HISTORY
Greenland was first explored by Eric the Red, a Norwegian settler
in Iceland and father of Leif Eriksson, toward the end of the 10th century,
and Icelandic settlements were subsequently established there under his leadership.
By the early 15th century, however, these settlements had vanished, and all
contact with Greenland was lost. In the course of the search for the Northwest
Passage, Greenland was sighted again. The English navigator John Davis visited
the island in 1585, and his explorative work, together with that of the English
explorers Henry Hudson and William Baffin, afforded knowledge of the west coast
of Greenland.
The United States relinquished its claim to land in northern
Greenland, based on the explorations of the American explorer
Robert Edwin Peary, when it purchased the Virgin Islands from
Denmark in 1917. In May 1921, Denmark declared the entire island
of Greenland to be Danish territory, causing a dispute with Norway
over hunting and fishing rights. In 1931 a strip of land on the
east coast was claimed by some Norwegian hunters, whose action
was later recognized by the Norwegian government. The occupation
was invalidated by the Permanent Court of International Justice
at The Hague in 1933.
Germany's occupation of Denmark in 1940, during
World War II, brought the status of Greenland again into question.
Negotiations
between the U.S. government and the Danish minister to Washington
resulted in an agreement on April 9, 1941, granting the United
States the right “to construct, maintain and operate such
landing fields, seaplane facilities and radio and meteorological
installations as may be necessary” to protect the status
quo in the western hemisphere; the United States also assumed
protective custody over Greenland for the duration of World War
II, although recognizing Danish sovereignty. Greenland is the
source of many of the weather changes in the northern hemisphere,
and knowledge of Greenland weather is of prime importance for
the prediction of conditions in the North Atlantic Ocean and
in western Europe. Weather and radio stations are of inestimable
value for Atlantic air traffic. In 1944, during World War II,
a German radio-weather station on the northeast coast was destroyed
by the U.S. Coast Guard, and various German attempts to establish
weather bases on Greenland were thwarted by Coast Guard vessels.
In May 1947, Denmark requested that the United States end the
1941 agreement. Protracted negotiations culminated during April
1951, in a 20-year pact providing for Danish control of the chief
U.S. naval station in Greenland and for the establishment of
jointly operated defense areas. By the terms of other provisions,
the armed forces of the members of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization were authorized to use all naval, air, and military
bases on the island.
