|
In geological terms, Iceland is a young island. It
started to form about 20 million years ago from a
series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge. The Iceland hotspot is likely partly
responsible for the island's creation and continued
existence.
Iceland remained for a long time one of the world's
last larger islands uninhabited by humans (the
others being New Zealand and Madagascar). It has
been suggested that the land called Thule by the
Greek merchant Pytheas (4th century BC) was actually
Iceland, although it seems highly unlikely
considering Pytheas' description of it as an
agricultural country with plenty of milk, honey, and
fruit (possibly the Faroe or Shetland islands). The
exact date that humans first reached the island is
uncertain. Ancient Roman coins dating to the 3rd
century 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 monks and Papar
from a Hiberno-Scottish mission may have 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. Some
Icelanders claimed descent from Kjarvalr
Írakonungr at the time of the
Landnámabók's creation.
A page from a skin manuscript of
Landnámabók in the Árni
Magnússon Institute in Reykjavík,
Iceland
According to Landnámabók, Iceland was
discovered by Naddoddr, one of the first settlers on
the Faroe Islands, 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 Islet) 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).
Ingólfr commands his high seat pillars to be
erected in this painting by Johan Peter Raadsig
The first permanent settler in Iceland is usually
considered to have been 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
(Cove of Smoke) 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, one of Garðar Svavarsson's
men who stayed behind when Garðar returned to
Scandinavia.
Much of the above information comes from
Landnámabók (Book of Settlement),
written some three centuries after the settlement.
Archeological findings in Reykjavík are
consistent with 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. Some of the Irish and
Scots were slaves and servants of the Norse chiefs
according to the Icelandic sagas and
Landnámabók and other documents. Some
settlers coming from the British Isles were
"Hiberno-Norse," with cultural and family
connections both to the coastal and island areas of
Ireland and/or Scotland and to Norway. The
traditional explanation for the exodus from Norway
is that people were fleeing the harsh rule of the
Norwegian king Haraldur Hárfagri (Harald the
Fair-haired), whom medieval literary sources credit
with the unification of some parts of modern Norway
during this 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.
In 930, the ruling chiefs established an assembly
called the Alþingi (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 Lawspeaker (lögsögumaður). 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. This gave rise to
blood-feuds, which provided the writers of the
Icelanders' 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 southwest Greenland and
eastern Canada, and sagas such as Eiríks saga
Rauða and Grænlendinga saga speak of the
settlers' exploits.
10th century Eyrarland statue of Thor, the Norse god
of thunder, found in Iceland.
The settlers of Iceland were dominantly pagans and
worshipped the Norse gods, among them Odin, Thor,
Freyr and Freyja. However, by 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 likely, 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 that
pagans would be allowed to worship secretly.
The first Icelandic bishop, Ísleifr
Gizurarson, was consecrated by bishop Adalbert of
Bremen in 1056.
During the 11th and 12th centuries, 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 around
1200 to 1262 is generally known as
Sturlungaöld, the "Age of the Sturlungs." This
refers to Sturla Þórðarson and his
sons Þórður, Sighvatur, and Snorri,
who were one of two main clans fighting for power
over Iceland, causing havoc in a land inhabited
almost entirely by farmers who could ill-afford to
travel far from their farms, across the island to
fight for their leaders. In 1220 Snorri Sturluson
became a vassal of Haakon IV of Norway; 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. After decades of conflict, the
Icelandic chieftains agreed to accept the
sovereignty of Norway and signed the Old Covenant
(Gamli sáttmáli) establishing a union
with the Norwegian monarchy.
Iceland under Norwegian and Danish kings (1262-1944)
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, the
Christian clergy had unique opportunities to
accumulate wealth via the tithe, and power gradually
shifted to ecclesiastical authorities as Iceland's
two bishops in Skálholt and Hólar
acquired land at the expense of the old chieftains.
For a long period, stockfish trade made up the bulk
of Iceland's exports
Around the time Iceland became a vassal state of
Norway, a climate shift occurred—a phenomenon now
called the Little Ice Age. Areas near the Arctic
Circle such as Iceland and Greenland began to have
shorter growing seasons and colder winters. Since
Iceland had marginal farmland in good times, the
climate change resulted in hardship for the
population. It became more difficult to raise
barley, the primary cereal crop, and livestock
required additional fodder to survive longer and
colder winters. Icelanders began to trade for grain
from continental Europe — an expensive proposition.
Fortunately, Church fast days increased demand for
dried codfish, which was easily caught and prepared
for export, and the cod trade became an important
part of the economy.[3]
Danish rule
Iceland remained under Norwegian kingship until
1380, when the death of Olav IV extinguished the
Norwegian male royal line. Norway (and thus Iceland)
then became part of the Kalmar Union, along with
Sweden and Denmark, with Denmark as the dominant
power. Unlike Norway, Denmark did not need Iceland's
fish and homespun wool. This created a dramatic
deficit in Iceland's trade, and as a result, no new
ships for continental trading were built.[citation
needed] The small Greenland colony, established in
the late 10th century, died out completely before
1500.
With the introduction of absolute monarchy in
Denmark–Norway in 1660 under Frederick III, the
Icelanders relinquished their autonomy to the crown,
including the right to initiate and consent to
legislation. Denmark, however, did not provide much
protection to Iceland,[citation needed] which was
raided in 1627 by an Ottoman pirate kill fleet that
abducted almost 300 Icelanders into slavery, in the
episode known as the Turkish Abductions.
Reformation
By the middle of the 16th century, Christian III of
Denmark began to impose Lutheranism on his subjects.
Jón Arason and Ögmundur Pálsson,
the Catholic bishops of Skálholt and
Hólar respectively, opposed Christian's
efforts at promoting the Reformation in Iceland.
Ögmundur was deported by Danish officials in
1541, but Jón Arason put up a fight.
Opposition to the reformation ended in 1550 when
Jón Arason was captured after being defeated
in the Battle of Sauðafell by loyalist forces
under Daði Guðmundsson. Jón Arason
and his two sons were subsequently beheaded in
Skálholt. Following this, the Icelanders
became Lutherans and remain largely so to this day.
In 1602 Iceland was forbidden to trade with
countries other than Denmark, by order of the Danish
government. The Danish trade monopoly would remain
in effect until 1854.
In the 18th century, climatic conditions in Iceland
reached an all-time low since the original
settlement. On top of this, the Laki volcano in
Iceland erupted in 1783, spitting out three cubic
miles (12.5 km³) 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.[4] This period is known as
the Mist Hardship (Icelandic:
Móðuharðindin).
When the two kingdoms of Denmark and Norway were
separated by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814 following
the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark kept Iceland as a
dependency.
Throughout the 19th century, the country's climate
continued to grow worse, resulting in mass
emigration to the New World, particularly Manitoba
in Canada. However, a new national consciousness was
revived in Iceland, inspired by romantic nationalist
ideas from continental Europe. An independence
movement developed under Jón Sigurðsson.
In 1843 a new Althing was founded as a consultative
assembly. It claimed continuity with the Althing of
the Icelandic Commonwealth, which had remained for
centuries as a judicial body and been abolished in
1800.
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
Althing, the first of whom was Hannes Hafstein. The
Act of Union, a December 1, 1918, agreement with
Denmark, recognized Iceland as a fully sovereign
state — the Kingdom of Iceland - joined with Denmark
in a personal union with the Danish king. Iceland
established its own flag and asked Denmark to
represent its foreign affairs and defense interests.
The Act would be up for revision in 1940 and could
be revoked three years later if agreement was not
reached.
These principles of partial sovereignty were
exercised in the Swedish-Icelandic Declaration
regarding mutual protection of trade marks in Sweden
and Iceland, exchanged at Copenhagen on March 23,
1921. Even though the declaration was signed in
Copenhagen and with the approval of the Danish
government, it was drawn in Swedish and Icelandic
only, without the Danish language being represented.
World War II and founding of the republic
King Christian X was said by Time to be "less
unpopular in Iceland than any other Danish sovereign
has ever been".[6] Nevertheless the great majority
of Icelanders were eager to establish a republic.
The occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany began on
April 9, 1940, severing communications between
Iceland and Denmark. As a result, on April 10, the
Parliament of Iceland, Alþingi, elected to
take control of foreign affairs, 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 began an invasion of Iceland when
they sailed into Reykjavík harbour in
Operation Fork.
The government of Iceland issued a protest against
what it called a "flagrant violation" of Icelandic
neutrality. On the day of the invasion, Prime
Minister Hermann Jónasson read a radio
announcement telling Icelanders to treat the British
troops with the politeness as if they were guests.
The Allied occupation of Iceland would last
throughout the war.
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 the Alþingi into
agreeing to an American occupation force. Up to
40,000 soldiers were stationed on the island,
outnumbering all grown Icelandic men. (At the time,
Iceland had a population of around 120,000.)
Following a referendum, Iceland formally became an
independent republic on June 17, 1944, while Denmark
was still occupied by Germany. Despite this, the
Danish king, Christian X, sent a message of
congratulations to the Icelandic people.
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 (the Independence Party,
Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn), social
democrats (the Social Democratic Party,
Alþýðuflokkurinn), and socialists
(People's Unity Party – Socialist Party,
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 policy was strictly
Keynesian, and their aim was to create the necessary
industrial infrastructure for a prosperous developed
country. It was considered essential to keep
unemployment down to an absolute minimum and to
protect the export fishing industry through currency
manipulation and other means. Due to the country's
dependence both on unreliable fish catches and
foreign demand for fish products, Iceland's economy
remained very unstable well into the 1990s, when the
country's economy was greatly diversified.
In October 1946, the Icelandic and United States'
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.
Iceland became a charter member of NATO on March 30,
1949, with the reservation that it would never take
part in offensive action against another nation. The
membership came amid an anti-NATO riot in Iceland.
After the outbreak of the Korean War 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 defence. This
agreement, signed on May 5, 1951, was the authority
for the controversial U.S. military presence in
Iceland, which remained until 2006. Although U.S.
forces no longer maintain a military presence in
Iceland, the US still assumes responsibility over
the country's defense through NATO. Iceland has
retained strong ties to the other Nordic countries.
As a consequence Norway, Denmark, Germany and other
European nations have increased their defense and
rescue cooperation with Iceland since the withdrawal
of U.S. forces.
Icelandic Coast Guard and Royal Navy vessels clash
in the North Atlantic
The Cod Wars were a series of conflicts between
Iceland and the United Kingdom from the late 1950s
to the mid-1970s. The first Cod War took place in
1958 when Britain was unable to prevent Iceland from
extending its fishing limits from 4 to 12 miles (7
to 22 km) off the coast of Iceland. The second Cod
War lasted from 1972 to 1973, when Iceland extended
the limit to 50 miles (93 km). The third Cod War
began in November 1975, when Iceland extended its
zone of control over fishing from 50 miles (93 km)
to 200 miles (370 km). The UK did not recognize
Iceland's authority in the matter and continued to
fish inside the disputed area, making this the third
time that Iceland and the UK clashed over fishing
rights. Iceland deployed a total of eight ships: six
Coast Guard vessels and two Polish-built stern
trawlers, to enforce her control over fishing
rights. In response, the UK deployed a total of
twenty-two frigates, seven supply ships, nine
tug-boats and three auxiliary ships to protect its
40 fishing trawlers. While few shots were fired
during the seven-month conflict, several ships were
rammed on both sides, causing damage to the vessels
and a few injuries and deaths to the crews.
Events took a more serious turn when Iceland
threatened closure of the U.S.-manned NATO base at
Keflavík, which, in the military perception
of the time, would have severely impaired NATO's
ability to defend the Atlantic Ocean from the Soviet
Union. As a result, the British government agreed to
have its fishermen stay outside of Iceland's 200
mile (370 km) exclusion zone without a specific
agreement.
Former Prime Minister of Iceland Davíð
Oddsson with former United States President George
W. Bush.
In 1991, the Independence Party, led by
Davíð Oddsson, formed a coalition
government with the Social Democrats. This
government set in motion market liberalisation
policies, privatising a number of state-owned
companies. Iceland then became a member of the
European Economic Area in 1994. Economic stability
increased and previously chronic inflation was
drastically reduced.
The flag of Iceland being raised and the flag of the
United States being lowered as the US hands over the
Keflavík Air Base to the Government of
Iceland
In 1995, the Independence Party formed a coalition
government with the Progressive Party. This
government continued with the free market policies,
privatising two commercial banks and the state-owned
telecom Síminn. 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 remained in
power through elections in 1999 and 2003. In 2004,
Davíð Oddsson stepped down as Prime
Minister after 13 years in office. 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 was considerable, about 4% per year
on average from 1994. The governments of the 1990s
and 2000s adhered to a staunch but domestically
controversial 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.
In March 2006, the United States 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
United States closed the Keflavík base in
September 2006.
Following elections in May 2007, the Independence
Party headed by Geir H. Haarde remained in
government, albeit in a new coalition with the
Social Democratic Alliance.
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, the
world's first openly gay head of government of the
modern era.
In October 2008, the Icelandic banking system
collapsed, prompting Iceland to seek large loans
from the International Monetary Fund and friendly
countries. Widespread protests in late 2008 and
early 2009 resulted in the resignation of the
government of Geir Haarde, which was replaced on 1
February 2009 by a coalition government led by the
Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green
Movement. Social Democrat minister Jóhanna
Sigurðardóttir was appointed Prime
Minister, becoming the world's first openly gay head
of government of the modern era. Elections took
place in April 2009 and a continuing coalition
government consisting of the Social Democrats and
the Left-Green Movement was established in early May
2009.
Back
|
