Sun v. Ice— An Account of US-Danish relations and Greenland

• It was not the first time that the US had put in a bid for the vast Arctic island. In 1867, secretary of state William Seward politely inquired about a possible purchase
• Trump may have his eye on the vast Arctic territory, but two things are abundantly clear: the Greenlanders aren’t interested, and history is not on his side

“Fiery” was one diplomat’s description of the recent 45-minute telephone conversation between newly-elected president Donald Trump and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Another description was “horrendous”, as Trump threatened to slap “massive” tariffs on Danish goods unless Denmark sold him Greenland.

It was not the first time that the US had put in a bid for the vast Arctic island. In 1867, secretary of state William Seward politely inquired about a possible purchase.

Like Trump, Seward was a keen advocate of the American political philosophy of Manifest Destiny. He had just been approached by ministers sent by Tsar Alexander II who wished to discuss the purchase of Alaska. Seward eventually spent $7m on buying what the newspapers at the time mockingly called “Seward’s Folly” or the “Polar Bear Garden”. Seward thought that Alaska would help protect the newly-acquired American west coast from attack, as well as providing the US with valuable mineral resources. He was right.

Seward applied the same logic to Greenland. Acquiring that territory would help protect the American east coast, and there would surely be valuable minerals under the ice. He made initial inquiries through the US ambassador in Copenhagen. He was politely rebuffed and the issue was dropped

Interest was rekindled by the American Arctic explorer Robert Peary who was the first to prove that Greenland was an island. He used it as a base for his 1909 journey to the North Pole and became a proponent for the American purchase of Greenland. Peary’s celebrity status won him supporters in Congress, led by Norwegian-American senator Knute Nelson.

The Danish were concerned, but did nothing until secretary of state Robert Lansing approached them to buy another Danish possession – the Virgin Islands, which form part of the Greater Antilles. Together with the British Virgin Islands, they guard the entrance to the Caribbean. The Virgin Islands had been a rum, slave and sugar cash cow for the Danes from the early 18th century. But after the Danes abolished slavery in 1848, it became more of an albatross.

Denmark made repeated efforts to offload the islands to either the British, Americans or Germans. In 1916 the US was convinced it would have to enter the Great War on Britain’s side and were concerned that the Danes would sell the Virgin Islands to the Germans, giving Berlin a submarine base in the Caribbean, close to the US coast.

US-Danish negotiations were started and concluded in 1917, with the US paying what was considered the bargain-basement price of $25m in gold, the equivalent of $750m in today’s prices. Then just as the property transfer papers were about to be signed, the chief Danish negotiator, foreign minister Erik Scavenius, dropped a surprise, which became known as the Greenland Annex.

The Greenland Annex tied the sale of the Danish Virgin Islands to the US’s final once-and-for-all recognition of the Danish sovereignty of Greenland. The annex also said that the US had the right to defend Greenland if Denmark was ever attacked or if there was any external threat to Greenland. The Americans had to choose between the sun-drenched Caribbean islands and dropping future claims to what was then an Arctic wasteland.

Scavenius had no problem with the second part of the annex. Denmark was aggressively neutral in World War One and was looking for allies to protect that neutrality. The US was its only option at the time because most of the rest of Europe was at war.

Lansing, for his part, had to sign quickly. The negotiations had been conducted in strict secrecy because of Denmark’s neutrality laws. The same laws meant that signatures were needed before the US entered the war. The treaty was signed on March 31, 1917. The US entered the war just six days later. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the treaty on September 7, 1917.

In 1920 the second part of the Greenland Annex was strengthened by an extension of the Monroe Doctrine which declared that the US would not recognize any third party sovereignty over Greenland, thus excluding Canada and Britain who had been making discreet noises.

In April 1940, Denmark fell to the Nazis. The following month British troops occupied Iceland, at the time another Danish possession. The British government also made plans for an Anglo-Canadian occupation of Greenland. The two Arctic islands plus Britain controlled the vital Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap through which all shipping had to pass to reach the vital North Atlantic passage.

Local government in Greenland decided that the island’s best bet was to declare itself neutral and temporarily independent from Nazi-occupied Denmark. Henrik Kauffman, Denmark’s ambassador in Washington, agreed to represent Greenland and negotiated US-Greenland trade agreements. After Pearl Harbour, Kauffman signed an agreement to allow US troops to occupy Greenland. For his troubles he was declared a traitor by the German-controlled Danish government. When the war ended he returned to Copenhagen a hero.

Up to 10,000 US troops were sent to Greenland during World War Two. At the time there were 18,000 Greenlanders. There were artillery emplacements, weather stations, radar stations and beacons, coast guards and protection for a vital cryolite mine whose output was vital for America’s aluminum industry. The Americans also established an airbase which became important for the ferrying of aircraft to and from America.

Greenland was especially important for the monitoring of weather patterns in the North Atlantic. The Germans made several attempts to establish weather stations in remote areas on the island’s east coast. These were discovered by Innuit hunters and were knocked out by American destroyers and aircraft.

Greenland’s role in World War Two brought home the geostrategic importance of Greenland. In 1946 President Harry Truman offered the Danes $100m ($1bn in today’s prices) for the island. He had been encouraged to do so by secretary of state George C. Marshall and secretary of the Navy James Forrestal. They were impressed not only by Greenland’s role in the war, but also by the emerging Cold War threat of the Soviet Union.

The Danes again refused the American offer and Truman politely withdrew. Under advice from Marshall it was decided that good Danish-US relations were more important than the ownership of Greenland. Danish ownership of Greenland was important to Danish national pride and Denmark at the time was struggling to recover from the humiliation of German occupation.

The formation of Nato in 1949 largely displaced the need for ownership of Greenland. Denmark was one of the original signatories of the Nato treaty and thus all its possessions, including Greenland, came under the American-dominated Nato umbrella.

The defense link was further strengthened by a 1951 Nato-orchestrated US-Denmark defense agreement which allowed the US to station any troops it wanted in Greenland. This led to the airbase at Thule, where 600 shivering American servicemen monitor air and sea traffic in the Arctic and North Atlantic and operate an early warning system to detect a possible missile attack.

Donald Trump thus has all the agreements he needs from a security point of view. But according to the 1917 Greenland Annex the US recognizes Danish sovereignty and gained the Virgin Islands in return for relinquishing future claims to Greenland.

But there is more than national security at stake. Money is also involved. Greenland has substantial reserves of rare earth minerals, which are crucial ingredients in the manufacture of many modern appliances. Mette Frederiksen has hinted at the possibility of mining licenses. But resolving the mineral wealth issue lies with the indigenous Innuit population who make up 87% of the population. They are largely opposed to any mining operations and the accompanying infrastructure, as it would disrupt their traditional hunting and fishing culture.

A rent poll found that 85% of Greenlanders are against the idea of joining the US. If offered the choice between a US and Danish passport, only 8% would opt for the US. Trump may have his eye on the vast Arctic territory, but two things are abundantly clear: the Greenlanders aren’t interested, and history is not on his side.

___________________

Published under International Cooperation with "Sindh Courier"