Battle of Antarctica
How often do we hear the phrase “the heritage of mankind”. Handsomely? Yes. Unfortunately, behind this beautiful formulation lies only the banal desire of our geopolitical "friends" to seize the wealth, rightfully belonging to Russia. Already there was talk that Siberia should belong to "all of humanity."
How, according to international law, was the affiliation of certain “open” lands, islands and even continents (Australia) defined? Who discovered that of earth.
So, the Russians discovered Antarctica. So, it should rightfully belong to Russia?
History "Battle of Antarctica" in the material of the commentator of the resource nstarikov.ru Elena Fedotova.
“The vein was Antarctica. In 1959, it became the mainland of international cooperation, science, and military non-intervention. The last resource base of mankind prohibited the search and mining of minerals, it does not belong to any state. All countries choir said "Okay" and began to live together ...
Not at all like the Arctic, right? Probably, people just suddenly thought better of it and began to worry about our common future. The British and Americans are now only interested in the climate millions of years ago, global warming in a thousand years and the problem of the similarity of prehistoric mosses with modern mosses. For this, billions of dollars, the best minds and the latest equipment flow to the sixth continent. And most importantly - all this in utter, deafening silence. International cooperation, as well. But not caring for future generations overlapped the brains of the "compassionate" world community in the middle of the last century. It did just one digit - 1820.
It turns out just like in Ostrovsky: “So don't you get to anyone!”. And the dowager in our case is Antarctica discovered in the very 1820 by the Russian heroes Bellingshausen and Lazarev. Russians, do you understand? And if any power today has a monopoly on the sixth continent, then it is only Russia.
The ice is broken
Recently, a hail of cuffs has been pouring on Wikipedia, and I will bring my modest contribution to this good cause. Starting to study the issue, I could not look into this omnipresent. And found a curious phrase. It turns out that Antarctica was officially opened by Bellingshausen and Lazarev. Just think, bureaucratic formality. For some reason, Columbus only discovered America “unofficially” ... However, Wikipedia never sinned with patriotism.
Where does so much "official" on our head? The sixteenth-century maps of Antarctica, which are ice-free, answer the question. The most popular - the authorship of a certain Piri Reis - was allegedly discovered in 1929 by the director of the National Museum in Istanbul, Khalil Edhem. However, nobody paid attention to it until 1959, when the American scientist Charles Hepgood did not think of sending it for examination. The authenticity of this card has been repeatedly questioned. However, on Wikipedia, it appears in the first lines as the source of the first degree of reliability. The phrase “i” places the phrase: “However, it was the expedition of Bellingshausen and Lazarev in the South Polar Seas, having rounded the Antarctic ice around the world, confirmed the fact of the existence of the sixth continent”. They did not discover anything, but only confirmed, but we thought! Further: "The first to enter the continent was probably the crew of the American ship Cecilia 7 February 1821 of the year ...." But this is serious! Not that we are with our confirmations.
But what kind of Piri Reis is like that, and why did he suddenly “unfroze” Antarctica? Known about him, frankly, a little. Well, admiral, well, Turkish. The cartographers "closed up" after the magical discovery in 1929 of the year in a certain palace of his not less magical map of the year 1513. Straight tale from "1001 Nights". Meanwhile, even the exact date of birth of our hero is not established. And note that this is not a dense Middle Ages, but an era of great geographical discoveries. In addition to the ill-fated discovery, he was never brought to historical responsibility.
Something alarming in the figure 1929. What event first comes to mind? Depression, Great and merciless. United States, decline. And Europe is not in chocolate, Germany is again bent. And what if we translate into English at all, by the way, a name that is not characteristic of the Turkish loyal subject (often used generally with a hyphen: Piri-voyage)? So far, no conclusions - bare curiosity. Peer - “peer, a person from high society”, Raise - “rise, growth” (including in the economy). The fact that the English punters with their House of Peers and the “depressed” Americans are fed on one bank milk can, I think, not to mention. As for Germany, the English money flowed into this country, too, about the number of 1929. The preparation of the puppet-Hitler, fascism, the development of the German military industry with all the ensuing consequences, up to a clearly planned explosion in the form of the Second World War, began.
The figure of a scientist who turned the whole scientific world over with his “sensation” deserves special attention. The fact is that through the hands of Charles Hepgud, a modest professor at Kinsky College (New Hampshire), almost ALL known today unfrozen cards passed, confirming the same fact: Antarctica was - yes, God is with him without ice! - it was discovered and studied by people long before Bellingshausen and Lazarev. The time to “create” maps is perfect - from the beginning of the sixteenth century onwards. In order not to hurt 1492 year - Columbus is not for anything, America already belongs to the one who needs. Why did the sixth continent be deprived of ice? It's simple - to attract representatives of science to the sensation, and therefore the whole world community.
Yes, Piri Reis was not alone. In the 1959 year (for a minute, the year of the signing of the Antarctic Convention), Hapgood made another “sensational” discovery. Fingering the dusty papers of the National Library of Congress in Washington, he turned over another ancient page and froze in surprise - he was looking at him again, sorry, “naked” Antarctica. This time the authorship of Oronteus Phineus, 1531 year of release. Well for the attack! A scientist of the genus was written to find sensational cards at the most appropriate time for this.
Then there were maps of Mercator, Philip Buashe, Haji Ahmed. Who exactly they were discovered is a mystery covered in darkness, but Hepgood paid attention to them. He handed over the collection for examination to a colleague from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Dr. Richard Streychand. In addition, of course, did not have the slightest doubt about their authenticity. All the above-mentioned cartographers of the 16 century allegedly copied their maps from more ancient sources. They call the names of Ptolemy, Alexander the Great and even Christopher Columbus. But there is no documentary evidence for this - not a single “original source” has been preserved. All this is very similar to the children who broke the vase, and poking a finger at each other, - the truth is not to get, but it is clear that the matter is unclean.
Many today talked about the fact that millions of years ago on Earth there was a highly developed civilization, in many ways superior to ours. There are even truly phenomenal finds that absolutely do not fit the logic of patterned thinking. But let's think sensibly and look for a middle ground in everything. After all, the eternal principle of “look for who benefits” has not been canceled yet. Otherwise, the desire to think outside the box can play a cruel joke with us, overshadowing reality. So with the cards. Well, people in the 16 century did not know how to determine the latitude and longitude, it became possible only in the 18 century with the invention of the chronometer. They did not possess the necessary knowledge in the field of mathematics and trigonometry, and Eratosthenes determined the circumference of the Earth at that time with a huge error! At the same time, our “sensational” maps are a masterpiece of cartographic art, with latitudes and longitudes measured to the nearest minute. Performed in equal projection, they are fully consistent with modern experimental samples. Nothing, except the miracle of ancient civilization, scientists do not explain this fact. Do you believe in miracles? I'd like to believe. But a broken vase is a fact, and that means the most stubborn thing in the world.
Very cold war
Many people “broke off” with Antarctica, but the first was James Cook. In 1768, his expedition aboard a ship with the optimistic name Attempt (Endeavor) set off to explore the passage of Venus through the disk of the Sun. With the imagination of the English government was not very. Therefore, they again covered their greedy grin of new colonies with the good old Puritan love of science. To the "south" on a ticket from London, Cook traveled several times. In one of them I even came across the east coast of Australia, called New South Wales and, without hesitation, proclaimed British possession. But - that's not the problem! - I did not find fresh water there, and the goal was not counted. Had to swim again. And it almost swam. He even discovered the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia, but at 71 the degree of southern latitude the Antarctic ice was too severe for the British expedition. In the book “Journey to the South Pole and around the world,” Cook wrote: “If someone discovers determination and perseverance to resolve this issue, and penetrates further south, I will not envy the glory of his discoveries. But I must say that his discoveries will bring some benefit to the world. ” But there were only 200 kilometers! You can not forget about the fox and the grapes ...
Cook's anti-PR campaign worked so well that during 45 years no country had infringed upon the "useless" continent. You look a little more, and the British would have prepared a new expedition, but, alas, they were ahead. And who do you think? That's right - Bellingshausen and Lazarev. 4 June 1819, their Antarctic expedition on the sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny" departed from Kronstadt. And in 1820, it reached the inaccessible ice continent, once again proving that for the Russians nothing is impossible. Another confirmation of this is the work of Mikhail Lomonosov “On the Layers of the Earth”, where he was in 1761 year, that is, even before Cook’s “attempt”, asserted that on the edge of the southern hemisphere there is “mother earth covered with eternal ice”.
What happened around Antarctica in the following years can only be compared with the hysteria of a train late. The British, Americans, Norwegians, Frenchmen, Germans convulsively tried to get "by car" to their destination. Simply put, they floated one by one to the southern shores and re-opened them. In parts. That “sea” in their honor will be called, as Ross and Weddell, then new Earths will be found, then islands, then volcanoes ... Often there were heated debates about who discovered what. Well at least there were no fights. Among geographers, the complete disorder lasted until the beginning of the 20 century. The priority of Bellingshausen and Lazarev was forgotten years through 20.
In the 20 century, Germany showed the greatest agility in the "study" of Antarctica. She sent three expeditions to the mainland: 1901 — 1903, 1911 — 1912, and 1938 — 1939. The last two are the most interesting. You should not even explain why - dates are more eloquent than words. It is, no more no less, on the eve of the two world wars, the "official" instigators of which were the Germans. From the second expedition, researcher Wilhelm Filchner brought samples of the rock, and the result of their study had the effect of a bombshell: the depths of Antarctica are rich in high-quality uranium. Today it is reliably known that uranium reserves on the sixth continent almost by one third exceed the richest deposits in the Congo, and its concentration is 30 percent. The Germans had similar (albeit not accurate) information by the beginning of the third expedition - the most ambitious, bold and mysterious.
Bardak with Antarctica could transfer anyone, but not Stalin. His government, preoccupied with the agility of the British and Norwegians in the "study" of the southern continent, back in January 1939, declared an official protest to the governments of these countries due to the fact that their Antarctic expeditions "... were engaged in unreasonable division into sectors of land, - attention !!! - once discovered by Russian researchers and seafarers ... ". Similar notes were sent to the USA and Japan. Wait ... Norway, Britain, USA, Japan ... But where is Germany? You say that Joseph Vissarionovich then "fraternized" with Hitler? You have false “democratic” information. This is just another proof that Germany was only a puppet in the hands of a clever puppeteer from among the countries mentioned above. Stalin will not let lie. Yes, and World War II did not keep waiting, and it began exactly in September 1939.
Few people know that the Soviet Union immediately after the devastating victory over the Germans in 1945, won another, no less ambitious - over the Americans for Antarctica. Today they are silent about this in order not to raise the authority of Stalin, they were previously silent to portray the peace-loving nature of Soviet foreign policy. Why are the Americans silent? Because it is, perhaps, the biggest disgrace in their history.
In 1920, about Richard Byrd in the United States hardly composed the songs. The national American hero first flew over the North Pole, dropped the American flag over the South Pole, founded the first long-term US station in Antarctica "Little America" (a very encouraging name, isn't it?). Baird led four expeditions to the sixth continent, the last of which took place in 1946 — 1947, immediately after the end of World War II. No day without sleep, no day without rest. But Byrd's star after these events did not shine brighter. According to some information, the national hero of America got into a hospital, and his name was covered with fog. The “scientific” expedition was financed by the US government. In its modest composition was a special squadron of 14 American warships and auxiliary vessels. Among them, the aircraft carrier, on board which were helicopters and airplanes. According to the memoirs of the pilot of Sayerson, the air group of the aircraft carrier Casablanca consisted of six (or seven) helicopters S-46, 25 aircraft: five deck fighters F-4U Corsair, five jet attack aircraft A-21, 9 amp; Helldiver ”, commander F7F Tigercat and five XF-5U Skimmer (“ pancakes ”). The subnet Sennet was also included in the expedition. The expedition includes several thousand marines. The total number of participants - 4-5 thousand people. The official goal is to deliver the final blow to the Third Reich in the ice of Antarctica.
Stalin sent a squadron to Antarctica. At the end of 1946, whaling flotilla "Glory" under the command of Captain Voronin moved to the South Pole. The exact number of surface ships, aircraft and submarines that make up the squadron is still unknown. However, the marine writer A. Zattets in 1996 wrote in the anthology “Shipbuilding in the USSR” that the destroyers of the project 45, “High”, “Important” and “Impressive”, participated in the campaign. The destroyers were built in 1945 using the captured technologies used by the Japanese when designing their destroyers of the Fubuki type, intended for sailing in the harsh conditions of the northern and Arctic seas. IN aviation operated fighter company P-63 "Kingcobra", supplied by the Americans under Lend-Lease and manufactured exclusively by Soviet orders. “Kingcobra”, as one of the memoirists of that time put it, could become Stalin’s main reserve in case of an unforeseen change in the military-political situation and the outbreak of war with the United States. They were equipped with all parts of the USSR air defense. Of all the Soviet fighters, only Kingcobra could get the main strategic bomber of the USA B-29 “Super Fortress” in the sky.
What happened to the fourth expedition of Byrd? Just that a perfectly prepared and equipped naval squadron, supplied with food for the 8 months, suddenly turned around and dragged back to America. As it turned out, she arrived with huge losses - both material and human. Any attempts to obtain accurate data are doomed to failure.
The first "exploded" the American press. George Kennan, a former adviser and envoy of the United States and the USSR, who had recently left Moscow "for consultations with his government," published an article in one of the central American magazines "Forin Affers", in which he expressed the idea of "the need for the earliest organization of resistance the ambitions of the Soviets, who after successfully ending the war with Germany and Japan, are in a hurry to use their military and political victories to spread the harmful ideas of communism not only in Eastern Europe and China, but Oh and in far Antarctica! ” Indeed, how can we not talk about Stalin’s “bloody regime” ...
In response, the USSR promulgated its memorandum on the political regime of Antarctica, where it dotted the “i” in US intentions “... to deprive the USSR of its legal right based on the discoveries made in this part of the world by Russian navigators made back in the beginning of the 19 century”. After this statement and other decisive actions (and Stalin was a master on them), Truman's Secretary of State James Byrnes resigned, forced by the President himself. This man has always advocated the toughest sanctions against the USSR. His last words at the state post were: "It is impossible to frighten the damned Russians."
In 1950, the greed and insolence of international claims on Antarctica peaked. The USSR sent a note that leaves its right to claim the entire continent, as its discoverer. In the 1956 year - already under Khrushchev - the diesel-electric ship “Ob” came to the shores of Antarctica, and the first Soviet observatory and research base, the Mirny settlement, was established. It is curious that the Convention on "universal" Antarctica was signed just three years later. And the only obvious reason for this set of circumstances is the threat of the real presence and strengthening of Russians in Antarctica. By the way, this Convention came into force in the 1961 year, when it was officially announced about the huge reserves of uranium in the depths of Antarctica. In the same year, the Caribbean crisis erupted ... And who knows, maybe Soviet missiles in Cuba were just a pretext.
Is the bear killed?
How strange it turns out - Russia over the course of history wins almost all wars and makes almost all discoveries. Only now, when it comes to “distribution of prizes,” invariably stands aside. Modesty of the strongest? Maybe just do not be impudent. You do, brothers, even divide the skin of a bear according to the good old Russian proverb - when it is not yet killed. They are claiming for Antarctica today: the United States, Great Britain, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, China, South Korea and, as they say, many, many others ... Hurry up. Answer only one question: what the hell? Well, what right do you have for Antarctica? The question is not complicated at all, but for some reason it sounds rarely.
It does not sound at UN meetings, it does not sound in Russian schools and in the Russian media. The matter is taken for granted - this Earth to that, this shelf - to another. Who had time, he ate? The “inviolability” of Antarctica ends in the 2048 year with the expiration of the Convention. Extend it, of course, no one will. After all, exactly by this time the resources of the five developed continents are over. Run out of oil, gas, fresh water. How is the situation in Antarctica? 80 percent of the global freshwater reserves, oil fields, many times superior to the storage areas of Saudi Arabia (6,5 billion tons), coal, gas (more than 4 trillion cubic meters), iron ore, uranium (recall, more than in the Congo), and the appetizer is gold and diamonds. Any more questions? A curious detail: in 1991, the Antarctic Convention was supplemented by the Madrid Protocol, which prohibits mining on the mainland. For some mysterious chance, this year coincided with the year of the collapse of the Soviet Union. And how many "accidents"? In the 70 of the twentieth century, the USSR was unmatched by its level of presence in Antarctica - there were about 10 scientific bases and about 8 ships, scientists made one discovery after another, achieved great success in geological research. But then the thunder of "the triumph of democracy" struck and the young Russia began to rapidly plunge into the abyss, the final point of which could be the complete neutralization of our influence on our legitimate land. Absurd, cruel and offensively stupid.
In 1999, 4 million dollars were allocated to Antarctic research - the amount is not just ridiculous, but mockingly ridiculous (for comparison, one T-80 tank cost three times as much). Around the same time, there was a war in the information arena — the topic of Antarctica was simply ignored. Well, the patient is dead, what else to talk about? Thus, one of Russia's top priorities - the development of the continent that belongs to us is not only not being solved, but is deliberately ignored. Meanwhile, the United States and China are investing billions of dollars in research, developing ultra-efficient deepwater drilling methods, and are building bases that resemble military grounds equipped with the latest technology. Britain already intends to produce oil on the Antarctic shelf, and Australia and Norway claim to the area, many times superior to their own. Russia has not yet officially claimed anything. And from the 8 ships going to the shores of Antarctica in Soviet times, today there is only one thing left - “Akademik Fedorov”. The Soviet project of creating large airfields for permanent communication with the mainland through aviation remained in the dreams.
"Pie" is not just divided - it has already been taken apart in pieces. After all, the filling of the "pie" is very tasty. This is not only about the riches of the Antarctic depths - the Vostok ice lake is one of the largest freshwater bodies on Earth, and NASA and the US National Security Agency have already had a hand in it. Strange, but someone still remembers that in 1996, this lake was discovered by a team of Russian scientists led by Andrei Kapitsa. Drilling of the lake was suspended in the 1998 year, when there was little more than 100 meters to the expected water. The world community was worried about environmental safety. And our scientists were called upon to wait until new, “environmentally friendly” methods of drilling have been developed. You see, they would be developed by the British, Americans or Norwegians .... Oh, they would have drilled, rest assured. But again, bad luck! The new technology was presented by experts from the Mining Institute of St. Petersburg. Drilling continued after a few years, and, after a couple more ridiculous attempts to “freeze” the work, the Russians were the first to reach the heart of Lake Vostok.
Today, 50 million dollars is allocated to Antarctic research. It’s a lot or a little - a rhetorical question when compared with the billions of the United States and China. 5 scientific bases are working on the mainland, 2 are conserved, only one ship, Akademik Fedorov, sails to the shores of Antarctica. The second - “Akademik Treshnikov” - will be tested in the ice during the 58 Antarctic Expedition, which started in early November. At this time, the active "scientific" activity on the continent is imitated by, forgive, the 30 countries, and the amount of funding for their activities has increased in 4 times in recent years.
You can say a lot about the fact that Antarctica is expensive, unpromising and, in the end, not very necessary. After all, we have plenty of our undeveloped deposits, in the same extreme North, if we are so drawn into the ice. Sea of Okhotsk is not "plowed." Also, of course, not paradise, but tolerated, and even closer somehow. And Antarctica is kilometers of ice through which not to break through on the mainland, and icebergs, under which there is no undermining in a part of the sea. And how to lay pipelines on this edge of the earth? Norwegians are just starting to practice these technologies in the Arctic. That's it, but start the same. And we have to start. Either someone will do it for us, because there is simply no other way out for mankind after a couple of decades.
The most fierce battles always go on the "invisible" front. In the case of the sixth continent, we are dealing with the largest political secret of our time, but this is not a secret at all - in the midst of a colonization war. And the hour is not far when Antarctica can, with a clear conscience, be called the “hot spot” of the globe. ”
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