Some of the most brutal and bloody wars in history started off as border disputes over a small piece of land. Hitler justified starting World War 2 by claiming that he was just trying to liberate the Polish Corridor, a small strip of land separating East Prussia from the rest of Germany. There are many border disputes in the world right now that periodically flare up in bloodshed. Look at what is going on in Armenia.
Have you ever heard of Hans Island? Hans Island is a barren uninhabited island between Greenland and Canada. When Denmark and Canada agreed to a border line in the narrow strait between Greenland and Canada, they overlooked Hans Island, which sits on the line. Each country claims the island is theirs and has ordered the other country to take down its flag and leave, but neither Denmark nor Canada are willing to give up their claim to the island. In 2004, tensions between the 2 countries reached a peak when the Danish navy sent warships to Hans Island to “assert Danish sovereignty.” The Canadian Parliament responded by ordering their army to “liberate Hans Island” from “foreign occupation.” The Canadian army was preparing to invade Hans Island when both governments realized that the situation was getting ridiculous and withdrew their military forces. Today, both Denmark and Canada still regularly send soldiers to Hans Island, but never at the same time. When the Canadian army arrives on the island, they take down the Danish flag and raise the Canadian flag. They also take the bottle of schnapps left by the Danish army and replace it with a bottle of Canadian whiskey. As soon as the Canadian soldiers leave the island, the Danish army returns. The Danes take down the Canadian flag, raise the Danish flag, take the bottle of Canadian whiskey and replace it with another bottle of schnapps. When the Danes leave the island, the Canadians return. This has been going on since 2005. Now – wouldn’t it be nice if border wars were all this civil?

Hans island War News Update: The Canadian army has recently constructed a billboard on Hans Island that says ‘Welcome to Canada.’ The Danish army has not said what they plan to do about this new provocation when the Canadians leave the island and they return. Now before you laugh at the absurdity of all this, remember that some very bloody wars started over things just as trivial as this. In the summer of 1914, somebody who nobody had ever heard of before shot an Austrian archduke who nobody had ever heard of before in a place that nobody had ever heard of before, and as a result, within a month, the whole world was at war, and 20 million people were killed.