AHC: Wank Iceland

I welcome myself to the forums! :D

Now lets get a little crazy. Come up with a POD that makes Iceland (my country) also encompass the Faroy islands, Jan Mayen and Svalbard.

If at all possible, also include some or all of Greenland.

Bonus points if Denmark is destroyed in the process of this happening :p
(not by Iceland of course, but by the chain of events after the POD)
 
I welcome myself to the forums! :D

Now lets get a little crazy. Come up with a POD that makes Iceland (my country) also encompass the Faroy islands, Jan Mayen and Svalbard.

If at all possible, also include some or all of Greenland.

Bonus points if Denmark is destroyed in the process of this happening :p
(not by Iceland of course, but by the chain of events after the POD)

Denmark overrun by USSR in different WWII finish, remnants of Danish maratime empire join together (protected from People's Danish Republic re-annexation by British or US navy).

Bruce
 
Certainly not after 1900, but different currents in the Atlantic could make Iceland the only safe way to get across to NA.
 
I welcome myself to the forums! :D

Now lets get a little crazy. Come up with a POD that makes Iceland (my country) also encompass the Faroy islands, Jan Mayen and Svalbard.

If at all possible, also include some or all of Greenland.

I could suggest a Canadian occupation of all four, preferably with all except Greenland joined together as one province (Greenland would be treated differently), but that would just be too easy. :D
 
that's not easy at all, the western powers, and countries with real power like the USA would never allow it, especially with rampaging Soviets in Europe (if we go with that scenario).
Also regions that joined Canada in later times voted on it (Newfoundland anyone?) and I don't think the canadians would suddenly change character and become the policeman instead of the USA, annexing regions against their will and beocome charged with defending the north atlantic against the USSR.
Also Canada is already ridicilously diverse with regions that have wildly different customs and heritage from one another, adding yet another region that would probably seceede once the soviets collapse on themselves could get the wheels rolling for regions that have shown interest in seceeding (Quebec, Newfound land)

+ that's not what I was thinking about at all, you're not wanking a country by making it a part of another nation are you?

Congratulations Dan, I give you the shame award for the worst answer yet :p
 
I think it is in wrong forum. It should be in pre-1900. But since it is here in post-1900. This is a plain ASB. We need to have a Nuclear War and Iceland choose to be neutral then rule the world.
 
oh so this is ASB ?

you know that the languages spoken in Iceland and the Faroy islands are mutually intelligible?
the same can not be said for the Faroy islands and Denmark.

Also Jan Mayen and Svalbard are frozen, barely inhabited wastelands. I
find it hard to believe that those islands becoming a part of Iceland require alien intervention, after all, much stranger things have happened and if this is the standard of ASB in this forums then im afraid nearly everything but the humblest of timelines fall into that category.

I call bs on your ASB declaration.

As an example for why, check the answer Bruce gave. That's just one possible, plausible solution (for the big price that is, which is the Faroy islands)
 
The Diocese of the Faeroe Islands have had a shifting of superiors; Bremen, Lund and Trondheim during catholic times. Following af breif spell of independence in the wake of the Reformation it went to Bergen 1557 only to be passed on to Sjaelland, Denmark, Iceland and then Sjaelland once again.

Iceland during catholic times had two Dioceses in Skalholt and Holár later moved to Rejkjavik but it too had a number of superiors before this - Lund and Trondheim.

Greenland had its own bishop since 1124 subjected to Trondheim since 1152. When Hans Egede arrived in 1721 he reintroduced christianity and was made bishop of Greenland 1740. The Diocese was placed under Sjaelland 1905 and then Copenhagen until independence 1993.

With all this shifting around an AH could run like this.
During the Middle Ages the communications across the North Atlantic was hard to uphold. From time to time the dioceses was isolated. In order to counter this mainly the inability of the Arch bishop of Nidaros (Trondheim) to uphold his authority the Bishops of Skalholt and Holár took it upon them to hold the reins.
It was a long process but over the centuries it became accepted by the peoples of the North Atlantic that the Iceland bishops meant someone to reckon with.

With the arrival of the Reformation the Icelandic Bishops struggled to keep their seats but in the end to no avail.
But they managed to be the ones that peoples would turn to when communications with the outside failed and thus when the Lutheran-Protestant Church had to build a hierachy it became logic to establish a new seat at Rejkjavik that would supervise the Faeroe Islands and Greenland.

This happy state of affairs went on well until the Napoleonic Wars during which the North Atlantic Diocese had to fend for itself and then 1814 when the Treaty of Kiel separated Norway from Denmark but the Rejkjavik Diocese naturally went along Denmark as did the other Atlantic areas of Bjoeneoy, Jan Mayen and Svalbard.
The Norwegians of course protested, the Swedes were ignorant of these worthless areas and as such they went to Danish control.
The North Atlantic subjects of the Danish King thought of themselves as on the periphery of the Kingdom; which they of course indeed were!

1843 saw the re-institution of the Althing in Iceland now wieved as the government of all North Atlantic even if the inhebitants still were loyal to their King.
The events of 1848 were also felt in Iceland and the King felt the need to secure the loyalty of his North Atlantic subjects but the war of 1848-50 and the following inability of Icelanders and Kings negotiators to reach a settlement made for an open issue.

Come 1864 with German invasion of Denmark following disastrous Danish attempts at reconcile the rulers of the democratic Kingdom and hereditary ruled Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein in making a joint constitution which had to offend one or another the Danish army was defeated at Dybbol and then the Prussians crossed the sound to Als.
The Danes still being stubborn and falsely percieved themselves to have won the first war 1848-50 singlehanded now took things even further making for the Prussian commander Molkte to plan and execute the crossing of the Lillebaelt to finally crush the Danish army in that island.
Even the Danish defeat in the Heligoland Bight of the Austrian navy squadron didn't alter the fact that Denmark had gambled too high and lost.
The Danes now wanted to surrender and Bismarck were eager to let them just taking what he found appropriate but then the action of the Danish King tripped Bismarck in the making. The Prussian King himself much to the anger of Bismarck accepted the fealty oath of the Danish King to his Prussian majesty effectively incorporating the Kingdom of Denmark into the German Confederation as a Prussian satellite! But the Danish King kept his Duchies.
The Prussian King was elated; Bismarck sullen and Molkte recieved the Danish generals at Potsdam appointing new commands. In fact the Danes were on their own request that is relegated to provide the navy of the Prussians as well as a suitable Marines force.

With the Kingdom gone the Icelanders chose their own freedom and declared independence. Quite a number of onlookers watched the developments; but the British and USA managed a joint "Hands-off" to any would be takers. Now Prussia, Sweden and Russia all looked sullen but that was to be.
Pointing to the Monroe Doctrine the USA demanded that no Prussian warships enter the West Indies and that Danish governor and troops there now decide what to do. Being a Dane foremost the governor decided to throw in his lot with the Icelanders slightly enlarging the new state in territory but surely in populace.

1865 saw the Iceland President visit his counterpart in Washington signing a defence treaty. Then another was signed in London.
The treaties meant security but it also demanded action by the Icelanders. A small navy to patrol the vast vast waters had to be created and a gendarmerie as well. It wouldn't last a second should anybody offend the Icelanders but then they had two big brothers watching their backs!

The numbers of North Atlantic fishermen made for currency to be obtained as did the cryolite mine in Greenland. As time went by and greater needs for aluminium arose so did the prospect of Iceland to prosper.

(the rest may be conjured up another day ;))
 
that's not easy at all,

It was a joke. Mainly because as of late, what we call "Canada-wank" (i.e. Canada is always successful, steadily expands, and generally does way better than is plausible, though not ASB) is more fashionable than Ameri-wank (aka OTL). The big joke is that since Iceland is partly in North America, and is closer to Canada, Iceland should eventually become a Canadian province (aided by the fact that Canada has the largest Icelandic community in North America, although they're mainly in the metro Winnipeg area).

Also regions that joined Canada in later times voted on it (Newfoundland anyone?)

Newfoundland is actually a special case, but I get your point.

Also Canada is already ridicilously diverse with regions that have wildly different customs and heritage from one another, adding yet another region that would probably seceede once the soviets collapse on themselves could get the wheels rolling for regions that have shown interest in seceeding (Quebec, Newfound land)

Then again, look on the positive side. Icelandic cuisine, for example, would make Canadian cuisine more diverse (here's to hákarl overtaking poutine :D). Plus, you guys could help add lots of diversity to Canada in general.

+ that's not what I was thinking about at all, you're not wanking a country by making it a part of another nation are you?

I know, I know, a joke.

Iceland, Greenland, plus the Faroes together is a bit difficult to pull off, but could be done if you try to have all three, in the 19th century, present a joint nationalist movement (not to mention the Icelandic language having to include Ø/ø and Q/q as letters of the alphabet [the latter representing a Greenlandic phoneme known as a uvular stop], rolling É/é back to Je/je, the introduction of skerping (the Faroese phenomenon of fronting back vowels before <gv> and turning diphthongs into monophthongs before <ggj>), not trying to stamp out flámæli, and a few other things to accommodate both Faroese and Greenlandic in the written language). If you trying convincing all three that being together as one unit for independence, then that's a huge step forward. As for Svalbard and Jan Mayen - I'm not sure about that, as those are Norwegian.

Congratulations Dan, I give you the shame award for the worst answer yet :p

Hey now, nothing wrong with injecting some humour in the whole thing. :D
 
It was a joke. Mainly because as of late, what we call "Canada-wank" (i.e. Canada is always successful, steadily expands, and generally does way better than is plausible, though not ASB) is more fashionable than Ameri-wank (aka OTL). The big joke is that since Iceland is partly in North America, and is closer to Canada, Iceland should eventually become a Canadian province (aided by the fact that Canada has the largest Icelandic community in North America, although they're mainly in the metro Winnipeg area).



Newfoundland is actually a special case, but I get your point.



Then again, look on the positive side. Icelandic cuisine, for example, would make Canadian cuisine more diverse (here's to hákarl overtaking poutine :D). Plus, you guys could help add lots of diversity to Canada in general.



I know, I know, a joke.

Iceland, Greenland, plus the Faroes together is a bit difficult to pull off, but could be done if you try to have all three, in the 19th century, present a joint nationalist movement (not to mention the Icelandic language having to include Ø/ø and Q/q as letters of the alphabet [the latter representing a Greenlandic phoneme known as a uvular stop], rolling É/é back to Je/je, the introduction of skerping (the Faroese phenomenon of fronting back vowels before <gv> and turning diphthongs into monophthongs before <ggj>), not trying to stamp out flámæli, and a few other things to accommodate both Faroese and Greenlandic in the written language). If you trying convincing all three that being together as one unit for independence, then that's a huge step forward. As for Svalbard and Jan Mayen - I'm not sure about that, as those are Norwegian.



Hey now, nothing wrong with injecting some humour in the whole thing. :D


hehe yeah it is quite humurous, and I apologize for those harsh words, I was just trying to keep the thread at least semi serious.

At least I know the Canada thing now :p

And about Greenland, well yeah I realize that's a huge stretch, I just put it there if someone had any ideas regarding that, personally I can't think of any POD unless you go very far back and somehow save the norse settlers from their fate.

Maybe if stronger efforts were made at colonisation in Vinland, with a mixture of norse and icelandic settlers, then Greenland might thrive as a safe haven on the way over there.

But post 1900, Greenland is probably impossible, lets just leave it at that.

Interesting points regarding the languages of Færeyjar and Iceland, maybe a stronger movement in Færeyjar to cleanse the language of foreign influence might do the trick (in the 19th century the icelandic elite spoke a mixture of danish and icelandic actually)
 

abc123

Banned
I welcome myself to the forums! :D

Now lets get a little crazy. Come up with a POD that makes Iceland (my country) also encompass the Faroy islands, Jan Mayen and Svalbard.

If at all possible, also include some or all of Greenland.

Bonus points if Denmark is destroyed in the process of this happening :p
(not by Iceland of course, but by the chain of events after the POD)


Very easily in fact.
Just have that halifax signs peace with Hitler in sommer of 1940. So dennmark is occupied, and Iceland becomes independent. With UK-US troops in Greenland and Faroerne Islands, they simply decide to ditch them formally to Iceland, because they are nordic countries like Iceland, and add Jan Mayen too.
Voila.
 
Very easily in fact.
Just have that halifax signs peace with Hitler in sommer of 1940. So dennmark is occupied, and Iceland becomes independent. With UK-US troops in Greenland and Faroerne Islands, they simply decide to ditch them formally to Iceland, because they are nordic countries like Iceland, and add Jan Mayen too.
Voila.

Another plausibe solution, thank you, maybe the easiest yet.

I can imagine the USA/ Britain would rather want to deal with one government than two or three in the area, and the tiny population combined with the looming threat of a superpower continental empire basicly makes this government an USA/Britain puppet state (which ofc it already was in OTL :p it's not like we could say no to 60 thousand troops on our head )

Still, once the threat seceedes it will emerge as Iceland on seroids I guess, with all the benefits we had OTL from USA military presence (yes, that's right, #$&% you left wing nuts :D)
 
hehe yeah it is quite humurous, and I apologize for those harsh words, I was just trying to keep the thread at least semi serious.

At least I know the Canada thing now :p

That's good - and I accept the apology.

And about Greenland, well yeah I realize that's a huge stretch, I just put it there if someone had any ideas regarding that, personally I can't think of any POD unless you go very far back and somehow save the norse settlers from their fate.

You don't have to go that far - you could, for example, have some guy look at the current Greenlanders and state that, despite their language being different as it is an 'Eskimo' language, they are close enough to the rest of 'us' and hence are 'Norsemen' too.

Maybe if stronger efforts were made at colonisation in Vinland, with a mixture of norse and icelandic settlers, then Greenland might thrive as a safe haven on the way over there.

If a stronger effort was made at Vinlandic colonization, the Vinlanders might feel too distant from the rest of "Nordensphere" to go along with that plan. For one thing, the Vinlanders might buck the trend and remain Catholics, and/or go a step further and mix Norse paganism with the existing Aboriginal religions, with Christianity used as a figleaf to cover the whole thing. :D Or their language has evolved to the point where an ordinary Icelander and/or Faroese would have to listen very carefully to an ordinary Vinlander to understand what s/he's saying or no one would understand what Vinlanders are talking about. (Like how Canadians in general find it hard to understand Newfoundlanders.) Hence, to our average Vinlander, why should we have to follow orders from someone in Røykiávic when we're doing fine by ourselves?

Of course, that's another story altogether - one which I've been trying for a while, but with a bit of emphasis on the linguistic side of things.

Interesting points regarding the languages of Færeyjar and Iceland, maybe a stronger movement in Færeyjar to cleanse the language of foreign influence might do the trick (in the 19th century the icelandic elite spoke a mixture of danish and icelandic actually)

Or actually something that would bring Faroese and Icelandic closer together - a "Common West Norse" or something like that.
 

abc123

Banned
Another plausibe solution, thank you, maybe the easiest yet.

I can imagine the USA/ Britain would rather want to deal with one government than two or three in the area, and the tiny population combined with the looming threat of a superpower continental empire basicly makes this government an USA/Britain puppet state (which ofc it already was in OTL :p it's not like we could say no to 60 thousand troops on our head )

Still, once the threat seceedes it will emerge as Iceland on seroids I guess, with all the benefits we had OTL from USA military presence (yes, that's right, #$&% you left wing nuts :D)


Well, simply, Iceland is too small to defend it self, so US presence definitly was a good thing for Iceland.
;)
 

abc123

Banned
Very easily in fact.
Just have that halifax signs peace with Hitler in sommer of 1940. So dennmark is occupied, and Iceland becomes independent. With UK-US troops in Greenland and Faroerne Islands, they simply decide to ditch them formally to Iceland, because they are nordic countries like Iceland, and add Jan Mayen too.
Voila.

Here, a map of that Iceland on steroids: ( I added also Svalbard and Bjornoya Island too )

iceland.jpg
 
@abc123:

You forgot the West Indies! :D:D:D

@Gunnar af Hlíðarenda:

Well it wasn't difficult - did remember something of the diocese thingy and then projected the post West Roman Empire fall role of Bishops ecclestial and secular rule into it. Et voilá. :D

Post 1900 though... :eek:

Second thought - Denmark and Norway are occupied by Germany during WWI (twas actually planned) leaving the North Atlantic up for graps which Iceland do... just for a few years during the war Iceland carries the Northern banner. Not the best one though... :eek:
 
@Gunnar af Hlíðarenda:

Well it wasn't difficult - did remember something of the diocese thingy and then projected the post West Roman Empire fall role of Bishops ecclestial and secular rule into it. Et voilá. :D

Hmm - I have been planning for a while a Vinland-related TL, and a good portion of what you wrote could fit right in perfectly. Well, except for some cultural issues - it is a Battle of Svolder POD which also involves such things like Galicia-wank (Galicia as in the modern-day OTL region of Spain directly north of Portugal and the former Kingdom) and the berserkers finding their way to Vinland, with interesting results amongst the local Aboriginal people. :cool: Or a TL which involves an Orthodox Christian Sweden and/or Finland (also with interesting results, such as the increased conservatism and/or archaism of either the standard Swedish language or the Eastern Swedish dialects).

Second thought - Denmark and Norway are occupied by Germany during WWI (twas actually planned) leaving the North Atlantic up for graps which Iceland do... just for a few years during the war Iceland carries the Northern banner. Not the best one though... :eek:

Hmm, that is also an interesting POD.
 
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