Assumptions about the existence of a vast land in the southern part of the Earth arose during antiquity. However, it was not possible to confirm them. The first ship under the command of the Dutchman Dirk Gerritz crossed the Arctic Circle in 1599, accidentally fought off a squadron in the Strait of Magellan. In the 17th and 18th centuries, English and French sailors discovered several islands in the southern part of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. And in the years 1773-1774, the eminent British traveler James Cook sent his ships to the south.

  • © Nathaniel Dance-Holland "James Cook"

He made two attempts to go in the direction of the south pole, but both times he came across impassable ice, concluding that such undertakings were completely hopeless. The authority of Cook was so great that for more than 40 years, seafarers abandoned any serious attempts to search for the southern continent.

"Russian Columbus"

In 1819, the great Russian navigator Ivan Kruzenshtern invited the naval ministry to send an expedition to the southern polar waters. The authorities supported the initiative. After lengthy discussions, a young but already experienced naval officer, Faddey Bellinsgausen, who had previously participated in the first Russian round-the-world voyage under the guidance of Krusenstern himself, was appointed to head the expedition. He set off on the sloop "Vostok". The second ship, the sloop Mirny, was commanded by Mikhail Lazarev. On January 28, 1820, Russian vessels at 69 ° 21 '28 "south latitude and 2 ° 14' 50" west longitude reached the shores of Antarctica. In the course of research conducted in the years 1820-1821, the Bellingshausen expedition completely bypassed the southern mainland.

  • © M. Semenov "The sloops" East "and" Peace "off the coast of Antarctica"

“It was one of the most important discoveries of its era - the last unknown continent. And it was Russian sailors who opened it to the whole world, ”said Konstantin Strelbitsky, chairman of the Moscow Fleet History Club, in an interview with RT.

However, according to the expert, a systematic study of Antarctica was impossible until the beginning of the twentieth century.

“There was not yet such a fleet that would allow us to make regular voyages to the shores of the southern continent and disembark them,” the expert noted.

In the middle and second half of the XIX century, the coast of Antarctica visited only a few expeditions. It was only in 1895 that the first Norwegian expedition of Karsten Borchgrevink landed here and over-winterized. After that, the British, Norwegians and Australians began to explore the continent. Between the Norwegian Royal Amundsen and the British Robert Scott, the race for the right to reach the South Pole was launched. Amundsen won it on December 14, 1911. Scott, who did this a month later, died on the way back - the study of Antarctica was very dangerous. Despite some success, until the mid-twentieth century, it progressed extremely slowly.

Pole of inaccessibility

“The Soviet Union began active polar research in the 1930s in the Arctic. An invaluable experience was acquired there, but it was still not enough for the storming of Antarctica - the conditions at the two poles differed quite strongly, ”Strelbitsky stressed.

According to him, on a permanent basis, people came to Antarctica already in the middle of the twentieth century. Chileans and Argentines tried to use the continent for military purposes during the Second World War for a short time. But only after the end of the war, constantly operating polar stations began to appear en masse on the shores of the southern continent.

“The Soviet Union received, from reparations from Germany, the whaling flotilla, at which the commercial development of the Antarctic waters began,” said Strelbitsky.

In 1955, the Soviet Antarctic Expedition began to operate. On January 5, 1956, the Ob diesel-electric ship moored to the coast of the southern continent, and the first landing of Soviet polar explorers in Antarctica took place. February 13, the Mirny polar station was founded. In spring, the tractor-sled train departed from it deep into the mainland. On May 27, after the 370-kilometer trek, the first ever polar station, located far from the coast, was created - Pionerskaya.

In 1956-1957, the second and third Soviet expeditions arrived in Antarctica. The participants of the third, under the leadership of the outstanding polar explorer Yevgeny Tolstikov, went to the South Pole of inaccessibility, the point farthest from the ocean coast where no one had been to them before.

  • Antarctic pole of relative inaccessibility. Members of the expedition led by Evgeny Tolstikov
  • RIA News
  • © Y. Bagryansky

December 14, 1958 The South Pole of inaccessibility was conquered. Polar explorers built a house, a meteorological station and a radio station on this site. They attached a bust of Lenin to the roof of the building and raised a red flag. The temporary station was called “The Pole of Inaccessibility”. Polar explorers prepared a runway next to it. On December 17, the Li-2 plane took four of the 18 participants of the march from the station. On December 26, after conducting all the necessary scientific work, Soviet researchers mothballed the station and went to Mirny.

Foreigners managed to repeat the feat of Soviet polar explorers only in 2007. To the pole of inaccessibility reached the British, who used the traction of kites. By this time, the Soviet station was covered with snow, but Lenin’s bust could still be seen.

Geopolitical factor

“The presence of the USSR and then of Russia in the Antarctic is extremely important from the point of view of geopolitics. Having begun an active study of the southern continent, the Soviet Union at one time confirmed that it is a superpower and can promote its interests anywhere in the world, ”said Konstantin Strelbitsky in an interview with RT.

According to international treaties, the Antarctic is a demilitarized zone. On its territory it is impossible to place weapons and mine minerals. However, a number of countries, including Great Britain, Norway, Chile, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, have already declared their claims to a part of the territory of Antarctica. Similar hints sounded also from the USA. According to experts, the subsoil of the continent is rich in minerals, and the glaciers contain more than 90% of the world's drinking water.

  • Russian scientific station "Novolazarevskaya" in Antarctica
  • © Alexey Nikolsky

“Important fundamental scientific research is being conducted in Antarctica, which over time will yield serious practical results. In particular, without work on its territory, it would be difficult to study climate change and make related predictions. The studies that Russian scientists are conducting on Lake Vostok are unique. They allow us to study the history of the Earth’s climate change over the past 400 thousand years, ”said Victor Boyarsky, director of the Arctic and Antarctic Museum in 1998–2016, in an interview with RT.

According to him, the USSR and Russia most of the time were leaders in the number of Antarctic stations, and, along with American polar explorers, were among the leaders in the volume of scientific information received from the southern continent.

“The fact that in Antarctica it is impossible to conduct military activities and mining, makes the atmosphere there more relaxed, and the scientific exchange is productive. At the same time, there is a certain rivalry. The ability to maintain a station and conduct scientific work in Antarctica is a quality mark for any state, ”concluded Victor Boyarsky.