ABSTRACT
Polar exploration has been profoundly influenced by the Stalin period. In the first place it became much more important than it had been previously. Before the Revolution, interest had arisen relatively late; at the turn of the century Russia began to take part actively, on more than a strictly scientific level and this only because it was forced to by other countries. Even after the Revolution polar exploration had remained of secondary importance. The Soviet view that immediately after the Revolution polar exploration rose to a new level has an ideological basis and dates from about 1938. The early research institutions, such as PLAVMORNIN, were in fact meant to resolve the urgent need for food in Soviet Russia by stimulating fisheries. Polar exploration after 1917 was merely a continuation of tsarist policy, without any long-distance expeditions. Any discontinuity in 1917 is therefore artificial. The turning point in Soviet exploration, as elsewhere, was the introduction of aircraft. Air routes gave a new value to the Arctic and caused a revision of all political and economic ideas about it. The occupation of Ostrov Vrangelya by Stefansson’s expedition left especially deep marks. The fact that the Canadians were apparently willing to sacrifice human lives for such islands as Ostrov Vrangelya deeply impressed the Russians. It now became clear that more exploration was the only way to safeguard the Soviet Arctic. The general public readily accepted this and polar expeditions soon enjoyed a popularity comparable with that of the first manned spaceflights. Men like Nobile and Amundsen became universal heroes. A great deal of literature about polar travel appeared and met a great demand.
