Editing Cod Wars (section)

{{Short description|Dispute between Iceland and the UK}}
{{distinguish|text=the [[Cold War]] or the [[Hook and Cod wars]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2018}}
[[File:ISLEEZ.png|thumb|Expansion of the Icelandic [[exclusive economic zone]] (EEZ).
{{legend|#E32636|Iceland}}
{{legend|#FFFFFF|[[Internal waters]]}}
{{legend|#00FFFF|4 [[Nautical mile|nmi]] expansion 1952}}
{{legend|#00CCCC|12 nmi expansion (current extent of territorial waters) 1958}}
{{legend|#4682B4|50 nmi expansion 1972}}
{{legend|#1034A6|200 nmi expansion (current extent of EEZ) 1975}}
]]
The '''Cod Wars''' ({{langx|is|Þorskastríðin}}; also known as {{lang|is|Landhelgisstríðin}}, {{lit|The Coastal Wars}}; {{langx|de|Kabeljaukriege}}) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the [[United Kingdom]] (with aid from [[West Germany]]) and [[Iceland]] about [[Exclusive economic zone|fishing rights]] in the [[North Atlantic]]. Each of the disputes ended with an Icelandic victory.<ref name="Habeeb1988">{{Cite book|title = Power and Tactics in International Negotiations: How Weak Nations Bargain with Strong Nations|last = Habeeb|first = William|publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press|year = 1988|chapter=6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Cook|first=Bernard A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P7-2AgAAQBAJ&q=%22Cod+Wars%22+%22Iceland%22+%22victory%22&pg=PT649|title=Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia|date=27 January 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-17932-8|pages=605|language=en|access-date=22 October 2020|archive-date=23 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723203806/https://books.google.com/books?id=P7-2AgAAQBAJ&q=%22Cod+Wars%22+%22Iceland%22+%22victory%22&pg=PT649|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Fishing industry in England|Fishing boats from Britain]] had been sailing to waters near Iceland in search of catch since the 14th century. Agreements struck during the 15th century started a centuries-long series of intermittent disputes between the two countries. Demand for seafood and consequent competition for fish stocks grew rapidly in the 19th century. The modern disputes began in 1952 after Iceland expanded its territorial waters from 3 to {{convert|4|nmi|km|0|abbr=off}}. The United Kingdom responded by banning Icelandic ships landing their fish in British ports.<ref>Frost, Natasha (21 \june 2018), 

[https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-were-cod-wars "How Iceland Beat the British in the Four Cod Wars"], Gastro Obscura. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519093014/https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-were-cod-wars |date=19 May 2022 }}.</ref> In 1958, Iceland expanded its territorial waters to {{convert|12|nmi|km|0|abbr=on}} and banned foreign fishing fleets. Britain refused to accept this decision,<ref name = Cabinet>{{cite web |title= Cabinet Papers: The Cod Wars |url= https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/cod-wars.htm |publisher= National Archives (UK) |access-date= 5 December 2020 |archive-date= 15 January 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200115004233/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/cod-wars.htm |url-status= live }}</ref> which led to a series of confrontations over 20 years: 1958–1961, 1972–73 and 1975–76. British fishing boats were escorted to the fishing grounds by the [[Royal Navy]] while the [[Icelandic Coast Guard]] attempted to chase them away and use long [[hawser]]s to [[Net cutter (fisheries patrol)|cut nets]] from the British boats; ships from both sides suffered damage from [[ramming]] attacks.

Each confrontation concluded with an agreement favourable for Iceland. Iceland made threats it would withdraw from [[NATO]], which would have forfeited NATO's access to most of the [[GIUK gap]], a critical [[anti-submarine warfare]] [[chokepoint]] during the [[Cold War]]. In a NATO-brokered agreement in 1976, the United Kingdom accepted Iceland's establishment of a 12-nautical-mile (22&nbsp;km) exclusive zone around its shores and a {{convert|200|nmi|km|adj=on|abbr=off}} Icelandic fishery zone where other nations' fishing fleets needed Iceland's permission. The agreement brought to an end more than 500 years of unrestricted British fishing in these waters and, as a result, British fishing communities were devastated, with thousands of jobs lost.<ref name="Guðmundsson2006" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Ledger|first=John|title=''How the Cod War of 40 years ago left a Yorkshire community devastated''|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/our-region/east-yorkshire/how-the-cod-war-of-40-years-ago-left-a-yorkshire-community-devastated-1-7636401|date=21 December 2015|work=The Yorkshire Post|access-date=13 January 2016|archive-date=2 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102010528/http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/our-region/east-yorkshire/how-the-cod-war-of-40-years-ago-left-a-yorkshire-community-devastated-1-7636401|url-status=live}}</ref> The UK declared a similar 200-nautical-mile zone around its own waters. Since 1982, a {{convert|200|nmi|km|adj=on|abbr=off}} [[exclusive economic zone]] has been the international standard under the [[Third United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea|UN Convention on the Law of the Sea]].

There was one confirmed death during the Cod Wars: an Icelandic engineer, who was accidentally killed in 1973 while repairing damage on the Icelandic patrol boat ''[[ICGV Ægir|Ægir]]'' after a collision with the British frigate ''[[HMS Apollo (F70)|Apollo]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Þorskastríðin þrjú |last = Jóhannesson |first = Guðni Th. |author-link=Guðni Th. Jóhannesson  |year = 2006 |page = 100}}</ref> Recent studies of the Cod Wars have focused on the underlying economic, legal and strategic drivers for Iceland and the United Kingdom, as well as the domestic and international factors that contributed to the escalation of the dispute.<ref name="Steinsson2016" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Steinsson|first=Sverrir|title=Neoclassical Realism in the North Atlantic: Explaining Behaviors and Outcomes in the Cod Wars|journal=Foreign Policy Analysis|volume=13|issue=3|pages=599–617|doi=10.1093/fpa/orw062|year=2017|url=http://osf.io/26ubp/|access-date=21 December 2020|archive-date=9 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209161805/https://osf.io/26ubp/|url-status=live}}</ref> Lessons drawn from the Cod Wars have been applied to [[international relations theory]].<ref name="Steinsson2016" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Steinsson|first=Sverrir|date=6 June 2017|title=Do liberal ties pacify? A study of the Cod Wars|journal=Cooperation and Conflict|volume=53|issue=3|pages=339–355|doi=10.1177/0010836717712293|s2cid=157673952|issn=0010-8367}}</ref>