Antarctica

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Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least populous continent. First discovered in the early 19th century, the continent's year-round low temperatures combined with lengthy nights during the winter have made it a hard one to explore and settled. In fact, it was not until the 1950s did the region start to major settlements and bases, This was the result of the Scramble for Antarctica in which a mixture of world powers and nearby nations began making land claims on the continent. The reasonings varies from searching for untapped resources to looking for somewhere to conduct secret weapon testing.

By 1962, Antarctica has 7 nations with significant presence on the continent.

Territory Name	Administrator	Home Nations
New Swabia	Rudolf Mayr	Germany
Ancestral Heritage Antarctica Group	Wolfram Sievers	Burgundy
Japanese Antarctic Sector	Kinugasa Hayao	Japan
Argentine Antarctica	Jorge Edgar Leal	Argentina
Chilean Antarctica	Julio Escudero Guzmán	Chile
French Southern and Antarctic Lands	Xavier Charles Richert	France
OFN Antarctic Administration	William Francis Raborn	United States/Australia/New Zealand

Location, Geography and Climate

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least populated continent. The frozen continent is added in the TNO submod Deep Freeze, that is planned to be integrated into the main mod in 2024. Antarctica is the continent with the coldest climate in the world, reaching around -57°C (-70,6°F) on the interior of the continent and around -15°C (5°F) on the coasts like on McMurdo Station. Antarctica has a landmass of 14,200,000 km² (5,500,000 sq mi) and is almost completely covered by a 2km (1.2mi) deep ice sheet. It also is the largest ice desert in the world.

History

An Old German Map of Antarctica

Early days

The 1st confirmed sighting of mainland Antarctica was by a Russian expedition on the 27 of January 1820. Another sighting of Antarctica was made 3 days later by Irishman Edward Bransfield. These consecutive sightings officially confirmed the old theories of « Terra Australis ».

Start of Exploration

While some expeditions were made during the mid 19th Century, the first major Antarctic expeditions occurred between the 1890s and 1920s in what is known as the heroic age of Antarctic exploration.

the First German expedition to the continent happened between 1901-1903, under captain Erich von Drygalski, who dubbed the patch of land he reached Kaiser Wilhelm II Land. The explorers Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott set out to become the first people to reach the South Pole, with Amundsen succeeding and Scott arriving 33 days later. Scott and his team would tragically die on their journey home.

Further expeditions by various different nations would be conducted during the 1920s and 30s. with Germany sending a ship under Captain Alfred Ritscher, who landed in Queen Maud Land and named an area of it NeuSchwabenland, both after the German Region of Swabia and the ship that carried the expedition crew.

The Scramble for Land

After WW2

With the old colonial powers that laid claim to Antarctica completely shattered and in ruins, the United States searching in the rubbles to find the last democratic nations, and the new World Powers the Greater Germanic Reich and the Empire of Japan being distracted by the colonisation and management of their newly acquired colonies and puppets in World War II, it was the Republic of Chile and the Argentine Republic, some of the closest countries to the Antarctic Continent, which started the era we now know as "The Scramble for Antarctica". However, staking their claims as the only powers on the Continent rapidly led to a number of escalating skirmishes making both countries drain more and more resources into the Barren Land.

Escalating conflicts and International Scramble

The real international scramble for Antarctica began in February of 1952, as a Chilean ship prospecting for resources was fired upon by Argentinian soldiers. This brought light to the situation in Antarctica and, quickly, two sides emerged from the devastating situation:

• The newly formed OFN under Eisenhower which supported the claims of Chile;
• The German Reich and its puppets backing the demands of Argentina.

Germany and Japan then quickly took their opportunities to seize by force their piece of Antarctica: New Swabia (German: Neuschwabenland) and Marie Byrd Land.

The OFN, seeing the threat of Axis expansion into the heart of the Frozen Continent, launched Operation: Deep Freeze, a project in collaboration between the USA, New Zealand, Australia and even Canadian personnel with the goal of creating the OAA. The OFN Antarctic Administration was successfully created in 1958, spanning across almost half of the Continent.

Snipe War

On the 9th of June 1958, as a direct retaliation for their lost skirmishes at the start of the 50s, the Argentinian government sent one destroyer attack the newly constructed Chilean base on the Snipe Inslet, off the coast of Chile and in the Beagle Channel. This started the first war in Antarctica, the Snipe War. over the course of several months, the Argentine Military conducted a violent campaign of raiding and killing in Chilean holdings. The war ended with almost half of the Chilean Antarctic Territory being taken by Argentina.

As of 1962

The Countries of Antarctica at start game

German Situation

Soon enough, with the West Russian War putting a blow and distracting the Reich, the attempts at Germanisation and general colonisation of Neuschwabenland had failed, and the remaining occupants of the colony rapidly evacuated to the African Reichskommissariats. As a last ditch effort to keep the colony stable and to protect its borders, Germany sent a small number of troops, advisors and generals, also comprising SS-Waffen Troops.

But now, almost 7 years after the end of the West Russian War, the colony has restarted to welcome scientists and German colonists into its land, with supplies now coming regularly in big amounts.

The Disturbance

Around the time of the SS Rebellion, a small number of primarily SS Troops revolted in response after hearing the news of the Rebellion in mainland Europe. They would establish themselves at a small encampment in the North-Western part of Antarctica, naming it Begerheim. It is known from leaked intelligence reports that the de-facto independent "colony" apparently called "Ahnenerbe Antarktis Gruppe" is now regularily supplied by the SS-Ordenstaat in Burgundy and is conducting a series of experiments to "Help the Mainland in its final goal". Not many know what occurs in the Burgundian section of Antarctica, but many observers suspect sinister intentions.

Japanese Situation

On the Japanese side, not much is known about it. Some say it is used for nuclear test experiments, and others say it was just taken for the glory of the Empire, but what observers are sure of, is that the waters of Antarctica is a prized fishing location for the Japanese and their fishing fleets. In fact, almost every sight of activity in the Japanese Antarctic Sector are sightings of Japanese fishing vessels coming to make a quick buck.

OFN Situation

Motivated by the defence of their legitimacy and by the fight against National Socialism and Japanese Imperialism, the OAA still pursue their goal as an example of unity, democracy and progress, even in the Southern Continent. With regular patrols of the OFN Sector by Australian, New Zealander and the US Navy, observers have noted that the OFN Antarctic Section is inhabitated by scientists and military personnel, observing the continent and protecting it against Japanese and German expansion.

Latin American Situation

Argentine Dreams

The current policy of Argentine Antarctica is a policy of defence, aggression, and escalation. In fact, more and more reports from the continent show that the Argentine Military has been reinforcing previously Chilean forts near the border. On the mainland, nationalism concerning Antarctica is growing more and more, as a matter of truth, their final ambition is to have a little less than one quarter of the whole frozen continent.

But currently, the ambitions of the most ambitious Antarctic power are pointed south, at the South Pole.

Whispers from Chile

The current situation in the Chilean Antarctic Territory is complicated to say the least. The president of Chile, Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez, put a stop to massive spending on the isolated colony. However, he has started a new campaign of securing the legitimacy of their current borders, and another campaign to gather support against the growing ambitions of the Argentine Republic.

A quiet observer

The French Southern and Antarctic Lands is one of the biggest proof of the shattered French Empire in the world, alongside Algeria and Madagascar. Last remains of the Antarctic claims of France, "French Antarctica" as been described by some as a simple observer to Antarctica, not even appearing in most maps of the continent. In the end, French Antarctica is the true place to see broken dreams, broken ambitions, and broken lives. Some still hope to one day return to the main continent to continue their long lost research, but with the still shattered economy of France, and a budget towards Southern projects still depleting everyday, those dreams will likely never come true...