Scandinavia also differs from Fennoscandia, which I believe is what you mean here. Map for clarification:
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That's definitely further confusion.
Scandinavia also differs from Fennoscandia, which I believe is what you mean here. Map for clarification:
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Other way around. Believe it or not Scandinavia is the cultural expression and consist of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, while Nordic is the geographic expression and includes Finland and Iceland. I know it makes no sense.I don't know... I tough they were part of scandinavia but not nordic since they are finno ugric, unless finno-ugrics are nordics, then they are and Estonia are too. (I sincerely don't know)
Iceland was part of Denmark from it's conquest until it's independence in 1918, however it still was under danish influence until WWII when it was occupied by the UK after the nazis occupied Denmark and in 1944 it became a republic, a status that continues until this day.
1. The Icelandic independence movement historically was very republican. Part of this was the general liberal trend common to nationalist movements in the 19th Century, but also the Icelandic nationalists drew on the Thing to argue that the traditional form of government on their island was a republic
2. The declaration of the Icelandic republic happened because of the US. The US likes republics, it does not like monarchies.
But this has nothing to do with it. Iceland broke relations with Denmark because the 1918 Act of Union with established Iceland as a sovereign country, but asking Denmark to handle defence matters and foreign relations (and some other smaller things, coast guard, and supreme court affairs until Iceland could set up it's own supreme court). The "Union" could be renegotiated after 1940, and could be revoked by 1943 by either party. Post 1940, Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany; practically speaking it was not the time to enquire about a significant constitutional law with an occupied country, but a few months after the treaty was revocable, the Icelanders voted to break all relations with Denmark and Christian X in a referendum which was won with over 98% of the vote. Nothing to do with the US!
I'm sure that the Icelandic declaration of independence and republic was completely uninfluenced by the fact that, in 1944, one out of every five people on the island of Iceland was an American soldier.
It's very possible that absent that, Iceland would have chosen to remain a junior partner in union with Denmark, since the pertinent facts didn't much change between 1918 and 1939.