The status of Svalbard in relations between the Soviet Union and Norway during the Cold War

• Main Author: Koshovyi, Dmytro
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Cold war; Norway; Svalbard; Soviet Union; Arctic; Svalbard Archipelago
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10852/73465; http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-76585

Russia and Norway have a long tradition of exploring the Arctic. Their paths regularly cross both in the polar sea and on the Arctic islands. Svalbard has long been a no man's land - “terra nullius”. On February 9, 1920, representatives of Great Britain, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the USA, France, Sweden, Japan, and the five English dominions and colonies signed the Svalbard Treaty in Paris. Under the Treaty of 1920, Svalbard is the only land state territory of common use in modern international law. Norway was able to obtain sovereignty over the territory of Svalbard in the Arctic region but was deprived of certain sovereign rights. The Svalbard treaty prohibits Norway from setting up military bases and using the Svalbard archipelago for military purposes, but it establishes that foreign citizens have the same commercial rights as Norwegians. This master's thesis will try to demonstrate the relationship between Norway and the Soviet Union around the Svalbard issue during World War II and throughout the Cold War. It was during those periods when disagreements between countries over the use of this archipelago had begun. The master's thesis will describe all the negotiations about Svalbard between the two countries. An important part of this thesis will be the description of Norway’s special policy - "bridgebuilding", the aim to create good relations with both the West and the East. Norway was territorially between two opposing ideological opponents. This research will provide a description of all transformations in relations between Norway and the countries of the West and the East. In addition, it will examine how Norway’s foreign policy has changed and how Norway has become a member of NATO and how it has affected relations with the Soviet Union regarding Svalbard. A series of crisis between Norway and the USSR will be described, of which these situations arose the question of Svalbard during the Cold War.