International Relations of the German Antarctic Expedition 1938/39
International Relations of the German Antarctic Expedition 1938/39

Sovereignty dispute between Germany and Norway in the „Polar Desert”

Summary/Abstract: At the end of 1938, with two flying-boats on her board, German catapult ship Schwabenland – a former freighter, which was converted and used as a floating airbase – left the docks of Hamburg to execute her secret task in the Southern Ocean: the aerial surveying and mapping of the Antarctic mainland area between the longitudes 12˚W and 20˚E. Officially, the expedition – which was organized by the German government – was a scientific journey; but in the background, Nazi Germany prepared to claim for herself a South Polar district. However, the abovementioned territory was not absolutely derelict, because Norwegian explorers visited these coasts of Antarctica several times previously. Norway also vindicated sovereignty rights over the region, thus the international conflict was unavoidable between the two countries.

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