RED ANTARCTIC SOVIET INTERESTS IN THE SOUTH POLAR REGION PRIOR TO THE ANTARCTIC TREATY 1946 -1958 BY IRINAGAN Diploma of Library Science and Bibliography (First Class Honours) Leningrad Institute of Culture Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Tasmania October, 2009 Declaration This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any tertiary institution and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, this thesis contains no material previously published or. written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. ------~------ Irina Gan 30. IP. 2. O.tl9 Date iii The following papers incorporated in this thesis have been published or are in press lrina Gan. 'The first practical Soviet steps towards getting a foothold in the Antarctic': Soviet Antarctic whaling flotilla Slava. Submitted to Polar Record in May 2009, accepted for publication Irina Gan. The Soviet preparation for the IGY Antarctic program and the Australian response: politics and science. Paper prepared for the second SCAR workshop on the history of Antarctic research entitled 'Multidimensional exploration of Antarctica around the 1950s', Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Santiago, Chile, 21 - 22 September 2006. In Press in the Chilean Antarctic Institute, Chile Irina Gan. The reluctant hosts: Soviet Antarctic expedition ships visit Australia and New Zealand in 1956. Polar Record 45 (232): 37-50 (2009) Irina Gan. Towards the great unknown: the Soviets prepare for their thrust into the Antarctic interior. Paper prepared for the third SCAR workshop on the history of Antarctic research entitled 'National and transnational agendas in Antarctic Research from the 1950s and beyond', Byrd Polar Research Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA, 25-26 October 2007. In Press in Byrd Polar Research Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA Irina Gan. Assault on the interior. Establishing the IGY Soviet AntarctiC inner continental stations. In Press: a chapter in a book by BaIT, S. (Ed) From Pole to Pole. Vol I. Springer Press, Germany lrina Gan. 'Will the Russians abandon Mirny to the penguins after 1959 ... or will they stayT Polar Record 45 (233): 167-175 (2009) Irina Gan. Soviet Antarctic plans after the IGY: Changes in Policy. In Press in Polar Record, doi: 10.1017/S0032247.409008456 I confirm that I am the sole author of these papers. ----~----- Irina Gan , _?..q~L{L?_Q!!..-2_ Date IV Authority of Access This thesis may be made available for loan. Copying of any part of this thesis is prohibited for two years from the date this statement was signed; after that time limited copying is permitted in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. -----~--------- Irina Gan 30./0.2..00..9 Date v ABSTRACT Despite the fact that in 2006 Russia celebrated the golden jubilee of unintenupted research on the Antarctic continent, there has been no attempt to eXarJ.1ine the history of Soviet interest in the Antarctic in the English language. While Russian authors have written histories of Soviet Antarctic expeditions based on expedition reports, this study analyses Russian and Australian archival material, most of which has not been accessed before. After the end of World War 11, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics providentially acquired a complete German whaling flotilla as war reparations. From the time of the flotilla's first whaling operations in the Southern Ocean, a physical Soviet presence in the Antarctic was assured. The later US proposal for a solution to conflicting Antarctic territorial claims which . attempted to exclude Soviet participation and the proposal of scientists for an International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1957 - 1958 not only stimulated Soviet resolve to obtain a foothold on the icy continent, but provided the opportunity to do so. The main. body of the study deals with Soviet political and logistical preparations for their IGY operations in Antarctica and their thrust into the interior of the continent to establish observatories, all situated in the Australian Antarctic Territory. In a time of Cold War tensions and unresolved Antarctic claims, the Anglo-Arnerican world (and the Australian government in particular) was especially wary of Soviet intentions. In the fimll months of the IGY, the political and scientific future of the Antarctic was being shaped, with new proposals for an international Antarctic regime and proposals for continuation of Antarctic research being discussed. This study explores the thinking of political and scientific decision makers that helped mould Soviet Antarctic policy during this time and demonstrates that the two perspectives did not necessarily coincide. Whatever the divergences of opinion, the evidence indicates that from the day the Soviets set foot on the Antarctic continent, they had no intention of leaving. VI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My smcere gratitude goes to my supervisors from the University of Tasmania: Dr. Julia Jabour, from Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies, for her constant tireless support and encouragement; Dr. Robert Hall and Dr. Marcus Haward, from School of Government, for their comments and suggestions. I am indebted to the Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies and School of Government for sponsoring my archival research in Russia; and Antarctic Tasmania for granting me a travel scholarship to participate in the SCAR Workshops on the History of Antarctic research, which allowed me the possibility to exchange ideas with fellow researchers. It was a privilege to participate in the Workshops and I would like to thank the other participants for their advice, support, encouragement and friendship. Special thanks are due to the staff at the Library of the Australian Antarctic Division Graeme Watt, Andie Smithes, Meredith Inglis and Image Library Coordinator Jonothan Davis for their constant willingness to assist in finding my way around the Library and the Multi Media collection. Without the encouragement of the editor of the Polar Record, lan Stone, I would not have had the boldness to submit my work for review and publication. I appreciate the assistance of Aleksei Suzyumov in providing insights into his father's work with Soviet Antarctic expedition; Lev Savatyugin from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, St Petersburg, Russia, for his willingness to share his extensive knowledge of Soviet polar history; the members of the first Soviet Antarctic expedition Marat Bogdanov and Leonid Dolgushin and ANARE Club members, Alex Brown, John Denholm, Bob Dingle, John Phillips and John Williams, who shared their memories and photographs with me. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my friend Christiane Guise for her encouragement and technical support in editing my thesis. Many thanks are due to my husband Nicholas Gan for his constant enthusiastic support of my research. VlI CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I. HISTORICAL PRELUDE 1.1 The first Russian Antarctic expedition 3 1.2 The first International Polar Year 7 1.3 First International Polar Congress (1906) and Russian participants in Scott's and Amundsen's expeditions of 1910-1912 9 lA The Northern scientific/economic expedition 12 1.5 The second International Polar Year 13 1.6 Between the second International Polar Year and World War 11 16 2. 'THE FIRST PRACTICAL SOVIET STEPS TOWARDS GETTING A FOOTHOLD IN THE ANTARCTIC': SOVIET ANTARCTIC WHALING FLOTILLA SLA VA 20 2.1 The Antarctic Whaling Flotilla Slava 22 2.2 Whaling, science and the inevitable politics 31 2.3 Conclusion 34 3. THE SOVIET PREPARATION FOR THE IGY ANTARCTIC PROGRAM AND THE AUSTRALIAN RESPONSE: POLITICS AND SCIENCE 35 3.1 Conflicting Antarctic territorial claims and a proposed solution 35 3.2 The Soviet reaction to the proposal 37 3.3 An opportunity for action 42 304 Soviet Antarctic intentions 45 3.5 Australian reactions 47 3.6 The Soviet Antarctic expedition 52 3.7 Contacts with Australian scientists 55 3.8 Conclusion 58 4. THE RELUCTANT HOSTS: SOVIET ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION SHIPS VISIT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND IN 1956 60 4. I The first composite Soviet Antarctic expedition 62 4.2 Possible visit of Soviet ships: Australian concerns 68 4.3 Lena arrives 73 viii 4.4 Ob at Macquarie Island and in New Zealand 76 4.5 Ob in Australia 83 4.6 Conclusion 90 5. TOWARDS THE GREAT UNKNOWN: THE SOVIETS PREPARE FOR THEIR THRUST INTO THE ANTARCTIC INTERIOR 93 5.1 Objective 96 5.2 Exploratory steps 99 5.3 Preparatory traverses 103 . 5.4 A change in plans 107 5.5 Conclusion 113 6. ASSAULT ON THE INTERIOR. ESTABLISHING THE IGY SOVIET ANTARCTIC INNER CONTINENTAL STATIONS 116 6.1 Preparations 118 6.2 The attempts 119 6.3 . Partial success 122 6.4 The last hurdle 123 6.5 Conclusion 123 7. 'WILL THE RUSSIANS ABANDON MIRNY TO THE PENGUINS AFTER 1959 ... OR WILL THEY STAY?' 125 7.1 Soviets and the IGY 126 7.2 Proposal to continue Antarctic research post IGY 131 7.3 Soviet reactions to the proposal 135 7.4 Conclusion 142 8. SOVIET ANTARCTIC PLANS AFTER THE IGY: CHANGES IN POLICY 145 8.1 Kosygin's instructions 153 8.2 Impact on further Soviet Antarctic expeditions 163 8.3 Conclusion 170 CONCLUSION 174 BIBLIOGRAPHY 179 ix LIST OF FIGURES Fig. I. Aleksandr Afanasiev (Sovershenno sekretno April 2008:34) Fig. 2. Anastas Mikoyan (http://wwii-soldat.narod.rulNARKOMY/ARTICLES/OOI-mikoyan.htm ) Fig. 3. Slava (http://www.odessitclub.org/readingroom/katkevich/slava.htm) Fig. 4. Vladimir Voronin (http://funeral-spb.narod.mlnecropols/shuvalovskoe/tombs/voroninlvoronin.html) Fig. 5. Aleut. Drawing by N. Kondakov (from Zenkovich, B. 1954. Vokrug sveta za kitami [Sailing around the world to hunt whales). Moscow: Geografizdat: 16) Fig. 6. Sovetskaya Ukraina (Arctic and Antarctic Museum, St Petersburg) Fig. 7. Aleksei Solyanik (Arctic and Antar~tic Museum, St Petersburg) Fig. 8. Aleksei Solyanik and NZ Prime Minister Waiter Nash (Flight 9 May 1958) Fig.