2016/01/01 by Frigga Kruse, Kruse, Frigga
Social Sciences · Environmental Science · Health Professions · #Arctic and Russian Policy Studies #Polar Research and Ecology #Indigenous Studies and Ecology
paper · pdf · doi:10.2312/polarforschung.86.2.111
The English territorial claims of the seventeenth century were forgotten, and Arctic Spitsbergen was yet again a no man’s land, when coal<br/>found its way from the archipelago to the Norwegian mainland at the beginning<br/>of the twentieth century. An international “coal rush” broke out, which in addition to the British also involved Norwegians, Americans, Russians,<br/>Dutch, and Swedes. Based on four British mining and exploration companies, this paper explains how the previously peripheral Spitsbergen gained increasing economic and political importance. In this process, the British territorial<br/>claims, which in their heyday comprised a fifth of the landmass, played a decisive<br/>role, although Spitsbergen belonged to Norway after 1925. The historical details are currently overpowered by inaccurate representations. As a result, the parallels to today's “Arctic rush” are difficult to recognize, although these<br/>should be a lesson for all modern stakeholders.