The race for the Arctic: a historical perspective

The Arctic Ocean remained inaccessible for a long time, yet it was of strategic interest to seafaring nations from an early stage. They hoped for shorter trade routes, economic advantages and geopolitical dominance. Numerous explorers and adventurers set out in search of the Northwest Passage and the Northeast Passage, ventured into the Greenland ice sheet and strove to reach the North Pole. They sought fame and often paid with their lives, until the ice-covered wilderness was conquered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.