America and Greenland

The United States offered after WWII to buy Greenland from Denmark for $100 million but Denmark declined. Is it plausible that Denmark would accept? What would the implications be?
 
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A nuclear missile base for a polar icbm strike and a naval base a bit closer to Muramisk. That's about it.
 
A possibly interesting effect is that it would make the two Cold War superpowers the two largest nations in the world by area. I'm not sure how this would effect the Cold War, but it's worth noting.

It wouldn't be a state by this time, the population is too small.

One possible effect could be the US getting more interested in Arctic exploration, due to having more land and potential seabed claims up there. We could see more Cold War activity in the Arctic, and a better-explored Arctic by the present day.

Maybe it becomes the site of many conspiracy theories? It is a pretty good place to hide something from the public, and a disappearing explorer or two would only add to the mystery.
 

archaeogeek

Banned
A possibly interesting effect is that it would make the two Cold War superpowers the two largest nations in the world by area. I'm not sure how this would effect the Cold War, but it's worth noting.

It wouldn't be a state by this time, the population is too small.

One possible effect could be the US getting more interested in Arctic exploration, due to having more land and potential seabed claims up there. We could see more Cold War activity in the Arctic, and a better-explored Arctic by the present day.

Maybe it becomes the site of many conspiracy theories? It is a pretty good place to hide something from the public, and a disappearing explorer or two would only add to the mystery.

Would this conspiracy theory involve strange occurences in a long forgotten underground mine related to the disappearance and rumored death of a british physicist 30 years ago?
 
Would this conspiracy theory involve strange occurences in a long forgotten underground mine related to the disappearance and rumored death of a british physicist 30 years ago?

I hadn't thought about the exact theory. I was thinking it could become a replacement for Area 51. It's hard to find a better hiding place, if you want something kept secret. Small population, brutal weather, vast expanses of space... and a crashed UFO in a GOVERNMENT lab!!1!1!! :p

Another thought...maybe it's used as a testing ground for any Mars probes?
 

archaeogeek

Banned
I hadn't thought about the exact theory. I was thinking it could become a replacement for Area 51. It's hard to find a better hiding place, if you want something kept secret. Small population, brutal weather, vast expanses of space... and a crashed UFO in a GOVERNMENT lab!!1!1!! :p

Another thought...maybe it's used as a testing ground for any Mars probes?

lol, I still have to go through that game (Penumbra, last time I played I freaked out after running away from the zombie dog, that's like the first "living" being you meet in the first game or close to). But yeah, the conspiracy industry would love a US military base in Greenland. As for political status, it would probably be a perpetual unorganized territory.
 
The U.S. had bases in Greenland during the Cold War, so that aspect won't change hugely. The big ramifications will come much further down the line when and if:

1. Resources are discovered offshore

2. Global Warming Opens up the Northwest Passage

There's also the possibility, albeit a remote one, that the U.S. could end up disputing its maritime borders with the USSR or Russia, aggravating the Cold War, though that's pretty unlikely, at least while the USSR is still around.
 
I think statehood is a possibility, albeit maybe only recently. The population of Greenland is about 56,000 and with the population of the US as a base for immigration I think I could have easily broke 60,000 by 1980 even.

Also, it would have a fairly Americanized population due to immigration so the cultural/ethinic problems with Puerto Rico's statehood would be moot.
 
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It wouldn't be a state by this time, the population is too small.

Its population at the time wasn't very different from Alaska's at the time, if I'm not mistaken. It's entirely possible that Greenland's strategic location would lead the US to take the initiative and set up a large number of naval/air bases there, driving more citizens to come and live there. It would probably be the least populous state even today, but it would probably at least come close to Wyoming in population if it started to become more populous at the dawn of the Cold War. Perhaps its development looks like Alaska's, but delayed by 30 years or so.
 
In the 1950s, the U.S. constructed a scientific research base under the Greenland ice (dug trenches, put in facilities and roof, then covered it up). One goal apparently was to study the feasiblility of missile silos under the ice. Alas, the glacier dynamics proved too unstable and the base had to be abandoned after several years. But while the base (supplied from the USAF's Thule Air base) was operative, the scientists took core samples of the ice all the way to the bottom of the glacier, thus providing crucial scientific data for the study of climate change. This was one of the major feats of U.S. science during that decade.

The U.S. put Greenland under its security umbrella during World War Two, but would never have seized it and made it a U.S. territory, since it belonged to Denmark--a country occupied by the Nazis which never really collaborated with the Nazis (indeed, Danes in Greenland fought small pitched battles against Nazi weather stations that had been established there secretly), and would be an ally of the U.S. during the Cold War.

As to Iceland declaring independence of Denmark while U.S. troops were present, that was inevitable given that Denmark had been unable to provide security for Iceland, and it's what the Icelanders--an ancient people with a long history of independence--wanted
 
What if when Iceland becomes independent it takes Greenland with it. So when the US is wanting to buy it, it asks the poorer Iceland instead of Denmark, a nation that would be more likely to agree?
 
Its population at the time wasn't very different from Alaska's at the time, if I'm not mistaken. It's entirely possible that Greenland's strategic location would lead the US to take the initiative and set up a large number of naval/air bases there, driving more citizens to come and live there. It would probably be the least populous state even today, but it would probably at least come close to Wyoming in population if it started to become more populous at the dawn of the Cold War. Perhaps its development looks like Alaska's, but delayed by 30 years or so.

Well, Alaska benefited from the oil reserves and other natural resources there to draw people. Greenland is a big chunk of frozen wasteland. There's little to draw settlers. Fish do not have the same draw as oil and gold.

Greater federal investment, probably mostly military, could push the population above the 60,000 mark, but I don't think it would ever get above 100,000.

@Whanztastic: Sounds good. Maybe Iceland is given independence if Denmark cooperates more with the Germans in WWII?
 
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