by Pavel Anisimov
| Look at the left hand, not the right? What’s being done that we’d rather not be noticed? |
On January 11, the US president instructed Joint Special Operations Command to develop a detailed plan for an invasion of the world's largest island. On January 12, Trump's special envoy for Greenland, Jeff Landry, stated that Denmark had occupied the polar territory since the end of World War II, ignoring UN norms. The White House's official social media account posted a collage of the US president against a map of the island and urged everyone to "monitor the situation."
Trump's rhetoric has prompted many to consider the region's significance and the reasons for major powers' interest in it. Meanwhile, current debates often overlook Greenland's rich history, its complex history, and its distinctive cultural heritage.
And the map of Greenland deserves a closer look—after all, in the 20th century, one state attempted to "re-draw" it, challenging Denmark's rights to the island. And it wasn't the United States.
NORWEGIAN CONTRIBUTION
To understand the claims to Greenland, we must turn to the beginning of its development by Europeans.
The first settlement of Scandinavians, originally from Iceland, appeared on the “green island” in the 980s.
The Inuit, who arrived in Greenland around the 12th–13th centuries, gradually spread along the coast, becoming the direct ancestors of today's Inuit. Contact with Europeans facilitated the spread of new materials and technologies among the local population.
Since the late 13th century, Greenland, along with Iceland and the Faroe Islands, had been under Norwegian rule. However, it was the inhabitants of the Norwegian settlements who actually agreed to join the kingdom, while most of the island's territory remained inhabited by Inuit.
By the 15th century, the descendants of the first settlers had died out (there are several theories—from epidemics or imported plague, from the deteriorating climate during the Little Ice Age, or from conflicts with the Inuit). But the island, inhabited exclusively by Inuit for three centuries, was not considered "nobody's" in Europe—de jure, it belonged to the Kingdom of Norway.
After the unification of Norway and Denmark in 1536, the Greenlandic lands became part of the Dano-Norwegian Union.
During the Age of Discovery, European interest in Greenland grew. In the 16th century, English and Dutch expeditions began, interested in discovering the Northwest Passage and whaling around the island's shores.
Traditional Inuit culture was closely tied to nature and shamans (angakkok), but Christianization began in the 18th century. The first mission arrived in West Greenland in 1721 under the leadership of the Norwegian priest Hans Egede. Missions followed in the east and northern tip of the island.
Although the language barrier initially hampered the missionaries' work, two of Egede's sons grew up in Greenland and spoke the local language fluently. One of them, Poul, prepared the first version of the New Testament translation into Greenlandic and a dictionary of the language.
DISPUTES OVER SOVEREIGNTY
In 1814, treaties were signed in the northern German city of Kiel, ending the Danish-Swedish (1813–1814) and Anglo-Danish (1807–1814) conflicts. In the pan-European Napoleonic Wars, Denmark sided with France, while Britain and Sweden fought against Napoleon—thus leaving the Danes on the losing side. The Treaty of Kiel replaced the Danish-Norwegian Union with the Swedish-Norwegian Union.
The Swedish king received Norway. But by the same agreement, Denmark retained rights to the old Norwegian territories, including Greenland, despite their medieval Norwegian affiliation.
Even after the dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian Union in 1905, the question of Greenland's status as a former Norwegian colony arose. Norway laid claim to the eastern half of the island, considered by some circles to be a no-man's land. Denmark's sovereignty over the western half remained internationally recognized.
In 1919, Norwegian Foreign Minister Niels Claus Ihlen announced that the country had no objection to expanding Danish control over all of Greenland. However, the agreement concluded in 1924 stipulated that Norway retained fishing rights in the eastern part of the island, leaving the question of future sovereignty open.
Following the dispute, a Norwegian hunting expedition led by Halvard Devold landed in East Greenland and declared de facto occupation of part of the territory. The Norwegian flag was officially raised in the village of Mygbukta, and Norway declared the annexation of that part of Greenland.
On July 11, 1931, King Haakon VII of Norway issued a decree formally declaring Norwegian sovereignty over the "Land of Erik the Red".
This act caused an international outcry, leading to proceedings at the International Tribunal in The Hague in 1933. Denmark emerged victorious.
The International Court of Justice ruled that East Greenland was not terra nullius (no-man's land), as Norway had claimed, and recognized it as part of Danish territory.
This decision sealed the dispute: Norway renounced its claims to Greenland. However, Norway's defeat sparked a domestic political crisis, leading to accusations against the government and revelations of problems in its foreign policy management.
AMERICAN PRESENCE
The German occupation of Denmark in April 1940 led to a severing of ties between Greenland and the mainland. Governance of the island passed into the hands of local authorities, and German patrols soon began appearing near the Greenlandic coast.
To protect against the threat of invasion, the Danish Ambassador to the United States, Henrik Kaufman, signed an agreement with the Americans, according to which the defense of the island came under US jurisdiction.
The agreement entered into force on April 9, 1941. The United States was not yet at war with Germany at that time—the United States entered World War II in December 1941.
The American government reaffirmed Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland, pledging to defend the island even despite its formal neutrality in global conflicts.
This allowed the Americans to build important defensive installations, such as the large air bases at Narsarsuaq and Kangerlussuaq, which played a key role in providing Allied sea transport to the North Atlantic.
After World War II, Greenland played a key role in American Cold War strategy. Two airfields, two radio stations, and one storage depot remained on the island, while American troops abandoned their posts on the east coast.
After Denmark joined NATO in 1949, the old Kaufmann Agreement was replaced by a new treaty of April 27, 1951. It reaffirmed Danish sovereignty over Greenland but made the island a NATO joint defense area, allowing American troops to be based there.
Nevertheless, the American strategy envisioned a complete reorganization of the military presence on the island. Insignificant military installations were transferred to Denmark, the airfield at Narsarsuaq was closed in 1958, and later civilian access was also allowed to the base at Kangerlussuaq. In exchange, in 1952, the United States built the powerful Thule military base (now Pituffik) in the far northwest of Greenland, which became a vital link in the early warning system for Soviet missile strikes.
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History shows that attempts to challenge Greenland's status face serious legal obstacles.
Any arguments in favor of purchasing or annexing Greenland appear untenable in the face of historical facts and international obligations previously confirmed by the United States itself.
By recognizing Denmark's independence over the island under agreements dating back to World War II, Washington itself confirmed the legitimacy of Copenhagen's sovereign rights. Any new claims ignore historical agreements and call into question the established order of international law.
However, Trump stated directly in an interview with The New York Times: "I don't need international law; I'm not going to harm people." Posing in front of a map of Greenland, which is being prepared for annexation, fits this logic perfectly. Incidentally, the map used in the collage is purely peaceful.
It was created by NASA during Operation Icebridge (2009–2019) to monitor the state of Arctic and Antarctic ice. Far from being a military project, this mission made a significant contribution to climate change research by collecting unique data on ice cover through aerial observations.
Moreover, IceBridge was part of an international scientific cooperation, which the American president also has a rather cool attitude towards, especially regarding issues related to the North Pole.
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