What if the US Had "Bought" Greenland?
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- Опубликовано: 30 авг 2022
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The US has wanted Greenland for a while. They never got it, but they sure did want it. So what if in an alternate timeline, they bought it from the Danish? And then when that doesnt work, what if they just took it instead. Let's talk about that.
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Honestly if America took Greenland that would make my plague inc. games so much easier.
Greenland and Madagascar are a bane in those games.
@@toddclawson3619 Madagascar's not so bad in Plague Inc
Pandemic 2 on the other hand...
Thinking outside of the box
I loved this game in 2019. Now I cannot bring myself to play it
@@domn2225 it took like 15 seconds for me to realize
As someone in a field that sometimes involves those poor bastards stationed in Greenland, yes, it's considered a punishment duty.
San Gracia was if you try to self terminate, and antarctic bases are for when you break the spirt of the rules and not the rules themselves. Like shagging the Generals daughter.
Navy has the ookie cookie island bases, or 6 years in a sub as punishment.
This is actually an important part of the plot of "Sgt. Bilko", where the protagonist risks getting sent to Greenland as unofficial punishment.
But why? I don't get it... But then, I'm the kind of person who would see Hawaii as the real punishment posting. I can't stand temperatures above the mid 70s.
...America's Siberia?
@@Great_Olaf5 constant risk of frostbite, the sun either being non-existent or ever-present, no fresh vegetables/fruit or pork/chicken/beef to eat, no bars/parks/theatres to visit, terrible internet connection, to name a few things
I think Greenland has always been seen as strategically important to the US. Thule station's radar is part of US/NATOs ballistic missile warning
The radar at Thule officially designated BMEWS-1 was not just part of, but actually the cornerstone of the entire system.
The airforce even had a nuclear armed B-52 _continously_ circling over the radar as part of operation Chrome Dome, because it was expected to be the very first target for the USSR to take out in the event of an attack. They wanted to be able to independently verify it was intact _at all times._
Not to mention containing the portal to Honda Base on Kaiju Earth
I like how the core hypothetical in a video where the soviets seize half of western Europe is "What if America owned Greenland". It's insane and I'm completely here for it
I’m confused. Denmark is half of Western Europe?
@@ObssesedNukerSoviet owing Denmark mean they are no longer trapped in the Baltic sea and will have huge dynamic and difference played out.
@@simonx760Oh, most definitely. The Soviets acquiring the Kiel Canal and making the Danish straits contested waters would have MASSIVE implications for both the subsequent naval dynamics in the Baltic and North Sea and the geopolitical scene in Scandinavia, which has further knock-on effects. I don't dispute that. But unless it's in the context of something like a "failed Operation Unthinkable" (or perhaps "failed Operation Pincher" scenario, for a war that takes place after the late-1945 demobilization of Anglo-American forces), I don't see how the Soviets picking up Shlieswig-Holstein and Denmark at the end of WW2 equates to the Soviets seizing "half of Western Europe".
One thing: the Soviets did actually occupy a tiny part of Denmark, the island of Bornholm. They eventually left it, but for them it was a long-term strategic blunder, since Denmark later joined NATO. It would have been quite interesting to have seen a "Bornholm People's Republic" or something like that (sorry for the Danes who lived through the cold war, I didn't).
An actual nightmare for us Danes tho.
The People’s Democratic Republic of East Denmark.
@@markushaahr9194 Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine be like: "First time?"
They also bombed the shit out of Rønne, the largest city on Bornholm. If you ever go to Bornholm, you'll notice the switch in the architecture between Rønne and all the other town on Bornholm. Rønne looks very mordern, whilst all the other town look old-school 1700-1800's style.
It is worth adding that they occupied it quite a long time, until April 5, 1946.
Another minor detail. Denmark would likely be a Republic today, and poorer than IOTL. The Faroe Islands may also be independent or a U.S Territory.
So the only two options for American seizure of Danish territory is “all or none”.
The Faroe Islands would be far more likely to be grabbed by the British.
Iotl?
@@curiodyssey3867 in our timeline
I suggest that the USA purchase the Danish West Indies.... please right about that alternate timeline.
4:45 the danish monarch would probably go live with his brother, the king of Norway. having 2 kings that are also brothers in one country might seem like a disaster waiting to happend but king Håkon of Norway was extremely popular after the war.
Another possibility is doing like their "greek" relatives: Go to London.
Definitely can't see them being just nonchalantly executed. Not sure why Cody immediately jumped to regicide.
@@joeyjojojrshabadoo7462, France and Russia, perhaps?
As a Dane the idea of Denmark becoming like the koreas because of an allied and soviet invasion is utterly alien to me. Like, the only thing I'm thinking is... "what?"
Well, now you know roughly how Koreans and Vietnamese felt in the 20th century.
that exact thing happened to your neighbors to the south. it shouldn’t be that foreign of a concept to you.
really? you are right next door and got conquered
It almost happened in real history, just between the danish and prussians instead of allies and soviets
The guy in the video has no idea about history, like so many on the internet.
The USA, UK, and USSR fixed the lines of fighting at the Yalta conference. The USA even retreated a little bit before WW2 was over, because some US Army units were in the USSR's zone of occupation.
Also, the USA "Occupied" Greenland and Denmark, before the USA entered the war, because the British did not want to keep occupation troops there and the British did not want the Germans to take Greenland and Iceland. The Danes already surrendered to the Germans, so not like they were going to fight to keep Iceland and Greenland free. The USA left Greenland and Iceland after the war... and only returned when NATO was created, because for some reason Iceland and Greenland are still the USA's responsibility to defend in NATO war plans.
I’m surprised your real world analogues didn’t include the US Virgin Island which were actually purchased from Denmark in the 20th Century for geopolitical reasons or Hawaii given the “non-native population” is a minority to the military, tourists, and immigrants.
Once again, nothing probably changes for anyone (US, Denmark, Greenland, or Russian) in this “alternate” timeline. Which is probably why it didn’t happen. Everyone got what they wanted, which wasn’t much to begin with.
The inclusion of Hawaii is an extremely fascinating subject. While population was a massive factor in the turn over the real kicker was that the Hawaiian royalty sold pretty much all of the land to American settlers/businessman. So eventually the over threw the monarchy and set up their own sovereign state and a after awhile voted to become a state. It’s a strange case of the monarchy practically handing over the reigns to another power.
@@thedukeofchutney468 Not that uncommon, India had plenty of nobility who were tied to the British. So did Mexico too and places in Africa.
Hawaii is majority non-native. Native Hawaiians are about a quarter of the total population of the state.
Yo 🔥ruclips.net/video/rdJ9bsN7JAw/видео.html
@I Stand With Russia Way to go, supporting a terrorist state. I hope you're proud.
When you enlist in the Army they ask you to choose your three preferred OCONUS (Outside Continental US) Duty Stations and at the time I enlisted (2001) most people would pick Korea, Germany and the Balkans. Not me, I picked Greenland, Antarctica, and Italy.
Of course, we all go to Iraq anyway.
@@TigerWave01 I was about 10 years older than the average recruit, I didn't want to go to the duty stations that were going to be all the 18 year olds getting drunk. Not that they can't drink in Italy, just that that's what Germany and Korea are all about
the last line killed me dunno why
Why is the military even there
@@dunbass7149 I’m stationed in Greenland right now. We’ve got a massive space radar here. It looks thousands of miles into space to track thousands of satellites a day. Our primary job is missile warning, but since missiles aren’t usually getting launched at us we track satellites with it.
@@dunbass7149 Antarctica? The military provides logistics and support to the scientific community. For example, the Navy provides weather forecasting, ATC, IT support, etc. You see a cargo plane land it will probably be either Air Force or Navy.
Actually, Greenland is one of the best places to get stationed in the Danish Forces. Everybody stationed there is a part of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, one of Denmark's three special forces units. The pay you get is also pretty good at 170k USD after being stationed for two years. Another bonus, during your tour, you don't need to pay anything other than tax. You also get good food as everybody stationed learns to cook professionally. Being a former member of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol is prestige in the Danish Forces, as it's one of the most difficult; positions to get. After your two-year tour, you also get a special; emblem on your uniform as a sign of prestige.
A friend of mine was stationed at the base in Thule back about 10-15 years ago.
The pictures he sent back were nuts. It was like he was on Hoth.
He's had a damn good career in the military, though. Out of all my old friends from school, he's probably doing the best today.
Do you still have those pictures?
Hoth amazing analogy!!
I think they filmed on Greenland when doing the hoth part of the movie
*US puts military base on Greenland*
*offers to buy Greenland*
*gets refused*
*keeps base*
“Wait so we can just put bases anywhere now?”
“Hey uhh… Mr Khrushchev, the Americans wanna build a military base in Moscow’s center square to be used against Moscow.”
Remember the Nazis controlled Denmark, so the US wasn't going to put up with a German base right on it's doorstep. Iceland also voted to remove itself from it's Union with Denmark in 1944.
Guantanamo Bay in a nutshell
"Mr. Krushchev, we'd like to buy Moscow"
@@Lichelf “We wanna buy Russia so we can be closer to our sworn enemy, Russia.”
@@jjfajen I still have no idea how that base is a thing.
Honestly, if the USSR had control over the danish straits, or even just a port on the North Sea via south Denmark… That would completely change the dynamics of the Cold War In Scandinavia. In real life the soviets let the nordics stay neutral bc they needed free access to the Baltic & Atlantic for trade. Yet if they, in a alternate timeline, ended up controlling their own access to the Atlantic, the nordics would become like almost every other part of Europe. Being right on the Soviet’s doorstep doesn’t help them either. I could easily see the Soviets or Americans pressuring Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland to pick one side or the other.
And guess which side they would most likely pick?
I mean, Norway was already a fully fledged NATO member, with bases and facilities all over, and integrated defense plans. So was Denmark i believe. Scandinavia wasn't all neutral.
@@bearlytamedmodels true, although norway was one of the original members of NATO and nato existed before the warsaw pact, so norway would most likely remain pro western
What are you talking about? Denmark, Norway and Iceland were all founding members of NATO. Only Sweden and Finland were neutral
Yo 🔥ruclips.net/video/rdJ9bsN7JAw/видео.html
Greenland still has immense strategic value, even more so in the future when arctic sea routes become more common. Economic reasons would be a huge reason to acquire Greenland
Mineral resources, too. People honestly don't really give Trump enough credit for his suggestion.
*fires up the Monroe engine
With Russia closing off its airspace to commercial flights, it would make a good non-American airport.
@@maxxor-overworldhero6730 American colonization of Greenland will never happen. Even if politicians in Denmark or Greenland were to be bribed by the US, other NATO powers would intervene and prevent it from ever happening. In any case, the US is too weak politically and militarily to dominate the Arctic Ocean. Recently Greenland has come under the protection of EU. The idea is nothing but wishful thinking.
@@jesperlykkeberg7438 Quite the overreaction to a comment simply saying that the mere semi-serious suggestion to buy Greenland wasn't actually a stupid thing to say, contrary to what the media pushed.
Also, "the US is too weak politically and militarily" - *_*J. Jonah Jameson laughter*_*
3:30 Rest In Peace Brain4Breakfast
Alot of what he speculated in the few short years, he was actually correct.
I like how this scenario has significantly more interesting consequences for Denmark and presumably Scandinavian, but it's all ignored cause its not Greenland.
Way more interesting in this scenario is the domestic view of Canadians who suddenly feel surrounded by the USA - South of them in the lower 48, West of them in Alaska, and now East and North(ish) of them in Greenland. Anytime they see a map, they're no longer "America's Hat" ... they're surrounded on all sides by the yanks.
America's Hug.
The Annexation of canada would be a reality then
I remember hearing somewhere that was sort of the plan. With all 3 around Canada, Quebec would probably get independence and the rest of Canada would join America's manifest destiny.
@@roberteischen4170 I doubt it. Canada even to this day has large amounts of Anti-Americanism which was set in motion over 100 years ago by the British government in order to prevent such a thing from happening.
We just keep Canada as is for the purposes of access to Maple Syrup and Keeping the Candian Devil at bay. Besides The South Park, guys need the subject matter. Just kidding I just like ragging on our friends to the North.
The only thing that stopped the Soviets from taking Denmark was Operation Eclipse, which was a battion of Canadian paratroopers who captured Weimar before the Soviets and held onto it for close to a week, allowing elements of the 21st Army Group time to secure Denmark and the rest of northern Germany.
Having a 'USSR took denmark' scenario would be kinda neat. I don't think tons would change, but more would change than in this scenario.
If you think 1945, then it would have made a huge difference on how the Soviet could access the Atlantic Ocean.
This was also a major reason why Denmark became neutral after 1864 - The large European powers at the time wanted a neutral trade partner and a neutral entrance to the Baltic Sea.
You know, if Greenland really did become a theatre in the Cold War, that name would be pretty appropriate considering the Tundra and Polar Ice surrounding the island.
What about Iceland?
The green glow of radiation might make Greenland's name pretty appropriate too...
@@EmperorBrettavius finally
For military deployment I think it'd basically be like Guam, except you don't even have the benefit of "nice" weather.
Except you have to consider that if too many troops get deployed to Guam you run the major risk of tipping the island over.
@@jeremycash1990 Nice.
At least there wouldnt be a danger of Greenland capsizing.
@@jeremycash1990 That's a line of genius
*rights it down furiously*
Hey! We have nice weather... sometimes... it's just US put their military base far north where it's mostly cold year round, also I would've loved if US bought Greenland... only if we get to use military vehicles like helicopters that can lift heavy things, for construction and for huge long electrical cables.
The current Danish royal family actually really likes Greenland and the queen has visited them regularly for the past 60+. I think she's relatively popular there also.
"One that Johnny Harris would make a video out of" was absolutely hilarious
I can’t believe you didn’t even bring up the idea of America buying it in the 1860’s, it was part of William Sewards plan to annex Greenland, Iceland, and Alaska in order to annex Canada. It would’ve meant America has had them as a colony for over 150 years, likely a state by now
AHH doesn't actually do all that much research for these videos.
You do realize he said he was going to look at the most realistic scenario.
play vik 2 much?
@@kevinaguilar7541 yeah...and that scenario wasnt very realistic
@@shonenjumpmagneto Not really. We barely agreed to buy Alaska and Seward was ridiculed until we found gold. Like Cody points out, Greenland doesn’t really have any resources that would make it worth it.
Alternate History always be asking the questions I never knew I had
how are you always the top comment?
One history king commenting on another!
Lol why you commenting before the video even ended
yes
Would love to see the two of you collab!
12:52 Lol! I watched the whole ad thinking of what that soldier might say about each thing you said lol!
Patrolling the glacier makes you wish for a nuclear blast.
patrolling the greenland almost makes you wish for a nuclear fireball
🎶🎵Big Iron, Big Iron🎵🎶
To the town of Kangerlussaq rode a US soldier one fine day
Hardly spoke to folks around him, didn't have too much to say
No one dared to ask his business, no one dared to make a slip
For the soldier there among them had a big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip
*Snow deathclaw noises*
I miss New Vegas
@@anthonyhartman411 Snowclaws are pretty deadly out in these parts.
What if after ww2 the danes didn't recieve as much economic support and were left so horribly in debt and in a depression they had no choice but to sell greenland
Nice
Winner winner, chicken dinner. :D
I consider myself a good person, but I also play Paradox games, and that is something I totally would have done. Tie handing over Greenland to the Marshall Plan for Denmark. Hell, even just tie them selling it for a decent price to getting the Marshall Plan.
@@shorewall 🤠👍
Nonsense.
Denmark got less economic support than you think....
12:05 Wow, an actually technically accurate VPN advertisement. Well done Cody
Denmark has stationed soldiers in Greenland and within the military there is great respect for those who go up there. The mission is called the Sirius patrol and they are trained to carry out surveillance and assertion of sovereignty in the uninhabited Northeast Greenland as well as to control expeditions as a police authority and ensure the conservation regulations in the national park.
Lol my Grandfather was stationed in Greenland in 1950. When Chosin was happening in Korea the base was spooling up to get a relief force together for the 1st MarDiv. His barracks were old refrigerators welded together. Wild times…
Really? Refrigerators?
@@eugeniaamariei8626 that’s what he told me. I haven’t seen the pictures in over a decade but to the best of my knowledge they insulated well and there’s no trees for lumber up there.
Greenlander here! Not exactly, they had metal sheet barracks and yes some of the parts of the barracks literally had freezers and refrigerators screwed into the walls to save space. And yes including the petrolium fueled heaters. Its a miracle that none of them have caught fire.
As ice melts and more land is opened, so does a massive shipping lane that would cut travel times throughout the world for cargo massively. The whole northern passage area is becoming more and more important by way of natural gas deposits and control of transit and ports etc etc as we progress in our modern age. The US owning Greenland would be a massive factor and draw large amount of development and focus.
I heard about a little ice age in midevil history. When the glacier melt, it disrupted the Atlantic Ocean current which brought warmth to Western Europe. As a result, Europe got a lot colder until the glaciers replenished themselves.
If true, Probably something similar would happen as more ice melts.
Yeah, I never really got the level of ridicule Trump got for suggesting that. If the climate continues to warm up and the glaciers recede, the Arctic Circle will become a major shipping lane that as of now is dominated by Russia. The US absorbing Greenland one way or another to me is pretty much inevitable (albeit far off) because it, along with Alaska, gives them a strong foothold in the region.
Taking this scenario to the extreme I can see Canada being annexed or at least brought under strong American influence. If Canada, however, matures into more of a competent independent power I could or some sort of EU-esque arrangement with open borders, trade, etc. Canada has access to some prime real estate in the Arctic after all and Uncle Sam is gonna want it.
Greenland's real worth is in the massive rare Earth mineral deposits that right now China has a almost monopoly on thus President Trump's interest in buying it and China's interest in purchasing mining rights
@@natem1579 never gonna happen
@@natem1579 once it melts we're toast anyways
Wonderful video, it’s certainly an interesting take on “what might have been” that you don’t hear about that often.
3:53 an alternative univer johnny harris makes a video about how the us stole Greenland 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Lol
As I understand it, the reason the Soviets didn't get close enough to take Denmark was because the Canadians ran ahead like they were playing HOI4 and blocked them. Lied to the Soviets, saying they had piles of troops and guns to blast them if they tried anything.
That isn't quite true. The demarcation line between Soviet and British Forces in North Germany was decided long before. The Canadians, for whatever reason, pushed beyond the demarcation line to the town of Wismar. The Russians told them to leave. They refused. A few months later they agreed to leave.
There is no evidence that the Soviets intended to overtly break the Yalta agreement and go into Denmark. British and Canadians have patted themselves on the back claiming that they saved Denmark, But the territorial division of Europe had been decided long before at Yalta.
The Soviet Union did attack and occupy part of Denmark at the end of the war. There was an island (Bornholm) which was part of denmark but on the Soviet side of the partition lines from Yalta. The Soviets severely bombed the island and occupied it technically after the end of the war. The Yalta agreement gave them the right to do so and therefore have in theory a stake in the future of postwar Denmark.
But the Soviets just took advantage of what had been foolishly given them by Roosevelt at the Yalta conference. Why the US delegation agreed to maps where part of Denmark would be within the Soviet Sphere of Influence is still not completely understood.
The Soviets stayed in occupation of the island for a year and then bartered the island away in exchange for concessions from the US. The US kind of agreed that the Baltic Sea would belong to the Soviet Union and the US would not mess with it.
@@Jim-Tuner You think the Soviets would have given anything back if they had taken a major city or several just because of an agreement?
@@JimmyAgent007 The Canadians reached Wismar on May 2, 1945. Lubeck fell to the 11th British Armoured Division on May 3, 1945. The Soviet forces were not in a position where they were going to take Lubeck before 11th Division got there let alone move north hundreds of miles to take Denmark.
The story of the Canadians who saved Denmark has always been a nice "story", but there isn't much truth to it.
The Soviets kept the Yalta agreement in 1945 because it was so extremely generous to them. If they had gone beyond the Yalta lines and tried to keep territory, the US would have responded by keeping all the territory it was in control of beyond the Yalta line which was substantial. If the impossible had happened and the Soviets raced north into Denmark in violation of the agreement, the US would have immediately responded by marching into Prague. It wasn't that the soviets were trustworthy, it was that the deal and self-interest restrained their hand.
@@bearlytamedmodels This details the situation better than I can, ruclips.net/video/OWcRl7Q7pGs/видео.html&ab_channel=MarkFeltonProductions
Canada: *"sorry eh?" is not an option*
unrelated fun fact. the ship shown at 5:52 is a wasp class lhd. lhd 8 uss makin island.
Awesome topic and the alternate narrative really made sense. This is why i love this channel. Keep up the great work. If you ever want to translate your videos into Spanish, let me know.
I've always thought Greenland would be a great penal colony
Cold Australians
Rura Penthe
The Feds: “That’s it-you’re going to Greenland!”
alcatraz?
Better pack winter jackets
Hey Cody, Here's a little known fact that I think would make for an interesting alternate history scenario:
You see, over 18,000 years ago, the great salt lake in Utah used to be Way bigger, It's what geologists call "Lake Bonneville", It covered over 25% of northern to central utah and stretched into modern day Nevada and Idaho, but over time, it overflowed into the snake river drainage and gradually shrunk into the lake we have today.
So, just fun (and with some extra alien space bats) what if Lake Bonneville at it's height never drained away? Or simply put:
What if Lake Bonneville Still Existed?
Well... I'd probably be known for more things then Mormonism (jj)
(Edit: I could definitely see the lake as a big hub of sorts for American Expansionism during the 1800s, I could also Imagine some books being written about it like, "Journey to Bonneville or something)
yes.
salt lake city eould be in a different location and probably bigger with a couple of million people
@@TurkishEmpire2023 I mean heck, I'd probably (if not definitely) won't be called salt late city at all, I most likely would be called "Bonneville City" or something completely different
It would not be a big hub for expansionism, the lake is dead, theres a reason it's called the great salt lake, it's too salty to support conventional life..
7:20
I’ve heard that military submarines tend to have slightly better food to keep moral up without sunlight, perhaps something similar could happen here.
2:13 - This is a great alt history because this is a very plausible scenario. Nice!
The Johnny Harris burn got me laughin so hard XD
I enjoyed it because I despise that guy and his garbage content.
Johnny “Im a CIA plant” Harris
I'm OOTL. Is Harris disliked by other youtubers? I usually enjoy his content.
@@President_Mario He's waaaay more style than substance.
@@President_Mario while this visual presentation and production value is insanely good, Mr Harris has done his fair share of dramatization some feel.
The Johnny Harris reference 💀
Im glad the Johnny Harris backlash is going full steam ahead these days
He left one cult to join another
@@Volodimar lmao good one
I liked his video about Mcdonalds Ice cream machines...first one I watched....the rest is pretty much "American guy discovers the rest of the world and talks about it as if it's a new thing"
@@mafiousbj He is a hard-core liberal and tries to change history to fit his views, all while profiting from the capitalist system they claim to hate.. I really hope he does it on purpose and doesn't actually believe the things he says
I must say that end is the perfect segment from the video topic to the ad. That was hilarious and actually still on point.
I love your channel keep up the great stuff
Curious on how this would impact the relationship between Iceland and NATO
icland is in nato lol
@@politisk_prins I know, but if Greenland becomes fully integrated into the USA like it is suggested in this scenario I’d have to think that impacts Iceland role in NATO
@@Dinger065 yeah because Iceland’s whole point in Nato is basically just for military bases and a pit stop from the U.S to Europe (I mean Iceland doesn’t even have a military). And if the U.S had Greenland, Iceland may not be as vital as it is right now. I don’t see much change tbh, but it’s still interesting to think about.
Maybe there would be no cod war
Not by much
What if the Central American Federation never collapsed?
3:05 Annex-cuse
Great video as always! I'd be really interested in countries history ✨😎‼
The US avatar with the Greenland hat had me laughing.
Most realistic would be CIA covertly propping up communists in Denmark so the Americans have an excuse, and then overthrowing the same communists
But that would leave less communists to be propped up in other countries, like America.
The CIA weren't a thing in 1946.
@@guillermoelnino no. We will all be too busy getting rich and becoming a literal hyper power superstate.
4:22 Looking at you Canada!
That Brain for Breakfast reference hit me just where it feels. Rest In Peace my friend
"I mean, think about it... why not? We've got the arms, we've got the firepower!"
- Oversimplified
I actually love the YT history community, so many great channels and generally good discussions in the comments. I mean hey where else can we use our history degrees lol.
*It's OUR Manifest Destiny!*
How the hell did you forget about airplanes? Alaska was the stepping stone of most of the world's airlines as the fastest way to Asia without going through Russian Airspace. All of a Sudden Greenland has a huge international airport.
They're actually working on upgrading the runways now to accommodate bigger jets. What you're imagining is coming.
1:30 to 1:45 You had me in stitches, I nearly turned blue from the epic level of sarcasm.
England is the main reason the USA never bought Greenland. Back when Willam Seward tried and when we tried again a few years ago. England said they will stop Denmark from ever selling it to the USA if tried. During the first attempt England stopped it and also bribed British Columbia at the same time to join what would be Canada. They would Buy it, Cancel all their debts, and Connect it with a Railroad to the east of Canada. Before hand BC was close to joining the Union and was even favored by the people doing so. Plan for the union was to add BC as a state and connect Alaska to the rest of the nation by rail while also decreasing British dominance.
Connecting Alaska to Contiguous America shouldn't be forgotten about. If we pushed we coud make a Condominium State with Canada that's a thin line or something
Britain*
@@ollie1
Which is dominated by...
@@prestonjones1653 England?
@@ollie1 no dummy, Britain is dominated by space aliens and jesus
"Patrolling Thule almost makes you wish for a nuclear summer..."
- Some poor U.S. Grunt stationed in Greenland, c.1950s
Hey Cody, when are we getting "What if Japan had remained neutral in WW2?" or "What if Japan had been part of the Allies in WW2?"
It's very much needed and would be really nice to watch.
I do think Denmark would sell it to America if they were more destroyed in WW2. If the nation was absolutely ravaged then the definitely would give up Greenland for aid.
Now you have to make the far more interesting “what if Denmark was communist” video
I still miss brain4breakfast tbh he was a really cool creator
He will be missed, i just love his style of video, so unique.
Interesting, but you're ignoring how the locals who live around the US' military outposts have all flourished due to the influx of capital and demand for services.
which does not apply to thule airbase because of the nukes you lost up there for which you still owe us the clean-up bill of a billion US dollars
I love that I can picture the way Cody's character looks with his book and his eyes looking to the left half closed
Well one thing is for sure, if 5 million Americans did move to Greenland, then Greenland would be eligible to become America's 51st state. I would image that the population would be over 90% introverts mainly Istps who want to move away from the inland states and want to live in an artic wilderness separated from most of human civilization like Alaska.
Who the fuck would move to Greenland willingly? Especially in the 20th century?
doesn't the sun not rise in greenland?
@@altu9204 Greenland has a good chunk of its landmass above the Artic Circle, so yes, the northern part gets midnight suns in summer and sunless days in winter.
A new Plymouth, you could say.
I could easily see it being a strongly red state too, meaning it might get admitted as a package deal with Puerto Rico
"You just can't land from another country anymore"
Russia: Are you sure about that?
I unironically pay attention to AltHist Hub’s sponsors, because I’m terrified that he’s gonna make me feel really guilty for skipping
In this universe Cody would make a video titled What if America didn’t buy Greenland
I really enjoyed that ad read (lesson) at the end lol
1:34 "There are rules, and regulations. You can't just take land from another country anymore."
I'm not sure Russia got that memo.
or the us
Russia is a couple centuries behind the times in terms of geopolitical philosophy.
@adsaa It’s true though
@adsaa No one's laughing. Everyone's mad though.
Wow. Racist much?
I think an easier explanation would have been the US using the decolonization ideal they pressured on the other allies as an excuse to force Denmark to relinquish Greenland (treating it as a new world colony and what not) and then forcing onto it a US friendly government. Basically creating a Philippines of the Atlantic, free on paper - a colony in practice
So it would be a puppet state?
UK, France and the Netherlands also have small territories in the Western Hemisphere. If the US was hostile to all these states all at once the Cold War would be pretty unrecognizable.
Free on paper, but a colony in practice is kind of what Denmark is today.
Probably
@@accessthemainframe4475 The justification would just be for this case specifically, French and British micro territories were more integrated into their countries than Greenland is to Denmark. Greenland is independent in all but foreign policy rn if I remember correctly but the US declaring it be free after years of independent governing during the US occupation would not be too unheard of imo
Honestly, my biggest concern with the Soviets occupying Denmark is wondering what would have happened to the development of the interlocking brick system. Woupd we still have LEGO?
7:30 nothing, the Soviet union would never fall due to the ingenuity of the comunist Danes and their leninist Lego
I enjoyed this video. Thanks for the hard work you put into it.
greenland and alaska are a part of the greater canadian empire
Man, first time i've ever seen the idea of Canadian imperialism.
Lol canadians haven't even figured out 90% of their own country yet.
@@ramennight Don’t look up Canadian boarding schools then
I've heard Canadians bitching about how America bought Alaska and how it robbed Canada of most of it's West Coast.
Canadian nationalism, and I thought I've seen it all!
3:53 I was thinking about this already😂😂😂
Hey Cody do you think you could do a video on if the delaware peninsula united and if there were any plans on uniting delaware with the rest of the peninsula as a person from delaware I always wondered why we never had the entire peninsula which is named after the state
As a Canadian who was posted to Alert, the farthest north continuously inhabited human settlement, the "it would be a terrible posting" thing hit in the feels. Not much to do, we mostly got drunk.
Hard to get drunk in Alert on the 2-drink limit each night. I was there for 2 weeks and enjoyed my time, but yeah a 6 month posting seems a bit rough.
Eh you could’ve had America take Greenland as an anti imperialism measure, would’ve been nonsensical but so is the Soviets taking over Denmark.
no that nonsensical though. it could have happened especially if the soviets actually put in the effort
I feel like the soviets wouldn’t go for Denmark. Denmark (and Norway, but there not important.) was still occupied heavily by the Germans, so pushing into Denmark would probably slow the push into Germany.
Denmark was one of the most important countries for the soviets and if they weren't neutral their access to the baltic sea would be cut off so shipping from one of their most important ports st Petersburg would be useless which would have crippled the soviets to a scale which is hard to describe. ultimately it could have completely wiped them out and with Denmark in nato now if they were to be in conflict the baltic fleet at Leningrad naval base is essentially trapped and there will be no shipping of supplies or fuels for the ground forces either.
The Russians were always ga-ga for a warm water port.
@@Edax_Royeaux exactly!!They should have thought about that before inhabiting Leningrad then lol
@@zainhanif9558 The alternative being what exactly in 1703?
Denmark is a small country with small army, I won't say that would slow down soviet in my opinion as a Dane.
Greenlander here. This is without a doubt the weirdest video I've ever watched.
What if Abraham Lincoln had agreed to King Mongkut of Siam's offer to import elephants to the United States and allow them to populate portions of the Southwest?
I image it would play out as an even crazier scenario than the guy who thought it was a good idea to take raccoons to Germany.
I live in the wrong timeline. I wanna herd Elephants! :D
They die
Imagine you are sitting in your back yard in alberquerque and oh shit a full grown pissed off bull elephant flattens your fence and then flips your truck before charging head long into the Mexican food restaurant on the corner.
@@agonzgonzalez7748 Truly we live in the worst possible timeline😂
It’s likely that they would be a “trust territory”, similar to Micronesia, which left America in 1990, right before the cold war ended
What the fuxk? Micronesia was a Associated State/Mandate/Territory of America? I knew The Marshal Islands were but damn. I fucking love America lmao it gets everywhere & Im proud of our diversity
@@shonenjumpmagneto you should see the American Philippines
@@99batran later on American Philippines was a Trust Territory or Free Associated would be th equal status in modernity although it's an upgrade im sovereignty. Effectively a Province & Country at the same time. Odd shit. New Zealand has it's own 3rd-Hand Empire from those.
@@shonenjumpmagneto it gets everywhere and then becomes diverse by force but I wouldn't be proud of that its conquered diversity
@@shonenjumpmagneto Indeed they were. All of it, (including the Northern Marianas Island), were under the Pacific Trust Territory. The Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands both left in 1986, and entered the "Compact of Free Association" (think of a Schengen Area for America.) Palau was a bit more pro-american, and left in 1994, entering the compact. The NMI's became a regular U.S. Territory, as they were close to our territory of Guam, and had ties to America.
Fun fact, the flag of the Pacific Trust Territory had 6 stars on a blue field, for the 6 regions of it. Today, the flag of the Federated States of Micronesia has 4 stars on a blue field, for the 4 states of Micronesia, even though three of the original regions didn't join it. This is because Micronesia carved up a new state after independence, giving us the 4-star flag we know today.
Acutally someone who makes something out of Ads, Good work!
I think a more plausible time in history, when Greenland might have become a part of the United States, was in 1867, when William H. Seward (same guy who was behind the purchase of Alaska) suggested buying Greenland and Iceland. I'm not sure if Denmark would have sold Iceland even then, but possibly Greenland, as it 1916 sold the Danish West Indies (now United States Virgin Islands) to the United States.
I'm pretty sure they sold the Danish West Indies to the US in 1917 purely so that they wouldn't have to sell Greenland instead.
"biggest island in the world"
>Australia
"Uhm achscually auschralia is a conchenent"
Someone decided that Australia is big enough to be a continent and Greenland is too small so it's an island. But if you move one grain of sand from Australia to Greenland would Australia be an island and Greenland be a continent? No? Then how many grains of sand would it take before they switched and Greenland was a continent?
@@chairmaniac1722 it's a landmass surrounded entirely by water and not connected to any other country. Sounds like an island to me, especially because I live on it
Uhm actually Australia is a continent
@@aiunit5753 So are Afroeurasia and the Americas, if you don't count the canals.
he made a video about a continent in the middle of the pacific and somehow this is still the most unrealistic scenario he’s ever made a video about
how?
What a great transition to advertising!
12:55 Those outlines around Cody, tho. DIY handmade content is best content.
(The original version of A New Hope had those outlines around the TIE fighters when they attacked the Millennium Falcon.)
Would definitely make a fallout style situation quiet interesting….instead of US/Alaska vs China it’s US/Greenland vs USSR.
So instead of saving Alaska, it would be protecting Nuuk
I would really like to see this alternate fallout history
3:53 This dude made videos titled “How the US stole Mexico” and “How the US stole Panama”, yet he makes a video titled “How did Russia get so big” instead of just titling it something like “How Russia stole Siberia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Alaska”
This guy has a very biased narrative about certain viewpoints in history
Who cares just don't watch his videos
Maybe, just maybe he is trying to come up with titles that make people want to click on the video.
@@michealmcneal2259 AKA disingenuous clickbait
@@benn454 no disingenuous clickbait is like look at this naked woman and there's no naked woman. Or watch this story about a guy who jumped out of plane and.... and then you find out he had a parachute on the whole time instead of watching him go splat ( they never show the splat). At best youve got slightly misleading or slanted clickbait. Everyone does that. Left n right. Whoever your favorite youtuber or news source I can always find some stories pretty quick that are titled bs in order to get clicks. Bro its free. Kick back and relax. Its alt history. Not history class, History 101, news or history channel. lol thats where you can have a real gripe about propaganda, disinformation and mis-education. Peace
@@michealmcneal2259 it's slanted. A clear sign of bias. OP is correct in his assessment your word salad response notwithstanding.
Interestingly, with the US losing interest in Thule Air Base beyond its radar capabilities, it's now used a lot by Canada during operations to resupply the station at Alert, as it's the closest deep-water port which makes airlifting supplies and fuel easiest from Thule to Alert. Even in this video, the picture at 7:40 of the airfield shows a Canadian C17 participating in one such resupply mission. I think the two C130 Hercules aircraft on the ramp are also Canadian, which is about what you can expect to see in Thule... more Canadian than American military planes. I've been up there 3 times, it's a cool place to see.
And now Thule has been transformed into a base for the US Space Force, which is pretty wild.
"There are rules and regulations, you can't just take a country anymore." Well, the "rules-based world order"'s rules change dramatically depending on who want's what.
Not gonna happrn
Irrelevant, Denmark won't give up Greenland
1:40
This is literally ALL of the Cold War, lol. I love this.
there would've been atleast 5 walmarts there. real shame we passed it up
As a veteran of the United States military after say you're assessment of what Greenland duty stations would be viewed as by local military is basically it's just spot on buddy it's spot on
Thule AB in Greenland was vital in the cold war.. It is BMEWS site 1. There other duties also include space track.
A military base in the dead of winter without sun sounds like a good setting for a horror movie tho, maybe we'd gotten that
We already had something very close to that. See the 1982 movie "the thing".
@@Jim-Tuner I was thinking about it when I posted lol