“It has been said,” British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once remarked, “whoever possesses Iceland holds a pistol firmly pointed at England, America, and Canada.”
Churchill was often preoccupied with the defense of Iceland during World War II, recognizing the tiny island in the middle of the North Atlantic to be of outsized importance in the global power struggle. In 1940, he sent troops into neutral Iceland in hopes of staving off a German counterinvasion. By the following summer, Britain’s army was stretched thin, and Churchill transferred Iceland’s defense to the United States—an obligation that remains to this day.
Iceland’s strategic position at the crossroads of North America and Europe has again attracted attention from those to its east and west. Any Russian vessel leaving the Kola Peninsula must transit through the stretch of ocean between Greenland, Iceland, and Britain to reach the Atlantic. This chokepoint has long been a surveillance priority for NATO, of which Iceland is a founding member.
A black-and-white photograph of Winston Churchill as he walks along a line of American troops in uniform, standing at ready with their rifles beside them.
Winston Churchill visits Reykjavik, Iceland, on Aug. 16, 1941.Getty Images/Mirrorpix
