PC: Prussian Greenland?

300px-Ac.prussiamap3.png


So at the conclusion Second Schleswig War where Prussia successfully seized Schleswig, Holstein, Saxe-Laurinburg...

1. Was it possible for Prussia to also gain Greenland in the deal?
(For reasoning, say Prussia wants it for extra prestige)

2. What would be the long effects of a Prussian Greenland colony?
 
Why would Prussia want Greenland? It's a gigantic barely inhabited island in another hemisphere with nothing of value.

There's no prestige it could give, either - would the rest of Europe go "wow, Prussia annexed a big glacier with a few thousand inhabitants, surely they must be powerful!"? I doubt that.
 
I'm fairly certain it would freak America and Britain out, since a new rising power just got more direct access to the Atlantic.
 
Except Prussia was exclusively a land power, their navy was laughable.

I don't think that would have changed their reaction. There would have been similar fears over Prussia gaining the Danish Virgin Islands. Remember that we have the advantage of hindsight and no emotional attachments to this situation cloud our judgement. For example, Russia never had the logistical ability to ever threaten Britain in India, yet there was still the Great Game.
 
Well, there were a lot of German missionaries in Greenland from the Moravian Church, but how would you translate that into Prussian influence?
 
I don't think that would have changed their reaction. There would have been similar fears over Prussia gaining the Danish Virgin Islands. Remember that we have the advantage of hindsight and no emotional attachments to this situation cloud our judgement. For example, Russia never had the logistical ability to ever threaten Britain in India, yet there was still the Great Game.
There is a difference, Britain thought of Russia as potential threat, they never considered the Prussians to even be in the actual big kids club until after they smashed France and united Germany
 
Yea... there's no reason why anyone except the Scandinavians would want Greenland. It's cold. It's barely habitable. The only reason the Danes were there was to find their lost Viking kin (which were more or less Catholics rather than pagans) and convert them to Protestantism. When they found that they've all died, they settled for converting the inuits. Really, the only reason they took Greenland was because they 'had it before'.

For Prussia, the goal of the Schleswig-Holstein wars were simply to ensure the region remains German rather than Danish. Even if they wanted to extract a colony from it, they'd either go for the West Indies (a big no-no if you don't want to piss off the US) or Faroe Islands at minimum (at least they have a fishing industry, and closer). Greenland just makes your nation's map look better.
 

Redbeard

Banned
Had there been any foresight in the Danish Government in 1864 they would have offered the Prussians money to take Greenland (and Iceland and Faroe Islands) ASAP. Already the saved expenses of keeping fishery inspection would be significant over the years - and if the Prussians instead will have to pay, they can't afford Bismarck in 1941 - and so Hood survive!

In short, the missing actions of 1864 were criminal neglect!

;)
 
If Prussia took Greenland, either Bismarck would spend his next 30 years trying to sell the giant ice rink, or Greenland would be seized by the British around 1914. It wouldn't be German for long.
 
If Prussia took Greenland, either Bismarck would spend his next 30 years trying to sell the giant ice rink, or Greenland would be seized by the British around 1914. It wouldn't be German for long.
If the British seize it in 1914, Greenland could theoretically become a 4th Territory. Then Canada's secret plan to own all the ice in the North would require one less step.

IT'S BRILLIANT!!
 
I read somewhere the Danish King tried to join the German Empire (or Confederation) but had it declined by the Prussians, who simply wanted their land or who thought it would tick off the British. Anyways, the Prussians would have no desire for Greenland. Back then it was just some small settlements at the south of the island that they wouldn't even be able to colonize. No resource base. We can be certain that it would become a Canadian mandate after WWI, unless the British buy off the Canadians with pressuring Newfoundland to join them, while giving Greenland to the Americans to keep them sweet.
 
Okay people want Prussian Greenland, lI think the easiest way is to back to the 18th century, and have one of Frederik V's daugthers marry Frederik William II of Prussia. When kill off most off Frederik V's sons. The result are a War of Danish Succession with the other Oldenburg branches plush Frederik V's son-in-laws duking it out for the Danish domain. Sweden have the best claim, but Russia would pretty be against any Swedish gains, Russia also have a good claim. Frederick the Great would of course support his nephew. Britain would be against Russia gaining Denmark. I think that Frederick the Great's unwillingness to compromise would ensure that his nephew inherite Denmark. The Result would be a Danish-Prussian Union in 1786.
 
Top