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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show that reveals a little bit more about history

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Speaker 1: day by day. I'm Gabe Lousier, and in this episode

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Speaker 1: we're talking about the time when twelve nations decided there

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Speaker 1: would be peace on Earth, even if only in the

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Speaker 1: part of the world where almost no one lives. The

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Speaker 1: day was December one, nineteen fifty nine. Twelve nations signed

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Speaker 1: the Antarctic Treaty, which prohibited military activity on the continent

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Speaker 1: and ensured it would be used only for scientific research

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Speaker 1: and exploration. This was the first arms control agreement of

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Speaker 1: the Cold War era and the first and only treaty

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Speaker 1: that governs an entire continent. The question of who owns

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Speaker 1: Antarctica has been raised many times since its modern discovery.

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Speaker 1: Starting in the eighteen hundreds, a host of countries began

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Speaker 1: laying claim to various parts of the continent. Sometimes these

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Speaker 1: claims overlapped and led to diplomatic squabbles, but for the

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Speaker 1: most part, everyone kept things nice and civil when it

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Speaker 1: came to the world's most remote region. However, things started

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Speaker 1: to heat up in the mid twentieth century, and some

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Speaker 1: conflicting claims began to lead to actual war. For example,

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Speaker 1: in nineteen forty eight, the Argentine military fired on British

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Speaker 1: soldiers in an area of Antarctica that had been claimed

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Speaker 1: by both countries. It wasn't the only such incident, and

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Speaker 1: with the Soviet Unions starting to show its own interest

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Speaker 1: in the continent, further disputes were looking more and more likely.

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Speaker 1: Some heads of state even began to worry that the isolated,

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Speaker 1: uninhabited continent could be used as a potential launch site

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Speaker 1: for nuclear weapons. With that threatened mind, the United States

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Speaker 1: got the ball rolling by suggesting that Antarctica be made

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Speaker 1: a trustee of the United Nations. That proposal failed because

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Speaker 1: no one wanted to give up their claims to the

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Speaker 1: continent and hand over control to an international organization. So

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Speaker 1: in May of nineteen fifty eight, President Eisenhower decided to

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Speaker 1: try a different approach. He invited eleven nations to a

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Speaker 1: conference to discuss the future of Antarctica. The meeting would

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Speaker 1: be based on three points of agreement that had been

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Speaker 1: decided by the nations through informal talks. The three points

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Speaker 1: of agreement whereas follows that the legal status of the

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Speaker 1: Antarctic continent would remain unchanged, that scientific cooperation would continue,

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Speaker 1: and that the continent would be used for peaceful purposes.

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Speaker 1: Only All eleven nations accepted the US invitation, and the

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Speaker 1: conference was held in Washington, d C. From October fift

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Speaker 1: through December one, nineteen fifty nine. Diplomats from each of

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Speaker 1: the twelve nations worked together on the treaty, and on

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Speaker 1: the last day of the conference, they all signed their

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Speaker 1: names to the document. First, and foremost, the treaty established

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Speaker 1: Antarctica as a military free zone. It's specifically banned quote

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Speaker 1: any measures of a military nature, such as the establishment

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Speaker 1: of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military maneuvers,

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Speaker 1: as well as the testing of any type of weapons,

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Speaker 1: including nuclear. Second, the treaty made clear that peaceful scientific

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Speaker 1: endeavors were allowed, and that scientists could travel the con

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Speaker 1: tinent freely, including through areas claimed by other nations. Speaking

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Speaker 1: of those territorial claims, the treaty let them all stand,

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Speaker 1: essentially freezing the map as it was. Among the twelve

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Speaker 1: original signers of the Antarctic Treaty, seven had laid claims

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Speaker 1: to parts of the continent. Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway,

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Speaker 1: and the United Kingdom. The other five nations, Belgium, Japan,

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Speaker 1: South Africa, the Soviet Union and the United States had

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Speaker 1: explored the continent but put forward no specific claims. The

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Speaker 1: treaty provided that, for as long as it's in force,

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Speaker 1: those original seven claims cannot be added to or taken away,

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Speaker 1: neither can any new claims be made. One interesting note

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Speaker 1: is that if you set aside all the areas of

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Speaker 1: the continent that have been claimed by at least one country,

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Speaker 1: there's still one sector of Antarctica left, and since it

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Speaker 1: isn't allowed to be claimed while the treaty is in force,

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Speaker 1: that effectively makes it the last piece of unclaimed land

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Speaker 1: on Earth. The treaty went into effect in June of

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Speaker 1: nineteen sixty one, and the basic policies that established have

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Speaker 1: continued to govern Antarctica ever since. Disputes have cropped up

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Speaker 1: from time to time, but most have been addressed through

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Speaker 1: expansions to the treaty, which is now referred to as

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Speaker 1: the Antarctic Treaty System. These additions have addressed concerns such

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Speaker 1: as pollution, conservation of marine life, prohibitions on mining and

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Speaker 1: the protection of natural resources. The treaty's membership has grown

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Speaker 1: along with it. Today it has fifty four signatories, though

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Speaker 1: only twenty nine of those parties have decision making powers.

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Speaker 1: These so called consultative parties include the twelve original countries

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Speaker 1: to sign the treaty, along with seventeen others that have

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Speaker 1: met several criteria relating to scientific research on the continent.

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Speaker 1: The member countries continue to meet once a year to

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Speaker 1: discuss issues and to renew their commitment to keeping Antarctica

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Speaker 1: free of international conflict. The Antarctic Treaty has value in

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Speaker 1: its own right, but it's also important as a model

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Speaker 1: for how foresight and cooperation can prevent problems before they

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Speaker 1: get out of hand. The idea behind the treaty is

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Speaker 1: that it's easier to ban militarization before it happens than

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Speaker 1: it is to try to regulate or abolish it after

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Speaker 1: it's been introduced. Later. Non armament treaties have followed this approach,

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Speaker 1: and as a result, nuclear weapons are now forbidden not

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Speaker 1: only in Antarctica, but in Latin America, on the sea floor,

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Speaker 1: and in outer space. None of that solves the deeper

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Speaker 1: problems at play, but like the Antarctic Treaty itself, at

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Speaker 1: least it's a step in the right direction. I'm Gabe

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Speaker 1: Blusier and hopefully you now know a little more about

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Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to

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Speaker 1: keep up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook,

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i HC Show, and if

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Speaker 1: you have any comments or suggestions, you can send them

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Speaker 1: my way at this Day at i heart media dot com.

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Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank

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Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow

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Speaker 1: for another Day in History Class. For more podcasts from

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