“Free Harbours”: Soviet-German Scientific Cooperation in Aircraft and Arctic Regions Research

Abstract

In 1924, the German aeronaut Walter Bruns turned to the Soviet government with a proposal of cooperation in the field of aeronautics. He suggested creating a concession company for the transportation of passengers by airship from Europe to East Asia, granting the bases of airships the right of extraterritoriality, making them “free harbours”. The aim of this study is to present the results of Soviet-German cooperation in the development of aeronautics and the tasks that were planned to be solved with the help of airships in the development of the Arctic territories. Analysis of the sources demonstrates that V. Bruns’ project was seen by the Soviet officials as dubious in terms of recoupment, and they were not ready to allocate funds for its implementation. The authorities were interested, first of all, in obtaining German technologies and localising the construction of airships at Soviet shipyards. In this article, special attention is paid to how Bruns’ project was evaluated by experts, among whom the military played a leading role. They opposed regular flights of airships with foreign crews across Soviet territory, as they considered them a potential threat to the country’s defense. Bruns’ other project on the organisation of an international scientific expedition to study the Arctic was of greater interest to the authorities. The practical result of this project was the flight of Graf Zeppelin, a German airship, in 1931 whose crew included Soviet specialists. However, after that, the cooperation with the Italian aeronaut Umberto Nobile became more significant for the Soviet authorities and he began building airships in the USSR.