Week 2: History

Lecture 1: The Partition of Antarctica, 1908-1939 (Dr Rob Hall)
In 1908, Britain became the first country to claim sovereignty over Antarctic territory. By 1939, four other countries had followed suit. Although not widely recognized, these claims covered 85% of Antarctica with two-thirds of the continent having been formally annexed by members of the British Empire. This lecture examines this partition of Antarctica, exploring the political, economic and scientific motives behind such actions and the disputes they generated.

Lecture 2: The Antarctic Problem of the 1940s (Dr Rob Hall)
During the 1940s, new claims of sovereignty over Antarctica territory, together with increasing concerns about the Antarctic interests of emergent Cold War adversaries, resulted in the development of what became known as the Antarctic Problem. This lecture traces the origins and nature of this problem and examines the initial, but unsuccessful, attempts to solve it.

Lecture 3: The Antarctic Solution: Antarctica in the 1950s (Dr Rob Hall)
On December 1, 1959, the Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington. As the keystone in the evolving set of international institutional arrangements that has governed Antarctic affairs since it entered into force in1961, the Antarctic Treaty has proved to be an effective solution to the Antarctic Problem. This lecture examines the complex issues that developed in the 1950s, including events associated with the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957/58, which culminated in the successful negotiation of the Antarctic Treaty.

Tutorial: What was the nature of the Antarctic Problem in the late 1940s and early 1950s and how was it solved?