Defense of Greenland

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The defense of Greenland as an autonomous nation within the Kingdom of Denmark is the task of the Danish Armed Forces according to the constitution . Greenland itself has no troops of its own. However, as early as 1941 there were agreements with the United States that, at least during World War II , included the assumption of defense by the US armed forces .

history

Danish military history on Greenland dates back to the early 18th century. With the landing of Hans Egede , soldiers were stationed on Greenland to protect the Danish colony from looting , especially against foreign whalers . The Danish military was actively involved in exploring Greenland through expeditions until the beginning of the Second World War . The armed forces were also responsible for surveying and cartography . At the beginning of the 20th century, fishing off the coast increased rapidly, which led to increased controls by the fisheries inspection and the Danish Navy ( Søværnet ).

In 1932, the Naval Aviators ( Marinens Flyvevæsen ) also appeared for the first time in the air force , which assisted the Geodætisk Institute , a cartographic institute subordinate to the Ministry of Defense, through aerial photography . All military work was carried out in the summer months, from May to September, after which the ships were moved to Iceland or Denmark in the winter months.

Second World War

The Thule Air Base

In response to the Weser Exercise Company and the occupation of Denmark by the German Wehrmacht , the Danish envoy in Washington Henrik Kauffmann and the US Secretary of State Cordell Hull signed an agreement on April 9, 1941 , according to which the United States would take over the defense of Greenland. The agreement with the name Thulesag 1 (" Thule thing") allowed the Americans to build airfields, radio and meteorological stations, harbors and fortifications. The Americans feared that Hitler's Germany might use Greenland as a starting point for an offensive against the United States. At the same time, when the USA entered the war, the meteorological investigations carried out on Greenland became increasingly important for transatlantic air and sea connections. However, the bases also served as intermediate stations on the way from North America to the theater of war in Europe. These institutions fell entirely under US jurisdiction , while Danish sovereignty over Greenland was maintained.

Article 10 of the agreement contained a waiver clause . The contract was to be in force until "existing threats to peace and security on the American continent no longer exist". During the Second World War, the United States built a number of military bases , including Thule Air Base , airfields and a military hospital. All of these facilities were manned by American soldiers. The Convention was finally ratified by the Danish Reichstag (today: Folketing ) at its first meeting after the end of the war on May 16, 1945. The United States built or expanded 17 facilities by the end of World War II, including large air bases such as Narsarsuaq and Kangerlussuaq .

The Navy of the Greater German Reich tried in 1942 in Northeast Greenland North Atlantic weather war for meteorological observations with the company Holzauge , companies bass player , companies edelweiss and companies migratory set. As a countermeasure, a permanent patrol service with sled dogs was set up with the Sirius patrol , which still exists today.

post war period

After the Second World War, the sovereignty and defense of Greenland returned to Denmark. However, with the start of the Cold War, the US continued to be interested in a permanent presence in Greenland. From a Danish point of view, this posed a number of problems. Denmark feared the return of Soviet troops to the island of Bornholm , which had been occupied by them until April 1946. On the other hand, the increasing deterioration in the international situation increased the desire for further military engagement by the USA. The Danish public expected that Greenland would remain under sole Danish control. The US even twice proposed the Danish government to sell Greenland, but this was rejected with a view to the Soviet Union.

Cold War

In the years up to 1949 Greenland also played an important role in the direction of the new Danish alliance policy. Since overseas territories like Greenland could hardly be surrounded by a Scandinavian defense alliance, both Danes and Americans spoke out in favor of Denmark becoming a NATO member. Denmark's membership in the military alliance in 1949 opened up new opportunities for both countries. The US hoped to resolve the issue of a military presence through multilateral negotiations. The Danes now also saw themselves in a position to bypass agreements with the superpower USA , based only on bilateral negotiations, and to guarantee the sovereignty of Greenland.

On April 27, 1951, Thulesag 2 was signed between Denmark and the USA. Afterwards, the USA, within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty , should assist Denmark in any necessary defense of Greenland. For this purpose, further American military bases should be built. Article 5, paragraph 3 assured the United States and its troops unrestricted freedom of movement between these bases, by land, air and water, throughout the state. Article 6 required the US to "owe the necessary respect to all regulations and customs which affect the people as well as Greenland's administration". The military airfield in Narsarsuaq was developed into a joint base for Danes and Americans.

At the end of 1953 it became known that there was a scientifically used weather station 140 km from the Kangerlussuaq army base . The station was built by the Americans without the knowledge of the Danish authorities.

On March 15, 1954, the expansion of Thule Air Base was decided. This included installing an air defense system that was armed with nuclear weapons . As part of the expansion, local Inuit were also forced to resettle .

Project Iceworm

" Project Iceworm " was the name of a secret plan by the United States Army to build a system of mobile, atomic rocket launch sites under the Greenland Ice Sheet . The aim was to be able to reach the territory of the Soviet Union quickly in the event of a nuclear war. Studies on this began in 1958.

To test the feasibility of the work, Camp Century was built about 150 miles inland from Thule. The expansion began from here.

21 tunnels with a total length of 3000 meters were built. The camp had its own nuclear reactor for power supply , around 200 people lived in the entire tunnel system. However, the project turned out to be unfeasible because the inland ice was exposed to excessive movements. The project was therefore discontinued in 1966, the infrastructure and the waste generated during operation largely remained on site. It was only when the Danish Foreign Policy Institute (DUPI) published a study in 1997 that the project became known.

Due to global warming and the associated melting of the Arctic ice, there is now a risk that the waste that is still stored on site will be released into the environment; first through seeping meltwater, later through the thawing of the Greenland ice . In addition to 200,000 liters of diesel fuel and 240,000 liters of waste water , there is also radioactively contaminated cooling water from the nuclear reactor.

Todays situation

The police boat "Sisak IV" of the Greenland Command leaving Upernavik

Today 60 soldiers from the Arktisk Command of the Danish Armed Forces are stationed in Kangilinnguit ( Grønnedal in Danish ). The command is responsible for the defense of Greenland, but also performs tasks of fisheries control and as a coast guard . In Daneborg , the Danish military maintains the Sirius Patrol , a long- distance reconnaissance dog sled patrol , which is also responsible for the park supervision in the Northeast Greenland National Park.

US troops are now only found in Thule Air Base with a strength of 131 soldiers (2007). The Danish military is represented at the air base with a liaison officer .

literature

  • Danish Institute for Foreign Policy (DUPI) (ed.): Greenland during the Cold War. Danish and American Security Policy 1945–1968 . Summary of the original edition in two volumes. Copenhagen 1997, ISBN 87-601-6922-2 .
  • Danish Institute for Foreign Policy (DUPI) (ed.): Grønland under den kolde krig. Dansk og amerikansk sikkerhedsppolitik 1945–1968 , Copenhagen 1997, ISBN 87-601-6921-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Fredsakademiet: Thulesag 1 - Grønlandstraktaten ( Memento from January 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (Danish)
  2. ↑ a b c d Grønlands kommando: History ( Memento from February 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Danish)
  3. ↑ Peace and War: United States Foreign Policy 1931-1941 (English)
  4. ^ Greenland during the Cold War, 11.
  5. ↑ a b Greenland during the Cold War, p. 12.
  6. ↑ Ronald E. Doel: Defending the North American Continent: Why the Physical Environmental Sciences Mattered in Cold War Greenland , in: Ronald E. Doel et al .: Exploring Greenland. Cold War Science and Technology on Ice , Newy York 2016, pp. 25–46, p. 29.
  7. ^ A b c Greenland during the Cold War, page 13.
  8. ↑ Fredsakademiet: Thulesag 2 - amerikanske baser i Grønland ( Memento from June 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (Danish)
  9. ↑ Defense of Greenland: Agreement Between the United States and the Kingdom of Denmark (English)
  10. ↑ Fredsakademiet: Hemmelig amerikansk vejrstation ved Søndre Strømfjord ( Memento from June 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (Danish)
  11. ↑ Fredsakademiet: Thulesag 3 ( Memento from December 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Danish)
  12. ↑ Fredsakademiet: Thulesag 3 - tvangsfordrivningen ( Memento from June 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (Danish)
  13. ↑ Tidsskrift for grøndlands retsvæsen, 1999: 1 s. 45.
  14. ↑ Melting ice could thaw contaminants from the Cold War . In: Spektrum.de , August 5, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  15. ↑ Grønlands kommando: Opgaver ( Memento from February 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Danish)
  16. ↑ US military presence worldwide ( Memento from October 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive )