The Faroese language conflict is a phase in the history of the Faroe Islands in the first half of the 20th century (approx. 1908 to 1938). It was a political and cultural argument between advocates of the Faroese language in general use, and advocates of the Danish language as the official language of the Faroe Islands. At the beginning of the 20th century, the language of the church, public education, the government, and the law was Danish but Faroese was the language of ordinary people. The orthography of Faroese had been set out by Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb in the middle of the 19th century, and the language had aroused Faroese nationalism since the Christmas Meeting of 1888 or . The conflict was not so much a struggle between the Faroe Islanders and the Danes, but rather among the Faroese themselves. The positions evolved with time. The Norwegian language conflict between Bokmål and Nynorsk presents some similar aspects. Political camps The two political parties staking out positions on the language conflict were the Union Party (), which wanted continued union with Denmark; and the New Self-Government (), which desired independence from Denmark. Later two other political parties which also desired independence from Denmark were created: People's Party (, a right-wing separatist party) in 1939 and the Republican Party (now Republic, , a left-wing separatist party) in 1948. These two parties have also worked for more rights for speakers of the Faroese language. Position of the Samband The view of the (unionists) was that the Faroese language should be developed and used in the literary field. However, the Danish language should continue to be the official language of education, which all Faroese should speak and understand. The unionists also opposed the comprehensive introduction of Faroese for the catechism, which they accused of wanting. had two major arguments for the use of Danish in education: they said that advanced education was possible only if Faroese students understood Danish well enough to be able to study in Denmark; and moreover, there were too few Faroese-language school books for the people of the small islands. Position of the Sjálvstyri The (separatists) had national sentiment on their side. They regarded it as untenable that the official language could be other than the native language. The party program formulated a core demand that the Faroese language should become the language of instruction in all subjects. At the