was made responsible to the Alþingi. The Act of Union, a December 1, 1918, agreement with Denmark, recognized Iceland as a fully sovereign state united with Denmark under a common king. Iceland established its own flag and asked that Denmark represent its foreign affairs and defense interests. The Act would be up for revision in 1940 and could be revoked three years later, if an agreement wasn't reached.

[edit] World War II

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German occupation of Denmark on April 9, 1940, severed communications between Iceland and Denmark. As a result, on April 10, the Parliament of Iceland, Alþingi, elected to take control of foreign affairs into its own hands, electing a provisional governor, Sveinn Björnsson, who later became the republic's first president. During the first year of World War II Iceland strictly enforced a position of neutrality, taking action against both British and German forces violating the laws of neutrality. On May 10, 1940, British military forces sailed into Reykjavík harbour, beginning the invasion and occupation of Iceland by Allied forces which would last throughout the war. The government issued a protest, but if the authorities ever had any thoughts of mounting a defence, they were made impossible by the fact that most of the country's police force was in a training camp some distance from the capital. On the day of invasion, prime minister Hermann Jónasson read a radio announcement telling Icelanders to treat the foreigners as they would treat their guests. The government quickly adopted a policy, similar to the Danish one, of cooperation with the occupying forces.

At the peak of their occupation of Iceland, the British had around 25,000 troops stationed in Iceland, all but eliminating unemployment in the Reykjavík area and other strategically important places. In July 1941, responsibility for Iceland's defence passed to the United States under a U.S.-Icelandic defence agreement. The British needed all the forces they could muster closer to home and thus coerced Alþingi into agreeing to an American occupation force. This time around, there were up to 40,000 soldiers in the island, thus outnumbering all grown Icelandic men. (At the time, Iceland had a population of around 120,000.)

Following a plebiscite, Iceland formally became an independent republic on June 17, 1944. Since Denmark was still occupied by Nazi Germany many Danes felt offended that the step should have been taken at this time. Despite this, the Danish king, Christian X, sent a message of congratulations to the Icelandic people.

[edit] Post-WWII Iceland

Iceland had prospered during the course of the war, amassing considerable currency reserves in foreign banks. The government, led by an unlikely three-party majority cabinet made up of conservatives (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn), social democrats (Alþýðuflokkurinn) and socialists (Sósíalistaflokkurinn), decided to put the funds into a general renovation of the fishing fleet, the building of fish processing facilities, and a general modernization of agriculture. These actions were aimed at keeping Icelanders' standard of living as high as it had become during the prosperous war years.

The government's fiscal policies were strictly Keynesian, and their aim was to create the necessary industrial infrastructure for a prosperous industrialized country. It was considered essential to keep unemployment down to an absolute minimum and to protect the export industry, i.e. the fishing industry, by manipulation of the currency and other means. Due to the country's dependence both on unreliable fish catches and on a foreign demand for fish products, Iceland's economy remained very unstable well into the 90s, when the country's economy was greatly diversified.

In October 1946, the Icelandic and U.S. governments agreed to terminate U.S. responsibility for the defense of Iceland, but the United States retained certain rights at Keflavík, such as the right to re-establish a military presence there, should war threaten.

Amidst domestic controversy and riots in front of the house of parliament, Iceland became a charter member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) on March 30, 1949, with the reservation that it would never take part in offensive action against another nation. After the outbreak of hostilities in Korea in 1950, and pursuant to the request of NATO military authorities, the United States and Alþingi agreed that the United States should again take responsibility for Iceland's defense. This agreement, signed on May 5, 1951, was the authority for the controversial U.S. military presence in Iceland, which remained there until 2006. In March 2006, the US announced that it intended to withdraw the greater part of the Icelandic Defence Force. On the 12th of August 2006, the last four F-15s left Icelandic airspace. The US has made it clear that it will close down the Keflavík base in the middle of September 2006.

Iceland is the only NATO country with no proper military force of its own. It does maintain a police force including a special weapons unit, a coast guard with a small fleet of lightly armed ships and has deployed squadrons of armed peace-keepers wearing military uniforms to Bosnia and Afghanistan.

[edit] After the Cold War

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In 1991, Davíð Oddsson, leader of the Independence party, formed a coalition government with the Social Democrats. This government set in motion market liberalisation policies, privatising a number of small and large companies. At the same time economic stability increased and previously chronic inflation was drastically reduced. Iceland became a member of the European Economic Area in 1994

In 1995, Davíð Oddsson formed a coalition government with the Progressive Party. This government continued with the free market policies, privatising two commercial banks and the state-owned Siminn. Corporate incomes tax was reduced to 18% (from around 50% at the beginning of the decade), inheritance tax was greatly reduced and the net wealth tax abolished. A system of individual transferable quotas in the Icelandic fisheries, first introduced in the late 1970s, was further developed. The coalition government held on to power after relatively successful elections in 1999 and 2003. In 2004, Davíð Oddsson stepped down as Prime Minister after 13 years in office, and became Foreign Minister for a brief stint, only to fully resign from government in 2005. Halldór Ásgrímsson, leader of the Progressive Party, took over as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2006, followed by Geir H. Haarde, Davíð Oddsson’s successor as leader of the Independence Party.

After a temporary recession in the early 1990s, economic growth has been considerable, about 4% a year on average from 1994, and Iceland is now one of the wealthiest countries in the world according to OECD statistics. The governments of the 1990's and 2000's have adhered to a controversial but staunch pro-U.S. foreign policy, lending nominal support to the NATO action in the Kosovo War and signing up as a member of the Coalition of the willing during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It was the first country to acknowledge the sovereignty of the former Soviet Baltic republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as well as the former Yugoslav republic of Montenegro.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Axel Kristinsson. "Is there any tangible proof that there were Irish monks in Iceland before the time of the Viking settlements?" (2005) in English in Icelandic
Bergsteinn Jónsson and Björn Þorsteinsson. "Íslandssaga til okkar daga" Sögufélag.[2] Reykjavík. (1991) (in Icelandic) ISBN 9979-9064-4-8
Byock, Jesse [3]; "Medieval Iceland: Society, Sagas and Power" University of California Press (1988) ISBN 0-520-06954-4 ISBN 0-226-52680-1
Guðmundur Hálfdanarson [4]; "Historical Dictionary of Iceland" Scarecrow Press.[5] Maryland, USA. (1997) ISBN 0-8108-3352-2
Gunnar Karlsson. "History of Iceland" Univ. of Minneapolis. (2000) ISBN 0-8166-3588-9 [6]
Gunnar Karlsson. "Iceland's 1100 Years: History of a Marginal Society". Hurst.[7] London. (2000) ISBN 1-85065-420-4.
Helgi Skúli Kjartansson [8]; "Ísland á 20. öld". Reykjavík. (2002) ISBN 9979-9059-7-2
Miller, William Ian [9]; "Bloodtaking and Peacemaking: Feud, Law, and Society in Saga Iceland" [10] University Of Chicago Press.[11] (1997) ISBN 0-226-52680-1
http://www.iceland.or.jp/Files/iceland/his.htm History of Iceland from the Icelandic embassy in Japan
http://www.state.gov/www/background%5Fnotes/iceland%5F9910%5Fbgn.html U.S. Government text (public domain).