The White Soviet Arctic. The role of the White Movement in Establishing Shipping on the Kara Sea Route

The article examines the role of the White movement participants in the development of the western section of the Northern Sea Route during and following the Russian Civil War.One of the issues in the historiography of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the problem of the continuity of this transport project between the late imperial and Soviet eras.Most historians either contrast the activities aimed at developing the sea route in these two eras, or consider this process as weakly interconnected stages.In fact, the Soviet program for developing the NSR, as well as the Arctic, as a whole, arose precisely from those initiatives that were undertaken in the last decades of the Russian Empire.Moreover, the connecting link was precisely those polar personnel who took part in Arctic expeditions and contributed to the development of shipping along the NSR.During the Civil War, many of them joined the White movement, both in the Russian North and in Siberia.Despite this, many polar explorers -participants in the White movement were able to continue their activities in the Arctic under their former enemiesthe Soviet government.