“Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only. There shall be prohibited, inter alia, any measure of a military nature, such as the establishment of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military manoeuvres, as well as the testing of any type of weapon. The present Treaty shall not prevent the use of military personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other peaceful purpose.”
– Article I of the Antarctic Treaty (1 December 1959)
The earliest Antarctic explorers, the first sighting of Antarctica, and the first landing there
As early as antiquity itself, it was postulated that there was a vast continent (then called “Terra Australis”) in the far south of the globe. It was actually in the second century AD that Marinus of Tyre coined the term “Antarctic,” which basically means “opposite of the Arctic Circle.” As Wikipedia puts it, “The rounding of the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn in the 15th and 16th centuries proved that Terra Australis Incognita (‘Unknown Southern Land’), if it existed, was a continent in its own right. In 1773, James Cook and his crew crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time. Although he discovered new islands, he did not sight the continent itself. It is believed that he came as close as 240 km (150 mi) from the mainland.” (Source: Their page on the “History of Antarctica”) In January 1820, there was a Russian expedition, which was led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. Due to the number of birds flying there, he believed that land must be close. But it was not until ten months later that the continent itself was finally sighted. On 17 November 1820, an American sealer named Nathaniel Palmer became the first to sight Antarctica. It may have been over a year later that an English-born American captain named John Davis, another sealer, set foot on the ice. It was the first landing on the continent of Antarctica.
Russian admiral Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, who led an early expedition in the region
Reaching the South Pole itself, and the claims on Antarctica by various world powers
But, as Wikipedia also puts it, “Several expeditions attempted to reach the South Pole in the early 20th century, during the ‘Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration’. Many resulted in injury and death. Norwegian Roald Amundsen finally reached the Pole on 14 December 1911, following a dramatic race with the Briton Robert Falcon Scott.” (Source: Their page on the “History of Antarctica”) There would be further exploration by air, as well as by overland. But, according to Argentina and Chile, the Spanish Empire had prior claims on Antarctica – which they, of course, inherited themselves. Other European powers, including the British, had claims on the continent. Shortly before World War II, the United States had also become interested in Antarctica. After World War II, the legal disputes over the continent’s status continued. From 1957 to 1958, there was an international science project called the “International Geophysical Year.” In the context of the Cold War, the Soviet Union had launched Sputnik, and the Americans had launched some satellites of their own to catch up in the Space Race. There were also some nuclear tests in various parts of the world. Thus, it was felt that there should be some international agreements with respect to the continent of Antarctica.
The Main Base Hut of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1912
Signing of the Antarctic Treaty by twelve nations, including a ban on nuclear testing there
In Washington DC, the Antarctic Treaty was therefore signed in 1959. As the treaty itself says, it involved “The Governments of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, the French Republic, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Union of South Africa, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America” (Source: Preamble). The involvement of most (if not all) of the previous competitors for the continent, not to mention nearby South Africa, was crucial for the continent’s legal status. The anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty (December 1st) is today celebrated as “Antarctica Day.” Along with Midwinter Day, it is celebrated as an Antarctic holiday. But, even more crucially, the Antarctic Treaty included a ban on nuclear testing there. It was the first of many arms control agreements to be negotiated in the Cold War. (More about those here.)
The “ceremonial” South Pole (at Amundsen–Scott Station), 1996
Peaceful scientific research, and the similarities between Antarctica and the planet Mars
Today, the peaceful scientific research continues on the southernmost continent. Antarctica is technically inhabited today, although only to a small degree. Calling it “uninhabited” wouldn’t be very far off. Antarctica certainly remains the only continent without a native human population. It is also the most inhospitable continent, and the most like the planet Mars. Some robotic probes intended for exploring Mars have actually been tested in Antarctica, due to the continent’s similarities with the forbidding (and cold) red planet. It is hard to predict whether there will be further changes to the continent’s legal status in the years to come. But it seems likely that the continent will remain relatively inhospitable to human beings, for centuries (or even millennia) to come.
“Any nuclear explosions in Antarctica and the disposal there of radioactive waste material shall be prohibited. In the event of the conclusion of international agreements concerning the use of nuclear energy, including nuclear explosions and the disposal of radioactive waste material, to which all of the Contracting Parties whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX are parties, the rules established under such agreements shall apply in Antarctica.”
– Article V of the Antarctic Treaty (1 December 1959)
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