Why weren't the Faroe Islands ever conquered by Britain?
Upvote:5
The foreign policy of most north European countries, including Britain (and Norway), was directed south, that is to warmer climes. Most European countries neglected (or were blindsided by) regions to the north of them. England's interests lay in France, the Low Countries, Germany, the Mediterranean, and even New England and the 13 colonies, all of which are south (though New England is colder than England because of the Labrador current).
The Faroes were far north, north of Scotland, the northern reaches of which were barely part of Britain. They didn't figure as part of British geography.
Although technically under Danish rule, the Faroes actually belonged to Norway (also under Danish rule). The Faroes were important (and aspirational) to the Norwegians because they were south of most of Norway. Ditto for Iceland and Greenland that were originally settled by Norwegians, although technically under Danish rule.
After the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark was punished in 1814 (by Britain among others), by having Norway proper (Denmark's richest overseas possession) taken from her and given to Sweden (an ally against Napoleon). That done, Britain didn't see the need to punish Denmark further by taking the Faroes, Iceland, or Greenland from her.
This was true even though Norway and Denmark were part of a "personal union.". Still the treaty of Kiel in 1814 transferred Norway, but not the Faroe islands, from Danish to Swedish rule.
Upvote:20
Britain never saw a compelling reason to take them. On the other hand, the Faroes were strategic to Denmark, because of their supply route to Iceland and Greenland. So it was probably the fact that other countries wanted the islands much more.
Wikipedia – History of the Faroe Islands
The first settlers in the Faroe Islands were Celts and Norse. Henry I Sinclair, a Scottish nobleman, married into the Norwegian royal family and took over the islands. In the 1500s, Norway had to drive off British adventurers from the island. The island eventually had problems with pirates and merchant power struggles and maybe wasn't an attractive place for England to conquer.
Wikipedia – Timeline of Faroese history
After going into exile, Christian II offers the Faroes and Iceland to Henry VIII of England as collateral for a loan. Henry denies. Historians believe this saved the two countries from losing their languages, as it happened with the Norn language in Shetland and Orkney.
So England had a chance to take the islands- they simply weren't interested.
Travellerspoint - Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands were associated with Norway and remained so even after the more southerly Shetlands and Orkneys were firmly established as part of Scotland. When Norway fell under Denmark, the Faroe Islands did as well. During the Napoleonic wars, Great Britain occupied Denmark to keep out the French. Denmark entered the war on Napoleon’s side and their Nordic rival, Sweden, then joined the anti-French coalition. Losers do lose and Denmark had to cede Norway to Sweden. The Faroe Islands were left behind with Denmark, as were Greenland and Iceland.
So even when Britain defeated Denmark, it didn't want the Faroes. Also, the UK occupied the islands during WW2.
Overall it seems like other people wanted the Faroes more than the UK did, and thus, it never took the islands for itself.
As for your question about Iceland and Greenland, it's a very good one. Greenland is expensive and irrational to colonise. Iceland was willing to put up with Norway exploiting it, perhaps in exchange for protection for its fishing industry against the British.
More post
- 📝 What was the fastest coal-powered ship in a country's navy?
- 📝 Has there ever been a serious effort to reform the US Electoral College system?
- 📝 Can Alexander III of Macedon's success be attributed to good logistics management?
- 📝 What does "MET HLS INDIA" inscribed on a bottom of brass sugar bowl mean?
- 📝 Why do the Japanese sing Ode to Joy during the Japanese New Year?
- 📝 Who was Mathilda von Merckens and which was her castle?
- 📝 What is the earliest recorded female name in history?
- 📝 What unknown laws were mentioned in earlier Coronation Oaths of England?
- 📝 How did Swiss neutrality affect WW2?
- 📝 Are there any shorter works approaching the breadth of Durant's "The Story of Civilization"?
- 📝 What was the reason for the Dutch attack on Venezuela in 1908?
- 📝 When did London newspapers start to use typewriters in their offices?
- 📝 Military capacity of Turkey during the Cuban missile crisis (1962)?
- 📝 What is the origin of the Arabs in pre-Islamic Yemen and Arabia?
- 📝 During the 1850’s and 60’s, was the free North (and its cause in the U.S. Civil War) considered more virtuous than the slave-holding South?
- 📝 Why do more historians state Rome was a superpower, than Persia?
- 📝 What events or situations of WW1 led to a Nazi fascination with Anglo-Saxon powers?
- 📝 What was the earliest knitted sweater?
- 📝 What was the experience level of officers during the American Civil war?
- 📝 Which was the last pitched battle fought by Western powers?
- 📝 Why didn’t the U.S. annex the entire Spanish East Indies at the end of the Spanish-American War?
- 📝 What was Shakespeare's motive to make Richard III seem like a villain?
- 📝 Which US Presidents travelled around the world?
- 📝 What motivated revolutionary France to declare war on Britain in 1793?
- 📝 Why is USS Saratoga (CV3) nicknamed "Sara Maru"?
- 📝 Does US law permit spending taxpayers' money to support foreign political parties?
- 📝 When was King Alfred first called 'Alfred the Great'?
- 📝 Do we know anything in detail about the effect of the black death on Sub-Saharan Africa?
- 📝 What symbolism is incorporated in this illustration for a book by Riccati?
- 📝 What was the first country to have an electoral college?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why weren't the Faroe Islands ever conquered by Britain?
- 📝 Why did Britain and France not declare war against the Soviet Union when it invaded Poland in WW2?
- 📝 Why didn't Great Britain give the colonies voting rights?
- 📝 Why were the West African islands uninhabited?
- 📝 Why could China keep most of the lands it conquered after 17th century but European powers could not?
- 📝 Why did the USA invade Okinawa instead of one of the many other islands in southern Japan
- 📝 Why did Churchill become the PM of Britain during WWII instead of Lord Halifax?
- 📝 Why did Latin disappear so completely in Britain after the Romans left?
- 📝 Why wasn't the Free City of Lübeck ever restored?
- 📝 Did the Welsh ever call Britain Albion?
- 📝 Why did Britain object to the Ottomans bringing its ships-of-the-line against Russia in the beginning of the Crimean War?
- 📝 Why Antarctica was never conquered before the advent of the modern men?
- 📝 Why did Robert E. Lee say that George McClellan was the best general he ever faced?
- 📝 Why do people say, "Alexander the Great conquered the world?"
- 📝 Why did the US have a plan for the event of war against Britain in the 1920s?
- 📝 Why did the price of eggs in Britain increase much more than for other basic foods during WWI?
- 📝 Why in the 70s and 80s was the United Kingdom called Great Britain in the international naming conventions?
- 📝 Why did Black and Asian immigrants from the Empire not come to Britain in substantial numbers until after WW2?
- 📝 Why did any slaves or former slaves choose to fight against Britain in the Revolutionary War?
- 📝 Why did Filipinos form the guards of the Ever Victorious Army?
- 📝 After the First Opium war, Why didn't Britain demand large amounts of territory from China?
- 📝 Have the Arabs ever conquered Kayseri?
- 📝 Why is Britain the only country called "perfidious"?
- 📝 Why did the USA ever test nukes on their own soil?
- 📝 Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
- 📝 Why did Native Americans die from European diseases while Europeans didn't catch serious diseases from the New World?
- 📝 Did Adolf Hitler ever address the fact that his own appearance was almost an exact opposite of what he considered the ideal Aryan appearance?
- 📝 Why did the Confederacy think they could win the American Civil War?
- 📝 Why did archery not make a comeback when armor was phased out in the 18th century?
- 📝 Why was Poland spared from the Black Death?