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Chapter 7
Arctic Triumphs and Tragedies
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, exciting events took place in connection with
the exploration of the Arctic.The Arctic was still an area where heroism could
be fully displayed. The press and radio widely publicized the work of Arctic
stations and expeditions, particularly emphasizing the romance associated with
conquering the Arctic. The enormous significance of the Arctic regions to the
economy of the Soviet Union was so obvious that no one questioned the expenditures
necessary to open them up. 1 Events associated with Arctic explorations
aroused passionate feelings in the most diverse social strata. The excitement
generated by every Arctic adventure was also of great political significance.
Public attention was somewhat distracted from the difficulties of daily life, the
repressions, and the food crisis that had developed as a result of collectivization
in the countryside.
The successes in opening up the Arctic raised the Soviet Union’s international
prestige.The intelligentsia, isolated from cultural and scientific interaction with the
outside world, saw in Arctic research a hope for international collaboration. Society
was united in the fact that the Arctic must be Soviet.
This outward appearance of solidarity was very advantageous for the Stalinist
leadership. The heroic feats of icebreaker crews, polar pilots, and men who
wintered at Arctic stations; the record-setting flights of Soviet aircraft; and the
rescue of expeditions in distress were a graphic demonstration of the unity of our
whole society for the common goals of mankind.
The headlines of all the newspapers—and the radio broadcasts, which were only
just becoming popular—reported on the rescue of the Italian Nobile expedition
by the icebreakers Krasin and Malygin in 1928, as well as the international Arctic
expedition of a German Zeppelin in 1931, and the voyage of the icebreaker
Aleksandr Sibiryakov, which in 1932 completed the first nonstop voyage from the
White Sea to the Bering Sea along the North Sea Route.
1. The Soviet Union had both economic and strategic interests in the Arctic.The Northern Sea route that
links Murmansk with Vladivostok was the shortest sea lane between the European and Far Eastern regions of
the Soviet Union and also provided easy access to northern Siberia. Additionally, the Arctic contains vast
untapped hydrocarbon reserves.
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