The Rise Of Australasia

About the exploration and development of Antarctica, there is a very famous treaty among later generations known as the Antarctic Treaty.

The Nanjing Treaty constrained activities on the special continent of Antarctica that has no permanent population, ensuring that any exploration and expeditions there serve only peaceful purposes.

But before this treaty existed, there were no restrictions on the explorations of various countries in Antarctica; the ice, snow, and bitterly cold weather were the greatest and the only constraints.

This also had an advantage for Arthur: if he could claim most of Antarctica, or even the entire continent, before the Antarctic Treaty was established, Antarctica could serve as Australasia's backyard garden, and he could also deploy corresponding military facilities to extend Australasia's military influence to more distant areas.

As for the rich marine resources in the waters near Antarctica, as well as the abundant mineral resources on the continent, this was an added value, but equally important.

After all, Antarctica is a continent, one of the Earth's only seven supercontinents, so the richness of its resources naturally goes unquestioned.

If he could secure the entire continent of Antarctica with the support of Britain and France, Australasia could have the chance to become a country that exclusively possesses two continents, an exaggerated achievement no other country has ever attained.

Even the British Empire, known as the empire on which the sun never sets, has never achieved the feat of exclusively owning two continents.

Moreover, Oceania is relatively close to Australia—it's a backyard garden that can be defended and can provide Australia with a continuous supply of mineral resources, or even enrich Australian tourist spots.

With both continents well developed, Australasia wouldn't have any issues becoming one of the superpowers, solidly positioned at the top of the world order.

It was precisely because of such importance that the Antarctic expedition team was formed quickly, and supplies were prepared rapidly; the team could even depart on the third day.

On the day before the expedition team set off, Arthur met with all team members, who had been carefully selected.

Among them were experienced explorers, strong and fit soldiers, geographers with abundant knowledge, and hunters skilled in wilderness survival.

The leader of the expedition team was Charles Puter, a well-known Australasian explorer who was the only person to have survived more than two weeks in Antarctica, which was the reason he became the leader of this expedition.

Exploring Antarctica is no joke, as the entire team could potentially be lost. Especially for such large-scale government-organized expeditions, which significantly represent the government's prestige, an outcome of complete loss cannot be accepted.

Thankfully, Antarctica's exploration was no longer a secret, and many scientific expeditions organized by various countries had already provided Australasia's team with plenty of experience.

The renowned British explorer Robert Scott, with his personal experience, taught a painful lesson to subsequent Antarctic explorers: one should not select team members who have never survived in Antarctica, and in addition, it proved that dogs indeed could be quite useful for Antarctic research. Experience more on My Virtual Library Empire

Born into a military family, Robert Scott was quite famous in the world of exploration and was one of the pioneers in reaching the Antarctic Pole.

However, during his Antarctic endeavours, he made two mistakes: none of his team members had ever stayed in Antarctica before, and because the dogs he bought could not withstand the Antarctic cold, he concluded that dogs were not suitable for Antarctic exploration.

His previous Antarctic adventures were quite successful, which earned Robert Scott huge fame in Britain and invitations from royal families of other countries to speak in their lands about his explorations of Antarctica.

Even the late King Edward VII was quite pleased with the prestige Robert Scott brought to the British people, promoting him to be the Commander of the Victoria Royal Cavalry Corps of the British Empire.

In 1910, Robert Scott prepared to return to Antarctica, aiming to become the first explorer in human history to reach the Antarctic Pole and return successfully.

In the meantime, he met the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen.

Both men had the same goal: to become the first explorers in human history to reach the Antarctic Pole.

However, their status and fame were vastly different at that time. Robert Scott was a famous explorer not only in the British Empire but also in Europe, while Roald Amundsen was hardly known even in his own country, Norway.

The difference between the two men was not just in status and fame, but also in their starkly different approaches to Antarctic exploration.

Because of his prior experience in Antarctica, Robert Scott gave up using dogs for transportation and instead brought on extra manpower.

Amundsen, on the other hand, was unlike the experienced Robert Scott; he was more of a pragmatist. He had conducted polar training early on in the northernmost regions of Alaska, United States, to get accustomed to the extreme cold.

Moreover, Amundsen discovered in Alaska a breed of dogs better suited for Antarctic exploration, dogs that are more adapted to the harsh polar climate, and therefore more suitable as transportation animals for Antarctic exploration than the typical temperate breeds.

This could also be seen in the stark contrast between the Main Camps of Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen, especially in the number of dogs each had.