Freden i Kiel 1814 – England, Sverige, Danmark og de nordatlantiske øer / The Treaty of Kiel 1814 – England, Sweden, Denmark and the North Atlantic Islands

Abstract

Úrtak: Ymisk ástøði hava verið sett fram um orsøk­ir­nar til, at Føroyar, Ísland og Grønland vóru ver­andi undir donskum valdi eftir Friðin í Kiel, tá danska krúnan noyddist at lata Noreg frá sær til svensku krúnuna. Meðan eldri gransking hevur hildið uppá, at danski samráðingar­mað­ur­in hevði ein høvuðsleiklut í hesum, so hevur nýggj­ari gransking lagt størri herðslu á leik­lutin hjá Svøríki og serliga Onglandi. Tað hev­ur m.a. verið hildið uppá, at onglendingar í veru­leikanum ætlaðu at leggja tær norður­atlant­isku oyggjarnar undir ensku krúnuna, men at teir í seinastu løtu broyttu støðu og syrgdu fyri, at tær vóru verandi undir donsku krún­uni. Í hesi grein verður grundgivið fyri, at hóast tað er sannlíkt, at Ongland vildi forða fyri, at tær atlantisku oyggjarnar gjørdust svensk­ar, so eru eingi prógv fyri, at Ongland hevði hendan leiklutin; og at keldurnar bein­leiðis tykjast mótprógva, at onglendingar høvdu nakrar ætlanir um at leggja tær norð­ur­atlantisku oyggjarnar undir ensku krúnuna. Held­ur mundi tað vera vantandi áhugi fyri norð­uratlantisku oyggjunum, sum var orsøkin til, at tær vóru verandi danskar.

Abstract: Different theories have been proposed to explain why the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland remained under Danish sovereignty after the Treaty of Kiel, when the Danish Crown had to give up Norway to the Swedish Crown. While older research maintains that the Danish negotiator played a key role in this, more recent research has paid more attention to the role of Sweden and especially England. It has e.g. been claimed that the English really intended to annex the North Atlantic Islands to the English Crown, but that they in the last moment changed their minds and directly caused that the islands remained under the Danish Crown. In this article, it will be argued that even if it is likely that England wanted to prevent that the Atlantic islands became Swedish, there is no evidence to support that England had this role; and that the sources directly appear to disprove that the English had any intentions to annex the North Atlantic Islands to the English Crown. It is more conceivable that a lack of interest for the North Atlantic Islands was the reason for that they remained Danish.