Russia And The Antarctic

Northern Advocate, 18 February 1949, Page 4

Russia And The Antarctic

Though Russia has hitherto evinced little interest in Antarctica, the Soviet has now. through its AllUnion Geographical Society, laid claims to rights in the Antarctic on the basis of 19th century Russian exploration. In Leningrad the society has announced that any decision on the control of the Antarctic without Soviet participation will have no legal force. Russia’s contribution to Antarctic exploration in the past, however, has been slight, and scarcely justifies her claims to rights in Antarctica. i

Bellinghausen, a Baltic German in Russian service, led an expedition in 1819-21, which reached 70 degrees south and discovered the first true Antarctic land—two islands in the American quadrant named after the Emperors Peter I and Alexander I.

It is interesting to note that in spite of the small interest the Russians have aken in Antarctica, they have not hesitated to criticise American activities in the area.

Albert Parry, writing in the Christian Science Monitor, on the Russians in Antarctica, says that Izvestia last year charged American writers with “frankly agitating for an ex-

pansionist policy of the United States in the regions first discovered by the Russians.

When the dispute over the Falkland Islands Dependencies arose about the same time, the Moscow radio claimed that the United States, using Argentina and Chile as tools, was trying to “crowd Britain out oi the Antarctic.”

In respect of whaling, the Russians appear to have a good record of cooperation with other nations, for Dr Robert Cushman Murphy, of the American Museum of Natural History, told the Pacific Science Congress in Auckland that they have shown a very compromising spirit in pelagic whaling and seem ready to agree to whatever controls other nations accept. However, their expressed suspicion of American motives makes it difficult to believe that they will be ready to cooperate on friendly terms in any moves to settle conflicting territorial claims in Antarctica. The All-Union Geographical Society’s statement does not make any easier the framing of some form of international administration in Antarctica for scientific research and exploration as suggested by the United States.