Svalbard
In Icelandic books, it is mentioned in the year 1194 that Svalbard was found. It is likely that it was hunters from Norway, Iceland or Greenland who came to these areas. In any case, on June 17, 1596, two Dutch ships, under the command of Willem Barentsz, arrived at the northern tip of Spitsbergen. The ships' mission was to find the northeast passage to China, so it can be said that they were not entirely on the right track.
QUALFAW CATCH
In the 17th century, British and Dutch whalers came to Svalbard. Many shore stations were built, where the whales were flayed and the blubber boiled into cod liver oil. Whaling continued throughout the 1600th and 1800th centuries, with more nations joining in, and as the whales did not come to the coast, ships were constructed that served as floating whaling stations.
WINTERING CATCH
From the 1700th century, Russian Pomors conducted land trapping on Svalbard, but this trapping declined throughout the 1800th century, and by 1850 it had completely ceased. Around the same time, the Norwegian winter trapping began, with people from Tromsø and Hammerfest taking part in the first trapping. This trapping largely continued until the polar bear was protected in 1973.
TOURISTS AND SCIENTISTS
In the 1800th century, the first tourists also began to visit Svalbard. At first, it was rich lords who came with their own yachts, later the large tourist steamers began plying the route to Svalbard.
SVALBARD FIRST IN THE 1900S
From around the turn of the century, it can be said that activity on Svalbard exploded. From now on, it was the mineral resources that were sought after. From the 1600th century onwards, it had been common to pick hard coal in both the Isfjord and Kongsfjord areas, but from around 1900, these resources were exploited in a completely different way. Traditionally, it is the Tromsø skipper Søren Zakariassen who is credited with starting coal mining on Svalbard. In 1899, he mined 600 hl of coal in the Isfjord area, which he sold in Tromsø. In the years that followed, many companies were formed to participate in the mineral rush on the archipelago. As a rule, exploration ended in a few hectic summer months, a hole in the ground and a small pier by the beach, and then the adventure ended. Among other things, coal, iron, zinc, copper and gold were searched for and discovered.
THE COAL ADVENTURE IN BRANDAL CITY
The seal hunting industry had now (in 1916) established itself and they were selling their products throughout Europe. It was in the middle of the First World War, and the sealers were short of coal for their ships. The situation was untenable, and made it necessary for the sealers to secure a stable supply of coal for their ships. They had visited Kings Bay on Spitsbergen several times, and showed that there was coal to be had here. In 1916, Peter S. Brandal received an offer to buy the rights in Kings Bay, and then there was no doubt. Peter S. Brandal equipped his two ships "Polaris" and "Signalhorn" and set off for Kings Bay to investigate the matter. The expedition was successful and they returned with 300 tons of coal. He also named the place Brandal City. Peter found that it was important to act quickly, and once home he had all the rights, and the Brandal City name, transferred to himself.
After a while he found out that if he wanted to continue this he would have to bring more enterprising people and more capital. He brought with him Michael Knutsen – who was also an Arctic shipowner, Trygve Klausen the skilled and competent lawyer and Trygve Jervell. The rights were now transferred to a new company called; Kings Bay Kull Comp. A/S, and in 1925 the town formally changed its name from Brandal City to Ny-Ålesund. The company continued to operate with coal mining until the great accident in 1962.
THE SVALBARD TREATY
In the autumn of 1918, the Norwegian government had received so many positive signals regarding the issue of Svalbard that from now on it was official policy that Svalbard would become Norwegian.
The peace conference after the First World War began in 1919, and here the Norwegian government managed to raise the Svalbard issue as its own issue. One point here was that the victors in the war were concerned with resolving territorial issues once and for all.
Norway quickly drafted a proposal for a treaty, and this proposal passed smoothly.
The archipelago shall be open for commercial activity for all signatories to the treaty. Military activity shall not take place on Svalbard.
The treaty was signed in 1920, and came into effect on August 14, 1925. So since 1925, the former no-man's land has been under the Norwegian flag.
