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New Swabia (German: Neuschwabenland or Neu-Schwabenland) is a section of the continent Antarctica between 20°E and 10°W (overlapping a portion of Norway's claim zone Queen Maud Land), which was claimed by Germany between 19 January 1939 and 8 May 1945.
Early expeditionsLike many other countries, Germany sent several expeditions to the Antarctic region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most of them were scientific. The expeditions in the late 19th century were astronomical, meteorological and hydrological, and took place in the Southern Ocean and on South Georgia, the Kerguelen Islands and the Crozet Islands, mostly in close collaboration with scientific teams from other countries. However, at the end of the 19th century, the Germans started to focus on Antarctica itself.
The second German Antarctic Expedition (1911–1912), led by Wilhelm Filchner, aimed to cross Antarctica in an attempt to determine if Antarctica was one piece of land. The crossing attempt failed before it even started but the expedition discovered and named the Luitpold Coast and the Filchner Ice Shelf. A German whaling fleet had put to sea in 1937 and when it successfully returned in the spring of 1938, plans for a third German Antarctic Expedition were drawn up because of the war. New Swabia expeditionImage:Schwabenland.jpg The Schwabenland The third German Antarctic Expedition (1938-1939) was led by Alfred Ritscher (1879-1963). The main purpose was to secure an area in Antarctica for a German whaling station, as part of a plan to increase Germany’s production of fat. Whale oil was then the most important raw material for the production of margarine and soap in Germany and the country was the second largest purchaser of Norwegian whale oil, importing some 200,000 metric tons annually. Besides the disadvantage of being dependent on foreign sources, especially since it was likely Germany soon would be at war, this put considerable pressure on Germany’s foreign currency assets. Image:LogoNeu.jpg The 1938–1939 expedition logo
Two more expeditions were scheduled for 1939-1940 and 1940-1941. These expeditions were expected to search for suitable whaling grounds and more importantly, extend Germany’s territorial claims in the Antarctic. The second expedition would also address some military issues, probably investigating the feasibility of naval bases from which Germany could control the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean along with the Drake Passage. Both were cancelled with the outbreak of World War II. The name Neuschwabenland (and sometimes “New Schwabenland” or New Swabia) is still used for the region on some maps, as are many of the German names given to its geographic features. Neumayer Station, Germany's current Antarctic research facility, is located in the New Swabia area. Legal standingImage:NewSwabiaMap.jpg Map of Antarctica showing the location and size of New Swabia as claimed by Germany from 1939 to 1945. No country ever recognized Germany's claim. Although individuals have insisted that through a legal loophole the German Third Reich still exists judicially within the former borders of New Swabia, this is not supported by either German or international law nor by the terms of unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers signed by representatives of the German government on 8 May 1945, the date usually given for Germany's abandonment of the claim.[citation needed] New Swabia's role in alternative historical theoriesAn esoteric Hitlerist legend recounts that Adolf Hitler did not commit suicide in 1945, but fled to Argentina, then to an SS base under the ice in New Swabia during the early 1950s where he resumed his career as a painter. According to this account, Operation Highjump, the largest expedition mounted to the Antarctic, is claimed to have been sent to wipe out the Nazi presence.[citation needed] From 1945 to 1950 the official Soviet position was that Hitler was in hiding somewhere in Argentina.[citation needed] In 1950, when intelligence reports ceased to indicate that he was located there, the Soviet government changed its position to the suicide theory, which had been accepted by the Western Allies. According to some rumours, [attribution needed] the actual reason that intelligence reports of his presence in Argentina ceased was that he had left for Antarctica. An extended version of the story claims that Hitler returned to Argentina in the early 1960s, and died at a remote Patagonian estancia in 1968.[citation needed]
See alsoSources, References & External links
de:Neuschwabenland fr:Nouvelle-Souabe he:שווביה החדשה nl:Neuschwabenland pl:Nowa Szwabia pt:Neuschwabenland ru:Новая Швабия sv:Neuschwabenland uk:Нова Швабія uz:Yangi Shvabiya
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