Connections between South Africa and Antarctica can be traced as far back as the 1700s when European expeditions in search of the southern continent used Cape Town (and later Simonstown) as a base of operation. This link expanded considerably after formal British acquisition of the Cape of Good Hope in 1815, yet it was not until 1926 that an actual South African policy towards the Antarctic began to materialize. Once this policy was established it continued to be characterized by procrastination as well as resistance both from within and without South Africa. The history of South Africa's Antarctic policy can be divided into five periods: first, the commencement of the policy (focusing primarily on economic interests), 1926-1939; second, the pursuit of interests through the policy (focusing on political interests), 1944- 1958; third, the entrenchment of South Africa's interests in the Antarctic (by securing South Africa's position within the Antarctic Treaty System), 1958-1960; fourth, the expansion of and foreign assault on the policy (under the auspices of the Antarctic Treaty System), 1960-1988; and fifth, the defence of and future prospects for the policy (from United Nation's calls for South Africa's exclusion from the Antarctic Treaty System), since 1982. While resistance from inside and outside the government during the first two periods resulted from inadequacies in the South African Antarctic policy itself, resistance in the final two periods has centred upon non-Antarctic issues. As South Africa has faced ever-increasing exclusion from international governmental organizations over opposition to Its apartheid policies, organizations such as the Antarctic Treaty Organization have inevitably been drawn into the debate. As a result, the Consultative Parties of the Antarctic Treaty (of which South Africa is one of the original twelve) have been forced to deal with the following question: to what extent will political issues outside the scope of the management policies of the Antarctic Treaty Organization be allowed to affect the functioning of the Antarctic Treaty System? While the Consultative Parties continue to ponder this and the fact that South Africa's Consultative Status has become the most divisive factor within the Antarctic Treaty System, no final solutions to these issues appear likely before 1991.

This dissertation investigates the causes, development, and the partial resolution of the Antarctic sovereignty dispute that took place between Britain, Argentina, and Chile between 1939 and 1959. It has two interconnected arguments. The first argument is that the dispute had its roots in a clash between British imperialism and South American nationalism, and, as a consequence, ought to be seen as part of the wider history of European decolonization in the years during and after the Second World War. The second argument is that the history of the sovereignty dispute offers an excellent opportunity for "doing environmental history" due to the relative simplicity of human-nature-culture interactions in Antarctica. By putting these two arguments together, it becomes possible to write an "environmental history of decolonization." Within the context of the sovereignty dispute, this dissertation asks the question: what happened to British imperial claims to "dominion over nature" during the decolonization of the British Empire in the mid-twentieth century? Over the course of the sovereignty dispute, Argentina and Chile sought to challenge Britain's claims to "environmental authority" in Antarctica with their own "environmental nationalism." Rather than conceding to the South American challenge, Britain initially responded by redoubling its efforts to maintain Antarctic sovereignty. However, as the three countries learned more about the reality of the Antarctic environment, their political perceptions of the region changed. The British, in particular, became less attached to exclusive sovereignty and successfully negotiated a limited international regime that would retain their political influence without the need for formal control. The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 brought a partial end to the sovereignty dispute by "freezing" all sovereignty claims for its duration. / text