Iceland History
Geologically young, isolated and often shaken by natural (and recently financial) disasters, Iceland has a turbulent and fascinating history of Nordic settlements, literary geniuses, bitter strife and foreign oppression. Life there has never been easy, but everyday challenges and hardships have forged the modern Icelandic character, fully aware of its stormy past but incredibly strong, fiercely individualistic, silently innovative and justifiably proud.
Ancient travelers and Irish monks
In geological terms, Iceland is a real baby, because the island originated about 20 million years ago. Europe was not aware of the existence of a land mass beyond the confines of its maps in a "coagulated sea" until 330 B.C. approximately, when the Greek explorer Piteas wrote about the island of Ultima Thule, six days north of Great Britain by boat.
For years, rumors, myths and legends of fierce storms, howling winds and dog-headed barbarians kept explorers away from the great Nordic ocean, the oceanus innavigabilis. The Irish monks were the next to run into Iceland; they traveled regularly to the Faroe Islands in search of solitude and isolation. It is believed that the Irish fathers (fathers) settled in Iceland around 700. The Irish monk Dicuil wrote in 825 about a land where there was no light in winter, but in which during the summer nights “whatever the a task that a man wished to perform, even expelling lice from his shirt, could do it like daylight. ” This is an almost certain description of Iceland and its long summer nights. The daddies fled when the Nordics began arriving in the early s. IX.
The Vikings are coming!
After the Irish monks the first stable settlers arrived from Norway. The time of the settlement is usually defined as the period between the years 870 and 930, when political disputes in the Scandinavian lands of the continent caused a massive flight of settlers. Many Nordics in the North Atlantic were ordinary Scandinavians: farmers, shepherds and merchants who settled on the other side of Western Europe and married Britons, dress (Irish) and Scots.
It is likely that they discovered Iceland by accident by deviating from the wind on their route to the Faroe Islands. The first to arrive, Naddoddr, departed from Norway and landed on the east coast around 850. He named the place as Snæland (Land of Snow) before retreating to its original destination.
The second visitor, Garðar Svavarsson, circumnavigated the island and settled in Húsavík, to the north, to spend the winter. When he left in spring, some of his crew became the first residents of the island.
By 860, Norwegian Flóki Vilgerðarson crawled with his farm and his family and headed to Snæland. He sailed with crows who, after some mistakes, took him to his destination; this gave him the nickname of Hrafna-Flóki (Flóki the Crow). He sailed to Vatnsfjörður, on the west coast, but was disenchanted to see icebergs floating in the fjord. He renamed the country Iceland (Land of Ice) and returned to Norway. However, he finally returned and settled in the district of Skagafjörður, on the north coast.
According to the Íslendingabók, from s. XII, the first deliberate settlement was that of Ingólfur Arnarson, who fled Norway with his brother Hjörleifur. He landed in Ingólfshöfði (southeast of Iceland) in 871, continued along the coast and settled in 874 in a place he called Reykjavik (Smoky Bay) due to the steam from its hot springs. Hjörleifur settled near the current city of Vík, but was killed by his slaves a short time later.
Ingólfur came to Reykjavik for a pagan ritual. It was tradition among the Viking settlers to throw their wooden pilasters (symbol of authority and part of the paraphernalia of the chiefs) to the sea when they approached land. The settler established his new home where the gods dragged their pilasters, a practice imitated by many later settlers from Norway.
Creation of Alþingi
By the time Þorsteinn, son of Ingólfur, reached adulthood, the island was dotted with farms and landowners gathered in regional assemblies to trade and resolve conflicts. The need for a national Parliament soon became apparent. The idea was new at that time, but the Icelanders understood that it would be an improvement over the oppressive system they had suffered under the Nordic monarchy.
At the beginning of the s. X, Þorsteinn Ingólfsson organized the first great assembly near Reykjavik, and in the 920s the law expert Úlfljótur was sent to study the Norwegian legislative codes and prepare something similar that would apply to Iceland.
At the same time, they entrusted Grímur Geitskör to choose a location for Alþingi (National Parliament). Bláskógar, near the eastern limit of the Ingólfur district, with a lake and a wooded plain, seemed the ideal place. On one side of the plain stood a cliff with an elevated base (the Mesoatlantic dorsal) from which speakers and representatives could preside over the assembly.
In 930 Bláskógar was renamed Þingvellir (esplanades of Parliament). Þorsteinn Ingólfsson was awarded the honorary title of allsherjargoði (supreme chief) and Úlfljótur was appointed first lögsögumaður (speaker of laws), who was to memorize and recite annually all the laws of the territory. It was he who, along with the 48 goðar (chiefs), held the true legislative power.
While disputes over the election of leaders arose and loyalties were questioned, the new parliamentary system was a success. At the annual meeting of the year 1000, the population was crudely divided between pagans and Christians and the civil war seemed imminent. Luckily, Þorgeir, the speaker of the time, knew how to handle the situation with tact. The Íslendingabók tells that he retired to his cubicle, refusing to talk to anyone for a day and a night to reflect. Upon leaving, he decreed that Iceland should accept the new religion and convert to Christianity, although pagans (like him) could continue to practice their religion in private. This decision gave the previously divided groups an appearance of national unity and the first bishoprics were soon established in Skálholt, in the southwest, and in Hólar, in the north.
In the following years, the two-week parliamentary meeting in Þingvellir became a great social event. All free men could attend. The singles went in search of a partner, they agreed and celebrated marriages, businesses were closed, duels and executions were carried out, and the appeals court dealt with cases that could not be resolved in lower instances.
Anarchy and Sturlung Era
The end of s. XII closed the period of the sagas, of which historians and writers recorded epic stories of early settlements, family struggles and tragic and romantic characters. Much of what is known of that era comes from two extensive writings, the Íslendingabók, a story from the time of the settlement written in the s. xii by the scholar Ari Þorgilsson (Ari the Wise), and the detailed Landnámabók, a recount of the settlements.
Despite advances in the search for a culture of their own, Icelandic society was beginning to deteriorate. At the beginning of the s. XIII the peace period, which had lasted 200 years, was nearing its end. The constant power struggles between tribal chiefs led to clashes and the emergence of private armies that ravaged farms across the country. This dark stage is known as the Sturlung Era in honor of the Sturlung, the most powerful family clan in Iceland at that time. The tragic events and the brutal history of this 40-year period are narrated very graphically in the three volumes of the Sturlunga Saga.
When Iceland plunged into chaos, Norwegian King Hákon Hákonarson pressured chiefs, ecclesiastics and the new class of rich aristocrats to accept his authority. The Icelanders, who saw no alternative, dissolved all the governing bodies except a superficial one, and swore allegiance to the foreign monarch. In 1262 a confederation agreement was signed. In 1281 the king introduced Jónsbók, a new legal code, and Iceland was under Norwegian power.
Norway immediately began designating its own bishops for Hólar and Skálholt and introduced excessive taxes. Discord broke out when the Norwegians also sought to control the election of senior officials, specifically the járl (count), an honor granted to the ruthless Gissur Þorvaldsson, who, in 1241, murdered Snorri Sturluson, the most famous historian and writer of Iceland.
Meanwhile, the Hekla volcano erupted three times and covered a third of the country with ashes. This event was followed by a wave of ice and the harsh winters ended with cattle and crops. To make matters worse, the black plague spread, killing half of the population. The indomitable spirit of the Icelanders seemed to bend.
Arrival of the Danes
Iceland's destiny was at that time in the hands of the best Norwegian bidder, the one who could maintain control of the country for three years. In 1397, the Kalmar Union, which brought together Norway, Sweden and Denmark, put Iceland under Danish rule. After disputes between the Church and the State, the Danish Government confiscated ecclesiastical properties and imposed Lutheranism in the Reformation of 1550. When the Catholic bishop of Hólar, Jón Arason, resisted and achieved followers, he was beheaded along with his two sons in Skálholt.
In 1602 the Danish king imposed an oppressive trade monopoly that gave exclusive rights in Iceland to Swedish and Danish firms for periods of 12 years. This resulted in serious abuse and more suffering, which would last another 250 years. But something positive emerged from the monopoly: to circumvent the embargo and strengthen local industry, the powerful sheriff Skúli Magnússon founded factories of weaving, tanning and dyeing wool, laying the foundations of modern Reykjavik.
More hardships
In case poverty caused by Danish rule was not enough, the Berber pirates sacked the eastern fjords and the Reykjanes peninsula, before reaching Vestmannaeyjar in 1627. The population tried to hide in the cliffs and caves of Heimaey, but the pirates they combed the island, killing and taking 242 people with them. The unfortunate Icelanders were taken to Algiers, where most of them were sold as slaves. In Iceland, they tried to raise the money to pay their ransom, but they only managed to release 13 captives. The most famous was Guðríður Símonardóttir, who returned to Iceland and married Hallgrímur Pétursson, one of the most famous poets in the country. The three bells of Hallgrímskirkja receive the names of the couple and their daughter.
At the same time, the madness of the European witch hunt reached the Icelandic coasts. In Iceland, witchcraft used to be practiced by men; Of the 130 cases of which there is evidence, only 10% are involved in women. The luckiest defendants were brutally flogged; 21 of the less fortunate were burned at the stake, especially for allegedly making their neighbors sick or for possessing magical writings or suspicious amulets.
Maybe in Europe that era was that of the Enlightenment, but it is surprising that the Icelanders survived the s. XVIII. In this remote place, the population (50,000 inhabitants) clung to life with all their might in the face of an epidemic of smallpox (which arrived in 1707 and killed some 18,000 people) and a series of volcanic eruptions: the Katla in 1660, 1721 and 1755; the Hekla in 1693 and 1766, and the Öræfajökull in 1727.
Then the situation got worse. In 1783 the Laki crater row erupted, throwing tons of lava and clouds of toxic gases for eight months. 50 nearby farms were razed, and the dust and deadly vapors, with the subsequent famine, killed some 9,000 Icelanders: first the plants died, then the cattle and finally the people. Ash clouds affected all of Europe and caused strange weather conditions, with acid rains and floods. The Danish authorities seriously considered the possibility of relocating the Icelandic population (only 47,000 inhabitants in 1801) in Denmark.
Return to independence
After five centuries of oppressive foreign government and thanks to the growing feeling of liberalization throughout Europe, Icelandic nationalism flourished in the s. XIX. In 1855, Jón Sigurðsson, an Icelandic scholar, had successfully interceded for the restoration of free trade and in 1874 Iceland had outlined a Constitution and regained control of its internal affairs.
Iceland's first political parties formed during this period and urban development began. Even so, it was not enough to stop the wave of emigration: between 1870 and 1914 some 16,000 Icelanders left for North America in search of a better life. Among its reasons were the lack of opportunities - the growing fishing industry could not employ all those who wanted to escape from the arduous rural life and move to urban centers - and a new volcanic eruption (from Askja, in 1875), whose ashes poisoned to cattle
In 1918 Iceland signed the Union Act, which freed the country from Danish rule and made it an independent state within the kingdom of Denmark.
Iceland prospered during World War I with the rise in the price of its exports of wool, meat and fish. However, before World War II, he declared himself neutral in the hope of maintaining his important commercial ties with both Britain and Germany.
On April 9, 1940, Denmark was occupied by Germany, causing Alþingi to take over Iceland's foreign affairs. A year later, on May 17, 1941, the Icelanders requested their complete independence. The official establishment of the Republic of Iceland finally occurred in Þingvellir on June 17, 1944, today celebrated as Independence Day.
World War II and US entry
As a result of the occupation of Denmark by Germany in 1940, Iceland took over its foreign affairs during the war (and got on the right track to achieve its complete independence, which it officially obtained before the end of the contest). The fact that Iceland lacked an army worried the Allies, so in May 1940, Britain, the most vulnerable to a German-controlled Iceland, sent troops to occupy the island. Iceland had no choice but to accept it, but in the end its economy benefited from British spending and construction projects.
When British troops withdrew in 1941, the government allowed the US army to enter the country, understanding that it would leave at the end of the war. Although they retired in 1946, they retained the right to reestablish a base in Keflavík in the event of a threat of war. Again under their own control, the Icelanders were reluctant to undergo any foreign intervention. When in 1949 the Government was pressured to be a founding member of NATO, riots broke out in Reykjavik. The Government accepted the proposal on condition of not participating in any offensive action and that no foreign army was established in the country in peacetime.
The pact was broken soon. The war in Korea broke out in 1950, and in 1951, at the request of NATO, the United States once again assumed responsibility for defending the island from the Soviet threat. Technology and military personnel at the Keflavík base continued to increase over the next four decades, as Iceland acted as an important monitoring station during the Cold War. The controversial American military presence did not end until September 2006, when the Keflavík base finally closed.
Modern Iceland
In the S. XX Iceland went from being one of the poorest countries in Europe to one of the most developed.
After the Cold War, there was a period of growth, reconstruction and modernization. The construction of the ring road was completed in 1974, opening transport connections with the southeast, and projects such as the Krafla power plant in the northeast, and Svartsengi, near Reykjavik, were developed. The boom in the fishing industry in the 1970s prompted the extension of fishing limits to 332 km. However, this precipitated the worst of the "cod wars", as Britain refused to recognize the new area. During the seven months of the conflict the Icelandic ships dedicated themselves to cutting the networks of the British trawlers, there were shots and ships of both sides sank.
The fishing industry has always been vital for Iceland, although it has had its ups and downs, as when quotas were reduced in the 1990s due to overfishing. The industry went into recession and caused an unemployment rate of 3% and a collapse of the crown. The country gradually entered a period of economic regeneration as the fishing industry stabilized. Today this industry still represents 22% of revenues from exports and services, 12% of GDP, and employs 4.2% of the workforce, although it is very sensitive to the dwindling amount of fish.
In 2003, whale hunting resumed as part of a scientific research program, despite the global moratorium. In 2006 Iceland resumed commercial whaling despite the condemnation of the rest of the world. The hunt for white-footed whales is still in force, causing international protests; that of common whales, in danger of extinction, was suspended in 2016.
From the financial crisis to the present
The huge dependence on its fishing industry and imports means that Iceland has always had high prices and a currency prone to fluctuation, as vulnerable as was evident in September 2008, when the global economic crisis hit the country. Reykjavik was the scene of months of violent protests and the popularity of the then government evaporated.
In January 2009, Prime Minister Geir Haarde resigned. His substitute, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, made the world headlines for being the first openly gay prime minister. With the aim of adopting the euro as a new currency in an attempt to stabilize the economy, its first major action was to request accession to the EU, which turned out to be very controversial.
Iceland picked up the headlines again in April 2010, when the ash cloud of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption caused the closure of European air traffic six days, causing chaos in much of the continent. In comparison, the eruption of Grímsvötn, the following year, was a trifle: its ash cloud only caused the air traffic closure for three days. The murmur of Bárðarbunga in 2014 and the shocks of the Katla in 2016 once again recalled Iceland's geological instability.
However, these events show that there is no bad publicity: the popularity of the country, which was triggered by the eruption of 2010 and free publicity, in addition to the efforts of the authorities to create air connections and strengthen their pull, greatly promoted tourism (an increase of 264% between 2010 and 2015). The country has become the fastest growing destination in Europe, with the pros (economic growth and employment) and cons (infrastructure problems and environmental impact) that it entails.
The Icelanders went to the polls in April 2013 with the national economy on the way to recovery, but with the population hurt by the harsh austerity measures of the government (tax increases, cuts). The results punished the Social Democrats in the Government, while the center-right parties (the Progressive Party and the Independence Party) emerged victorious thanks to their promise to reduce debt and cut taxes, as well as their opposition to entry. in the EU.
Both parties formed a coalition government. At the beginning of 2014, the Government suspended negotiations for accession to the EU, despite having promised a referendum on this issue. Although polls show that most Icelanders still oppose entry into the EU, having made that decision without the promised referendum proved very unpopular.
In April 2016, the "Panama Papers"; the leaking of documents from the Mossack Fonseca law firm revealed financial traps involving three Icelandic ministers, including Prime Minister Davíð Gunnlaugsson. After the mass protests, Gunnlaugsson resigned, and Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson became acting prime minister. Early elections were called for October 2016, and the polls pointed to a close result between the Independence Party and the Pirate Party, in favor of direct democracy.
In June 2016, in a wave of antiestablishment sentiment, Iceland elected a new president after 20 years: the historian and writer Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson.
In geological terms, Iceland is a real baby, because the island originated about 20 million years ago. Europe was not aware of the existence of a land mass beyond the confines of its maps in a "coagulated sea" until 330 B.C. approximately, when the Greek explorer Piteas wrote about the island of Ultima Thule, six days north of Great Britain by boat.
For years, rumors, myths and legends of fierce storms, howling winds and dog-headed barbarians kept explorers away from the great Nordic ocean, the oceanus innavigabilis. The Irish monks were the next to run into Iceland; they traveled regularly to the Faroe Islands in search of solitude and isolation. It is believed that the Irish fathers (fathers) settled in Iceland around 700. The Irish monk Dicuil wrote in 825 about a land where there was no light in winter, but in which during the summer nights “whatever the a task that a man wished to perform, even expelling lice from his shirt, could do it like daylight. ” This is an almost certain description of Iceland and its long summer nights. The daddies fled when the Nordics began arriving in the early s. IX.
The Vikings are coming!
After the Irish monks the first stable settlers arrived from Norway. The time of the settlement is usually defined as the period between the years 870 and 930, when political disputes in the Scandinavian lands of the continent caused a massive flight of settlers. Many Nordics in the North Atlantic were ordinary Scandinavians: farmers, shepherds and merchants who settled on the other side of Western Europe and married Britons, dress (Irish) and Scots.
It is likely that they discovered Iceland by accident by deviating from the wind on their route to the Faroe Islands. The first to arrive, Naddoddr, departed from Norway and landed on the east coast around 850. He named the place as Snæland (Land of Snow) before retreating to its original destination.
The second visitor, Garðar Svavarsson, circumnavigated the island and settled in Húsavík, to the north, to spend the winter. When he left in spring, some of his crew became the first residents of the island.
By 860, Norwegian Flóki Vilgerðarson crawled with his farm and his family and headed to Snæland. He sailed with crows who, after some mistakes, took him to his destination; this gave him the nickname of Hrafna-Flóki (Flóki the Crow). He sailed to Vatnsfjörður, on the west coast, but was disenchanted to see icebergs floating in the fjord. He renamed the country Iceland (Land of Ice) and returned to Norway. However, he finally returned and settled in the district of Skagafjörður, on the north coast.
According to the Íslendingabók, from s. XII, the first deliberate settlement was that of Ingólfur Arnarson, who fled Norway with his brother Hjörleifur. He landed in Ingólfshöfði (southeast of Iceland) in 871, continued along the coast and settled in 874 in a place he called Reykjavik (Smoky Bay) due to the steam from its hot springs. Hjörleifur settled near the current city of Vík, but was killed by his slaves a short time later.
Ingólfur came to Reykjavik for a pagan ritual. It was tradition among the Viking settlers to throw their wooden pilasters (symbol of authority and part of the paraphernalia of the chiefs) to the sea when they approached land. The settler established his new home where the gods dragged their pilasters, a practice imitated by many later settlers from Norway.
By the time Þorsteinn, son of Ingólfur, reached adulthood, the island was dotted with farms and landowners gathered in regional assemblies to trade and resolve conflicts. The need for a national Parliament soon became apparent. The idea was new at that time, but the Icelanders understood that it would be an improvement over the oppressive system they had suffered under the Nordic monarchy.
At the beginning of the s. X, Þorsteinn Ingólfsson organized the first great assembly near Reykjavik, and in the 920s the law expert Úlfljótur was sent to study the Norwegian legislative codes and prepare something similar that would apply to Iceland.
At the same time, they entrusted Grímur Geitskör to choose a location for Alþingi (National Parliament). Bláskógar, near the eastern limit of the Ingólfur district, with a lake and a wooded plain, seemed the ideal place. On one side of the plain stood a cliff with an elevated base (the Mesoatlantic dorsal) from which speakers and representatives could preside over the assembly.
In 930 Bláskógar was renamed Þingvellir (esplanades of Parliament). Þorsteinn Ingólfsson was awarded the honorary title of allsherjargoði (supreme chief) and Úlfljótur was appointed first lögsögumaður (speaker of laws), who was to memorize and recite annually all the laws of the territory. It was he who, along with the 48 goðar (chiefs), held the true legislative power.
While disputes over the election of leaders arose and loyalties were questioned, the new parliamentary system was a success. At the annual meeting of the year 1000, the population was crudely divided between pagans and Christians and the civil war seemed imminent. Luckily, Þorgeir, the speaker of the time, knew how to handle the situation with tact. The Íslendingabók tells that he retired to his cubicle, refusing to talk to anyone for a day and a night to reflect. Upon leaving, he decreed that Iceland should accept the new religion and convert to Christianity, although pagans (like him) could continue to practice their religion in private. This decision gave the previously divided groups an appearance of national unity and the first bishoprics were soon established in Skálholt, in the southwest, and in Hólar, in the north.
In the following years, the two-week parliamentary meeting in Þingvellir became a great social event. All free men could attend. The singles went in search of a partner, they agreed and celebrated marriages, businesses were closed, duels and executions were carried out, and the appeals court dealt with cases that could not be resolved in lower instances.
The end of s. XII closed the period of the sagas, of which historians and writers recorded epic stories of early settlements, family struggles and tragic and romantic characters. Much of what is known of that era comes from two extensive writings, the Íslendingabók, a story from the time of the settlement written in the s. xii by the scholar Ari Þorgilsson (Ari the Wise), and the detailed Landnámabók, a recount of the settlements.
Despite advances in the search for a culture of their own, Icelandic society was beginning to deteriorate. At the beginning of the s. XIII the peace period, which had lasted 200 years, was nearing its end. The constant power struggles between tribal chiefs led to clashes and the emergence of private armies that ravaged farms across the country. This dark stage is known as the Sturlung Era in honor of the Sturlung, the most powerful family clan in Iceland at that time. The tragic events and the brutal history of this 40-year period are narrated very graphically in the three volumes of the Sturlunga Saga.
When Iceland plunged into chaos, Norwegian King Hákon Hákonarson pressured chiefs, ecclesiastics and the new class of rich aristocrats to accept his authority. The Icelanders, who saw no alternative, dissolved all the governing bodies except a superficial one, and swore allegiance to the foreign monarch. In 1262 a confederation agreement was signed. In 1281 the king introduced Jónsbók, a new legal code, and Iceland was under Norwegian power.
Norway immediately began designating its own bishops for Hólar and Skálholt and introduced excessive taxes. Discord broke out when the Norwegians also sought to control the election of senior officials, specifically the járl (count), an honor granted to the ruthless Gissur Þorvaldsson, who, in 1241, murdered Snorri Sturluson, the most famous historian and writer of Iceland.
Meanwhile, the Hekla volcano erupted three times and covered a third of the country with ashes. This event was followed by a wave of ice and the harsh winters ended with cattle and crops. To make matters worse, the black plague spread, killing half of the population. The indomitable spirit of the Icelanders seemed to bend.
Arrival of the Danes
Iceland's destiny was at that time in the hands of the best Norwegian bidder, the one who could maintain control of the country for three years. In 1397, the Kalmar Union, which brought together Norway, Sweden and Denmark, put Iceland under Danish rule. After disputes between the Church and the State, the Danish Government confiscated ecclesiastical properties and imposed Lutheranism in the Reformation of 1550. When the Catholic bishop of Hólar, Jón Arason, resisted and achieved followers, he was beheaded along with his two sons in Skálholt.
In 1602 the Danish king imposed an oppressive trade monopoly that gave exclusive rights in Iceland to Swedish and Danish firms for periods of 12 years. This resulted in serious abuse and more suffering, which would last another 250 years. But something positive emerged from the monopoly: to circumvent the embargo and strengthen local industry, the powerful sheriff Skúli Magnússon founded factories of weaving, tanning and dyeing wool, laying the foundations of modern Reykjavik.
More hardships
In case poverty caused by Danish rule was not enough, the Berber pirates sacked the eastern fjords and the Reykjanes peninsula, before reaching Vestmannaeyjar in 1627. The population tried to hide in the cliffs and caves of Heimaey, but the pirates they combed the island, killing and taking 242 people with them. The unfortunate Icelanders were taken to Algiers, where most of them were sold as slaves. In Iceland, they tried to raise the money to pay their ransom, but they only managed to release 13 captives. The most famous was Guðríður Símonardóttir, who returned to Iceland and married Hallgrímur Pétursson, one of the most famous poets in the country. The three bells of Hallgrímskirkja receive the names of the couple and their daughter.
At the same time, the madness of the European witch hunt reached the Icelandic coasts. In Iceland, witchcraft used to be practiced by men; Of the 130 cases of which there is evidence, only 10% are involved in women. The luckiest defendants were brutally flogged; 21 of the less fortunate were burned at the stake, especially for allegedly making their neighbors sick or for possessing magical writings or suspicious amulets.
Maybe in Europe that era was that of the Enlightenment, but it is surprising that the Icelanders survived the s. XVIII. In this remote place, the population (50,000 inhabitants) clung to life with all their might in the face of an epidemic of smallpox (which arrived in 1707 and killed some 18,000 people) and a series of volcanic eruptions: the Katla in 1660, 1721 and 1755; the Hekla in 1693 and 1766, and the Öræfajökull in 1727.
Then the situation got worse. In 1783 the Laki crater row erupted, throwing tons of lava and clouds of toxic gases for eight months. 50 nearby farms were razed, and the dust and deadly vapors, with the subsequent famine, killed some 9,000 Icelanders: first the plants died, then the cattle and finally the people. Ash clouds affected all of Europe and caused strange weather conditions, with acid rains and floods. The Danish authorities seriously considered the possibility of relocating the Icelandic population (only 47,000 inhabitants in 1801) in Denmark.
Return to independence
After five centuries of oppressive foreign government and thanks to the growing feeling of liberalization throughout Europe, Icelandic nationalism flourished in the s. XIX. In 1855, Jón Sigurðsson, an Icelandic scholar, had successfully interceded for the restoration of free trade and in 1874 Iceland had outlined a Constitution and regained control of its internal affairs.
Iceland's first political parties formed during this period and urban development began. Even so, it was not enough to stop the wave of emigration: between 1870 and 1914 some 16,000 Icelanders left for North America in search of a better life. Among its reasons were the lack of opportunities - the growing fishing industry could not employ all those who wanted to escape from the arduous rural life and move to urban centers - and a new volcanic eruption (from Askja, in 1875), whose ashes poisoned to cattle
In 1918 Iceland signed the Union Act, which freed the country from Danish rule and made it an independent state within the kingdom of Denmark.
Iceland prospered during World War I with the rise in the price of its exports of wool, meat and fish. However, before World War II, he declared himself neutral in the hope of maintaining his important commercial ties with both Britain and Germany.
On April 9, 1940, Denmark was occupied by Germany, causing Alþingi to take over Iceland's foreign affairs. A year later, on May 17, 1941, the Icelanders requested their complete independence. The official establishment of the Republic of Iceland finally occurred in Þingvellir on June 17, 1944, today celebrated as Independence Day.
World War II and US entry
As a result of the occupation of Denmark by Germany in 1940, Iceland took over its foreign affairs during the war (and got on the right track to achieve its complete independence, which it officially obtained before the end of the contest). The fact that Iceland lacked an army worried the Allies, so in May 1940, Britain, the most vulnerable to a German-controlled Iceland, sent troops to occupy the island. Iceland had no choice but to accept it, but in the end its economy benefited from British spending and construction projects.
When British troops withdrew in 1941, the government allowed the US army to enter the country, understanding that it would leave at the end of the war. Although they retired in 1946, they retained the right to reestablish a base in Keflavík in the event of a threat of war. Again under their own control, the Icelanders were reluctant to undergo any foreign intervention. When in 1949 the Government was pressured to be a founding member of NATO, riots broke out in Reykjavik. The Government accepted the proposal on condition of not participating in any offensive action and that no foreign army was established in the country in peacetime.
The pact was broken soon. The war in Korea broke out in 1950, and in 1951, at the request of NATO, the United States once again assumed responsibility for defending the island from the Soviet threat. Technology and military personnel at the Keflavík base continued to increase over the next four decades, as Iceland acted as an important monitoring station during the Cold War. The controversial American military presence did not end until September 2006, when the Keflavík base finally closed.
Modern Iceland
In the S. XX Iceland went from being one of the poorest countries in Europe to one of the most developed.
After the Cold War, there was a period of growth, reconstruction and modernization. The construction of the ring road was completed in 1974, opening transport connections with the southeast, and projects such as the Krafla power plant in the northeast, and Svartsengi, near Reykjavik, were developed. The boom in the fishing industry in the 1970s prompted the extension of fishing limits to 332 km. However, this precipitated the worst of the "cod wars", as Britain refused to recognize the new area. During the seven months of the conflict the Icelandic ships dedicated themselves to cutting the networks of the British trawlers, there were shots and ships of both sides sank.
The fishing industry has always been vital for Iceland, although it has had its ups and downs, as when quotas were reduced in the 1990s due to overfishing. The industry went into recession and caused an unemployment rate of 3% and a collapse of the crown. The country gradually entered a period of economic regeneration as the fishing industry stabilized. Today this industry still represents 22% of revenues from exports and services, 12% of GDP, and employs 4.2% of the workforce, although it is very sensitive to the dwindling amount of fish.
In 2003, whale hunting resumed as part of a scientific research program, despite the global moratorium. In 2006 Iceland resumed commercial whaling despite the condemnation of the rest of the world. The hunt for white-footed whales is still in force, causing international protests; that of common whales, in danger of extinction, was suspended in 2016.
The huge dependence on its fishing industry and imports means that Iceland has always had high prices and a currency prone to fluctuation, as vulnerable as was evident in September 2008, when the global economic crisis hit the country. Reykjavik was the scene of months of violent protests and the popularity of the then government evaporated.
In January 2009, Prime Minister Geir Haarde resigned. His substitute, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, made the world headlines for being the first openly gay prime minister. With the aim of adopting the euro as a new currency in an attempt to stabilize the economy, its first major action was to request accession to the EU, which turned out to be very controversial.
Iceland picked up the headlines again in April 2010, when the ash cloud of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption caused the closure of European air traffic six days, causing chaos in much of the continent. In comparison, the eruption of Grímsvötn, the following year, was a trifle: its ash cloud only caused the air traffic closure for three days. The murmur of Bárðarbunga in 2014 and the shocks of the Katla in 2016 once again recalled Iceland's geological instability.
However, these events show that there is no bad publicity: the popularity of the country, which was triggered by the eruption of 2010 and free publicity, in addition to the efforts of the authorities to create air connections and strengthen their pull, greatly promoted tourism (an increase of 264% between 2010 and 2015). The country has become the fastest growing destination in Europe, with the pros (economic growth and employment) and cons (infrastructure problems and environmental impact) that it entails.
The Icelanders went to the polls in April 2013 with the national economy on the way to recovery, but with the population hurt by the harsh austerity measures of the government (tax increases, cuts). The results punished the Social Democrats in the Government, while the center-right parties (the Progressive Party and the Independence Party) emerged victorious thanks to their promise to reduce debt and cut taxes, as well as their opposition to entry. in the EU.
Both parties formed a coalition government. At the beginning of 2014, the Government suspended negotiations for accession to the EU, despite having promised a referendum on this issue. Although polls show that most Icelanders still oppose entry into the EU, having made that decision without the promised referendum proved very unpopular.
In April 2016, the "Panama Papers"; the leaking of documents from the Mossack Fonseca law firm revealed financial traps involving three Icelandic ministers, including Prime Minister Davíð Gunnlaugsson. After the mass protests, Gunnlaugsson resigned, and Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson became acting prime minister. Early elections were called for October 2016, and the polls pointed to a close result between the Independence Party and the Pirate Party, in favor of direct democracy.
In June 2016, in a wave of antiestablishment sentiment, Iceland elected a new president after 20 years: the historian and writer Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson.
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