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List of wars involving Iceland

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The following is a list of wars involving Iceland. Although modern Iceland does not maintain a standing army, navy nor air force, but it maintains a militarised coast guard which is in charge of defending the country. The country has deployed a small peacekeeping force internationally on a few occasions. It has never participated in a full-scale war or invasion, and the constitution of Iceland has no mechanism to declare war.[1]

None of the Cod Wars meet any of the common thresholds for a conventional war, and they may more accurately be described as militarised interstate disputes between Iceland and the United Kingdom.[2][3][4][5]

Before 1500

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Conflict Combatant 1 Combatant 2 Result
Viking battle: Battle of Vinland (1003) Icelandic and Norwegian Vikings Native warriors Victory
  • Viking victory and withdrawal
  • 22 vikings dead
  • 8+ natives dead
Viking battle: Battle of Vinland (1010) Icelandic and Norwegian Vikings Native warriors Victory
  • Native attack repelled
  • Viking withdrawal
  • 2 vikings dead
  • 14 natives dead
Internal conflict: Age of the Sturlungs (1220–1264) Icelandic Gothis Commonwealth Gothis Old Covenant

1500–2000

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Date Conflict / Event Allies Enemies Result
1538–1550 Icelandic Reformation Catholics Denmark-Norway
Protestants
Icelandic/Catholic victory
1627 Turkish Abductions Denmark–Norway Denmark-Norway Ottoman Empire Abduction of 400–800 Icelanders
  • 53 dead
1797 Action of 16 May 1797 Denmark–Norway Denmark-Norway Ottoman Empire Victory
1803–1815 Iceland in the Napoleonic Wars France
Denmark–Norway Denmark-Norway
Coalition Forces Dano-French defeat
  • Dissolution of Denmark-Norway
  • Iceland remains within Denmark as a dependency
1809 Jørgen Jørgensen's Revolution Jørgen Jørgensen
  • Icelandic revolutionaries
Denmark–Norway Denmark-Norway

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom

Danish government restored
  • Jørgen Jørgensen arrested by the British navy
1940 Invasion of Iceland United Kingdom British victory
1958–1976 The Cod Wars United Kingdom
West Germany West Germany
Belgium Belgium
Victory
  • Iceland secures its territorial water claims

After 2000

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Peacekeeping

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Mission Date Location Troops deployed
MNF-I 2004–2007  Iraq 2
ISAF ISAF 2002–2014  Afghanistan 2–32

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "From Iceland — Ask A Historian: Has Iceland Ever Been Involved In Any Wars Or Conflicts". The Reykjavik Grapevine. 2017-07-14. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  2. ^ Steinsson, Sverrir (2016-03-22). "The Cod Wars: a re-analysis". European Security. 25 (2): 256–275. doi:10.1080/09662839.2016.1160376. ISSN 0966-2839. S2CID 155242560.
  3. ^ Hellmann, Gunther; Herborth, Benjamin (2008-07-01). "Fishing in the mild West: democratic peace and militarised interstate disputes in the transatlantic community". Review of International Studies. 34 (3): 481–506. doi:10.1017/S0260210508008139. ISSN 1469-9044. S2CID 144997884.
  4. ^ Ireland, Michael J.; Gartner, Scott Sigmund (2001-10-01). "Time to Fight: Government Type and Conflict Initiation in Parliamentary Systems". The Journal of Conflict Resolution. 45 (5): 547–568. doi:10.1177/0022002701045005001. JSTOR 3176313. S2CID 154973439.
  5. ^ Prins, Brandon C.; Sprecher, Christopher (1999-05-01). "Institutional Constraints, Political Opposition, And Interstate Dispute Escalation: Evidence from Parliamentary Systems, 1946–89". Journal of Peace Research. 36 (3): 271–287. doi:10.1177/0022343399036003002. ISSN 0022-3433. S2CID 110394899.