Great White South



Around the end of the last ice age, an unknown event happened which would warm up the southern hemisphere to the point that prevents a large-scale icecap to cover Antarctica. Though the region around the South Pole is covered with glaciers, a good portion of the continent remains ice-free. Though the continent would not transform into anything other than a tundra environment much like Siberia or Northern Canada, at least the continent was habitable enough for Humans.Those in Europe would speculate of a southern continent to balance out the north. Several explorers like James Cook would attempt to discover such a territory, but would turn around tens of kilometers before sighting the continent. In January 1820, Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen would become the first European to see Antarctica. With no ice preventing him from landing on shore, he and his crew would be the first Europeans to land on the continent. Landing on the shores of western Antarctica, he and his crew would meet the natives of Antarctica. Several days later, other explorers would take credit for discovering the continent, but Russia would fight back and would eventually form a colonial grab on the continent.

By the late 19th century, the Russian Empire would have established dozens of colonies on the continent. By the decline of the Empire around this time, several of the colonies would gain independence from Russia. The first nation to form on the continent is, a federal republic uniting several of the Russian colonies in Eastern Antarctica. Another nation to form is, a Native-populated nation taking up all the western Antarctic islands. During the reign of Nazi Germany, Hitler would form a Nazi colony in the region which would become its own nation by the end of the war.