I
In the “cockeyed war” we are witnessing, any out-of-the-way corner of the globe may suddenly assume an importance that would have seemed impossible before the submarine and the airplane wrought their profound change in the methods of warfare. The first shots of the present conflict had hardly ceased reverberating along the canyon-like fiords of Norway before armchair strategists and political columnists became acutely aware of one island whose name heretofore evoked only childhood memories of Sunday School hymns, in this country at any rate. To the Danes, however, Greenland must evoke memories of a fabulous past. Although times are far from propitious for sentimental contemplation, the story of Greenland, a story whose details have but recently come to light, should arouse an interest over and above the possible relation of that Danish outpost to the Monroe Doctrine and our problems of defense. The history of the white races in America begins in Greenland.
In 981 Eric the Red decided to find a land one of the Vikings, Gunnbjorn by name, had discovered to the west of Iceland. Three years Eric spent exploring the west coast of this new country, having soon come to the conclusion that its east coast was not promising. On his return to Iceland he proceeded to organize an expedition to what he enthusiastically called Greenland. In 985 the emigrants embarked in 25 ships. Only 14 reached their destination, an ominous beginning. The survivors nevertheless succeeded in establishing two settlements. One, the “eastern settlement,” was located near the present Julianehaab; the other, the “western settlement,” farther up the coast near the present Godthaab.
At the time of the founding of these Norse colonies the southern portion of Greenland was uninhabited, the Eskimos, the Skraelings of the chronicles, having retired to the northern portion of the island. In their heyday, about 1261 when Greenland was taken over by the Crown, the settlements must have numbered 4,000 souls living on some 80 farms and maintaining 12 churches, including a monastery and a nunnery. The first colonists were all heathens save one Christian from the Hebrides, but Lief, the son of Eric, soon brought Christianity to the colonies and in 1126 the first bishop, a Norwegian by the name of Arnald, erected a cathedral, dedicated to St. Nicholas, whose ruins can still be seen at Gardar.
Trouble was soon to descend on the Viking outposts however. The Skraelings began moving south again and clashes between native and settler became frequent. Moreover, a worse menace than aborigines was threatening the pioneers. Greenland had never been a financial success and as a result the mother country was losing interest. Visiting ships with necessary supplies became scarce. In 1492 Pope Alexander VI complained that there was no record of a ship having visited Greenland in 80 years and that mass had not been said in the island in a hundred years. His Holiness was correctly informed. After Scandinavian shipping came under Hanseatic influence Greenland was completely forgotten. The last Danish ship to visit the colonies sailed around 1410. A German vessel blown off its course in 1550 made an attempt to find the lost settlements. All that was found was a frozen corpse, still wearing European dress. By his side lay an iron knife almost worn away by frequent grinding. Without vouching for the accuracy of this story it is certain that Martin Frobisher landed on the west coast of Greenland in 1578. The only evidence of European civilization he could find were a few articles of European make in the possession of the Eskimos. The Viking colonies had vanished as completely as Atlantis of old.
What had become of the Norsemen? There is no indication of their having been absorbed by the Eskimos. To quote one authority,
it seems more likely that the children of the Vikings died surrounded by natives who regarded unmoved and without sympathy the sufferings of the enfeebled and starving folk who clung so desperately to this inhospitable country where now only the hardy Skraelings dared hope to live.
In the National Museum at Copenhagen you can see the yield of excavations made a few years ago in the abandoned cemeteries of Herjolfness. Some one hundred tombs were opened. From them we can reconstruct the tragic fate of white men struggling for four centuries against impossible living conditions rendered worse by neglect and finally by oblivion. The bodies, still clad in the Chaucer-like dress of the period, some in rude wooden coffins, others merely wrapped in the tattered garments they had worn, showed every sign of degeneration. Only five appeared normal. Five feet was tall for a man; the women were all under 4 feet, 9 inches. Most of the dead were young. In many cases wooden crosses, carefully ornamented, lay on their breasts. Some bore Runic inscriptions: “God the Almighty guard Gudleif well,” “Thorleif made this cross in praise and worship of God.” One tomb, that of a bishop, contained a crosier carved out of a walrus tusk. Although the Greenlanders did not have much to be thankful for they had clung to their faith and their courage to the end.
II
The discovery of the North American Continent was a direct result of the Norse colonization of Greenland but it was not the work of Leif Ericsson, legends to that effect notwithstanding. Shortly after the Norse settlers landed in Greenland an Icelandic trader by the name of Bjarni returned from a journey to Norway to find that his father, Herjolf, had emigrated to the new country. Whereupon Bjarni promptly set sail to join his father. Northerly gales drove him far off his course. When at last he made a landfall the coast did not tally with the descriptions he had been given of Greenland. It was woody and hilly; no fiords or glaciers. It may well have been the Cape Cod peninsula. Retracing his course in a northeasterly direction he was soon out of sight of land. In two days time he made another landfall. This time the coast was wooded and flat, obviously not Greenland. It was probably Nova Scotia. After three days another strange land was sighted. It was mountainous but the fiords and the glaciers were still lacking although icebergs were plentiful. It proved to be an island, surely Newfoundland. After four more days Bjarni finally fetched up on Greenland near the eastern settlement where his father was now living.
It was not until some 15 years later that Leif Ericsson undertook to explore the lands Bjarni had sighted. In the year 1002 he set sail from Greenland, having purchased Bjami’s ship and prudently engaged many of his crew. The first land he sighted was undoubtedly Labrador, the next was probably Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. Then after a 2-day sail before a northeasterly wind he landed on a pleasant shore where he encamped and spent the winter.
The location of this camp has been the subject of considerable speculation as it was here that one of the crew, a German from the vine-growing regions, discovered the grapes that caused Leif to call the land Vineland. This definitely places Vineland south of Passamaquoddy Bay, the northern limit of the wild grape. Recent research by the Viking Society, however, would indicate that the Norsemen had reached a point much farther south. The Vikings were better versed in navigation than is generally supposed. If we are to believe the Sagas, Leif had noted that on the shortest day of the year the sun rose at a point on the horizon corresponding to 60 degrees east of south and set at a similar point west of south. This would place his camp somewhere near 37 degrees North or about the present boundary between Maryland and Virginia. From his description the country could very well be the shores of Chesapeake Bay. In spite of the doubts cast on this achievement by one of his own race, Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, the evidence in favor of Leif appears conclusive.
The next voyage of the Norsemen was undertaken by Leif’s brother Thorvald. Borrowing his brother’s ship and some of his crew he sailed from Greenland in 1004 and reached Leif’s camp where he spent the winter. The next spring he proceeded to explore the surrounding country and came in contact with the Indians. The Norsemen rashly attacked them. It was not long before they came back in force and in the fight that ensued Thorvald lost his life. His last request was that he be buried on a headland where he had wanted to make his home, that a cross be placed at his head and at his feet, and that the spot be called Crossness. Some time in 1007 his followers were back in Greenland.
The fourth and probably the last voyage of the Norsemen (omitting one by Thorstein, another son of Eric, which failed to reach the mainland) is perhaps the most famous as, owing to the vagueness of the accounts that have come down to us, it lends itself to some fantastic claims. In 1020, or thereabouts, a wealthy Icelandic merchant, Thorfinn Karlsefni, assembled an expedition in Greenland for the purpose of establishing a colony in the land Leif and Thorvald had visited. The expedition numbered some 160 souls, including several women. It is impossible to determine with any accuracy where they went. For a while they settled at a spot they called Hop, a Norse word meaning “inlet” or “creek.” Various locations have been assigned for this short-lived colony, ranging from the St. Lawrence to the Hudson. Narragansett Bay has also been mentioned as a possibility. Karlsefni’s wanderings have given rise to a host of “skeleton in armor” stories, none of which will bear critical analysis. The expedition was marred by frequent clashes with the Indians and continual quarreling among its members, in which the women played a prominent part. It is said that a son was born to Karlsefni at Hop. If so, Snorri Thorfinnson has the proud distinction of being the first white child born on the American Continent. The remnants drifted back to Greenland in 1023. Another venture organized by Freydis, an illegitimate daughter of Eric, is too mythical to warrant recording. It is a bloodcurdling tale in which Freydis murders her two partners.
As can be seen, the Norse effort in the Western Hemisphere was a heroic but sterile effort. The reason is not hard to find. It was many centuries ahead of the times. Moreover, it suffered from the competition of more promising plans that were to take the Norsemen to Russia, France, the Mediterranean, and Britain. America was a “side show.” In the New World the Vikings had done nothing more than plow the seas.
III
With the disappearance of the Norse settlements Greenland became once more a lost land subject to periodic rediscoveries. It was not until 1721 that a Norwegian missionary, Hans Egede, landed on the island with his family. His mission was to find the descendants of the Norse settlers and to rescue them from the paganism into which they were supposed to have fallen. Needless to say, he did not find them but he did find a fertile field for his endeavors among the natives. He established his headquarters at Godthaab where a statue has been erected to his memory. Encouraged by the success of Egede’s efforts, King Frederick IV of Denmark decided to reoccupy the island in 1728. Ill health compelled Hans Egede to return to Copenhagen in 1736, but his work was continued by his son Paul. The spirit that animated these two devoted philanthropists has characterized the entire subsequent Danish administration of the colony.
Greenland is a closed country. It is administered by the Danes with a single purpose— strange in this age of exploitation—of preserving to the natives the free enjoyment of their land, forever. And while the instruction of the Greenlanders in the ways of modern civilization and the doctrines of St. Paul is deemed essential to the achievement of their ruler’s Christian purpose, so carefully has their diet of enlightenment been weighed that the intrusion of irresponsible foreigners, even Danes, is not tolerated.
As an example of altruistic paternalism the colony is unique, but, as a result, Greenland today turns in annually a tidy little deficit of some $150,000 in spite of or perhaps due to the fact that most of its commerce has been a government monopoly since 1774. The trade of the island is trifling, with a tendency to decrease. It is derived from fishing, trapping, whaling, and seal hunting, mining for graphite and cryolite, and quarrying marble. Coal and copper are also found. The three principal settlements, from south to north on the west coast, are Julianehaab, Godthaab, and Godhavn, the last named port being well within the Arctic Circle. Each has a wireless station, school, and hospital. The natives, who alone are represented in the parish councils, number some 16,000 souls. The white population, including half-breeds, is but slightly over 400.
And yet, if you will turn to a map of the Northern Hemisphere and follow the sixtieth degree of latitude you will find that it runs approximately through Leningrad, Helsinki, Oslo, the Shetland Isles, and Cape Farewell, the southern tip of Greenland. In other words, Greenland lies in latitudes that elsewhere are supporting a considerable population. Were it not for the ice cap that covers the interior of the island, Greenland could do likewise. The temperature on the west coast is much milder than Greenland’s frigid reputation suggests; the mean for January being about 19 degrees Fahrenheit, the mean for July being about 40 degrees.
From the standpoint of science and sociology our knowledge of Greenland is fairly complete, but on more modem and practical matters our information is as yet decidedly sketchy. The conformation of the coast seems to be similar to that of Norway, a succession of deep, sheltered fiords. Macmillan, who visited the west coast of Greenland in 1923-24, tells us that “Godhavn, or ‘good harbor’ is rightly named. Rarely could a ship find a better refuge. Easy of access and secure from winds in any direction.” The coast abounds in small, snug harbors open apparently for at least 7 months of the year.
Aviators, however, are less enthusiastic. The fogs that infest the region represent a serious problem. Ice floes obstruct the coastal waters. Landing places are scarce. One air pilot facetiously remarked in a recent interview that “the only reason there aren’t many birds in Greenland is that they can’t find enough flat country to sit down on.” Nevertheless, as far as location is concerned, Greenland occupies an advantageous position. Cape Farewell is close to the great circle course between North Atlantic ports and the northern Scandinavian and Russian ports. Some spot near Cape Farewell might even be used as a halfway point for flights to the British Isles. As flying technique improves, the southern fiords of Greenland might well become important enough to warrant development. Several offer possibilities. It is merely a question of money.
In the hands of Denmark, Greenland would probably have continued indefinitely its placid existence as an arctic Utopia had not the echo of European guns aroused America to the uncertain future of this Danish outpost, bound up as it is in the equally uncertain future of Denmark itself. The sudden appearance of Greenland in the headlines of American news is certainly one of the astonishing turns of the European kaleidoscope.
IV
Greenland fits very neatly into the general pattern of our attitude toward foreign possessions in this hemisphere. Beginning as a pronouncement apparently intended to protect the Pacific coast from further occupation by Russia, and the Latin- American republics from reconquest by Spain, the Monroe Doctrine soon expanded into a theory designed to preserve the strategic security of the United States. From its very inception, however, it obviously was not intended merely as a blanket mantle of protection to be thrown over other American states that frequently resent our tutelage and, as time goes on, are becoming increasingly capable of protecting themselves. The first outstanding clarification of the American position is the statement contained in President Grant’s message of 1869 in which he said: “These dependencies are no longer regarded as subject to transfer from one European power to another,” a wise declaration as such transfers would inevitably be from a weak power to a more aggressive one. The next important milestone in the development of the doctrine was enunciated by the United States Senate in 1912 when, referring to Magdalena Bay, it declared,
that when any harbor or other place in the American continents is so situated that the occupation thereof for naval or military purposes might threaten the communications or safety of the United States, the Government of the United States could not see without grave concern the possession of such harbor or other place by any corporation or association which has such a relation to another government, not American, as to give that government practical power or control for naval or military purposes.
These two pronouncements, strangely enough, were effectively applied recently to the very Denmark whose last remaining American possession is causing us anxiety at present. The hesitation of the Danish government to part with the former Danish West Indies was overcome largely by an intimation on our part that circumstances might arise in which we would feel compelled to occupy those islands as a measure of self-defense.
Are we again in such a position as regards Denmark? Undoubtedly yes, although the setting of the picture may be slightly different. Germany has disclaimed any interest in Greenland. Whether that disclaimer can be relied upon indefinitely may well be questioned. If we now waive our rights acquired under the Monroe Doctrine we may find it difficult to assert them anew later, both as regards Greenland and other remaining European possessions in the Americas. As a precedent Greenland may be a symbol. The novel element in the present situation, however, flows from the new technique of international consolidation. If Denmark at some future date finds itself still “independent” but definitely under the “protection” of some foreign power, our strategic problem remains unaltered and can only be solved by an extension of the original doctrine.
It is a condition not a theory that confronts us, however, one that cannot be side-stepped by any subterfuge such as a ruling that Greenland is an arctic, hence not an American state; or that an occupation by Canada would take the case out of the rule we have established. Can we see with indifference any foreign colony, no matter how friendly, increase its holdings in our waters while probably leaving the protection of its shores, over which we have no control, to our Navy? To propound the question is to answer it.
“War,” Napoleon once remarked, “is a question of positions.” As regards the Atlantic approaches to the United States, the position of Greenland is not unlike that of the Aleutian Islands in relation to our Pacific approaches, even though the climatic conditions are more favorable for the strategist in those extensions of the Alaskan coast. Where there is a will, there is a way. Icebreakers can keep the passage to Greenland open for the submarine, radio direction can pierce the mists for the airplane, harbors and airdromes can be perfected and no one can predict what the cruising range of either weapon will be in another generation. A potential base lies on one of our flanks, a scant 700 miles from vital sea lanes. In the hands of a modern sea power Greenland might quite conceivably constitute a handicap to our strategy, a threat to our communications, a menace to our security. A clear case for the application of the Monroe Doctrine confronts us. We cannot afford to overlook it today. Tomorrow may be too late.