The Icelandic Independence movement (Icelandic: Sjálfstæðisbarátta Íslendinga) is the term used to describe the various efforts made by Icelanders to achieve self-determination and independence from the Kingdom of Denmark

Kingdom of Denmark

The Kingdom of Denmark or the Danish Realm , is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting of Denmark proper in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. Denmark is the hegemonial part, where the...

 throughout the 19th and early 20th century, until full independence was granted in 1918, followed by the severance of all ties to Denmark with the declaration of the republic in 1944.

Through the signing of the Old Covenant in 1262, Icelanders had relinquished sovereignty to Haakon IV

Haakon IV of Norway

Haakon Haakonarson , also called Haakon the Old, was king of Norway from 1217 to 1263. Under his rule, medieval Norway reached its peak....

, King of Norway.  Iceland remained under Norwegian kingship until 1380, when the death of Olav IV extinguished the Norwegian male royal line. Norway (and thus Iceland) then became part of the Kalmar Union

Kalmar Union

The Kalmar Union is a historiographical term meaning a series of personal unions that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway , and Sweden under a single monarch, though intermittently and with a population...

, along with Sweden and Denmark, with Denmark as the dominant power. Unlike Norway, Denmark did not need Iceland's fish and homespun wool. This created a dramatic deficit in Iceland's trade, and as a result, no new ships for continental trading were built. The ensuing centuries saw Iceland becoming one of the poorest countries in Europe.

Around the middle of the 19th century a new national consciousness was revived in Iceland, led by Danish-educated Icelandic intellectuals who had been inspired by romantic and nationalist ideas from continental Europe. The most notable of these were the so-called Fjölnismenn—poets and writers for the journal Fjölnir

Fjölnir (journal)

Fjölnir is an Icelandic journal which was first published in Copenhagen in 1835. The journal was used by Jónas Hallgrímsson and other Icelandic romantic nationalist poets to invoke nationalism in the hearts of the Icelandic people in the hopes of raising support for Icelandic independence....

—of whom the most prominent were Brynjólfur Pétursson, Jónas Hallgrímsson

Jónas Hallgrímsson

Jónas Hallgrímsson was an Icelandic poet, author and naturalist. He was one of the founders of the Icelandic journal Fjölnir, which was first published in Copenhagen in 1835...

, Konráð Gíslason and Tómas Sæmundsson. Meanwhile, an independence movement developed under Jón Sigurðsson

Jón Sigurðsson

Jón Sigurðsson was the leader of the 19th century Icelandic independence movement.Born at Hrafnseyri, near Arnarfjörður in the Westfjords area of Iceland, he was the son of a pastor, Sigurður Jónsson. He moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1833 to study grammar and history at the university there...

. In 1843 a new national parliament—the Althing

Althing

The Alþingi, anglicised variously as Althing or Althingi, is the national parliament of Iceland. The Althingi is the oldest parliamentary institution in the world still extant...

—was founded as a consultative assembly, claiming continuity with the Althing of the Icelandic Commonwealth, which had remained for centuries as a judicial body and had been abolished in 1800. The advocates of Icelandic independence pursued their aims peacefully, soliciting Danish officials via legal means. The battle for independence reached its heights in 1851 when the Danes tried to pass new legislation in which the requests of the Icelanders were ignored. The Icelandic delegates, under the leadership of Jón Sigurðsson, passed their own proposal, much to the displeasure of the King's agent, who dissolved the meeting. This caused Jón to rise up with his fellow delegates and utter the phrase Vér mótmælum allir ("We all protest").

In 1874, a thousand years after the first acknowledged settlement

Settlement of Iceland

The settlement of Iceland is generally believed to have begun in the second half of the 9th century, when Norse settlers migrated across the North Atlantic. The reasons for the migration may be traced to a shortage of arable land in Scandinavia, and civil strife brought about by the ambitions of...

, Denmark granted Iceland home rule. By the end of the 19th century, the various efforts made on behalf of Iceland had their desired result. The constitution, written in 1874, was revised in 1903, and a minister for Icelandic affairs, residing in Reykjavík, was made responsible to the Althing . Hannes Hafstein served as the first Minister of Iceland

Minister for Iceland

Minister for Iceland was a post in the Danish Cabinet for affairs with the Icelandic territory.The post was established on 5 January 1874 as according to the Constitution of Iceland the executive power rested in the king of Denmark through the Danish cabinet...

 from 31 January 1904 until 31 March 1909. The Act of Union, signed on the 1st of December 1918 by Icelandic and Danish authorities, recognized Iceland as a fully sovereign state (the Kingdom of Iceland

Kingdom of Iceland

The Kingdom of Iceland was a constitutional monarchy lasting from 1 December 1918 until 17 June 1944, when the republic was proclaimed.- Origins in Danish rule :...

), joined with Denmark in a personal union

Personal union

A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...

with the Danish king. Iceland established its own flag and asked Denmark to represent its foreign affairs and defense interests. The Act would be up for revision in 1940 and could be revoked three years later if agreement was not reached. This marked the full, legal independence of Iceland. Union through the Danish king was finally abolished altogether in 1944 during the Nazi occupation of Denmark.