Canada Defends Its Arctic Sovereignty From The End Of 19th Century To The End Of 20th Century

Canada’s Arctic sovereignty came from two transfers of British sovereignty in 1870 and 1880,which provided a legal basis for Canada’s sovereignty in its Arctic region.However,the scope of its sovereignty covered by the transfer in 1880 was unclear,which became an important reason why Canada took practical actions to safeguard its Arctic sovereignty in the 20 th century.At the beginning of the 20 th century,many factors threatened Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic region,so Canada took practical measures to safeguard its sovereignty in the Arctic region.In the first decade of the 20 th century,Canada made expeditions to the Arctic and issued official declarations of sovereignty on some islands.In the 1920 s and 1930 s,Canada established many police posts and strongholds on its Arctic archipelago,and carried out patrols,search and rescue missions.This was an effective occupation of the land and archipelago in its Arctic region."Official Declaration" and "Effective Occupation" were Canada’s main measures to safeguard its Arctic sovereignty in the first half of the 20 th century,and translated "written sovereignty" into actual sovereignty.From 1950 s to 1970 s,Canada consolidated its sovereignty over Arctic land and archipelagos and maintained its sovereignty over Arctic waters.In the1950 s,Canada consolidated its sovereignty over the Arctic Islands through the resettlement of its Inuit people.The Manhattan crisis in the 1960 s extended Canada’s Arctic sovereignty protection from land to water,focusing on the Northwest Passage.In the 1970 s,the changes of Arctic environment gave Canada a new way to safeguard its Arctic sovereignty,that is,to make its domestic law effective on the Northwest Waterway through diplomatic means and at the level of international law,and to gain jurisdiction over the Northwest Waterway through such tasks as environmental protection and search and rescue.From the 1980 s to the 1990 s,Canada’s Arctic sovereignty protection mainly focused on solving domestic Arctic problems,including the development of the Arctic region,national energy security and the indigenous people’s demand for self-government.Canada further strengthens its control over the Arctic region through the development of Arctic resources,and maintains its domination in the Arctic region by establishing an Aboriginal autonomous government to ease domestic contradictions.