Ný saga - 01.01.2001, Page 99

Svanur Kristjánsson
The President and Iceland's f'oreign policy. A
White House visit in 1944
(Forsetinn og utanrfkisstefnan. Bandaríkjaför Sveins
Björnssonar árið 1944)
The article deals with a shift in Iceland’s foreign
policy, abandoning neutrality to adopt a special
relationship with the United States. The study
focuses mainly on the domestic sources of this
foreign policy shift.
In the early 1940’s two main contending politi-
cal blocs had formed in Iceland. One bloc con-
sisted of strong nationalists on both the Right and
the Left, advocating strict adherence to the tradi-
tional policy of Iceland's neutrality, including
demands for the un-conditional withdrawal of all
American armed forces from Iceland after the
World War. Another bloc was made up of the
middle-of-the-road Progressives, the Social
Democrats, and part of the Right. The President
of Iceland, Sveinn Björnsson, was strongly in
favour of the special relationship with the United
Sates and did not wish to rule out continuing
American military presence in Iceland after the
War.
By skillful political moves the President laid
the groundwork for a foreign policy based on
bilateral agreements between Iceland and the
United States. A very important step in thal
direction was the President’s visit to the White
House in August 1944, when he engaged in exten-
sive discussions with President Roosevelt, the
content of which are clearly revealed by the
speeches given by both of them at a White House
state dinner on August 24,1944.
A new bilateral treaty between Iceland and
the United States was signed in 1946, providing
for the continued US use of the Keflavík base by
the United States government including access by
United States military aircraft.
VIEWPOINT (SJÓNARHÓLL)
Jón Páll Halldórsson
At the dawn of a new century
(Við aldamót)
Public discussion about the greatest historical fig-
ures of Ihe 20th century has tended to focus on
politicians, poets and writers, while largely ignor-
ing entrepreneurs who have had more impact on
the fate of the nation than the politicians. The
author assesses the contribution of some of Ihese
Summaries
trail-blazers of the Icelandic economy, while at
Ihe same time describing some of the major eco-
nomic changes associated with the industrialisa-
tion of Iceland after the turn of the 20th century.
These include technological advances in the fish-
ing industry, development of engineering knowl-
edge and the utilisation of geothermal power for
space heating in Reykjavik which started during
the Second World War.
Björgvin Sigurðsson
History on the Internet inforniation highway
(Sagnfræðin á hraðbraut veraldarvefsins)
With the emergence of the Internet the possibili-
ties to publish historical works ol' every kind have
changed dramatically. However, the digital revo-
lution has also raised interesting questions and
brings new problems to light.
This article focuses on the work that has been
done in Icelandic history on the Internet and aims
to identify the problems that the broad use of the
Internet has created. Evaluating the authenticity
and the reliability of sources is one of the main
concerns as well as organized collection of elec-
tronic data and publications. Just how the prac-
tice of history will develop in the electronic and
Internet world of the future is somewhat uncer-
tain, but it is important for historians to continue
lively discussions and find solutions and proper
methodologies for dealing with the challenges
that the Internet has created.
DEBATE (SKIPTAR SKOÐANIR)
Birna Þórðardóttir and Sævar Gunnarsson
1968: Year of strife
(Átakaárið 1968)
As in many other European countries the year
1968 was marked by frequent mass demonstra-
tions and street clashes, culminating on 23
December 1968. In addition to protests against
the war in Vietnam, the Soviet invasion of
Czechoslovakia and other international events,
there was unrest caused by domestic problems
such as unemploynrent, economic recession and
housing shortages. In this paper two participants
in the conflicts, Birna Þórðardóttir, prominenl
leader of the far-lelt socialist group Fylkingin,
and Sævar Gunnarsson, a retired assistant chief
constable of the Reykjavík police force, discuss
the events of the year
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