Sale of Alaska: exact calculation or fatal mistake. "The Americans had something to hide
December 1868. There is a robbery in New York. From Treasury Secretary Robert Walker, unknown persons right on the street take away 16 thousand dollars - a gigantic sum at that time. Newspapermen are immediately interested, where does a civil servant get such money from?
Corruption scandal
Walker was known for ardently campaigning in the press and in the corridors of power for the purchase of the Alaska Peninsula from Russia. A special commission of Congress is also investigating, after which a grandiose corruption scandal flares up in America.
I have in my hands a list of bribe takers identified by a special commission of the United States Congress.
All of them interfered in one way or another in the process of buying and selling Alaska for a certain fee.
So, 10 members of Congress received a bribe totaling $73,300. About 40,000 are owners and editors of American newspapers, and more than 20,000 are lawyers. But who gave them these bribes, for what?
It is noteworthy that in the midst of the American corruption scandal, something unusual is happening in Russia. A man who signed an agreement on the cession of Alaska with the Americans, the former Russian ambassador to Washington, Edward Stoeckl, is literally fleeing the country.
Circumstances of the Russian Empire selling its territory to the Americans
At the end of March 1867, the editors of St. Petersburg newspapers received a message from the USA via the Atlantic telegraph. It says that Russia ceded Alaska to America. The editors are sure that this is an outrageous rumor spread by the Americans. And that's how the news is presented in the newspapers. But soon the information is confirmed: Russia really sold its lands to America and did it in such a way that almost all high-ranking officials of St. Petersburg, as well as the rulers of Russian settlements in Alaska itself, were completely unaware.
In the Russian Empire, only six people know about the sale of the peninsula. They were the ones who made this historic decision five months earlier.
December 16, 1866. Russian Empire, the city of St. Petersburg. The meeting in the main hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is scheduled for one in the afternoon. Gathering in the hall are Foreign Minister Prince Gorchakov, Finance Minister Reitern, Vice Admiral Krabbe, head of the Naval Ministry, and, finally, the tsar's brother, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich. Emperor Alexander II himself enters last.
Vladimir Vasiliev
Negotiations on the sale of Alaska and all the moments associated with the discussion, both in the American ruling circles and in circles close to Alexander II, at that time were part of a secret process. This must be understood very well. Negotiations and all decisions were made in complete secrecy.
After a short discussion, Russian Ambassador to America Edward Stoeckl, who was present in the hall, was instructed to inform the US government that Russia was ready to cede Alaska to them.
None of the meeting participants objected to the sale.
The secret meeting that decided the fate of Alaska
The meeting that decided the fate of Alaska was so secret that no minutes were kept at it. We could find a mention of him only in the diary of Alexander II, there are only two lines:
At one o'clock in the afternoon, Prince Gorchakov has a meeting on the case of the American Company. Decided to sell to the United States.
Most likely, the country's leadership made the decision to sell Alaska in the strictest confidence, because they did not want to advertise ahead of time the news about the alienation of as many as 6% of Russian territory. After all, there has never been such a precedent in national history. But this whole story was classified for many other reasons.
Immediately after this meeting, the Russian Ambassador Stekl leaves for the United States. He is instructed not only to inform the American government about Russia's readiness to cede Alaska, but also to conduct all negotiations on behalf of the Russian monarch.
Edward Andreevich Stekl. Russian diplomat, Belgian by origin, who did not have Russian roots and is married to an American. This very mysterious character played one of the main roles in the history of the sale of Russian America. Many historians come to the conclusion that while in the service of Russia, Stekl actually worked on two fronts.
Vladimir Vasiliev
Doctor of Economics, Chief Research Fellow, Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Probably, Russia needed some person who was well versed and oriented in American affairs. This need for such a representative also had its downside, because somewhere, starting from the very beginning of his diplomatic activity, Stekl actually pursued a line that was aimed at the interests of the United States of America.
In the United States, Stekl asks US Secretary of State William Seward for an urgent secret meeting, at which he informs him of the decision of the Russian emperor on Alaska, but at the same time emphasizes that the official proposal to purchase the peninsula should come from the American side. The Secretary of State, delighted by Stekl's visit, promises to talk to the president soon. But when the ambassador and the secretary of state meet a few days later, it turns out that President Johnson is not in the mood to buy Alaska, he is not up to it now.
Alexander Petrov
The Civil War in the United States, the bloodiest civil war, has just ended. When the state, I want to emphasize this, so that they understand, it was torn apart by internal contradictions. To Alaska? When the world was collapsing over the question, would slavery last or remain. What to do with southerners? And what about the northerners? Herculean efforts were made within the already United States to save the country.
Seward and Stekl are not at all embarrassed by President Johnson's position on Alaska. These two diplomats are determined to push through the deal no matter what. They set out to work together to make the highest circles of the United States want to buy Alaska - this harsh land that Russian pioneers have developed for decades at the cost of their own lives.
History of Alaska: the discovery of the territory by Russian travelers
At the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries, Russian travelers stubbornly move to the East. Peter I, who sent them to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, is haunted by an unknown land located east of Chukotka. Whether it is the American continent or not, Peter will never know.
Russian ships under the command of Vitus Bering and Alexei Chirikov will reach Alaska after the death of the autocrat in the summer of 1741.
Vladimir Kolychev
Peter's idea was to open America in order to continue to develop relations with, say, Spain (it was known that she was here on the Pacific coast, Californian Spain). Both China and Japan were of great interest to Peter I. The instruction was to the head of the expedition, Bering and Chirikov, in the course of, say, the exploration of this coastline and a possible landing on the shore, to look for some more or less precious metals ...
"Alaska" comes from the Native American word "alashah" - "whale place". But it is not whales and precious metals that ultimately attract dozens of Russian merchants to the peninsula.
But what interested Russian merchants in Alaska from the very beginning: the skins of the sea beaver living there - the sea otter.
This fur is the thickest in the world: there are up to 140 thousand hairs per square centimeter. In Tsarist Russia, sea otter fur was valued no less than gold - one skin cost as much as 300 rubles, about 6 times more expensive than an elite Arabian horse. Sea otter fur was in special demand among the richest Chinese mandarins.
The first person who proposed not just to get furs in Alaska, but to firmly gain a foothold here was the merchant Grigory Shelikhov.
Thanks to his efforts, Russian settlements and a permanent mission of the Orthodox Church appeared on the peninsula. Russian Alaska was for 125 years. During this time, the colonists mastered only a small part of the vast territory.
Alexander Petrov
Chief Researcher at the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Were really, one might say, the heroes of their time. Because they did not just rule, but they managed to interact peacefully with the local population. There were, of course, armed clashes. But if you imagine tens of thousands of natives and a handful of Russians scattered over vast distances, the forces, to put it mildly, are unequal. And what did they bring with them? They brought with them culture, education, new attitudes towards the natives…
Alaska is inhabited by several tribes. But most of all, Russian settlers find a common language with the Aleuts and Kodiaks, who have unique skills in hunting the sea beaver. There are few Russian women in these harsh lands, and the colonists often marry local girls. Orthodox priests also help unite Russians with natives. One of them, St. Innocent, was later canonized as a saint.
He arrived in Alaska as a simple priest, leaving a good parish in Irkutsk when he learned that in Russian America there was no one to serve.
Later, as the Metropolitan of Moscow, he recalled: “What I experienced on Unalaska - even now goosebumps run through my body, remembering in a Moscow house by the fireplace. And I had to ride dog sleds, swim in small kayak boats. For 5-6, for 8 hours we sailed across the ocean, and there were big waves…”. And so Saint Innocent traveled around the islands in such a way, he never refused to visit this place.
Creation of the Russian-American Company by Paul I
In 1799, the new Russian autocrat Paul I decides to restore order in Russian America, to take control of the local merchants. He signs the Decree on the creation of the Russian-American Company in the image of the British East India Company.
In fact, the first monopoly joint-stock company in history appears in the country, which is controlled not by anyone, but by the Emperor himself.
Alexey Istomin
The Russian company acted in such a kind of dual state: on the one hand, it was actually an agent of the state, and on the other hand, it was, as it were, a privately owned institution.
In the 40s of the 19th century, the shares of the Russian-American Company were among the most profitable in the entire empire. Alaska brings huge profits. How could this land be ceded to the United States?
The first people in Russia and the United States to talk about the transfer of Alaska
For the first time, the idea of selling Alaska in government circles was voiced by the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky.
In 1853 he wrote to Petersburg:
The Russian Empire does not have the necessary means to protect these territories from US claims.
And he offered to cede Alaska to them.
Yuri Bulatov
A definite threat, a hypothetical threat, has existed since the creation of the North American United States. The threat that all the lands that are located on the territory of the North American continent should be included in this structure, which began to call itself the North American United States. The Monroe Doctrine set itself the task of squeezing the Europeans out of the American continent.
The first person in the US to propose annexing Alaska would be Secretary of State Seward.
The one with whom the Russian envoy Stekl would subsequently negotiate the sale of Russian America.
Alexey Istomin
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Leading Researcher, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology named after N. N. Miklukho-Maclay of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The idea of selling Alaska, she still appeared in the United States. That is, Stekl, the Russian envoy to the United States, subsequently reported that the Americans had been offering to sell Alaska for several years. There was a refusal on our part, we were not yet ready for this thought.
This map was created 37 years before the sale of Alaska, in 1830.This map was created 37 years before the sale of Alaska, in 1830.
It clearly shows that Russia completely dominates the North Pacific. This is the so-called "Pacific horseshoe", it is ours. And the United States, if you please, at this time is about 2.5 times less than now.
But in 15 years the United States will annex Texas, in another 2 years they will annex Upper California from Mexico, and 4 years before the purchase of Alaska they will include Arizona. The American States expanded mainly due to the fact that they bought millions of square kilometers for next to nothing.
As history has shown, Alaska has become one of the most valuable acquisitions for Americans, and perhaps the most valuable.
Reasons for Russia selling Alaska
The Crimean War prompted us to sell Alaska. Then Russia had to stand alone against three powers at once - Great Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. The main supporter of the sale of Russian America will be the brother of Alexander II, Grand Duke Konstantin, who headed the maritime department.
Vladimir Kolychev
President of the Moscow Historical and Educational Society "Russian America"
He led his own policy. He had to create in the Pacific Ocean, in the Baltic, in the White Sea, in the Black Sea, he had enough worries. That is, for Prince Konstantin, of course, Russian America was most likely like a headache.
Grand Duke Constantine insists that Alaska must be sold before the Americans take it by force. At that moment, the United States was already aware of the gold found on the peninsula. Petersburg understands that sooner or later American gold miners will come to Alaska with guns, and it is unlikely that several hundred Russian colonists will be able to defend the peninsula, it is better to sell it.
However, some modern historians are sure: the arguments of the Grand Duke Constantine were unfounded. The United States, tormented by civil war, would not be able to capture Alaska in the next 50 years.
Vladimir Vasiliev
Doctor of Economics, Chief Research Fellow, Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
There were no military or economic forces in America, it was all exaggerated. Subsequent events clearly showed this. It was here that Stekl played, if you like, the role of such a bluff, disinformation, as they say today, fake news, in order to somehow influence the change in the views of the Russian leadership.
It turns out that the Russian envoy to Washington, Edward Stoeckl, acting in the interests of supporters of American expansion, is deliberately urging the Russian leadership to give up Alaska.
The Russian envoy Edward Stoeckl, in his insistence on getting rid of Alaska, goes so far as to write in another telegram to St. Petersburg:
If the United States does not want to pay for Alaska, let them take it for free.
Alexander II did not like these words, and in a response letter he angrily snaps at the presumptuous envoy:
I ask you not to say a single word about a concession without compensation. I consider it reckless to tempt American greed.
Apparently, the Emperor guessed on whose field his Washington envoy was actually playing.
Secret negotiations: trading and the final amount of the transaction
Despite the fact that the US leadership has not yet approved the purchase of Alaska, Russian Ambassador Steckl and US Secretary of State Seward are beginning to secretly bargain.
Seward offers $5 million. Stekl says that this amount will not suit Alexander II, and suggests increasing it to 7 million. Seward is trying to reduce the price. After all, the higher it is, the more difficult it will be to convince the government to make this purchase. But suddenly, unexpectedly, he agrees to the terms of the Russian ambassador.
The final amount of the transaction is 7 million 200 thousand dollars in gold.
True price and motives for buying and selling
When the amount of the transaction becomes known to the American Ambassador in St. Petersburg, Cassius Clay, he will be pleasantly surprised, which he will inform Secretary of State Seward in a response letter.
Vladimir Vasiliev
Doctor of Economics, Chief Research Fellow, Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Clay replied, “I admire your brilliant work. According to my understanding, the minimum price of this region is 50 million dollars in gold, and I am even amazed that such a deal took place at all on these terms. I am quoting almost verbatim from his telegram, or from a message he sent to the State Department. Thus, even the Americans themselves at that time estimated the cost of Alaska as 7 times greater ...
But how could it be so cheap? The fact is that the purchase and sale of Alaska takes place in conditions where both parties - both the seller and the buyer - are in debt. The treasury of Russia and the United States is virtually empty. And this is not the only thing in which the two states are similar at that time.
In the middle of the 19th century, it was believed that the Russian Empire and the United States were developing in parallel.
Both powers are Christian, besides, they solve the same problem - liberation from slavery. On the eve of the sale of Alaska, mirror events took place on both sides of the ocean.
In 1865, President Lincoln was mortally wounded in the head by a shot in the head.
A year later, an attempt was made on the life of Alexander II in Russia, who miraculously survived.
The new American President Johnson sends a telegram to the Russian Emperor as a sign of support, followed by a delegation led by US Deputy Secretary of the Navy Gustav Fox.
Vladimir Vasiliev
Doctor of Economics, Chief Research Fellow, Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The tsar receives an American delegation, they make a trip around Russia, they are enthusiastically greeted everywhere - by the governors, by the people. And this trip was even extended - the American delegation visited Kostroma, which at that time was considered the birthplace of the Romanovs. And then the concept or idea of the idea of \u200b\u200bthe idea that a union of two states took shape ...
The Russian Empire at that time was in dire need of allies against Great Britain. But did the country's leadership really agree to cede Russian America to the US in order to enlist their support in the future? Historians are sure that the main initiator of the sale of Alaska, Grand Duke Konstantin, had some other motive.
Alexander Petrov
Chief Researcher at the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences
If we knew what was in the head of Konstantin Nikolaevich, we can close the study of Russian America for a certain time and say: "The problem is solved."
The puzzle hasn't finished yet.
It is possible that the hidden motives of Grand Duke Konstantin are written on the pages of his diary, which has survived to our times. But the pages that should describe the period of the sale of Alaska have mysteriously disappeared. And this is not the only missing important documents.
After Russian America goes to the USA, all the archives of the Russian-American Company will disappear from the peninsula.
Yuri Bulatov
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of International Relations, MGIMO
The Americans, as they say, packed up in advance the true reasons for the purchase of this territory, the true reasons and sales, including on our part, when in the contract related to the sale of Alaska there was a clause, the essence of which was that all archives, all documents that are in the Russian-American company at that time, everything must be completely and completely transferred to the Americans. It was obvious what to hide.
Signing and Ratification of the Alaska Sale Agreement
March 1867. Washington. The Russian envoy Stekl sends an urgent cipher to St. Petersburg. He is in a hurry to announce his agreements with Secretary of State Seward, sparing no expense for a very expensive service - the transatlantic telegraph. For about 270 words, Stekl pays an astronomical sum: $10,000 in gold.
Here is the deciphered text of this telegram:
Alaska is sold within the 1825 borders. Orthodox churches remain the property of parishes. Russian troops are being withdrawn as soon as possible. The inhabitants of the colony can stay and enjoy all the rights of American citizens.
Petersburg is preparing a response message:
The emperor agrees to these conditions.
As soon as Stekl receives final consent to the deal from St. Petersburg, he goes to the American Secretary of State Seward and finds him playing cards. Seeing Glass, Seward immediately stops playing and, despite the late evening, offers to sign an agreement on the sale of Alaska immediately.
The glass is at a loss: how can we do this, because the night is in the yard? Seward smiles back and says, if you gather your people immediately, then I will gather mine.
Why was the United States Secretary of State in such a hurry to sign the treaty? Wanted to quickly put an end to this matter? Or was he afraid that the Russians would change their minds?
Around midnight, lights come on in the windows of the State Department. Diplomats have been working all night to draft a historic document called the Alaska Cession Treaty. At 4 o'clock in the morning it was signed by Stekl and Seward.
Yuri Bulatov
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of International Relations, MGIMO
What is surprising here? First of all, we are talking about the fact that the level of signatories, of course, does not correspond to the solution of such a very serious task. On the American side, the Secretary of State; on our side, the Ambassador. You know, past and present ambassadors will sign such documents, our territory will shrink rapidly…
This blatant violation of diplomatic protocol is ignored by the haste. Seward and Stoeckl don't want to waste a minute, because the treaty has yet to be ratified in the Senate, without which it simply won't go into effect. Any delay can derail the deal.
Alexey Istomin
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Leading Researcher, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology named after N. N. Miklukho-Maclay of the Russian Academy of Sciences
They understood that it was worth a little late, and a powerful campaign against this deal would begin.
To ratify the treaty as quickly as possible, Seward and Steckl act quickly, decisively. Seward conducts secret negotiations with the right people, and Stekl, with the approval of the Russian Emperor, gives them bribes.
Alexey Istomin
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Leading Researcher, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology named after N. N. Miklukho-Maclay of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian side, through Steklya, gave bribes, firstly, to the media in the person of their leaders; secondly, to congressmen to vote in favor of this decision. Which is what was done. And it took about 160 thousand dollars in gold. Quite a large amount.
Ambassador Stekl would later keep the money for bribes from the millions that the Americans would pay for Alaska. Even a check has been preserved, which was issued in the name of Edward Stoeckl.
Whose money was used to buy Alaska?
Judging by the date, the United States paid off with the Russian Empire only 10 months after the ratification of the treaty. Why did the Americans delay payment? It turns out that there was no money in the treasury. But where did they get them from? Many facts indicate that Alaska was bought with the money of the Rothschild family, who acted through their representative banker August Belmont.
August Belmont (1816 - 1890) 19th century American banker and politician. Before moving to the United States in 1837, he served in the office of RothschildYuri Bulatov
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of International Relations, MGIMO
August Belmont is one of the talented, according to the Rothschilds for whom he worked, financiers who headed one of the banks in Frankfurt. Closer to the date of the deal, he moves to the United States, establishes his bank in New York and becomes an adviser to the President of the United States on financial and economic issues.
According to the agreement, the US authorities must pay off with Russia in Washington, but on the check it is New York that is indicated - the city in which Belmont opens the Rothschild bank. All monetary transactions in Alaska are connected with accounts exclusively in private banks. However, in such serious settlements between the two countries, as a rule, not private, but state-owned financial organizations appear. Strange, isn't it?
Yuri Bulatov
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of International Relations, MGIMO
The Americans, when they bought Alaska, because until 1959 they did not determine its status - what kind of territory is this, how to consider it? She went there under the military department and within the framework of civilian departments. What to do with it, how to manage? The Americans did not reach Alaska, and Rothschild, of course, used his position. Indeed, on the eve of the sale of Alaska, both gold and oil were known ... Therefore, the Rothschild investments paid off many times over - this is unequivocal.
An interesting coincidence: the Russian Empire at that time was also closely connected with the Rothschilds by financial ties. Russia took a loan from them in order to patch holes in the economy undermined by the Crimean War and the abolition of serfdom. The amount of this loan many times exceeded the price for which they sold Russian America. Or maybe the Russian Empire gave Alaska to the Rothschilds to pay off a huge public debt? Ultimately, Russia received 7 million 200 thousand gold for the peninsula. But what is their fate?
Where did the millions from the sale go?
A document recently discovered in the State Historical Archives put an end to the debate about where the millions from the sale of Alaska went.
Before that, there were persistent rumors that Russia received nothing at all from the Americans, because the ship carrying the gold got into a storm and sank. A version was also put forward that Russian officials, headed by Grand Duke Konstantin, took all the proceeds.
So, thanks to this document, it turned out that the money from the sale of Alaska was credited to the Russian Fund for the Construction of Railways.
The document found by the historian Alexander Petrov in the Historical Archive of St. Petersburg is a small note. To whom it is addressed and who its author is unknown.
For the Russian possessions in North America ceded to the North American States, 11,362,481 rubles were received from the said States. 94 kop. Out of 11,362,481 rubles. 94 kop. spent abroad on the purchase of supplies for the railways: Kursk-Kyiv, Ryazan-Kozlov, Moscow-Ryazan, etc. 10,972,238 rubles. 4 kop. The rest are 390,243 rubles. 90 kop. received in cash.
Alexey Istomin
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Leading Researcher, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology named after N. N. Miklukho-Maclay of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The money from the sale of Alaska went primarily to the purchase of railway equipment for the construction of railways leading from Moscow in radial directions, including the Kursk railway. The same road, which, if it had been during the Crimean War, then perhaps we would not have surrendered Sevastopol. Because it was possible to transfer such a number of troops along it that the situation in the Crimea, a strategic war, would simply change qualitatively.
A note on the expenditure of funds from the sale of Alaska was found among the papers on the remuneration of those who took part in the signing of the treaty with the Americans. According to the documents, the Order of the White Eagle and 20 thousand silver from the Emperor were received by the envoy Stekl. However, after the sale of Alaska in Russia, he did not stay. Whether he himself retired from public service or was fired is unknown. Stekl spent the rest of his life in Paris, bearing the stigma of a man who sold Russian land.
Vladimir Vasiliev
Doctor of Economics, Chief Research Fellow, Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The subsequent fate of Stekl once again emphasizes all the background and all those true driving forces and reasons for this deal, which was, unambiguously, very subtly and skillfully carried out at that time by the ruling circles of the United States of America, who skillfully took advantage of the sentimental or naive ideas of the Russian leadership that that it is possible to build a union of two Christian peoples, and, in general, caused, so to speak, both economic and, if you like, moral, as we see 150 years later, very serious geopolitical damage to Russia.
American Alaska - former Russian land
October 18, 1867, USA. A solemn ceremony of handing over Alaska to the United States is being held in Novo-Arkhangelsk. All residents of the city gather on the main square. To the beat of drums and 42 volleys from naval guns, the Russian flag begins to be lowered. Suddenly, an unexpected incident occurs: the flag clings to the flagpole and remains hanging on it.
Metropolitan of Kaluga and Bobrovsky, Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church
Everyone noticed - the problem, they could not easily lower the Russian flag. And they perceived this, that this is a sign that we are staying with Russia, that this will not happen, they did not even believe yet ...
After Alaska becomes American, the rapid oppression of the natives will begin. As a result, the Tlingit Indians, who used to be at enmity with the Russians, will bury the hatchet and begin to massively convert to Orthodoxy, just not to accept the religion of the Americans.
Vladimir Kolychev
President of the Moscow Historical and Educational Society "Russian America"
I know that at the entrance to, say, a store or a bar, it was written "Whites Only". The Protestant school forbade the use of the Russian language, which was used by both the Aleuts and the Tlingits, and it also banned its native language. If you spoke Russian, then you immediately got a “fly” from the teacher.
Soon after the sale in Alaska, a "gold rush" will begin. Gold diggers will pan for several thousand times more gold than the US government once paid for the purchase of the peninsula.
Today, 150 million tons of oil are produced here a year. Off the coast of Alaska, fish and expensive crabs are caught. The Peninsula is the largest supplier of timber and furs among all US states. For a century and a half, Alaska has not been a Russian land, but Russian speech is still heard here. Especially in Orthodox churches, the number of which has doubled since the time of Russian America.
Alexander Petrov
Chief Researcher at the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian language is still preserved, Russian churches and Russian culture are preserved. This is the phenomenon that we are still trying to comprehend. It is unique in world history.
A century and a half after the sale of Alaska, we can conclude that the Russian government took this step, guided primarily by political considerations. Alexander II was firmly convinced that by selling Alaska to the Americans, he would strengthen the alliance between our countries.
But, as history has shown, the good intentions of the Emperor did not materialize. The Americans made unimportant allies. The first thing they did when they got to Alaska was to deploy their military units there.
Who actually legally owns Alaska? Is it true that Russia never received the money for its sale? It's time to find out about it, because today marks 150 years since the day when in 1867 Russian Alaska became American.
In honor of this event, on October 18, the annual Alaska Day is celebrated in the United States. This whole long story with the sale of Alaska has acquired an incredible number of legends. So how did this really happen?
How Russia Acquired Alaska
On October 22, 1784, an expedition led by the Irkutsk merchant Grigory Shelikhov founded the first permanent settlement on Kodiak Island off the coast of Alaska. In 1795, the colonization of continental Alaska began. Four years later, the future capital of Russian America, Sitka, was laid. 200 Russians and 1000 Aleuts lived there.
In 1798, as a result of the merger of the companies of Grigory Shelikhov and the merchants Nikolai Mylnikov and Ivan Golikov, the Russian-American Company was formed. Its shareholder and first director was Commander Nikolai Rezanov. The one about whose love for the young daughter of the commandant of the San Francisco fortress Conchite the rock opera Juno and Avos was written. The company's shareholders were also the first persons of the state: grand dukes, heirs of noble families, famous statesmen.The Russian-American Company, by decree of Paul I, received the authority to manage Alaska, represent and protect the interests of Russia. She was given a flag, allowed to have armed formations and ships. She had monopoly rights for a period of 20 years for the extraction of furs, trade, and the discovery of new lands. In 1824, Russia and Britain entered into an agreement that established the border between Russian America and Canada.
Map of the territories of Northwest America transferred by the Russian Empire to the North American United States in 1867
Sold? Rented out?
The history of the sale of Alaska has acquired an incredible number of myths. There is even a version that it was sold by Catherine the Great, who by that time had already completed her earthly journey for 70 years. So this tale can only be explained by the popularity of the Lyube group and its song “Don't play the fool, America”, in which there is a line “Ekaterina, you were wrong!”.
According to another legend, Russia did not sell Alaska at all, but leased it to America for 99 years, and then either forgot or failed to demand it back. Perhaps some of the compatriots do not want to come to terms with this, but they will have to. Alas, Alaska was indeed sold. An agreement on the sale of Russian possessions in America with a total area of 580,107 square kilometers was concluded on March 18, 1867. It was signed in Washington by US Secretary of State William Seward and Russian envoy Baron Eduard Stoeckl.
The final transfer of Alaska to the United States took place on October 18 of that year. The Russian flag was solemnly lowered over Fort Sitka and the American flag raised.
Instrument of ratification signed by Emperor Alexander II and held by the US National Archives and Records Administration. The first page contains the full title of Alexander II
Gold mine or unprofitable project
Historians also argue a lot about whether the sale of Alaska was justified. After all, this is just a storehouse of marine resources and minerals! Geologist Vladimir Obruchev claimed that only in the period before the Russian Revolution, the Americans mined precious metal there for 200 million dollars.
However, this can only be assessed from the current positions. And then...
Large deposits of gold had not yet been discovered, and the main income was brought by the extraction of furs, especially sea otter fur, which was valued very dearly. Unfortunately, by the time Alaska was sold, the animals were practically exterminated, and the territory began to cause losses.
The region developed very slowly, huge snow-covered expanses could not be protected and developed in the foreseeable future. After all, the Russian population of Alaska in the best of times did not reach a thousand people.
Moreover, the fighting in the Far East during the Crimean War showed the absolute insecurity of the eastern lands of the Russian Empire, and especially Alaska. There were fears that Russia's main geopolitical adversary - Britain - would simply seize these lands.
There was also a "creeping colonization": in the early 1860s, British smugglers began to settle on the territory of Russian America. The Russian ambassador in Washington informed his homeland about the imminent emigration of representatives of the Mormon religious sect from the USA to Russian America... Therefore, in order not to lose the territory for nothing, it was decided to sell it. Russia simply did not have the resources to defend its overseas possessions at a time when huge Siberia also required development.
$7.2 million check presented to pay for the purchase of Alaska. The amount of the check is approximately equivalent to 119 million US dollars in 2014
Where did the money go?
The most fantastic is the story of the disappearance of the money paid to Russia for Alaska. According to the most popular version that circulates on the Internet, Russia did not receive gold from America because it sank along with the ship carrying it during a storm.
So, the territory of Alaska with an area of 1 million 519 thousand square meters. km was sold for 7.2 million dollars in gold. A check for this amount was received by the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Eduard Stekl. For the transaction, he received a reward of $ 25,000. Allegedly, he distributed 144 thousand as bribes to senators who voted for the ratification of the treaty. Indeed, in the United States, not everyone considered the purchase of Alaska a profitable business. There were many opponents of this idea. However, the story about bribes has not been officially confirmed.
The common version says that the rest of the money was sent to London by bank transfer. There, gold bars were bought for this amount. But the most important thing is that the bark "Orkney" (Orkney), which allegedly carried these ingots from to Russia, sank on July 16, 1868 on the way to St. Petersburg. No gold was found during the search operation.
However, this detailed and brilliant story will also have to be recognized as a legend. Documents are stored in the State Historical Archive of the Russian Federation, from which it follows that the money was placed in European banks and included in the fund for building railways. Here is what they say: “In total, 12,868,724 rubles 50 kopecks were assigned for transfer from the US Treasury.” Part of the funds was spent on the Russian-American Company. She received 1,423,504 rubles 69 kopecks. This is followed by a detailed account of where this money went: for the transportation of employees and the payment of part of their salaries, for the debts of the Orthodox and Lutheran churches, part of the money was turned into customs revenue.
What about the rest of the money? And here is what: “By March 1871, 10,972,238 rubles 4 kopecks were spent on the purchase of supplies for the Kursk-Kyiv, Ryazan-Kozlovskaya and Moscow-Ryazan railways. The balance in the amount of 390243 rubles 90 kopecks. received in cash to the State Treasury of Russia.
So the bright and widely circulated story about a sunken bark with gold bars is just a historical fiction. But what a great idea!
The signing of the contract for the sale of Alaska on March 30, 1867. Left to right: Robert S. Chu, William G. Seward, William Hunter, Vladimir Bodisko, Edouard Steckl, Charles Sumner, Frederick Seward.
Alaska was discovered for themselves and for Russia by Russian Cossacks and merchants back in the time of Peter the Great. This discovery was a continuation of the conquest of Siberia and the development of eastern lands. Russian pioneers such as Grigory Shelikhov. Alexander Baranov and their associates, with a firm hand, subjugated the sea coast of the region.
The places were rich in furs and this attracted business people. In 1799, the Russian-American Company was created, which for 68 years ruled Alaska on behalf of Russia. Settlements were built, relations with the local population were established. Aborigines accepted Orthodoxy and Russian citizenship. It seemed that everything was going to the fact that Alaska would firmly become part of the Russian Empire.
But fate decreed otherwise. In 1853-56, Russia had to go through an extremely difficult and unsuccessful Crimean War. Moreover, the aggressors, England and France, tested the strength of Russia along the entire length of the borders. The British even tried to capture Kamchatka. Naturally, relations between Russia and Britain sharply deteriorated. Russia could expect the next blow precisely in Alaska, where Russian possessions bordered on English Canada. For various reasons, Russia could not adequately protect its possessions. And the government of Russia, with the consent of Emperor Alexander II, made a difficult decision to sell the territory to the then friendly United States.
After lengthy negotiations, on March 30, 1867 in Washington, a treaty for the sale of Alaska was signed. As a result of the deal, Russia received $7.2 million in gold and the security of its eastern borders. To what extent this sale was justified, historians, politicians and ordinary citizens of Russia are still arguing.
Who really gave Alaska to America
Once Alaska belonged to the Russian Empire. But due to certain circumstances, Russia was forced to sell the territory of Alaska to America. It is well known that on October 18, 1867, Alaska was officially given to the United States for seven million US dollars. The protocol on the transfer of land to American possession was signed by the Russian commissioner Peshchurov on board the American ship Ossipee. Immediately on this day, the Gregorian calendar was introduced, which synchronized time with the Western Territory of the United States. Therefore, people in Alaska went to bed on October 5 and woke up immediately on October 18. After that, American troops were brought into possession, who evicted the local residents and settled their citizens.
Why Alaska was given to the USA
The idea of selling Alaska arose not for the first time, but it gained an urgent need during the Crimean War. During this period, Russia's enemy Britain demanded its rights to the possession of Alaska. Also, the US was concerned that Britain could seize the northern continent of America in order to advance to the states. The government of the Russian Empire considered it unprofitable to keep its possessions in Alaska. Therefore, Emperor Nicholas II decided to sell Alaska to the US government. Russian diplomat Eduard Stekl was appointed as the person directly responsible for negotiations on the sale of Alaska.
On March 30, 1867, an agreement was signed between Russia and America on the sale of Alaska. The deal was valued at about $7.2 million in gold, which is about $108 million in gold today. However, the treaty had to be approved by the US Senate. At first, many senators had doubts about spending so much money on acquiring an unknown piece of land, given that the country had recently ended a difficult civil war. But still, the agreement was adopted on May 3. And after a couple of months, Alaska was transferred to America.
Thus, it turns out that Nicholas II is the one who officially gave Alaska to America. Although at the same time the idea of selling was not his personal initiative, but other people's.
On October 1, 1867, the formal transfer of Alaska to the United States from the Russian Empire took place. Strange as it may seem, but most of our compatriots believe that the deal for the sale of Alaska was turned over by Catherine II.
The popular Lube group also contributed to fixing this myth in the minds of our citizens, arguing in one of their songs that Catherine was wrong. In fact, neither Peter I, nor Catherine II, nor, especially, Nikita Khrushchev, have anything to do with the sale of Alaska to our sworn friends, the Americans.
This is the merit of the Tsar-liberator Alexander II. On March 29, 1867, the tsarist ambassador, Baron Eduard Andreevich Stekl, and US Secretary of State William Seward signed an agreement on the sale of Alaska to America for $ 7 million 200 thousand. It would seem that the cunning Americans scammed us. The amount for the territory, two and a half times the territory of Ukraine, seems not at all large. But everything is not so simple.
In those days, the dollar had a slightly different real value, and $ 7 million 200 thousand of the century before last, in terms of current money, equals $ 8 billion 355 million. 100 years. So it's time to claim it back. Gentlemen, sadly, the train has already left, and it is pointless to demand Alaska back. It was sold forever, and not rented out, which is confirmed by the relevant documents.
140 years ago, on March 18, 1867, Russia signed the largest contract in its history. On that day, the United States of North America purchased a merchandise of 1.5 million square kilometers from us for $7.2 million. The product was called Alaska. A square kilometer of the homeland thus cost Uncle Sam 20 cents. Now that deal in patriotic circles is considered almost a symbol of national shame. But was it realistic to keep Russian America?
What is interesting: Alaska has not been with us for 140 years, and the myths associated with it are still alive. The most popular of them is myth 1: Alaska was sold by Catherine II. It would seem that to expose him, it is enough to compare the years of Catherine's reign with the date of the sale of Alaska, but come on. Some Russian misogynist patriots still like to speculate about what Russia has lost through woman's stupidity. In fact, the participation of Catherine the Great in the fate of Alaska was limited to a decree of 1769 on the abolition of duties on trade with the Aleuts.
No less tenacious myth 2: Alaska was not sold, but leased for 99 years. He speaks mainly of ignorance of the sources: in the first article of the document with the long title, the Agreement Concerning the Cession of Russian Property in North America between His Majesty the Emperor of All Russia and the United States of America says: His Majesty the Emperor of All Russia agrees to cede to the United States, in accordance with this agreement , immediately from the moment of ratifications, all the territory and dominion now possessed by His Imperial Majesty in the Americas and adjacent islands.
Myth 3 has a financial and conspiracy origin and was most likely born in the 60s of the XIX century: American money did not reach Russia. They were converted into gold, loaded onto a ship that sank somewhere in the Baltic during a storm. They even call the name of the ship - the English barque Orkney. This reliable information has been passed from mouth to mouth for the second hundred years, it has even entered serious books. At the same time, no one has yet bothered to clarify the coordinates of this shipwreck and raise American gold from the bottom of the shallow Baltic Sea. Why? Probably nobody needs 7 million dollars. In addition, the idea of carrying gold by steamboats was not very good already in those days. Why carry cash across the ocean, if in St. Petersburg alone there are branches of fifty foreign, including American banks?
The deal to sell Alaska is unique in that it was done in a very narrow circle. Only six people knew about the proposed sale: Alexander II, Konstantin Romanov, Alexander Gorchakov, Mikhail Reitern, Nikolai Krabbe and Edaurd Stoeckl. The fact that Alaska was sold to America became known only two months after the transaction. Its initiator is traditionally considered the Minister of Finance Reuters.
A year before the transfer of Alaska, he sent a special note to Alexander II, in which he pointed out the need for the strictest economy and emphasized that for the normal functioning of the empire, a three-year foreign loan of 15 million rubles was required. in year. Thus, even the lower limit of the transaction amount, indicated by Reuters at 5 million rubles, could cover a third of the annual loan. In addition, the state paid annual subsidies to the Russian-American Company, and the sale of Alaska saved Russia from these expenses. RAK did not receive a penny from the sale of Alaska.
Even before the historical note of the Minister of Finance, the idea of selling Alaska was expressed by the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia Muravyov-Amursky. He said that it would be in Russia's interests to improve relations with the United States in order to strengthen its positions on the Asian coast of the Pacific Ocean, to be friends with America against the British.
Sources: znayuvse.ru, socialskydivelab.com, ufostation.net, otvet.mail.ru, russian7.ru
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In the VIII century, before Alaska passed to America, the peninsula was part of Russia. The land was discovered in 1732, but only in the 80s did the first Russians begin to settle in a new place, which was a large peninsula with many separate ones washed by the Pacific and Arctic oceans.
For Russia, the peninsula turned out to be a real gold mine. Deposits of gold and precious metals were discovered here. And fur animals, such as sea otters, mink, fox, brought a good income. The price of fur was equal to that of precious metals. In addition, the Russian government signed a decree allowing foreign citizens to conduct business on Russian soil for a period of 20 years.
The capital of Alaska as part of Russia at that time was called Novoarkhengelsk. It was a small town with wooden and stone buildings, shops and churches. In the center of the settlement stood the ruler's house, there was a theater, a nautical school, hospitals, and industrial enterprises. The city grew very rapidly and as a result became the central port of the west coast.
After a few years of active life in Alaska, fur production dropped sharply, and foreigners involved in the oil and gold mining business were in great competition with Russian industrialists. In the late 1930s, the Russian government considered Alaska an unprofitable region and refused to invest in its development.
Who sold Alaska to the USA?
The sale of the peninsula has acquired a considerable number of myths. For a long time, the question of who sold Alaska to the United States remained open. In the history of Russia, there is a delusion that Catherine II sold the mainland to the Americans. There is also a version about the lease of Alaska for 99 years, after which Russia did not claim the rights to the peninsula. But these facts do not have scientific confirmation, since at the time of the sale of the territory more than 100 years have passed since the death of Catherine II.
The Russian side was the first to talk about the sale of Alaska during the reign of Alexander II.
There were enough reasons for getting rid of the peninsula:
- The flow of poachers destroyed the main income of the state, which consisted of the sale of furs.
- A lack of money in the treasury after the defeat in the Crimean War hindered the economic recovery of the Russian state, and the development of new lands in Alaska was not possible, since the costs of its maintenance and research exceeded income.
- General N.N. Muravyov-Amursky, back in 1853, proposed to transfer the peninsula to the United States in order to strengthening its position on the Pacific coast. The vast territory of the peninsula and the gold found in its bowels attracted the attention of Russia's main enemy - England. The emperor understood that the Russian army was unable to resist a foreign state. If Alaska is captured by England, then Russia will be left with nothing. By selling the mainland to the United States, Russia will benefit and strengthen relations with the Americans.
In 1866, a representative of the Russian government, E. Stekl, came to Washington for secret negotiations on the transfer of northern lands to the United States.
How much did they sell Alaska to America for?
On March 30, 1867, the sale and purchase agreement for the transfer of Alaska to the United States was signed by both parties. The transaction price was more than 7 million dollars in gold. For Russia, this was a lot of money, as well as for America. But based on the huge area (1,519,000 km 2), the deal turned out to be very profitable for the United States: 1 square kilometer of land was valued at $4.73.
Thus, Alaska was sold, not leased. This is confirmed by an agreement with the exact amount, drawn up in English and French, since they were recognized as diplomatic at that time. The treaty stated that the territory of the mainland and the coastline stretching 10 miles to the south would become the property of the United States. All real estate, archives and historical documents were transferred with the land. Surprisingly, there is no treaty in Russian. It is known that Russia received a check for the indicated amount, but no one knows to this day whether it was cashed.
Many Russians did not even know about the existence of northern lands in the state, so information about how much Alaska was sold to America for a long time remained a secret. 2 months after the agreement, the information was made public on the back pages of newspapers. Due to illiteracy, people did not attach much importance to this fact. It is known that after Alaska passed to America, the Gregorian calendar came into force on the peninsula.
When did Alaska become an American state?
Alaska is the 49th state of the United States, the largest and richest in natural resources. On its territory there are a large number of volcanoes, lakes and rivers.
For 30 years after the purchase, Alaska was not a state due to economic weakness, sparse population and remoteness. Thanks to the Second World War, the importance of the peninsula increased. Shortly before Alaska became an American state, a huge amount of oil and minerals were discovered in its bowels. In 1959, the peninsula received statehood.
Since 1968, Alaska has been in full swing:
- development of mineral resources;
- extraction of crude oil, natural gas, gold, copper, iron, coal;
- fishing;
- rearing reindeer;
- logging;
- military bases were built.
In the 1970s, an oil pipeline was built in Alaska, which can be compared in scale with pipelines in the Arabian Peninsula and Western Siberia.
Despite huge developments, the population density of the state is the lowest: about 800 people per square meter. The reason for this is the harsh climate of the peninsula with a large number of swamps and permafrost.
After Alaska passed to America, the capital of the peninsula was renamed from Novo-Arkhangelsk to Sitki, which existed until 1906. Currently, the status of the capital is the city of Juneau. Sitka, on the other hand, is a small provincial city with a population of 9 thousand people, which has preserved all the historical monuments about the Russian past.
