Mining for Sovereignty? Norwegian Coal Companies and the Quest for Supremacy over Svalbard 1916-1925 (original) (raw)
Related papers
2022
The history of how it was decided in 1920 that Spitsbergen (Svalbard) should become Norwegian was shaped by the construction of a historical narrative about the loss of a medieval Norwegian empire in the Arctic Ocean, and a political desire to reclaim it. This phenomenon has been commonly referred to as ishavsimperialisme, or Arctic imperialism. This thesis aims to tell the story of Arctic imperialism and the people who supported it. How did they construct a narrative of Spitsbergen belonging to Norway? What influence did they have on the decision to try and gain sovereignty over the archipelago, and on the creation of the Spitsbergen treaty at the Paris Peace Conference in the fall of 1919 until its signing in 1920? Through a broad survey of Norwegian newspaper sources between 1896 – when Fridtjof Nansen’s Fram expedition returned and triggered a debate about a Norwegian annexation of Spitsbergen – and 1925, when Norwegian sovereignty over the archipelago was actualized, as well as transcripts of parliamentary debates and documents from the Norwegian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, I explore the ideological birth and influence of the Arctic imperialists. I argue that for much of the period, their notion that Spitsbergen was rightfully Norwegian was relatively marginal in the broader public discourse, and that there was a notable degree of reluctance and disinterest towards Spitsbergen. I show that this status quo only changes significantly from 1916, and that by 1918 and the end of the First World War, the combined interests of Arctic imperialists and Norwegian businesses on Spitsbergen convinced the government to work towards sovereignty over the islands. Finally, I explore the relatively negative reactions to the treaty among Arctic imperialists, and show how they struggled but eventually succeeded to create a narrative of the Spitsbergen treaty as a Norwegian triumph.
From “Spitsbergen” to “Svalbard”. Norwegianization in Norway and in the “Norwegian Sea”, 1820–1925
Acta Borealia, 2013
The aim of the paper is to enhance our understanding of the Norwegian acquisition of Spitsbergen/Svalbard by using the concept of Norwegianization as a tool for analyzing the political and diplomatic background for the Spitsbergen treaty of 1920, and comparing the Norwegianization polar politics with the Norwegianization concept used to analyze the internal colonization in the Sami districts of northern Norway during the same period. The paper concludes that the politics of Norwegianization on the main islands in the North Oceanrenamed the Norwegian Sea by Norwegian oceanographers in the 1870swas an offensive policy of expansionism, motivated by historical and geographical considerations and alleged rights to re-establish the Medieval Norse empire.
Frozen assets. British mining, exploration, and geopolitics on Spitsbergen, 1904–53
The Polar Journal, 2014
Gips Bay and Gips Valley 4.3.2 Site interpretations 4.4 Conclusion 7.4.5 Products 7.5 The First World War 7.5.1 Global changes... 7.5.2 ... local responses 7.6 The global network of the public company 7.6.1 Economic actors 7.6.2 Political actors 7.6.3 Other allies and competitors 7.7 The local network of the public company 7.7.1 Claims and natural resources 7.7.2 Manifestations 7.7.3 Employees 7.7.4 Local allies 7.7.5 Products 7.8 Postwar depression 7.9 Ratification of the Spitsbergen Treaty 7.10 Final efforts, sale, and dissolution 7.11 Summary and conclusion 8 The Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate, Ltd. (1909-53) 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Formation of the first syndicate and chronological overview 8.3 The global network of the first syndicate 8.3.1 Economic actors 8.3.2 Political actors 8.3.3 Other allies 8.3.4 Competitors 8.4 The local network of the first syndicate 8.4.1 Claims and resources 8.4.2 Employees and local allies 8.4.3 Manifestations and products 8.5 The First World War 8.6 Formation of the second syndicate and chronological overview 8.7 The global network of the second syndicate 8.7.1 Economic actors 8.7.2 Political actors 8.7.3 Other allies 8.7.4 Competitors 8.8 The local network of the second syndicate 8.8.1 Claims and natural resources 8.8.2 Manifestations and technologies 8.8.3 Employees 8.8.4 Local allies 8.8.5 Products and achievements 8.9 The Danish Commission 8.10 Marking time 8.11 The expiry of the treaty properties 8.12 A subsidiary company and voluntary liquidation 8.13 Summary and conclusion PART IV-THE COMBINED IMAGE 9 Four British companies on Spitsbergen: discussion and conclusion 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Why were the British companies started? 9.3 How did the companies choose to operate and why? 9.4 Why were the companies discontinued? 9.5 What were the economic, political, and environmental consequences? 9.6 Conclusion Acknowledgments References Appendix 1-Place-names used in the text Appendix 2-Staff of the Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate Appendix 3-Learned papers of the Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate English summary Nederlandse samenvatting xi Conversion tables Length Metric 5 The Northern Exploration Co. was instrumental in the registration of the Spitzbergen Syndicate, Ltd. (1924-7), not to be confused with the Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate. It was formed to underwrite the company's shares as will be shown in Chapter 7. 6 The other registrations were Spitzbergen United, Ltd. (1906-12), Spitzbergen Mineral, Ltd. (1919-24), the Anglo-Russian Grumant Co., Ltd. (1920-32), and Scottish Spitsbergen (Development) Ltd. (1950-53). The first two were excluded from this study, because they never came into operation. The Anglo-Russian firm was left out, because its operations were under Russian management. Although the Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate had transferred its assets and rights to the Scottish development company, the latter was the product of a new era: the international discussions surrounding its sale to Norway in 1953 echoed early Cold War sentiments and in part created the Russo-Norwegian relations of today. Its inclusion was outside the scope of this work. 1.3 The research context This study has a place within a wider international research context. It is a subproject of LASHIPA (in full: Large-scale Historical Exploitation of Polar Areas), which investigates the history of three exploitative industries at both poles over the last four centuries. 9 The LASHIPA project is based at the Arctic Centre of the 8 The full title of the consulted document is 'The Mining Code (the Mining Regulations) for Spitsbergen (Svalbard), laid down by Royal Decree of 7 August 1925 as amended by Royal Decree of 11 June 1975.'
Non-state actors in the Arctic: Lessons from the 1920 Svalbard Treaty Negotiations
St Andrews Historical Journal, 2019
Climate change has resulted in the rapid melting of Arctic ice, opening new routes to sea navigation and making resource extraction more economical. Some scholars have argued that the current paradigm of Arctic governance will be unable to adapt to the reality of an increasingly accessible region populated by a growing number of state and non-state actors. This paper will explore a historical precedent for the role of non-state actors in Arctic governance. The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 resolved a decades-long dispute over sovereignty, mining, environmental regulation, and the role of the interstate system in Svalbard. I will explore how non-state actors, such as corporations and the “Literature Lobby” influenced the Svalbard Treaty negotiations and suggest that the process contains valuable lessons for the contemporary Arctic.
The Polar Journal, 2014
Spitsbergen lies in the European High Arctic: It is an archipelago north of Scandinavia, nestled between the Barents Sea to the east and the Greenland Sea to its west. Coal was first discovered in 1610 in this former “no-man’s land” rich in mineral resources. Frozen Assets. British Mining, Exploration, and Geopolitics on Spitsbergen, 1904–53 examines the driving forces behind British industrial development of Spitsbergen at that time. The book is divided into four parts: the introduction and background, the archaeological image, the historical image and a concluding chapter that offers a combined image.
Foreign policy and national identity: The Norwegian integrity treaty 1907-24
Forsvarsstudier 1/1993, 1993
After Norway's entry into the League of Nations in 1920, Norway approached Great Britain, France, Germany and Russia, the four powers which had guaranteed the integrity of Norway in 1907, with a proposal to abrogate the integrity treaty. The negotiations proved far more complex than had been expected. Largely owing to Soviet objections no solution could be reached until 1924, and the treaty did not finally lapse until 1928. This study shows how Norwegian diplomacy drew the country unwittingly into the ideological antagonism between its two powerful neighbors, Great Britain and Soviet Russia. Through the use of British and Soviet sources it also reveals much about the political and strategic preoccupations of the two great powers in the early 1920s, and suggests that there was a continuity in Soviet attitudes towards Norway extending well into the Cold War period.