„to ‚protect’ iceland“: die britische okkupation islands im zweiten weltkrieg

During World War II Iceland was one of the few nations occupied by Western allied forces. On May the 10th 1940 British Royal Marines landed in Reykjavík to present a fait accompli to the Icelandic government, which had turned down earlier British requests for cooperation and thus provision of naval sites for the British navy. The historian Donald F. Bittner came to the conclusion that the decision to land British forces in Iceland was made under the impression, based on pre-war and war intelligence conducted by British services and experiences in Scandinavia, that the Germans might strike in Iceland. On these grounds in addition to own strategically needs, the British diplomatic and military services were committed to forestall a German coup and pressed for the occupation of Iceland. In this article the decision-making process that led to the British action is reassessed. As a result Bittner's conclusion is challenged. This article argues that the threat of an imminent German attack and occupation of Iceland was manufactured solely to justify the British military occupation of Iceland for British military strategic purposes.