Antarctic Race

What if, akin to the Space Race in the Cold War, there was an "Antartic Race"? What would be needed to start this race and maintain it, and what would be it's effects on the world?
 

Cook

Banned
Didn't they do that already?

Winners:

amundsen-pole.jpg


Losers:

Scott+at+South+Pole
 
If anything the arctic/antarctic exploration age was a fair bit more dramatic considering all the men who died attempting it and the number of expeditions from various countries that went there.
 
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As stated above there was a race of sorts in the Golden Age of Polar Exploration to be the first to reach the South Pole. And while the South Pole certainly offers its share of scientific potential, the fact is once you check off the pole there really isn't much else to do that would maintain public interest on a nationalist level. You can't colonize it and mining potential is tempered by the sheer difficulty of getting there and establishing a base.
 
You can't colonize it and mining potential is tempered by the sheer difficulty of getting there and establishing a base.

Mostly because of treaty by now. Especially near the coast (and especially especially on the Antarctic Peninsula), conditions aren't worse than some other places with seasonal mining.

In fact, Chile and Argentina have both been low-key trying to establish ownership and sovereignty over the peninsula, including establishing permanent civilian populations, and I can easily see one or the other eventually trying to start mining.
 
As stated above there was a race of sorts in the Golden Age of Polar Exploration to be the first to reach the South Pole. And while the South Pole certainly offers its share of scientific potential, the fact is once you check off the pole there really isn't much else to do that would maintain public interest on a nationalist level. You can't colonize it and mining potential is tempered by the sheer difficulty of getting there and establishing a base.
Kinda similar with the race to the moon. Although that race has had some side-effects like satellites.
 
What if, akin to the Space Race in the Cold War, there was an "Antartic Race"? What would be needed to start this race and maintain it, and what would be it's effects on the world?

This is basically what happened in OTL. Massive, state backed expeditions sent full of flag waving men and talking about science (and much of it actually done) while scrabbling over useless, bleak terrain.
 
what about TRYING and probably dying colonizing Antarctica and by colonizing i mean like the thing Chile does but on a larger scale.
 
what about TRYING and probably dying colonizing Antarctica and by colonizing i mean like the thing Chile does but on a larger scale.

Around the same time as the antarctic race was ongoing? mass deaths and starvation due to malnutrition, unless Nansen decides to apply his lessons to teach about polar survival on a large scale in some sort of dedicated academy. If one thing was learned during that period it is that large expeditions of the imperial type were a bad idea and that you needed small teams of incredibly competent and dedicated individuals and even then you still run the risk of ending up like Scott.

larger attempts like Franklins expedition and you end up with 129 dead in a single expedition eating each other.
 
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