As far as i understand Denmark didn't really have a choice. Either it was sold or it would have been taken. An important detail of the sale was that in the agr

As far as i understand Denmark didn't really have a choice. Either it was sold or it would have been taken. An important detail of the sale was that in the agreement for buying the islands, it was actually written down for the first time that Greenland was part of Danish territory. So if the virgin Islands hadn't been sold Denmark's claim to Greenland probably wouldn't have held until today.