Had a Cold War sales pitch worked out differently , Greenland just might have become an American territory .
In 1946 , this Arctic island looked like red - live real estate to Pentagon strategists . From her shores , spy could safely supervise Atlantic - rebound Soviet vessels . Plus , post troops would likely discern any incoming missiles and discourage the mainland from afar . Clearly , America needed to set up a few foundation there .
But one minor trouble presented itself : At the time , Greenland was a colony of Denmark and menage to or so 600 Danish citizen . Would the Danes intellect parting with it ?
Not if the Leontyne Price was right — or so thought the U.S. State Department .
“ [ There ] are few people in Denmark who have any real interest in Greenland,”wroteEuropean affair official William C. Trimble . succeeding diplomatist John Hickersonreportedthat “ practically every single [ section honcho ] … said that our real objective as regard to Greenland should be to get it by purchase from Denmark . "
Shortly thereafter , an offer was made . At a U.N. meeting , Danish Foreign Minister Gustav Rasmussen met with James F. Byrnes — Truman ’s Secretary of State — anddiscussedthe subject . What happened next is ill-defined . Denmark ’s government either formally freeze off this bid or ignored it in all . In any effect , this effortfailed , and the U.S. made no further attempt to learn Greenland . However , thanks to a 1951 NATOtreaty , American bases wound up getting built on the island anyway , one of which remains the nation’snorthernmost :
But what if Byrnes ’ offer had been swallow ? assume Greenland ever became a proper state , it ’d currently be both America’slargest(at 1.26 times the sizing of Alaska ) and herleast - populous(with a scant 56,370 residents ) . Nickname - wise , mayhap we could go with “ The Leif Erickson State . ” Just a thought .
This post in the first place look in 2014 .
