Ný saga - 01.01.1995, Page 108

Summaries
rhetoric, the Icelanders accused the mer-
chants of insufferable monopolistic trading
practices and demanded an unshackled for-
eign trade. They even hinted that an un-
changed situation could lead to revolt. Not
only was the petition sent directly to the King
but it was also published in Copenhagen. The
petition aroused great anger in government
circles. All demands concerning improve-
ments in the conditions of the Iceland trade
were flatly refused and the signatories, who
included most senior Crown officials in
Iceland, were severely reprimanded by their
King.
Eggert Þór Bernharðsson
Twentieth Century Architecture
in Reykjavík
(Að byggja sér veldi)
The article discusses the development of
Icelandic architecture in the 1950s and ‘60s
and how it is linked to general social devel-
opment during the post-war period in
Iceland. The Great Depression quickly came
to an end with the onset of World War II, and
the increased wealth of the Icelanders during
the war manifested itself in nouveau-riche
tendencies in, among other things, architec-
ture. These tendencies were also linked to the
transition from an agricultural to an urban
society in Iceland.
The capital, Reykjavík, was at the fore-
front of urbanisation and there the new bour-
geois element was strongest. Yet, Iceland had
no urban architectural tradition on which to
build, and there were not many trained archi-
tects to turn to. This meant that many tried
their hand at designing and drawing of plans
which in turn created a motley collection of
buildings which were not to everyone’s liking.
Many different styles and trends are thus to
be seen in these early post-war buildings.
The White War
(Hvíta striðið í máli og myndum)
November 1921 saw a serious confrontation
between members of the left wing of the
Labour Party (Alþýðuflokkurinn) on the one
hand and the police and paramilitary govern-
ment forces on the other. The official reason
for this was that one of the Labour leaders,
Ólafur Friðriksson, had attended a Comin-
tern conference in Moscow and had brought
back with him a Jewish boy, Natan Fried-
mann, who turned out to be suffering from
trachoma, a contagious eye disease. Health
authorities warned against the disease and
advised that the boy be expelled from the
country. Ólafur refused and accused the gov-
ernment of provocation. This led to fighting
between supporters of the two sides, which
broke out on two occasions, on the 18th and
22nd of November. On the 22nd of November
government forces, later nicknamed the
White Guard, captured the boy and arrested
Ólafur and many of his supporters. At this
time Elka Björnsdóttir lived next door to
Ólafur Friðriksson’s house, the scene of the
action, and was, therefore, in a good position
to follow events. She kept a diary from which
the text here is taken. The pictures, some of
which have never been published before,
were taken before and during the confronta-
tion on the 22nd of November. The photogra-
pher of pictures nos. 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 may have
been Helgi Jónsson, the brother of Jóhann
Jónsson, commander of the government forces.
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