further proposal was made involving a possible joint claim 
to the Antarctic lands south of us in behalf of all the Ameri- 
can republics. The jurisdiction of the Monroe Doctrine 
would thus have been pushed right down to the South Pole. 
In 1940, Secretary Hull stated categorically that it was im- 
perative for continental defense that the twenty-one Ameri- 
can republics maintain a clearer title to the part of the 
continent below the Americas than those of other nations. 
The field operations of the United States Antarctic Serv- 
ice resulted in the establishment of West Base near the site 
of Little America and East Base on Stonington Island near 
the base of Palmer Peninsula below South America in 
1939. Explorations of the unknown lands of West Ant- 
arctica were to be made from these two bases and partici- 
pants were directed to leave records for the purposes of 
“consolidating and extending United States sovereignty 
over the largest practicable area of the Antarctic contin- 
ent.” Much good work was done, but what the completion 
of the explorations might have accomplished in claims and 
“settlements” can now be only a matter of speculation, 
since World War II ended the United States Antarctic 
Service for all practical purposes. 
‘The end of World War II, its eventual replacement by 
the cold war, and the emergence of the Soviet Union as an 
opponent rather than an ally brought the military strategic 
importance of the Arctic into sharp focus. It was expedient _ 
that our military personnel should have actual experience 
in cold weather operation. Because of the Soviet Union’s 
proximity to the Arctic, Operation Highjump was organ- 
ized for Antarctica under the United States Navy in 1946. 
This was the largest exploratory venture in Antarctic his- 
tory up to that time and resulted in the exploration of 
19 
