Question

What if U.S had purchased Greenland? Will it be a state? It has the population of only 56,000. How will it affect the U.S elections.

Answer 1

I highly doubt that as Puerto Rico has wanted to be a state for many years and we still haven't let them become one. Why the heck would we want Greenland?

Comments

United States wanted to buy greenland in 1946 but Denmark refused to sell it. There are some reports that there might be undiscovered oil and gas reserves beneath the ice in greenland.

---

Like Virginia? I didn't know we had thought of buying Greenland. At that time , we were probably thinking that it would be good for airbases and such. Good research Dan.

Answer 2

Dan, I did not know the US ever attempted to buy Greenland...I don't know the answer to your questions but the world would have been just coming out of WWII, and I cannot help but wonder what was going on that the US took the idea at that time!

Comments

@ Virginia:

It was the Cold War.

---

Yes Other Tink, it must have been so.

Googling: The earliest official date for the onset of the Cold War is 1946; clearly however, tensions had been forming/escalating since Potsdam, even before.

---

Oh, yes, there was no love lost between the western allies and the Soviets, even during the war.

When questioned about the alliance with the communists, Churchill (who had been staunchly anti-communist since the Russian revolution) replied with words to the effect, "I would make an alliance with the Devil himself, in order to defeat Hitler."

---

Just to let you know I read your comment...

Answer 3

The US probably wanted Greenland for military bases. There were over 30 of them there over the last 75 years.

http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/10/17/greenland-warns-denmark-over-thawing-us-military-bases/

Answer 4

Interesting indeed:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland

According to Wikipedia:

"Following World War II, the United States developed a geopolitical interest in Greenland, and in 1946 the United States offered to buy the island from Denmark for $100,000,000. Denmark refused to sell it. In the 21st century, the United States, according to Wikileaks, remains highly interested in investing in the resource base of Greenland and in tapping hydrocarbons off the Greenlandic coast."

And here's the reason of the US interest in Greenland and of what happened:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Century

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Iceworm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Thule_Air_Base_B-52_crash

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_ice_sheet#The_melting_ice_sheet

Comments

Marianne that is fascinating! I found this in one of your links...

"The ultimate (US) objective of placing medium-range missiles under the ice — close enough to strike targets within the Soviet Union — was kept secret from the Danish government."

The project went on from 1960-66; finally canceled because the ice was unstable...an instability apparently related to global warming...

---

Yes, I was sure that you would see this - even good allies cannot trust each other totally. On the other hand, keeping strategic plans secret might remind of certain drastic "measures", like Churchill's decision ...

And nature - or its reactions - can also thwart human plans.

---

Just to let you know I saw your post, Marianne.

---