Norwegian Hunting Concessions on Novaya Zemlya at the beginning of the 20th century: From an Early Idea to the Practical Implementation

In this article one of the earliest propositions of conceding the right of mammal hunting to the Norwegians at the territory of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago is reviewed. This proposition was formulated in "The navigating officers Corpus staff captain Tyagin's report to the Arkhangelsk Governor" (the 4th of November, 1879). It was offered long before the beginning of the RSFSR-USSR concession policy. Authors of this article study the reasons why this proposition was not supported. The Tyagin's proposition is deeply connected with the following activities of the Arkhangelsk governors and the USSR concession policy. Such connections were examined by the authors of the article respectively. Thus, the Arkhangelsk governors' activities were directed to gain a foothold on the Novaya Zemlya. And in 1923 the waters of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago were provided for two Norwegian concession firms due to the USSR concession policy. It's worth noting that such Norwegian concessions were anticipated by E.A. Tyagin. The sources for the publication are legislative acts, materials of the regional periodical press, office documents, business correspondence, travel notes and reports of the Arkhangelsk province officials.