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Abstract
This article focuses on British attitudes towards US military bases in Iceland, 1945–1951. In the beginning, the British government was willing – for a mixture of idealist and realist reasons – to distance itself from the United States in an attempt to modify its military goals. British faith in the United Nations when it came to post-war security was genuine, even if its interpretation of the mandate of the UN Security Council proved wrong. And it did not want to antagonize the Soviet Union and thus tried to avoid a potential confrontation over bases in the Nordic countries. But the British position was compromised by a desire for joint wartime base rights with the Americans. With the emergence of the Cold War in 1946–1947, it is argued, a shift occurred in British policy. The United Kingdom gave the United States full backing in its quest to integrate Iceland into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 and to station US military forces on the island in 1951. British cooperation with the Americans in Iceland not only reflected shared opposition to the Soviet Union; it also entailed a willingness to help local Icelandic political elites to battle an internal foe: the Socialist Party. The British, however, were never in a position to shape Iceland's integration into the Western Alliance. During the early Cold War, their function was essentially to assist the United States in achieving and maintaining its military position in Iceland.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank the University of Iceland's Research Fund and the Icelandic Centre for Research (RANNIS) for providing support in connection with the preparation of this article.
Notes
1 Telegram from Shepherd to Bevin, FO 371/47484, The National Archives (Kew) (TNA).
2 On US and British interests in Iceland during the early Cold War, see Ingimundarson, The Rebellious Ally; idem, ‘Icelandic Domestic Politics’; idem, Í eldlínu kalda strídsins; Whitehead, The Ally Who Came in from the Cold; idem, ‘Leiðin frá hlutleysi’, 63–121; idem, ‘Lýðveldi og herstöðvar’, 126–72.
3 Insall and Salmon, Documents on British Policy Overseas, Telegram from Eden to Halifax, 8 March 1945, FO 371/47481, N2117/1004/27 (No. 8).
4 Memorandum from Lincoln MacVeagh to Ólafur Thors, 2 May 1942, Record Group (RG) 84, Confidential File, Box 2, National Archives (NA) (Maryland).
5 Report, ‘Draft Air Mail Instruction to the American Minister in Reykjavik’, no date [1945], RG 218, Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Geographic File, 1942–1945, Box 94, Folder: CCS 660.2 Iceland (8–20–43), Section 1, NA.
6 Memorandum of conversation, Louis Dreyfus and Ólafur Thors, 1 May 1945, RG 84, Box 4, NA; see also memorandum for the War Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 19 July 1945, RG 218, Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Geographic File, 1942–1945, Box 94, Folder: CCS 660.2 Iceland (8–20–43), Section 1, NA.
7 Memorandum from Stanley D. Embick to John D. Hickerson, 8 June 1945, RG 65, Records of the War Department General and Special Staff, Top Secret ‘American–British–Canadian Correspondence, 1940–48’, Box 621, SD, NA.
8 Memorandum from US Ambassador (Oslo) to Secretary of State, 5 July 1945, FRUS, 1945, V, 91–2; see also memorandum (Joint Chiefs of Staff), 23 July 1945, ibid., 96–7; about the Scandinavian reaction to potential Soviet and American military bases in the Nordic countries, see Eriksen, ‘Svalbard 1944–1947’, 109–37; idem, ‘Great Britain and the Problem of Bases’, 135–63; and Pharo, ‘The Cold War’, 171–4.
9 Letter from Warner to Hollis, 23 September 1945, FO 371/47481, N12597/1004/27 (No. 28).
10 Letter from Warner to Hollis, 23 September 1945, FO 371/47481, N12597/1004/27 (No. 28).
11 Minute from Bevin to Attlee, 27 September 1945, FO 371/47482, N2117/1004/27 (No. 33).
12 Memorandum from Dreyfus to State Department, 24 August 1945, RG 84, Box 4, NA; memorandum from Dean Acheson to Dreyfus, 14 September 1945, RG 84, Box 4, NA; see also Whitehead, ‘Leiðin frá hlutleysi’, 68–9; idem, ‘Lýðveldi og herstöðvar’, 143–7; Johannessen, Ólafur Thors, 7–43; and Gröndal, Örlög Íslands, 104–5.
13 Memorandum from Louis G. Dreyfus to Secretary of State, 18 and 19 September 1945, RG 84, Box 4, NA; memorandum from Dreyfus to State Department, 1 October 1945, RG 84, Box 4, NA.
14 Memorandum for the Secretary of War and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 19 July 1945, RG 218, Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Geographic File, 1942–1945, Box 94, Folder: CCS 660.2 Iceland (8–20–43), Section I, NA; see also Whitehead, ‘Lýðveldi og herstöðvar’, 127–8.
15 On British post-war strategic planning, see Lewis, Changing Directions.
16 Memorandum from Bevin on United States Request for Bases in Iceland, 30 October 1945, FO 371/47483, TNA.
17 Joint Minute by Reconstruction and Northern Departments on American Demand for Bases in Iceland, 18 October 1945, FO 371/47483, N14664/1004/27 (No. 37).
18 Joint Minute by Reconstruction and Northern Departments on American Demand for Bases in Iceland, 18 October 1945, FO 371/47483, N14664/1004/27 (No. 37).
19 See memorandum, ‘Allied Forces in Iceland’, 10 August 1945, contained in a cable from the British Admiralty to the US State Department, 23 August 1945, FO 371/47486, TNA; see also memorandum (M. L. Clarke), 28 September 1945, FO 371/47486, TNA; memorandum for the British Joint Chiefs of Staff, 17 October 1945, FO 371/47483, TNA.
20 Memorandum from Dreyfus to Secretary of State, 17 May 1945, RG 218, Records of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Geographic File, 1942–1945, Box 94, Folder: CCS 660.2 Iceland (8–20–43), NA; memorandum from John H. Morgan to H. Freeman Matthews, 11 June 1945, RG 59, Box 6506, 859A.00/6–1145, NA; memorandum from Dreyfus to Secretary of State, 5 March 1945, RG 263, Records of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Murphy Collection on International Communism, 1917–1958, Iceland, Box 128, NA.
21 See Johannessen, Ólafur Thors, vol. 2, 29; see also memorandum of discussion, Dreyfus and Ólafur Thors, 20 October 1945, RG 84, Box 4, NA.
22 Memorandum from Dreyfus to Secretary of State, 18 October 1945, RG 263, Records of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Murphy Collection on International Communism, 1917–1958, Iceland, Box 128, NA; see also telegram from Shepherd to Foreign Office, 31 October 1945, FO 371/47483, TNA.
23 Executive Committee Minutes 12, 30 October 1945, Skjalasafn Framsóknarflokksins [Political Archives of the Progressive Party] (Reykjavik); see also memorandum from Averell Harriman to Secretary of State, 17 October 1945, FRUS, 1945, vol. V, 99; memorandum from US Ambassador (Oslo) to Secretary of State, 24 October 1945, FRUS, 1945, vol. V, 99–100; memorandum of conversation, Hugh S. Cumming and de Kauffmann, 22 October 1945, FRUS, 1945, vol. IV, 579–80; memorandum for General George A. Lincoln, 22 October 1945, RG 165, Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, Top Secret American–British–Canadian Correspondence, 1940–1948, Box 623, NA; memorandum of conversation, Hugh Cumming and Tor Hugo Wistrand, 12 October 1945, RG 59, Box 6506, 859A.20/1O-1245, NA; telegram from Shepherd to Foreign Office, 29 October 1945, FO 371/47483, TNA.
24 Johannessen, Ólafur Thors, vol. 2, 32–42; Report, ‘Chronology Iceland Base Proposals’, 18 April 1946, RG 84, Box 5, NA; memorandum from Dreyfus to Secretary of State, 8 and 10 November 1945, RG 263, Records of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Murphy Collection on International Communism, 1917–1958, Iceland, Box 128, NA; memorandum from Ólafur Thors to Thor Thors, 13 November 1945, Records of the Embassy in Washington, 1990 B/134, Þjóðskjalasafn Íslands (Icelandic National Archives) [INA] (Reykjavik); Whitehead, ‘Lýðveldi og herstöðvar’, 45.
25 Memorandum from Bevin on United States Request for Bases in Iceland, 30 October 1945, FO 371/47483, TNA.
26 Telegram from Shepherd to Foreign Office, 30 October 1945, FO 371/47483, TNA.
27 Memorandum, Foreign Office, 4 November 1945, FO 371/47483, TNA.
28 Memorandum Foreign Office, 10 November 1945, FO 371/47483, TNA.
29 Memorandum by Ward, 11 November 1945, FO 371/47483, TNA.
30 Telegram from Halifax to Foreign Office, 6 December 1945, FO 371/47483, TNA.
31 Text of oral communication, no date [1945], FO 371/56253, TNA.
32 Report by the Joint Planning Staff of the Chief of Staff Committee, 9 December 1945, FO 371/47483, TNA.
33 Memorandum, Foreign Office, 5 January 1946, FO 371/56251, TNA.
34 See Útsýn, 15 October 1945; see also Tíminn, 6 and 30 November 1945; Vísir, 27 October 1945.
35 Memorandum by Clarke, 14 February 1945, FO 371/47484, TNA.
36 Record by Warr of a meeting with Shepherd and Hankey, 10 April 1946, FO 371/71479, N11775/165227 (No. 58).
37 Memorandum from American Embassy (Moscow) to State Department, 3 February 1946, RG 59, Box 6507, 859.A. 20/2–346, NA; see also memorandum from Dreyfus to State Department, 4 February 1946, RG 59, Box 6506, 859.A. 20/2–446, NA; telegram from Shepherd to Foreign Office, 11 February 1946, FO 371/56251, TNA.
38 Report, ‘Wallace says US Force Should Quit Iceland Base’, RG 165, Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, Top Secret American–British–Canadian Correspondence, 1940–1948, Folder: ABC (6 Nov 43), Section 18, Box 623, NA; memorandum from J. E. Hull to Army Chief of Operations, 10 April 1946, RG 165, Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, Top Secret American–British–Canadian Correspondence, 1940–1948, Folder: ABC (6 Nov 43), Section 18, Box 623, NA.
39 Memorandum for J. E. Hull, 10 April 1946, RG 165, Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, Top Secret American–British–Canadian Correspondence, 1940–1948, Folder: ABC (6 Nov 43), Section 18, Box 623, NA; Report, ‘Military Requirements in Iceland’, 15 April 1946, RG 165, Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, Top Secret American–British–Canadian Correspondence, 1940–1948, Folder: ABC (6 Nov 43), Section 18, Box 623, NA; memorandum from James Byrnes to US Embassy (Reykjavik), 19 April 1946, RG 165, Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, Top Secret American–British–Canadian Correspondence, 1940–1948, Folder: ABC (6 Nov 43), Section 18, Box 623, NA; memorandum of conversation, Dreyfus and Ólafur Thors, 26 April 1946, RG 84, Box 5, NA; Harry E. Carlson to Secretary of State, 30 April 1946, RG 84, Box 5, NA; memorandum from D. D. Maclean to C. F. A. Warner, 15 May 1946, FO 371/56252, TNA.
40 Telegram from Shepherd to Foreign Office, 26 September 1946, FO 371/56253, TNA.
41 Telegram from Shepherd to Foreign Office, 30 September 1946, FO 371/56253, TNA.
42 Telegram from Washington to Foreign Office, 25 September 1946, FO 371/56253, TNA.
43 Telegram from Cadogan to Bevin, 13 October 1949, FO 1110/254, PR3086/64/913 (No. 196).
44 Letter from Baxter to Bateman, 26 January 1948, FO 371/71479, N1775/1652/27 (No. 109).
45 Ólafsson, Kæru félagar, 143–4.
46 Memorandum from Kenneth Byrns to Secretary of State, 21 July 1948, RG 263, Records of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Murphy Collection on International Communism, 1917–1958, Iceland, Box 128, NA.
47 Memorandum for the Chief of Planning and Operations, 18 February 1948, RG 341, Air Force – Plans Projects Decimal File, Box 837, NA; Report of Survey Flight to Air Bases in Iceland, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, 17 March 1948, RG 341, Air Force – Plans Projects Decimal File, Box 837, NA; memorandum, ‘Conference Regarding Extension of Runways in Iceland’, 21 July 1948, RG 341, Air Force – Plans Projects Decimal File, Box 837, NA; memorandum from Richard Butrick to Francis Cunningham, 16 and 26 August 1948, RG 84, Box 10, NA; memorandum from Robert Lovett to James Forrestal, 19 January 1949, RG 341, Air Force – Plans Projects Decimal File, Box 837, NA.
48 Memorandum from Butrick to Hickerson, ‘Operations in Iceland’, 18 August 1948, RG 341, Air Force – Plans Projects Decimal File, Box 833, NA.
49 Memorandum of conversation, Bjarni Benediktsson and Richard Butrick, 7 December 1948, Records of the Embassy in Washington, NATO 1948–1952, B-135, Folder: December 1948–December 1950, 8.A.2, INA; memorandum from Thor Thors to Bjarni Benediktsson, 8 January 1949, Records of the Embassy in Washington, NATO 1948–1952, B-135, Folder: December 1948–December 1950, 8.A.2, INA; Benediktsson, Utanríkismál Íslands, 42.
50 Memorandum of a conversation, Bjarni Benediktsson and Gustav Rasmussesn, 27 January 1948, Records of the Embassy in Washington, NATO 1948–1952, B-135, Folder: December 1948–December 1950, 8.A.2, INA; Memorandum of a conversation, Bjarni Benediktsson and Halvard Lange, 28 January 1948, Records of the Embassy in Washington, NATO 1948–1952, B-135, Folder: December 1948–December 1950, 8.A.2, INA.
51 Minutes between Bateman, Jebb and Sargent, 9 February 1949, FO 371/77398, N1473/1073/63G (No. 182). See also Stefánsson, Minningar, vol. 2, 47–8.
52 Telegram from Thornton to Bevin, 4 April 1949, FO 371/77402, N3868/1075/63, (No. 192).
53 ‘Trylltur skríll ræðst á Alþingi’, Morgunblaðið, 31 March 1949.
54 Guðlaugsson and Jónsson, 30. mars, 139–41; see also Benediktsson, Saga þín er saga vor, 227–8.
55 See memorandum from George Kennan to Sidney W. Souers, 23 June 1949, Records of the Policy Planning Staff, 1947–1953, Lot 64D 563, Box 18, NA; see also Report, ‘The Position of the United States with Respect to Iceland in the Event of an Internal Communist Coup D'Etat or Threat thereof’, 22 June 1949, Records of the Policy Planning Staff, 1947–1953, Lot 64D 563, Box 18, NA; memorandum from George Butler to William J. McWilliams, 15 June 1949, Records of the Policy Planning Staff, 1947–1953, Lot 64D 563, Box 18, NA.
56 Memorandum, 30 January 1950, RG 341, Air Force – Plans Projects Decimal File, Box 833, NA; see also ‘Report by the Joint Strategic Plans Committee’, 20 March 1950, RG 341, Air Force – Plans Projects Decimal File, Box 833, NA; Report, ‘Extract from Operation Dualism’, January 1950, Air Force, Atomic Warfare, Declassified. USA-Documents/Operations. Assistant for Atomic Energy, NA; Duke, ‘US Basing in Britain. 1945–1960’, 122–3; Ross and Rosenberg, America's Plans for War Against the Soviet Union, 164.
57 See NSC Meeting Minutes, 4 August 1949, President's Secretary's File, National Security Council Meetings, Folder: NSC Meeting No. 44, Box 206, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library (HSTL); see also memorandum for the president, 5 August 1949, President's Secretary's File, National Security Council Meetings, Folder: NSC Meeting No. 44, Box 206, HSTL; ‘A Report to the National Security Council on the Position of the United States with Respect to United States and North Atlantic Security Interests in Iceland’ (NSC 40/1), 4 August 1949, President's Secretary's File, National Security Council Meetings, Folder: NSC Meeting No. 44, Box 206, HSTL; memorandum, ‘Tactical Air Command’, 17 May 1949, President's Secretary's File, National Security Council Meetings, Folder: NSC Meeting No. 44, Box 206, HSTL.
58 See Stueck, Rethinking the Korean War; Foot, A Substitute for Victory.
59 The truth did not become known until after the end of the Cold War. As Kathryn Weathersby has shown, it was Kim Il Sung, not Stalin, who was behind the military action, even if he did not undertake it without Soviet approval. See Weathersby, ‘Korea, 1949–50’, 1–9; see also Gaddis, We Now Know, 70–84.
60 Memorandum from Etherington-Smith, 3 August 1950, FO 371/86501, TNA.
61 Telegram from Baxter to Foreign Office, 16 July 1950, FO371/86501, TNA.
62 See memorandum from US Embassy (Reykjavik) to State Department, 1 July 1950, RG 59, Box 3502, 7408.00/7–150, NA; see also memorandum from US Embassy (Reykjavik) to Secretary of State, 26 June 1950, 740B. 22/6–2750, NA; memorandum from US Embassy (Reykjavik) to State Department 6 July 1950, 740B. 00/7–550, NA; memorandum (Bjarni Benediktsson), 4, 5 and 14 July; 14 August 1950, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Historical Collection, Defence and NATO, 1950–1951, Box 15, INA; memorandum from Thor Thors to Foreign Ministry, 10 and 13 July 1950, Records of the Embassy in Washington, NATO 1948–1952, B/135, INA; telegram from C. W. Harrison to C. R. Price, 17 July 1950, FO 371/86501, TNA.
63 Memorandum from Harrison, 20 July 1951, FO 371/86501, TNA.
64 Telegram from Baxter to Foreign Office, 1 August 1950, FO 371/86499, TNA.
65 Telegram from Franks to Foreign Office, 1 August 1950, FO 371/86501, TNA.
66 Memorandum from Franks to Foreign Office, 15 August 1950, FO 371/86501, TNA.
67 Memorandum from Etherington-Smith, 3 August 1950, FO 371/86501, TNA.
68 Telegram from Baxter to Bevin, 15 August 1950, FO 371/86501, NL1022/63086/6 (No. 208).
69 Memorandum from Etherington-Smith, 19 August 1950, FO 371/86501, TNA.
70 Telegram from Foreign Office to Oslo, 24 August 1950, FO 371/86501, TNA.
71 Telegram from Oslo to Foreign Office, 25 August 1950, FO 371/86501, TNA.
72 Telegram from Oslo to Foreign Office, 25 August 1950, FO 371/86501, TNA.
73 See Ingimundarson, Í eldlínu kalda stríðsins, 203–9.
74 Telegram from Oslo to Foreign Office, 7 September 1950, FO 371/86501, TNA.
75 Memorandum from Sloss, 22 March 1951, FO 371/96517, TNA.
76 Lundestad, ‘Empire by Invitation?’, 263–77.
77 Telegram from Foreign Office to Reykjavik, 8 February 1945, FO 371/47484, TNA.
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