NationStates Jolt Archive

For those of you who haven’t heard, there is a war brewing in the north. Like many wars, it involves a dispute over land. The land in question this time is Hans Island, a miniscule piece of real estate in the Arctic Sea. Hans has no known use, although there is an outside chance there may be mineral deposits on it. The word “diamonds” has been used by the media.
Who are the protagonists in this war? The noble states squaring off against each other to do battle over little Hans? Who else but those two giants of the north, those ever combative empire builders: Canada and Denmark.
That’s right. Canada and Denmark are squabling over a worthless chunk of rock in the middle of nowhere. I personally find this kind of funny, but I guess the diplomats are taking it pretty seriously. Canada’s defense minister, Bill Graham (not to be confused with the evangelist of the same name), recently flew out to Hans in a helicopter and set foot on it to claim it as Canada’s. Denmark called this action “occupation”. Submarines have been spotted in and around the arctic waters near Hans. Are they Danish? Canadian? Or is some other nation trying to muscle in on Hans? Taste the intrigue . . .
So I was wondering if there are any Danes on this forum who might want to discuss this issue. What’s your side of the story? I’m Canadian, and have only heard about the “war” through the Canadian media. Maybe we can try to patch things up between our two nations.

It can't be too bad, they continue to leave bottles of liquor for each other under their respective flags. You'll know there's a problem when they re-fill them with rat poison.

So far it's just some ceremonial flag planting, as near as I can tell. But on a serious note, it could develop into a grave matter since international fishing limits and oil rights are at stake. Does anyone have a sense of the economic value involved? I have seen nothing in print regarding this, just speculation.

Please see here for a fairly long thread on this subject:
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=434413

... the diplomats are taking it pretty seriously.
At least it keeps them off the streets and out of trouble. Hey! It's all good, baby! :D

Denmark might do well just to cede the stupid little rock. It has no impact Denmark's territorial integrity or of the sovereignty of Denmark proper. This isn't too unlike the Grand Banks East coast fishery dispute with Portugal and although this was in international waters, it did involve some Portuguese fishing boats being confiscated or being shot at.

lol, war isn't funny, but i cant help but laugh at the idea of a war between Denmark and Canada.. cause lets face it, who would help canada? (im not American before anyone says it, im british)

Great Britain can pay its WWII debt. That would be a start. :)

Great Britain can pay its WWII debt. That would be a start. :)

hahahahahahahahahaha *wipes eyes*

its a fat chance the US will get that money, Britain barely has enough money to keep our own country running at the moment, our NHS is collapsing, our jobs are vanishing, and the country is slowly grinding to a halt

Satan will be frozen solid the day we can afford to give the US its money back :p

(i just realised, we owe canada money? yeah...right :p) we will give it back in bombs... supporting Denmark)

Really? In a fight between Denmark and Canada Britain would support the Danes? Would they cheer "For Queen and Country" while fighting against a nation that is (nominally) under the same Queen?

Really? In a fight between Denmark and Canada Britain would support the Danes? Would they cheer "For Queen and Country" while fighting against a nation that is (nominally) under the same Queen?

More than likely yes, Denmark is part of the European Union and that bit of island is technically under danish rule currently, so if Canada went to war over it, Denmark would by international law be in the right, and because of the EU and the fact we have always had good relations with Denmark, its possible the UK would throw canada out of the commonwealth, and quite likely declare war on them.

i think the real question at hand here is: who will the swedish military might support?
:confused:

Either that or remain completely neutral, it depends how far the canadians went in the conflict, if they threatened Danish soil then Britain would "throw down the gauntlet" so to speak

The swedish military would send its 3 soldiers to a danish ship somewhere :p

More than likely yes, Denmark is part of the European Union and that bit of island is technically under danish rule currently, so if Canada went to war over it, Denmark would by international law be in the right, and because of the EU and the fact we have always had good relations with Denmark, its possible the UK would throw canada out of the commonwealth, and quite likely declare war on them.

Wow. And I thought war between Canada and Denmark would be weird. Britain Vs. Canada would be bizarre. I wonder if France would support Canada because of the Quebecers? What if this scuffle over Hans led to another war between French and English, with Canada in the middle?

lol world war 3 breaking out over a rock in the middle of an ocean somewhere.

England VS France again... that would be extremely strange, and kinda creepy (not to mention bloody)

LOL i have a mental image of George Bush scratching his head and thinking "What the fuck? a war? and were not invited?!"

Yeah, we won't let the Americans into WW III, no matter how much they beg.

Yeah, we won't let the Americans into WW III, no matter how much they beg.

lol i think if the UK and Canada ended up at war it would finally FINALLY be the excuse america needed to get that shiny 51st State they have wanted for a long time... *grin*

:D

This is where our Grade-A American nukes come into play.

Nuke the island.

Poof! No more island to work with!

(Or at the very least Monaco can come in and claim the island and piss the crap out of everyone)

i think the real question at hand here is: who will the swedish military might support?
:confused:

Ha ha... who knows?!

Anyway, Denmark must act to preserve this territory in order to avoid the Greenlanders getting very angry at Copenhagen and thus increase their calling for independence. If Denmark didn't oppose Canada's movement into Hans island the Greenlandic homerule government in Godthåb and the Greenlanders in general (especially those that are pro-independence) would be able to say things such as "Denmark doesn't care about us; Copenhagen ignores Greenland's interests etc etc". That is the real reason that Denmark must oppose Canada - internal politics, not because it has some real use for this rock.

Never-the-less, from my neutral perspective, it is Danish territory more than it is Canadian territory.

I think Canadians also have a political motive in claiming Hans island as being part of Canada. Canada are very keen to ensure that their sovereignity is recognised over their inland waterways in the north. This is because their southern neighbour USA has refused to recognise this in the past. If Canada ignores Hans island then the USA could more easily claim that Canada's not interested in actively having sovereignity over their inland and outland waters in the Artic - this would then weaken Canada's sovereignity claims.

So - in reality, I believe neither country are deeply concerned about the territory of Hans island itself. It's all about realpolitik.