1874-1918 World War II
1939-1945






Iceland 1918-1939

In 1918 Denmark recognized Iceland beign a SOVEREIGN STATE, with Christian I. (Christian X. of Denmark) as first (and only) king of Iceland, the country thus remaining in dynastic union with Denmark. Iceland thus gained formal recognition of self-government. Capital was REYKJAVIK, the ALTHINGI Iceland's parliament. In 1919 UNIVERSAL WOMANHOOD SUFFRAGE was introduced. Iceland was one of the first countries to abolish the DEATH PENALTY in 1928. In 1930 Iceland celebrated the millennium of the Althing.
Until 1916 there had been several political parties, which advocated various degrees of political autonomy/independence and were all more or less moderately liberal. In 1916 the Labour Party and the Progressive Party were founded. The right wing of the older Home Rule Party reorganized itself as the INDEPENDENCE PARTY (c. 1918). In 1930, the left wing of the Labour Party split off to form the COMMUNIST PARTY; in 1938 they were joined by another breakaway Labour faction, and renamed themselves the SOCIALIST PARTY.
An insurance for work-related invalidity was introduced in 1925; in 1936 the STATE SOCIAL SECURITY INSTITUTE was established, taking care of retirement, invalidity and health insurances.

The island's economy depended almost entirely on fishery, almost all other articles of daily consumption having to be imported.
After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Iceland's exports sank, as did prices for export products (mainly fishery and agricultural products). Unemployment rose, and among those who depended on employment, desperate situations occurred; farmers and cottage owners were less affected. The state introduced a public works program, offering employment to some. An attempted cut in wages did not take place, due to the threat of violence on the side of the workers. During the depression, protectionist measures such as the regulation of imports, the monopolization of trade with foreign currency by state-owned banks etc. were implemented; they were to last throughout World War II.
Among right-wing Icelanders, the idea of reclaiming Greenland gained some support during the 1930es; fascist organizations, however, failed to establish themselves on Iceland.





EXTERNAL
FILES 		Timeline Icelandic History, from Nordic Usenet
Timeline History of Iceland in the Interbellum, from Encyclopedia of World History (Bartleby)
DOCUMENTS Icelandic banknotes, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money and from Currency Museum
Lists of Kings, Regents etc. from World Statesmen by Ben Cahoon
Iceland, Royal Flag, from FOTW
REFERENCE Article : Iceland, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1919 pp.797-804, 1924 pp.803-810, 1925 pp.814-821, 1926 pp.790-797, 1928 pp.802-809, 1929 pp.793-799, 1932 pp.1008-1014, 1937 pp.1040-1046 [G]
Article : Iceland, in : Americana Annual 1927 pp.422-423, 1928 pp.375-376, 1930 pp.385-386, 1931 pp.385-386, 1932 p.347, 1933 pp.379-380, 1934 p.297, 1935 p.354, 1936 pp.350-351, 1937 pp.343-344, 1938 pp.331-332, 1939 p.366 [G]
Article : Iceland, in : New International Year Book 1919 pp.337-338, 1920 p.333, 1921 p.333, 1923 pp.337-338, 1925 p.318, 1928 pp.338-339, 1930 pp.355-356, 1932 pp.365-366, 1933 pp.351-352, 1934 p.303, 1935 p.313, 1938 p.325, 1939 pp.350-351 [G]
Article : Iceland, in : Funk & Wagnall's New Standard Encyclopedia Year Book 1932 p.300, 1933 p.266, 1934 pp.283-284, 1935 pp.278-279, 1936 p.250, 1937 p.255, 1938 p.261, 1939 pp.283-284 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on August 24th 2007

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