Much recent debate has focused on the modern militarization of the Arctic and subarctic regions. Journalism and scholarship also question whether there could be a military conflict, how peace could be preserved and what kind of war in the Arctic would look like. The 2021 series of conflicts of the Arctic Institute provides an insight into past militarisation and military activities — seeking both a historical context and lessons learned for modern Arctic politics. apartments for sale
Arctic State Conflict history and future (Intro)
Fisheries Disputes: Real Arctic conflict potential
Environmental Détente: What can we learn from the Cold War to manage the Arctic and climate crises today?
When President Donald J. Trump confirmed in 2019 that he intended to purchase Greenland, European leaders looked at it with concern and amusement. There were many reasons why Trump's immobilization was flawed: not least because Groenland is a pride in the sovereign Kingdom of Denmark and most clearly "not for sale." 1) However, it is understandable why the president found this idea attractive. Greenland is geographically important for the US and has been located between North America and Europe for a long time. This meant that Greenland was caught between the US and its German enemy eighty years ago. Greenland is today sitting between the United States and its Russian enemy. Greenland is becoming increasingly important in an increasingly warming, active and re-militarised Arctic – in which Russian militancy and controversial Chinese economic invasion frustrate American and European allies. There are in fact lessons to be drawn from Greenland's role in the Second World War.
The War of Weather
The weather has always been an important element in war, from stormy seas and gales to dangerous storms and dense fog. When it is too choppy, landings cannot take place: if the cloud cover is too thick, the bombing will not be as exact; if it floods it may be cut off from the supply lines; and, of course, you may not want to invade Russia, if the winter is extremely hard. For this reason it is important and valued to be able to reliably predict the weather in times of conflict. During the Second World War, that was no different. From the D-Day landing to the Hiroshima bombing, weather forecasting played a direct role in the achievement of military efficiency and mission goals. 2)
The importance of Greenland as a strategically important information collection hub is highlighted here. From a meteorological point of view, Greenland is a breeding ground for the storms in Western Europe. In the turbulent period between 1939 and 1945, the warring nations did not lose that fact: any weather station or patrol vessels able to support the tough and impassioned Arctic would become vital early warning stations for informing military planners of unhealthy weather. 3)
It is odd to think about what was essentially common information to civilians before the war and was subject to censorship and confidentiality. However, this information was 'prized intel' and could have helped Axis authorities to plan operations. It could also have provided them with an additional tool in their windows assessments for allied operations. Fortunately the weather information nodes of the Nazi Germany were greatly reduced for the allies as the outbreak of the war led them to rely largely on weather reports from Allied countries prior to the outbreak of war. 4) The allies had to keep Nazi forces from the Arctic and from Greenland in order to maintain this meteorological advantage.
A map of German weather activities in the Arctic between 1940 and 1945
Blyth, J. Blyth, J. (1951)
German meteorological activity In the Arctic between 1940 and 1945 with German weather patrols from the airfields of Værnes and Banak.
It's difficult to overestimate how important the weather was for the allies. The RAF commands were reliant on meteorological advice for all their planning and operations, especially the RAF Bomber and Coastal Command. It was also important to estimate agricultural production in Britain because the country was rationed. In addition, the timing of Normandy landings in 1944 was one of the most important contributions made by meteorologists to the allied war effort. The landing parameters were determined by favorable conditions for moon and tide on just three specific summer days, 5, 6 and 7 June. 5) The information provided by weather stations at Greenland was crucial to ensure that the allies had the exact right time, time and weather for the crossing. The bad weather and the harsh seas would have been catastrophic for allied forces and small landing craft to cross the enhanced beaches. Overall, for these reasons there was a secret 'Weather War,' which the allies sought to maintain their advantage in the Arctic, and in particular in Greenland.
The Storm of Coming: 1939-1941
Greenland is a vast island at 2,166,086 sq km. The coastline is "longer than the Earth's distance on the equator" at more than 27,000 miles. In addition to the tough weather and the difficult terrain in the Arctic, its sheer size makes Greenland difficult to patrol reliably and fully throughout the year. Therefore, the British and the Americans were continuously concerned during the Second World War that the Germans could operate underground by setting up both manned and automatic weather stations along the east coast of Greenland. This concern was not unreasonable.
By April 1941, President Roosevelt extended the US neutrality zone to Greenland and the Azores, allowing the US Navy to patrol the western Atlantic and broadcast German boat locations to the British.
6) Although at this point the United States was not officially at war with Germany, there was the confrontation best described as "below the threshold of war." As a result, the United States has tried, in cooperation with the allied powers, to deny German efforts in North Atlantic and Greenland to work effectively.
In the United States, it was not without problems to decide how to reduce the flow of meteorological information to Germany. Despite Denmark's Nazi occupation from 1940, Greenland was still a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. As a result, the politically difficult issue of some weather stations on the eastern coast of Greenland still transmitted data back to Denmark, but also to Norway that was also occupied. The stations were operated by Danish and Norwegian crews, and were therefore apparently controlled by Danes. However, because of the occupation, their loyalty seems to have been severely in doubt. As JDM Blyth, historian, explained not long after the war;
"[...] weather reporting from Danish weather stations in East Greenland in Angmagssalik, Scoresbysund, Ella Ø and Mørkefjord and from Norwegian stations in Myggbukta and in southeastern Greenland, in Torgilsbu continued, even after the German occupation of Denmark or Norway. The problem presented to the countries in war was a delicacy; who maintained these stations and to whom were they to send reports?" 7)
The Germans had attempted to capture the stations early in the war, but the Danish and Norwegian ships chartered to ferry them from the East Coast of Grenland to Greenland in less noticeable manner were intercepted by the British. Good sharing of information between the UK, Canada and the USA was essential to detecting German efforts to establish these weather stations and ensuring that Germans were constantly pressured in the region. Germany lacked reliable and consistent Arctic metrological reports as a result of these efforts. 8)
Surprisingly, however, several German weather stations were set up on the island and a new plan was put in place to counter the German presence. It was between the United States and the local government of Greenland under Eske Brun in the summer of 1941 that a joint, allied group was to be established, the Northeast Greenland Sledge Patrol, which was one of the world's first special forces for cold weather. The unit comprised about 10-15 people from Denmark, Greenland and Norway, who knew the ground and wanted to defeat the Germans.
Their core task was to operate as a long-range recognition unit to detect any German incursions. When they found themselves hidden in hidden bases, they would relay that information back to the U.S. Army Air Force to targeted and destroy the site of the Germans in Iceland or Bluie East Two (located in the Ikateq Fjord in Greenland). 9) One of the largest manned German weather stations, for example, was a codename called "Holzauge" and was established in Hansa Bay at the end of August 1942.
To the surprise of its allies, and maybe of its Germans, this remained unrecognized until 11 March 1943 when the Greenland Sledge Patrol revealed it. 10) The German patrol from "Holzauge" took part in what was the first confrontation in Greenland in the Sledge Patrol, where a Dane had been murdered.