The history of the Icelandic Republic is the story of refugees, adventurers and free spirits who escaped an ambitious autocrat and built their own state on this distant island of fire and ice.
By 930, the new state had developed enough to establish the Althing, the national assembly of all Icelanders of voting age. It has survived all the turmoil of time to this day.
But the history of the Icelandic Republic is also a history of failure. Aristotle is reported to have said that "democracy arises from the pursuit of freedom and equality for all citizens, taking into account the number of citizens but not their peculiarities". These idiosyncrasies, such as vanity, greed for power and the concentration of wealth through ruthless and selfish behaviour, led to the collapse and downfall of this progressive and exemplary social order of the Vikings. The laughing stock was the Norwegian king, under whose rule the republic eventually came to be.
The medieval Icelandic Republic can be seen as a historically early failed democratic state.
And that is what makes the downfall of the Icelandic Republic so relevant today. When individuals take advantage of a system for their own benefit, it becomes dangerous for everyone.
