Over the years many of the whaling nations made territorial claims to large sections of the continent of Antarctica. The Peninsula is home to claims from Chile, Britain and Argentina. Claims have also been made by, Norway, New Zealand, and France.
Even Nazi Germany wanted to have a piece of the Antarctica pie when they planted stakes with 3rd Reich swastikas on them all over the frozen land. When the world became involved in a global war, and then moved on to the Cold War, the continent was pretty much abandoned by everyone except the whale hunters. However, due to celestial happenings at that time, science was ready turn it's attention to the The Ice in a really big way.
During 1957 to 1958, sunspot eruptions were beginning to peak, and scientists and their governments all over the world setting up stations in Antarctica to study the resulting solar emissions, taking advantage of the hole in the planet's magnetic field at the South Pole. Over 60 different countries took part and set up camps all around Antarctica. This movement, and the cooperation among the scientists in this community were a drving factor in the Antarctic Treaty, an amazing international agreement.
The primary countries with the most invested in Antarctica signed it in 1959, making interaction on the continent purely scientific. The treaty specifically spelled out not allowing any destructive forces to be detonated on the continent, including banning nuke testing and exploding, as well as not allowing countries to dump their toxic waste onto it's barren landscape or waters. The only permissible activity of the military here, was to help in the coordination of scientific exploration. The deliberation over land claims were put to rest for the time being.
This was a unusual example of cooperation during the Cold War, as all of the superpowers made no assertions of claims, and did not acknowledge any from their allies, other than to reserve their right to restate them in the future Because of this, this prevented other smaller governments from trying to create a fuss if they didn't get what they wanted.
By the 1960s, the minerals and oil that was believed to be in the Antarctic region became highly sought after. National bases began to spring up on the peninsula and nearby islands, and peak population still occurs in the summer with around 5,000 people who tend to fill up the dozens of science stations built like urban sprawl on the peninsula and some of the islands.
During the 1960's and 70's, the U.S., Soviet Union, Poland, Italy, Britain, Chile, and Argentina all established bases on King George Island, and during the 1980's, additional bases were opened by Peru, Uruguay, South Korea, China, and Brazil. These bases were technically engaged in scientific experiments and studies, but they also served to mark claims on territory. Everyone has managed to create "squatters rights" for each of their countries.
However, by the 1980's the political tide was starting to change from supporting exploitation. It began being more supportive of science. Antarctica is now becoming thought of as communal property and is thought not to belong to one major political power, but to all countries. It was Britain's Halley Bay Antarctic base that discovered the hole in the ozone layer around the earth, leading to the realization industrial pollution was deteriorating the atmosphere and allowing ultraviolet radiation in.
So, in 1987, an international agreement was put into place to eradicate all ozone-destroying chemicals by the conclusion of the 1990's. With this revelation, science bases in Antarctica were suddenly much more valuable, as their ability to accurately monitor carbon emissions and the greenhouse effect were amazing. Anti-whaling sentiment reached a climax during the 1980's, and global movements for a Green planet supported preserving the continent of Antarctica as a world park.
In 1991, that dream became a reality when the nations who created the Antarctic Treaty voted to ban all exploration of natural resources for a period for 50 years so that the natural environment could grow and thrive and scientific research could flourish. This same country that once helped to move the Industrial Revolution through whaling is now helping man learn how to better take care of the planet and its resources.
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