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Premier Taylerov - Better Alone Than With Bad Company: Part One
Given the size of the country, Iceland has a pretty interesting political scene.
Better Alone Than With Bad Company: Part One
Presidents of the First Republic of Iceland (1944-1977)
1944-1952: Sveinn Björnsson (Independent)
1952-1960: Bjarni Jónsson (Independent)
1960-1972: Ásgeir Ásgeirsson† (Progressive/Independent)*
1972-1977: Gunnar Thoroddsen (Progressive/Independent)
* Served as an Independent and as Prime Minister from 1971 until his death due to the constitutional crisis.
Prime Ministers of the First Republic of Iceland (1944-1977)
Early Days, and the Issue of NATO
1944-1947: Ólafur Thors (Independence: IP/SDP/SP)
1946: Independence-led majority coalition
1947-1949: Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson (Social Democratic: IP/SDP/SP)
1949-1950: Ólafur Thors (Independence)
1949: Independence governing hung parliament
1950-1953: Steingrímur Steinþórsson (Progressive: IP/PP)
In February 1944, the Icelandic parliament decided to sever the long-established ties between Iceland and the Danish monarch - largely as a result of the German occupation of Denmark during the Second World War and the subsequent arrival of Allied forces in Iceland itself. A national referendum was held in June, asking the people as to whether the country should confirm the decision of Parliament; overwhelming voter support rallied behind the declaration of independence (99%) and a new republican constitution (95%). The Republican Celebration (Lýðveldishátiðin) was held at Þingvellir, and the country elected their first President, Sveinn Björnsson. The government went to the polls in 1946, returning the coalition forces of the Independence Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Socialist Party - opposed at large by the Progressives led by Hermann Jónasson. Iceland had profited during the war, but her relationship with the United Kingdom and later the United States had divided political opinion.
The emergence of the Cold War led to the governing coalition to look for security guarantees for Iceland. With the Socialists abandoning the government over the issue and talks for a Scandinavian Defence Union in ashes, Iceland followed her Nordic cousins into NATO - the vote in the Althing passed 37-13 with only the Socialist Party wholly refusing to endorse the move. The country had joined the organization on the understanding of other allies that Iceland had no military and that no military bases would be permitted with Icelandic territory during peacetime. As such, Iceland became the only NATO member to lack a standing army. The issue of NATO membership and her policy of western-alignment 'neutrality' became the dominant focus of Icelandic politics.
The Conflict of the Two-Party System
1953-1955: Steingrímur Steinþórsson (Progressive: IP/PP)
1953: Progressive-leading majority coalition
1955-1956: Ólafur Thors (Independence: IP/PP)
As the Icelandic political situation remained so divided, the 1953 election was tense; the Progressive and Independence Parties remained equal on 12 seats (therefore obtaining a majority with 24), with the Socialists performing surprisingly well on 7 and the SDP and National Preservation Parties scooping up the remaining 3. Steinþórsson subsequently restored the coalition and oversaw the continuing benefits to Iceland from the Marshall Plan. (Per capita, Icelanders did the best out of any other participating member). However, the Independence Party exerted major influence on the government and in 1955 the Prime Ministership switched to Thors, who formed his final government. The result was a change of leadership in the PP, and in 1956 Thors was defeated by a newly-resurgent centre-left.
1956-1959: Jónas Jónsson (Progressive: PP/SA/SDP)
1956: Progressive-leading majority coalition
Jónsson (of no relation to President Jónsson, who had taken power in 1952) led a broad church of Progressives and socialists, the latter of which had formed a Socialist Alliance to contest the election. The Independence Party remained the largest in the Althing, but had been rejected in coalition deals by the leftist Progressive leader. During this period, Iceland began to develop a reputation as a 'rebellious ally' of other NATO states, and used the strategic importance of her territory as a major levy in international negotiations. Jónsson rejected American attempts to re-establish a military presence and threatened to withdraw from NATO completely if her needs and demands were not respected. Social liberalism continued and the Progressive government seemed to be re-distributing the new-found wealth of the country into social and domestic reforms. The first Cod War with the United Kingdom, essentially a maritime dispute, was concluded under American pressure in the favour of Iceland.
1959-1961: Bjarni Benediktsson (Independence: IP/SDP)
1959: Independence-leading minority coalition
The brief downswing of Progressive support at the 1959 election led to a return of an Independence government; the SDP agreed to support Benediktsson in a bid for national unity, supported by the President, but it was clear that the government would not survive against the recovering centre-left. The only real legacy of the short coalition was the cross-party consensus on forcing the United States to wholly sponsor the operations of the airbase at Keflavík, although ultimately the decision to allow American troops to be based there brought the government down.
1961-1963: Jónas Jónsson (Progressive: PP/SA)
1962: Progressive-leading majority coalition
1963-1966: Hermann Jónasson (Progressive: PP/SA)
Following on from the election of Ásgeir Ásgeirsson as the first Progressive (and party-affiliated) President in 1960, Jónas Jónsson returned to power briefly at the head of a minority but after the 1962 elections in a restored coalition with the Socialist Alliance. The Social Democratic Party were badly hit and were left out of negotiations. The government would prove highly divisive, as it brought to an end many conservative social policies; while American troops remained, the ban on coloured soldiers deployed to Iceland was abolished and in exchange for a controversial American expenditure programme in infrastructure agreed to the construction of two radar stations in the East. This, the government argued, took Icelandic membership of NATO seriously while continuing her neutrality. By 1963, however, the Prime Minister was in poor health and ageing fast and he stood down.
With the retirement of Jónsson, a old stalwart figure of the Progressive Party became interim leader. Hermann Jónasson had served as Prime Minister of Iceland in the years before the Second World War, when it remained attached to Denmark, and consequently was a popular choice for leader. However, as the Cold War reached new heights there came a real concern from the Icelandic people that the Progressives were neglecting national security.
The Middle Period, the Constitutional Crisis and NATO Intervention
1966-1968: Bjarni Benediktsson (Independence: IP/PP)
1966: Independence-leading majority coalition
1968-1969: Geir Hallgrímsson (Independence: IP/IND)
From many perspectives, the 1966 election was a disaster for the Progressives. They went from being the dominant party of government to third place in an unprecedented upset, and an IP-PP coalition became the only viable option. Pressured by the President to come to a conclusion, the government was derided by the rapidly-strengthening Socialist Alliance - the SDP and the SA had campaigned as a political partnership. However, the strengthening of Russian power in Eastern Europe led to American-Icelandic talks and the significant strengthening of the NATO military presence. Benediktsson tried to fight on criticism from the leftist wing of the Progressives, but lost his majority in 1968. Whilst he would contest the presidential election in 1972, he was forced to resign as Prime Minister and succeeded by the ambitious Geir Hallgrímsson; those Progressives who remained in support of the government declared themselves nominal independents. However, the government would be forced to the polls in 1969.
1969-1971: Benedikt Gröndal (Socialist Alliance: SA/SDP/IND)
1969: Socialist Alliance-leading majority coalition
1969 revolutionized the Icelandic political scene as the Socialist Alliance swept to victory as the largest party. The Progressives were particularly hammered, losing half of their seats. Benedikt Gröndal emerged as the new Prime Minister, and formed an entirely centre-left coalition with the SDP and two Independents. The SA did not need to bring the Progressives into formal coalition, but did fraternize with them where necessary to secure larger parliamentary victories if necessary. The coalition with the Independence Party had hurt the PP, and it was clear that it would struggle to regain any of the position it once had. However while a good candidate to ensure a cross-party consensus, by the turn of 1970 Gröndal had alienated some of his colleagues by being reluctant to allow the Icelandic public a chance to express their feelings about NATO and American collaborations in a referendum.
1971-1971: Hannibal Valdimarsson (Socialist Alliance: SA/SDP/IND)
1971: Socialist Alliance-leading minority coalition
Faced with such opposition from his party left, Gröndal was the victim of a party coup in 1971. Valdimarsson took the premiership, and immediately called a general election to secure a renewed mandate for his radical policies. However, the result was a hung parliament. The Alliance reformed their coalition, but it was clear that the ministry would not stand without the support of another party.
1971-1972: Ásgeir Ásgeirsson† (Progressive/Independent)#
With the political crisis paralyzing government, President Ásgeirsson formed his own ministry in a bid to end the chaos. In a government that did not rely on Parliamentary support, he abandoned his affiliation to the Progressive Party and served as an Independent - announcing that fresh elections would be held in 1972.
1972-1976: Hannibal Valdimarsson† (Socialist Alliance: SA/SDP)
1972: Socialist Alliance-leading majority coalition
If 1969 had been a contentious year for Iceland, 1972 hammered home how much the country had changed. Valdimarsson was returned at the head of a party that commanded almost enough seats to govern independently. However, he reformed the partnership with the SDP and called a manifesto on continued Icelandic membership of NATO. The result was a narrow defeat for the status quo and Valdimarsson jubilantly proclaimed the victory of the Left in securing true independence for Iceland. In Washington, there was panic as fears arose that the trend would spread among other sympathetic NATO members (most notably the United Kingdom and the leftward trend of the Labour Party). The election of Gunnar Thoroddsen as President in the same year as the SA victory did little to ease concerns, given that Thoroddsen was the son-in-law of the previous President and quickly abandoned his Progressive label as Ásgeirsson had done. However, the Prime Minister would die in 1976 (in suspicious circumstances and cries of foul play).
1976-1977: Ari Trausti Guðmundsson (Socialist Alliance)^
With the shock death of their leader the Socialist Alliance members rallied around a young star for the party - Ari Trausti Guðmundsson. At only 29 years old, Guðmundsson was easily the youngest of the Icelandic Prime Ministers but was also a devout Communist. To the United States, this was the final straw. Clashes in Keflavík led to the use of live ammunition against SA supporters, and in a bold statement in Reykjavík Guðmundsson announced that Iceland was officially 'revolting against the American occupiers'. Seemingly overnight over 35,000 American and NATO troops arrived in Iceland, as the USA was forced to address in what was described as most serious threat to the security of the West for many years. (In a country of barely 220,000 people this was a major show of force). Guðmundsson, holed up at Parliament, was arrested and the government dissolved. The First Republic had come to an end, but in a way few could have anticipated.
Ask, and you shall receive.
Given the size of the country, Iceland has a pretty interesting political scene.
Better Alone Than With Bad Company: Part One
Presidents of the First Republic of Iceland (1944-1977)
1944-1952: Sveinn Björnsson (Independent)
1952-1960: Bjarni Jónsson (Independent)
1960-1972: Ásgeir Ásgeirsson† (Progressive/Independent)*
1972-1977: Gunnar Thoroddsen (Progressive/Independent)
* Served as an Independent and as Prime Minister from 1971 until his death due to the constitutional crisis.
Prime Ministers of the First Republic of Iceland (1944-1977)
Early Days, and the Issue of NATO
1944-1947: Ólafur Thors (Independence: IP/SDP/SP)
1946: Independence-led majority coalition
1947-1949: Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson (Social Democratic: IP/SDP/SP)
1949-1950: Ólafur Thors (Independence)
1949: Independence governing hung parliament
1950-1953: Steingrímur Steinþórsson (Progressive: IP/PP)
In February 1944, the Icelandic parliament decided to sever the long-established ties between Iceland and the Danish monarch - largely as a result of the German occupation of Denmark during the Second World War and the subsequent arrival of Allied forces in Iceland itself. A national referendum was held in June, asking the people as to whether the country should confirm the decision of Parliament; overwhelming voter support rallied behind the declaration of independence (99%) and a new republican constitution (95%). The Republican Celebration (Lýðveldishátiðin) was held at Þingvellir, and the country elected their first President, Sveinn Björnsson. The government went to the polls in 1946, returning the coalition forces of the Independence Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Socialist Party - opposed at large by the Progressives led by Hermann Jónasson. Iceland had profited during the war, but her relationship with the United Kingdom and later the United States had divided political opinion.
The emergence of the Cold War led to the governing coalition to look for security guarantees for Iceland. With the Socialists abandoning the government over the issue and talks for a Scandinavian Defence Union in ashes, Iceland followed her Nordic cousins into NATO - the vote in the Althing passed 37-13 with only the Socialist Party wholly refusing to endorse the move. The country had joined the organization on the understanding of other allies that Iceland had no military and that no military bases would be permitted with Icelandic territory during peacetime. As such, Iceland became the only NATO member to lack a standing army. The issue of NATO membership and her policy of western-alignment 'neutrality' became the dominant focus of Icelandic politics.
The Conflict of the Two-Party System
1953-1955: Steingrímur Steinþórsson (Progressive: IP/PP)
1953: Progressive-leading majority coalition
1955-1956: Ólafur Thors (Independence: IP/PP)
As the Icelandic political situation remained so divided, the 1953 election was tense; the Progressive and Independence Parties remained equal on 12 seats (therefore obtaining a majority with 24), with the Socialists performing surprisingly well on 7 and the SDP and National Preservation Parties scooping up the remaining 3. Steinþórsson subsequently restored the coalition and oversaw the continuing benefits to Iceland from the Marshall Plan. (Per capita, Icelanders did the best out of any other participating member). However, the Independence Party exerted major influence on the government and in 1955 the Prime Ministership switched to Thors, who formed his final government. The result was a change of leadership in the PP, and in 1956 Thors was defeated by a newly-resurgent centre-left.
1956-1959: Jónas Jónsson (Progressive: PP/SA/SDP)
1956: Progressive-leading majority coalition
Jónsson (of no relation to President Jónsson, who had taken power in 1952) led a broad church of Progressives and socialists, the latter of which had formed a Socialist Alliance to contest the election. The Independence Party remained the largest in the Althing, but had been rejected in coalition deals by the leftist Progressive leader. During this period, Iceland began to develop a reputation as a 'rebellious ally' of other NATO states, and used the strategic importance of her territory as a major levy in international negotiations. Jónsson rejected American attempts to re-establish a military presence and threatened to withdraw from NATO completely if her needs and demands were not respected. Social liberalism continued and the Progressive government seemed to be re-distributing the new-found wealth of the country into social and domestic reforms. The first Cod War with the United Kingdom, essentially a maritime dispute, was concluded under American pressure in the favour of Iceland.
1959-1961: Bjarni Benediktsson (Independence: IP/SDP)
1959: Independence-leading minority coalition
The brief downswing of Progressive support at the 1959 election led to a return of an Independence government; the SDP agreed to support Benediktsson in a bid for national unity, supported by the President, but it was clear that the government would not survive against the recovering centre-left. The only real legacy of the short coalition was the cross-party consensus on forcing the United States to wholly sponsor the operations of the airbase at Keflavík, although ultimately the decision to allow American troops to be based there brought the government down.
1961-1963: Jónas Jónsson (Progressive: PP/SA)
1962: Progressive-leading majority coalition
1963-1966: Hermann Jónasson (Progressive: PP/SA)
Following on from the election of Ásgeir Ásgeirsson as the first Progressive (and party-affiliated) President in 1960, Jónas Jónsson returned to power briefly at the head of a minority but after the 1962 elections in a restored coalition with the Socialist Alliance. The Social Democratic Party were badly hit and were left out of negotiations. The government would prove highly divisive, as it brought to an end many conservative social policies; while American troops remained, the ban on coloured soldiers deployed to Iceland was abolished and in exchange for a controversial American expenditure programme in infrastructure agreed to the construction of two radar stations in the East. This, the government argued, took Icelandic membership of NATO seriously while continuing her neutrality. By 1963, however, the Prime Minister was in poor health and ageing fast and he stood down.
With the retirement of Jónsson, a old stalwart figure of the Progressive Party became interim leader. Hermann Jónasson had served as Prime Minister of Iceland in the years before the Second World War, when it remained attached to Denmark, and consequently was a popular choice for leader. However, as the Cold War reached new heights there came a real concern from the Icelandic people that the Progressives were neglecting national security.
The Middle Period, the Constitutional Crisis and NATO Intervention
1966-1968: Bjarni Benediktsson (Independence: IP/PP)
1966: Independence-leading majority coalition
1968-1969: Geir Hallgrímsson (Independence: IP/IND)
From many perspectives, the 1966 election was a disaster for the Progressives. They went from being the dominant party of government to third place in an unprecedented upset, and an IP-PP coalition became the only viable option. Pressured by the President to come to a conclusion, the government was derided by the rapidly-strengthening Socialist Alliance - the SDP and the SA had campaigned as a political partnership. However, the strengthening of Russian power in Eastern Europe led to American-Icelandic talks and the significant strengthening of the NATO military presence. Benediktsson tried to fight on criticism from the leftist wing of the Progressives, but lost his majority in 1968. Whilst he would contest the presidential election in 1972, he was forced to resign as Prime Minister and succeeded by the ambitious Geir Hallgrímsson; those Progressives who remained in support of the government declared themselves nominal independents. However, the government would be forced to the polls in 1969.
1969-1971: Benedikt Gröndal (Socialist Alliance: SA/SDP/IND)
1969: Socialist Alliance-leading majority coalition
1969 revolutionized the Icelandic political scene as the Socialist Alliance swept to victory as the largest party. The Progressives were particularly hammered, losing half of their seats. Benedikt Gröndal emerged as the new Prime Minister, and formed an entirely centre-left coalition with the SDP and two Independents. The SA did not need to bring the Progressives into formal coalition, but did fraternize with them where necessary to secure larger parliamentary victories if necessary. The coalition with the Independence Party had hurt the PP, and it was clear that it would struggle to regain any of the position it once had. However while a good candidate to ensure a cross-party consensus, by the turn of 1970 Gröndal had alienated some of his colleagues by being reluctant to allow the Icelandic public a chance to express their feelings about NATO and American collaborations in a referendum.
1971-1971: Hannibal Valdimarsson (Socialist Alliance: SA/SDP/IND)
1971: Socialist Alliance-leading minority coalition
Faced with such opposition from his party left, Gröndal was the victim of a party coup in 1971. Valdimarsson took the premiership, and immediately called a general election to secure a renewed mandate for his radical policies. However, the result was a hung parliament. The Alliance reformed their coalition, but it was clear that the ministry would not stand without the support of another party.
1971-1972: Ásgeir Ásgeirsson† (Progressive/Independent)#
With the political crisis paralyzing government, President Ásgeirsson formed his own ministry in a bid to end the chaos. In a government that did not rely on Parliamentary support, he abandoned his affiliation to the Progressive Party and served as an Independent - announcing that fresh elections would be held in 1972.
1972-1976: Hannibal Valdimarsson† (Socialist Alliance: SA/SDP)
1972: Socialist Alliance-leading majority coalition
If 1969 had been a contentious year for Iceland, 1972 hammered home how much the country had changed. Valdimarsson was returned at the head of a party that commanded almost enough seats to govern independently. However, he reformed the partnership with the SDP and called a manifesto on continued Icelandic membership of NATO. The result was a narrow defeat for the status quo and Valdimarsson jubilantly proclaimed the victory of the Left in securing true independence for Iceland. In Washington, there was panic as fears arose that the trend would spread among other sympathetic NATO members (most notably the United Kingdom and the leftward trend of the Labour Party). The election of Gunnar Thoroddsen as President in the same year as the SA victory did little to ease concerns, given that Thoroddsen was the son-in-law of the previous President and quickly abandoned his Progressive label as Ásgeirsson had done. However, the Prime Minister would die in 1976 (in suspicious circumstances and cries of foul play).
1976-1977: Ari Trausti Guðmundsson (Socialist Alliance)^
With the shock death of their leader the Socialist Alliance members rallied around a young star for the party - Ari Trausti Guðmundsson. At only 29 years old, Guðmundsson was easily the youngest of the Icelandic Prime Ministers but was also a devout Communist. To the United States, this was the final straw. Clashes in Keflavík led to the use of live ammunition against SA supporters, and in a bold statement in Reykjavík Guðmundsson announced that Iceland was officially 'revolting against the American occupiers'. Seemingly overnight over 35,000 American and NATO troops arrived in Iceland, as the USA was forced to address in what was described as most serious threat to the security of the West for many years. (In a country of barely 220,000 people this was a major show of force). Guðmundsson, holed up at Parliament, was arrested and the government dissolved. The First Republic had come to an end, but in a way few could have anticipated.
- Premier Taylerov
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