Problems of the Soviet Arctic Development in the Works by Anglo-American Researchers of the 1930s-1950s

Abstract

The paper objective is to analyze the works by the Anglo-American researchers (T.A. Taracouzio, T. Armstrong, C.J. Webster et al.) published in the 1930s–1950s, and to estimate their contribution to the study of the early stage of the Soviet Arctic development. These works by Western scholars are of interest to the contemporary researchers not only because they show how the ups and downs of the Soviet policy towards the Arctic were perceived and evaluated in other countries. Some conclusions drawn in the works under consideration remain relevant nowadays, such as the idea that it is impossible to address the problems of the Arctic region effectively without meaningful international cooperation. The Anglo-American specialists used a vast amount of documentary sources and research literature (for the most part, published in Russian) and covered a wide range of issues related to this topic. These issues include the history of scientific exploration; the system of governance in the Arctic in the 1920s-1950s; the economic development; the policy towards the indigenous population etc. While admitting the outstanding accomplishments of the Soviet explorers of the Arctic region, the Western authors also pointed out that there was certain continuity between the pre-revolutionary and Soviet policies implemented in the Arctic; stressed the military and strategic significance of the Arctic territories and negative human impact on the Arctic environment. Specialized scientific research centers contributed to the comprehensive study of the topic. Among such centers one should mention the Scott Polar Research Institute (Cambridge) and the Arctic Institute of North America, which prepared and published 16 volumes of «Arctic bibliography». The author concludes that the Anglo-American researchers laid a foundation for the further study of the problems related to the development of the Arctic zone of the USSR and Russian Federation.