AHC: The UK/Canada buys Greenland

[Coyote Knight]

I like what you have hear CK. Thank you. But I want to ask you a few things.

• Instead of altering the magnitude of the 1875 eruption of Mt. Askja itself can you think or a way to increase the public distress created by its fallout so that a larger portion of the Icelandic population finds remaining in Iceland unsafe than in OTL?

• 
  
  Well, the article mentions that there were harsh environmental and economic conditions at the time, including the Mount Askja eruption. Have a worse economy (collapse of fishing and lumber perhaps) as well as a worse eruption that kills more livestock and poisons more lakes and rivers, and you have more than enough reason to force people to leave.
  
  

  [*]Could we find a way to increase the speed at which people left Icleand? According to Wikipedia "20,000 Icelanders left their homeland between 1870 and 1915". Could we hav that number instead make its leave between 1870-1880?

  
  As I mentioned above, a worse eruption that kills more livestock and poisons more rivers will help, as well as a collapse of the local economy, which was basically fishing, wool, and lumber. A collapse of those industries, along with a much worse eruption will make most people leave en masse.
  
  

  [*]Could a change be made that directs more Icelanders to settle in Canada than in other locations as in OTL? A more appealing offer by Lord Dufferin than OTL's perhaps?

  
  Dufferin's offer was pretty good; a "free state" if they could make it work. With more Icelanders fleeing the eruption and worse environmental and economic disasters, there would likely be a desire among Icelanders to make such a settlement work, as there's more of them and their home is on fire right now.
  
• Does the settlment of the areas around Lake Winnipeg greatly effect the outcome of your scenario? Couldn't the Icelanders settle in different areas that may increase the likelyhood of your scenario's outcome?[/quote]
  
  Well, the place doesn't hinge on it, but it's not like the land was unusable. At the time, Canada was trying to settle its northern and western expanses; this is why northern Ontario and Manitoba are full of people of Nordic descent. It's also a similar climate.
  
  The likelihood of my scenario hinges more on Canada's westward expansion, and a greater number of Icelanders coming to Canada due to Lord Dufferin's offer and actually making a "free state".
  
  

  [*]Could Canada annex Greenland minus Iceland? I'm not sure how well Canada could govern Iceland due to the long distances between the two.

Well for starters, Canada would have to really want Greenland and Denmark would have to want to get rid of it, and there's no reason for either of them to do so back then, just as they have no reason to do so now.

As for governance, Reykjavik is only slightly further from Ottawa than Victoria, BC is, and the British managed to govern a globe-spanning empire. Plus, there's also the example of Newfoundland. Besides, if the "free state" thing in Canada is successful, and if a generation or two later Iceland becomes a highly autonomous province of Canada of sorts, then Canadian governance becomes even less of an issue.