147 years have passed, and the Russians are still1867 is remembered with an unkind word. Who ruled Russia at the time? Who made such a short-sighted decision, like selling rich in minerals and gold of the Alaska Peninsula? How could it be so careless to dispose of the wealth of the country? A lot of questions have gathered, but the answers to them appear only over the years, because there are a lot of rumors and conjectures around this matter. According to some reports, Alaska was not sold, but only rented, and forgotten to be returned, according to others, Catherine II the Great gave the territory to the Americans, third a ship carrying gold from America sank, documents disappeared, so you can be considered invalid. And how was it really?
Opening of the territory of the Russians
Впервые об Аляске узнали в 1732 году благодаря Mariners M. Gvozdev and I. Fedorov, but the official date of discovery of the peninsula is 1841, since it was then that Captain A. Chirikov registered the territory. This land was not interested in the Russian empire, since it was uninhabited, far located, it was difficult to get there. Alaska was actively mastered by Russian merchants who bought furs from the local population, and a little later they began to mine and search for minerals, and so it went until 1867. Who ruled Russia in that period? The reins of the government were controlled by Alexander II, but the tsar had many problems without the peninsula, therefore merchants, who had created their own resource extraction company together with the American businessmen, were in charge. In Alaska, they mined coal, supplied ice and a fur seal to the USA.
The decision to sell the peninsula
1867 in the history of Russia was a landmark, it was then that its territory was reduced by 1.5 million km2. Prince Konstantin Nikolaevich Romanov, brotheremperor, recommended the king to get rid of Alaska. On the peninsula were discovered minerals, as well as gold deposits. Many sources speak about ignorance of the Russian side about the resources of the territory, but this is not so. The emperor was well aware of how rich Alaska was, and he was also afraid of the British attack, because he had nothing to defend himself with. Alexander II ordered negotiations with the friendly United States on the sale of the peninsula to them.
Negotiations with the US government
The year 1867 was near.Who rules in Russia at the time, was put in very tough conditions. Alexander II risked being left with nothing at all, because the appetites of the monarchs of Great Britain were huge. In the US, the envoy of the Russian Empire was Baron Edward Stekl, and he was instructed to conduct negotiations. Initially, the price was set at $ 5 million in gold, but the baron independently raised it to 7.2 million. The Americans did not really want to acquire icy and deserted territory. Glass handed out bribes, bribed newspapers, writing laudatory articles about Alaska, in the end, the United States agreed to buy the peninsula.
Contemporaries and subsequent generations are veryI remember well the year 1867 in the history of Russia. Who rules the ball? It may seem to many that his younger brother influenced the emperor, but this is not so. Alexander II was well aware of the importance of his action, he simply had no other choice.
Was Russia making the right decision?
Now you can argue for a long time about the needselling a huge piece of the country, but you need to understand that then was 1867. Whoever ruled in Russia, understood very well the precariousness of his position. Gold and minerals could attract enemies, including hostile Britain, and the Russian Empire had nothing to defend, the territories were not fortified. Of course, 7.2 million dollars for such a large and rich peninsula is a negligible amount, but Alexander II could not get anything at all if the British invaded there, and even lost a political face. Therefore, the sale of Alaska at that time was fully justified.
