Alaska, translated from the local dialect, is a whale place. Alaska has a very beautiful flag - eight golden five-pointed stars on a blue background. Seven is the bucket of the Big Dipper, the eighth is the North Star. The peninsula became a US state in 1959. Americans believe that before that, Alaska could not feed its administration due to poverty - and therefore was not a state.
A quarter of all US underground and offshore reserves, almost 5 billion barrels of oil, timber, gas, and copper reserves are concentrated on the peninsula. Some Americans are willing to sell Alaska to Russia for $1 trillion to cut the budget deficit.
189 years ago, on April 17, 1824, the Russian-American Convention was signed to determine the boundaries of Russian possessions in North America. This Convention was the beginning of the expulsion of Russians from America and later played a huge role in the sale in 1867 of Alaska.
The signing of the Alaska Sale Treaty took place on March 30, 1867 in Washington. An area of 1,519,000 km2 was sold for $7.2 million in gold, that is, $4.74 per km2 (the much more fertile and sunnier French Louisiana, bought from France in 1803, cost the US budget somewhat more - $7 per km²). Alaska was finally transferred to the United States on October 18 of the same year, when Russian commission agents led by Admiral Alexei Peshchurov arrived at Fort Sitka. The Russian flag was solemnly lowered over the fort and the American flag raised.
From all sides they say that Russia has committed a great stupidity by selling Alaska. But there is an opinion that Alaska was never sold. It was leased for 90 years. AND
upon the expiration of the lease in 1957, the US was heartbroken about giving back the land or trying to renew the lease for a very good sum. But Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev actually gave the land to America.
And only after that, in 1959, Alaska became the 49th US state. Many argue that the treaty on the transfer of Alaska to the US ownership was never signed by the USSR - just as it was not signed by the Russian Empire. Therefore, Alaska may have been borrowed from Russia for free.
In 1648, during the reign of the "quietest" Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, Semyon Dezhnev crossed the 86-kilometer-wide strait separating Russia and America. This strait would then be called the Bering Strait. In 1732, Mikhail Gvozdev was the first European to determine the coordinates and map 300 kilometers of the coast, describe the coasts and straits. In 1741, Vitus Bering explored the coast of Alaska. In 1784 Grigory Shelikhov mastered the peninsula.
He spreads Orthodoxy among the native horsemen. Accustoms local residents to potatoes and turnips. Founds an agricultural colony "Glory to Russia". And at the same time includes the inhabitants of Alaska in the number of Russian subjects. Simultaneously with Shelikhov, merchant Pavel Lebedev-Lastochkin was exploring Alaska. Russian territory expanded to the south and east.
In 1798 Shelikhov's company merged with the companies of Ivan Golikov and Nikolai Mylnikov and became known as the Russian-American Company. In the books of Nikolai Zadornov, she is described as the destroyer of Russian America and an obstacle in the development of the Far East. The shareholders of the company were the grand dukes, statesmen. One of the shareholders and its first director was Nikolai Rezanov (the hero of the musical "Juno" and "Avos") She had monopoly rights for a period of 20 years, granted by Paul I, for furs, trade, and the discovery of new lands. She was granted the right to represent and defend the interests of Russia.
The company founded the Mikhailovsky Fortress (now Sitka), where there was an elementary school, a shipyard, a church, an arsenal, and workshops. Each incoming ship was greeted with fireworks, as under Peter I. In 1802, the natives burned the fortress. Three years later, another Russian fortress fell. English and American entrepreneurs sought to eliminate Russian settlements and armed the natives.
In 1806, the Russian-American Company opened its trading posts on the Hawaiian (Sandwich) Islands. Factories existed until 1911.
In 1808, the Russian-American Company, located in Irkutsk, appoints Novo-Arkhangelsk (former Mikhailovskaya Fortress) as the capital of Russian America. From the moment the company was founded to the founding of the capital, more than 5 million rubles worth of furs were mined. Copper, coal and iron were mined. Blast furnaces were built. Worked production of mica.
Libraries and schools were established. There was a theater and a museum. Local children were taught Russian and French, mathematics, geography, etc. And four years later, the merchant Ivan Kuskov founded Fort Ross in California, the southernmost outpost of the Russian colony in America. He bought from the local Indians the territory that belonged to Spain. Russia has become a European, Asian and American power. Russian America included the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and Northern California. There were more than 200 Russian citizens in the fort - Creoles, Indians, Aleuts.
They fully provided grain for themselves and the entire population of Alaska. The Russian-American Company built 44 ships. Including steam ships, all the details for which were made in local workshops. Equipped 25 expeditions, 15 of which were around the world. There were more travels than the "queen of the seas" of England. Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky were hired by the Company and made the first circumnavigation of the world in Russian history. The director of the Company Rezanov himself went with them. Thanks to the Company, the coasts of the Arctic Ocean from Arkhangelsk to the Kuril Islands and Japan were described. True, the information was kept secret from the Russian government.
The sale of vodka was prohibited on the territory. Strict measures have been introduced to preserve and reproduce the number of animals. The British, invading Alaska, exterminated everything clean, soldered the natives and bought furs for next to nothing.
In 1803 Rumyantsev, the future chancellor, demanded the settlement of Russian America. He urged to build cities in it, develop industry, trade, build plants and factories that could work on local raw materials. Chamberlain Rezanov said that it was necessary to "invite more Russians there." The Senate refused to resettle the serfs: they were afraid that many would leave the landowners. In resettlement to Alaska, he also refused the peasants who had been freed from the fortress. The population in Russian America grew extremely slowly.
Since 1808, negotiations were underway with the United States to streamline relations in the northwestern part of North America. The companies were against signing such an agreement.
At that time, the United States was actually a minor country that had quite friendly relations with Russia. Thanks to the non-intervention of Russia, the colony separated from England. The great power hoped for the gratitude of the new state. But in 1819, US Secretary of State Quincy Adams declared that all states in the world must come to terms with the idea that the continent of North America is the territory of the United States alone.
He also developed the doctrine - "time and patience will be the best weapon to win back part of the American continent from the Russians." In 1821, the United States of North America, as the country was then called, at the level of Congress noted the danger to the interests of the country of the Russian colonization of the northwestern coast of America - Alaska and California.
Issued in 1821, the Decree of Alexander I banning foreign ships from approaching Russian settlements in America caused a storm of protest among Americans. In 1823, the policy of dividing the world into two systems was finally determined - the doctrine of President Monroe, a message to Congress. America only for the USA - Europe for everyone else. On April 17 (April 5, old style), 1824, the Convention on the Determination of the Boundary of Russian Possessions in North America was signed in St. Petersburg. The boundary of the settlements was established along the 54˚40̕ parallel north latitude.
For some reason, most people believe that Catherine II sold Alaska to the United States. But this is a fundamentally wrong opinion. This North American territory was transferred to the United States almost a hundred years after the death of the great Russian Empress. So, let's figure out when and to whom Alaska was sold and, most importantly, who did it and under what circumstances.
Russian Alaska
The Russians first entered Alaska in 1732. It was an expedition led by Mikhail Gvozdev. In 1799, the Russian-American Company (RAC) was founded specifically for the development of America, headed by Grigory Shelekhov. A significant part of this company belonged to the state. The goals of its activities were the development of new territories, trade, fur trade.
During the 19th century, the territory controlled by the company expanded significantly and at the time of the sale of Alaska to the United States was more than 1.5 million square kilometers. The Russian population grew and numbered 2.5 thousand people. Fur trade and trade gave a good profit. But in relations with local tribes, everything was far from rosy. So, in 1802, the Tlingit Indian tribe almost completely destroyed the Russian settlements. It was possible to save them only by a miracle, because by chance, just at that time, a Russian ship under the command of Yuri Lisyansky sailed not far away, possessing powerful artillery, which decided the course of the battle.
However, this was only an episode of the generally successful first half of the 19th century for the Russian-American Company.
Start of problems
Significant problems with overseas territories began to appear during the Crimean War (1853-1856), which was difficult for the Russian Empire. By that time, the income from trade and the extraction of furs could no longer cover the costs of maintaining Alaska.
The first to sell it to the Americans was the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, Nikolai Nikolayevich Muravyov-Amursky. He did this in 1853, arguing that Alaska is a natural zone of influence of the United States, and sooner or later it will still be in the hands of the Americans, and Russia should concentrate its colonization efforts on Siberia. Moreover, he insisted on the transfer of this territory to the United States so that it would not fall into the hands of the British, who threatened it from Canada and were at that time in a state of open war with the Russian Empire. His fears were partially justified, since already in 1854 England made an attempt to capture Kamchatka. In this regard, even a proposal was made to fictitiously transfer the territory of Alaska to the United States in order to protect it from the aggressor.
But until then, Alaska needed to be maintained, and the Russian Empire of the second half of the 19th century did not financially pull such a program. Therefore, even if Alexander II knew that in a hundred years oil would be produced there in huge quantities, he would hardly have changed his decision to sell this territory. Not to mention that there was a high probability that Alaska would be taken from Russia by force, and because of the remoteness in the distance, she would not be able to protect this distant territory. So it is quite possible that the government simply chose the lesser of two evils.
Rental version
There is also an alternative version, according to which the Russian Empire did not sell Alaska to the United States, but simply leased it to the States. The term of the transaction, according to this scenario, was 99 years. The USSR did not demand the return of these territories when the deadline came, due to the fact that it had abandoned the legacy of the Russian Empire, including its debts.
So, is Alaska still sold or leased? The version about renting out for temporary use has few supporters among serious specialists. It is based on an allegedly preserved copy of the agreement in Russian. But it is well known that it existed only in English and French. So, most likely, these are just speculations of some pseudo-historians. In any case, there are no real facts that would allow us to seriously consider the lease version at the moment.
Why Catherine?
But still, why did the version that Catherine sold Alaska become so popular, although it is clearly erroneous? After all, under this great empress, overseas territories had just begun to be developed, and then there could be no talk of any sale. Moreover, Alaska was sold in the year 1867. Catherine died in 1796, that is, 71 years before this event.
The myth that Catherine sold Alaska was born relatively long ago. True, it refers to the sale of the UK, not the United States. However, this still has nothing to do with the real situation. The postulate was finally fixed in the minds of most of our compatriots that it was the great Russian Empress who made this fatal deal after the release of the song of the Lyube group “Don’t play the fool, America ...”.
Of course, stereotypes are a very tenacious thing, and once they get into the people, a myth can begin to live its own life, and then it is already very difficult to separate truth from fiction without special training and knowledge.
Results
So, in the course of a short study about the details of the sale of Alaska to the United States, we dispelled a number of myths.
Firstly, Catherine II did not sell overseas territories to anyone, which only seriously began to be explored under her, and the sale was made by Emperor Alexander II. What year was Alaska sold? Certainly not in 1767, but in 1867.
Secondly, the Russian government was well aware of what it was selling and what mineral reserves Alaska had. But despite this, the sale was regarded as a good deal.
Thirdly, there is an opinion that if Alaska had not been sold in 1867, it would still be part of Russia. But this is too unlikely, given the considerable distances to the central parts of our country and the proximity of the North American claimants to this territory.
Should we regret the loss of Alaska? More likely no than yes. The maintenance of this territory cost Russia much more than it had benefits from it at the time of the sale or could have in the foreseeable future. In addition, it is far from certain that Alaska could have been held and that it would still remain Russian.
On January 3, 1959, Alaska became the 49th state of the United States, although these lands were sold by Russia to America back in 1867. However, there is a version that Alaska was never sold. Russia leased it for 90 years, and after the expiration of the lease, in 1957, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev actually donated these lands to the United States. Many historians argue that the agreement on the transfer of Alaska to the United States was not signed by either the Russian Empire or the USSR, and the peninsula was borrowed from Russia free of charge. Be that as it may, Alaska is still shrouded in a halo of secrets.
Russians taught the natives of Alaska to turnips and potatoes
Under the rule of the “quietest” Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov in Russia, Semyon Dezhnev swam across the 86-kilometer strait that separated Russia and America. Later, this strait was named Bering Strait in honor of Vitus Bering, who in 1741 explored the shores of Alaska. Although before him, in 1732, Mikhail Gvozdev was the first European to determine the coordinates and map the 300-kilometer coastline of this peninsula. In 1784, Grigory Shelikhov was engaged in the development of Alaska, who taught the local population to turnips and potatoes, spread Orthodoxy among the horse natives, and even founded the Slava Rossii agricultural colony. Since that time, the inhabitants of Alaska have become Russian subjects.
The British and Americans armed the natives against the Russians
In 1798, as a result of the merger of the companies of Grigory Shelikhov, Nikolai Mylnikov and Ivan Golikov, the Russian-American Company was formed, the shareholders of which were statesmen and grand dukes. The first director of this company is Nikolai Rezanov, whose name is known to many today as the name of the hero of the musical "Juno and Avos". The company, which some historians today call "the destroyer of Russian America and an obstacle in the development of the Far East," had monopoly rights to furs, trade, the discovery of new lands, granted. The company also had the right to protect and represent the interests of Russia
The company founded the Mikhailovsky Fortress (today Sitka), where the Russians built a church, a primary school, a shipyard, workshops and an arsenal. Each ship that came to the harbor where the fortress stood was greeted with fireworks. In 1802, the fortress was burned by the natives, and three years later, another Russian fortress suffered the same fate. American and British entrepreneurs sought to eliminate the Russian settlements and armed the natives for this.
Alaska could become a cause of war for Russia
For Russia, Alaska was a real gold mine. For example, sea otter fur was more expensive than gold, but the greed and short-sightedness of the miners led to the fact that already in the 1840s there were practically no valuable animals left on the peninsula. In addition, oil and gold were discovered in Alaska. It is this fact, however absurd it may sound, that has become one of the incentives to get rid of Alaska as soon as possible. The fact is that American prospectors began to actively arrive in Alaska, and the Russian government reasonably feared that American troops would come after them. Russia was not ready for the war, and it was completely imprudent to give Alaska penniless.
At the ceremony for the transfer of Alaska, the flag fell on Russian bayonets
October 18, 1867 at 3:30 p.m. the solemn ceremony of changing the flag on the flagpole in front of the house of the ruler of Alaska began. Two non-commissioned officers began to lower the flag of the Russian-American company, but it got tangled in the ropes at the very top, and the painter completely broke off. Several sailors, on orders, rushed to climb up to unravel the tattered flag hanging on the mast. The sailor who reached the flag first did not have time to shout to get down with the flag, and not throw it, and he threw the flag down. The flag hit right on the Russian bayonets. Mystics and conspiracy theorists should have rejoiced.
Immediately after the transfer of Alaska to the United States, American troops entered Sitka and looted the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, private houses and shops, and General Jefferson Davis ordered all Russians to leave their homes to the Americans.
Alaska has become an extremely profitable deal for the US
The Russian Empire sold uninhabited and hard-to-reach territory to the United States for $0.05 per hectare. It turned out to be 1.5 times cheaper than Napoleonic France sold the developed territory of historical Louisiana 50 years earlier. America offered only $10 million for the port of New Orleans, and besides, the lands of Louisiana had to be redeemed again from the Indians living there.
Another fact: at the time when Alaska was sold to America by Russia, the state treasury paid more for a single three-story building in downtown New York than the US government paid for the entire peninsula.
The main secret of selling Alaska is where is the money?
Eduard Stekl, who had been chargé d'affaires at the Russian embassy in Washington since 1850 and was appointed envoy in 1854, received a check for $7,35,000. He kept 21,000 for himself and distributed 144,000 to the senators who voted for the ratification of the treaty as bribes. 7 million was transferred to London by bank transfer, and already from the British capital to St. Petersburg the gold bars purchased for this amount were transported by sea.
When converting the currency, first into pounds, and then into gold, they lost another 1.5 million. But this loss was not the last. On July 16, 1868, the Orkney bark, carrying precious cargo, sank on the way to St. Petersburg. Whether there was Russian gold on it at that moment, or whether it did not leave the limits of Foggy Albion, remains unknown today. The company that registered the cargo declared itself bankrupt, so the damage was only partially reimbursed.
In 2013, a Russian filed a lawsuit to invalidate the agreement on the sale of Alaska
In March 2013, the Moscow Arbitration Court received a lawsuit from representatives of the Interregional Public Movement in Support of Orthodox Educational and Social Initiatives "Bees" in the name of the Holy Great Martyr Nikita. According to Nikolai Bondarenko, chairman of the movement, such a step was caused by the failure to fulfill a number of clauses of the agreement signed in 1867. In particular, Article 6 provided for the payment of 7 million 200 thousand dollars in gold coins, and the US Treasury issued a check for this amount, the fate of which is vague. Another reason, according to Bondarenko, was the fact that the US government violated Article 3 of the treaty, which stipulates that the American authorities must ensure that the inhabitants of Alaska, formerly citizens of the Russian Empire, live according to their customs and traditions and the faith that they professed at that time. The Obama administration, with its plans to legalize same-sex marriage, infringes on the rights and interests of citizens who live in Alaska. The Moscow Arbitration Court refused to consider the claim against the US federal government.The vast territory of Alaska contains three France. There are gold deposits, tungsten ore, platinum, mercury, molybdenum, coal. Oil reserves have been discovered and are being developed. And this, for a minute, is about 20% ...
The vast territory of Alaska contains three France. There are gold deposits, tungsten ore, platinum, mercury, molybdenum, coal. Oil reserves have been discovered and are being developed. And this, for a moment, is about 20% of the country's oil.
Many in Russia are sure that Catherine II sold Alaska. This opinion is especially stable after the performance of a song about Alaska by the famous group "Lube". The youth then decided that the Great Queen made the wrong move.
A long time ago, the Bering Strait, with a crust of Arctic ice, connected two continents - Asian and American. It was not difficult to move from one coast to another using dog teams.
The width of the strait between the continents is only 86 kilometers. The Indians, moving to the north, mastered Alaska first. But the cold climate squeezed them out of the territory, and the Indians reached the Aleutian Islands and settled there.
The Russian Empire was actively moving eastwards beyond the Ural Mountains and into Siberia. Encouraged by the Russian tsars, brave, courageous people were sent not to the southern hot countries, but to the North and the Far East.
1732 for Russia was the year of the annexation of Alaska. But the discovery of new lands is one thing, the arrangement is quite another. Russian pioneers began to settle in Alaska at the end of the eighteenth century.
Immediately this area became a source of enrichment. There were a lot of fur-bearing animals, and furs were equal to gold. Hunters caught animals, and merchants bought them up, taking them to the continent. At the beginning of the development of Alaska, the Russians jealously guarded the territory.
But gradually the population of fur-bearing animals fell. Hunting was carried out without any rules and the animals disappeared, finding new habitats for life. Many species are on the verge of extinction. Fur production has been greatly reduced.
The Russians were not going to develop new lands. It was cold there. Hunters hoped only for fur trade. This was the root cause why the territory of Alaska was sold to America. Business circles called the territories unprofitable.
The reigning emperor gradually came to the conclusion that the lands of Alaska bring only a headache. The industrialists considered that by investing in an unprofitable region, you can lose everything. Payback is zero.
Russia already has Siberian, Altai and Far Eastern territories. The climate is better there. This is how the lack of geological surveys in remote areas created the conditions for the loss of the richest territories.
During these years, the Crimean War pumped huge amounts of money out of the Russian treasury. Emperor Nicholas I died, he was replaced by Alexander II. The population of the country expected a change in policy, the abolition of serfdom, and freedoms. But there was no money in Russia, as always.
It wasn't Catherine who signed the Alaska treaty. When it came to such a deal, her great-grandson, Alexander II, was on the throne. Those who believe that Alaska was given to tenants for 99 years are also mistaken.
You can often read in the literature that the queen did not speak Russian well. And she signed a document about Alaska, not understanding well enough what was at stake. So no. She spoke Russian better than many courtiers.
These events began several decades after the death of Catherine. Russian problems required an immediate solution, but, as always in Russia, there was no money. Alexander II did not immediately rush to sell the Northern Territory.
Another ten years passed before the situation was not for the better. The sale of land for any country is a shameful fact. Who wants to talk about the weakness of the ruling cabinet, which is not able to govern the territory. But the treasury was in dire need.
Purchase and sale
Silence and secrecy enveloped the deal. Television and internet were out. The Russian Government has sent a special envoy to the US Congress. The proposal happened in 1866.
Although America was going through hard times, they quickly learned the value of owning an entire continent. In America, the Civil War had just ended, and the country's treasury was exhausted to the limit.
In a dozen years, the Russian authorities could get much more for Alaska. But they agreed on the amount of seven million, two hundred thousand dollars in gold equivalent. Russia urgently needed money, America had no money.
Today it is half a billion dollars. No one else would buy these lands. They were the most convenient only for America. The reader must agree that Alaska is immeasurably more expensive.
To maintain diplomatic relations between countries, a year after the sale of the territories, America loudly offered Russia to sell Alaska.
The secret visit of the Russian representative was forgotten. It was believed that America itself offered Russia to buy Alaska from it. The dignity of Russia was preserved. 1867 was the official annexation of Alaska to America.
Information for thought
You can argue for a long time about the sale or lease of Alaska. But remember, reader, that the recent abolition of serfdom, the lost Crimean War - all this lay a huge pressure on the country.
Deprived of a stable income from the serfs, the landowners waited for the payment of money from the state, which undertook to compensate for the losses. Tens of millions of gold rubles flowed from the treasury.
The tsarist government was forced to make loans in foreign banks. Many countries gave loans to Russia with great pleasure. A rich country - Russia - possessed untold wealth.
But the current situation required immediate capital. Each ruble was on the personal account of the emperor. The sale of Alaska became an urgent need. Its territories did not bring a penny of income to the treasury.
The entire business and financial world had an idea about this. No other country would buy Alaska. Russia did not notice the sale of the Northern Territories. Many citizens had no idea about her. The American Congress was also against the purchase.
When gold was found in Alaska, the emperor was ridiculed by everyone and sundry. But finance and politics do not have the subjunctive mood. But at that moment, the Russian emperor made the only right decision.
ALL PHOTOS
In Russia, only six people knew about the preparation of the deal: Alexander II, Konstantin Romanov, Alexander Gorchakov (Minister of Foreign Affairs), Mikhail Reitern (Minister of Finance), Nikolai Krabbe (Minister of the Navy) and Eduard Stekl (Russian envoy to the United States), and the public was informed only two months after the signing of the contract. At that time, Russia was in dire need of a three-year foreign loan, 15 million rubles a year, and Russian America required constant investment.
As for gold, which individual miners had already begun to extract in Alaska, the Russian government feared that American troops would follow the miners and smugglers, for which Russia was not ready. Another problem was the "creeping colonization" by the Mormons, which US President James Buchanan himself spoke openly about.
Lenin and Stalin are to blame for the loss of Alaska
The Alaska thread on the CPRF forum mentions that the treaty, signed on March 30, 1867, was drawn up in English and French. Thus, copies of the treaty in Russian that exist on the Internet with a facsimile of the emperor and autocrat of the All-Russian Alexander II are fakes. Forum users put forward several theories: firstly, they insist that the contract was about a lease for 99 years, and not about a sale. Secondly, supporters of the largest Russian communist party believe that the $7.2 million in gold stipulated in the document was not sent to Russia, because the government of the empire, through the London Bank, paid off this money for locomotives and steam engines.
In addition, an original theory was expressed at the forum - the deal was fictitious, the US Congress spent these expenses under the guise of paying rent for Alaska, aiming to compensate Russia for the costs of participating in hostilities on the US side of two Russian squadrons under the command of Rear Admirals Stepan Lesovsky and Andrey Popov.
"After the revolution of 1917, through confiscation and simple robbery, the Bolsheviks concentrated in their hands huge wealth in currency, securities, gold, etc. However, they could not buy weapons for the Red Army: the West banned trade with Russia. To "break through" this blockade, Lenin offered the United States a waiver of claims to Alaska in exchange for lifting the ban on trade.As a guarantee, Lenin offered to give the Americans all copies of the signed agreements that were kept in Russia and confirmed her rights to Alaska.So Alaska was really sold for the first time. During the war against fascism, Stalin made a statement in Yalta that the USSR would not claim their rights to Alaska, which surprised the Americans in no way, who believed that this issue was finally settled under Lenin.Stalin simply wanted to portray that he was making a concession for the right of the USSR take control of the countries of Central Europe.So Alaska was sold a second time... Finally, under Brezhnev, the lease term came to an end.Despite all the previous, it was still possible to try to lay claim to Alaska. It was only necessary to officially declare that these two, so to speak, politicians, Lenin and Stalin, had no right to sell Alaska, their actions were never confirmed by the Supreme Council and, therefore, were legally invalid from the very beginning. Well, and, of course, present money for payment! However, the General Secretary of the CPSU was not capable of this ... "- the published study says.
Probably, supporters of the Communist Party are referring to the fictitious agreement on the sale of Alaska from 1854, which was drawn up in the amount of $ 7.6 million and was supposed to force the British to abandon their claims to Russian possessions. The newspaper Zagranitsa writes about the circumstances of this deal.
A ship with gold bars was blown up by an American saboteur
Russia really did not receive money for Alaska. 7.2 million dollars (11 million rubles) were, according to the payment order, transferred to the account of Baron Stekl, the Russian envoy, which fundamentally contradicted the terms of the agreement. Millions were transferred to one of the London banks, from where they were supposed to get to Russia in the form of gold, but this did not happen.
At the beginning of July 1868, the ingots were loaded onto the Orkney barque, but on July 16 the ship sank on the way to St. Petersburg. The insurance company went bankrupt, and Russia received no compensation.
In 1875, it turned out that the disaster was not an accident. The explosion was set up by US citizen William Thomson, who served in the sabotage division of the Secret Service Corps (SSC) during the American Civil War. Being caught in the explosion of another ship, he, after a suicide attempt, told how he ended up in prison for a drunken brawl and received an unusual offer from a cellmate. For 1,000 pounds, Thomson disguised himself as a loader transferred a time bomb to the Orkney.
A hundred years later, in 1975, a Soviet-Finnish expedition discovered the remains of a barque in the Baltic Sea. The examination confirmed that there was an explosion and a fire on the ship. But there was not a single gold ingot.
Eduard Stekl, who lobbied for the treaty from Russia (by the way, married to an American and involved in the highest circles of the United States), received a reward of 25 thousand dollars and an annual pension of 6,000 rubles for his work, which he was very dissatisfied with. As the "Russian Seven" clarifies, he briefly arrived in St. Petersburg, but then left for Paris and shunned Russian society until the end of the year, as he turned into a pariah and was mercilessly criticized for his mediocre cession of Russian land.
And not sold, and not rented
As for the main question, whether it was a sale or a lease, one of the most balanced versions is put forward by users of the Submarine forum - in their opinion, the uncertainty arose due to a linguistic misunderstanding.
According to the text of the treaty, it is clear that Alaska was "... to cede to the United States ...". The contract does not use the word "sell", and the expression "to cede" can be understood as a grant or transfer of physical control. Thus, it follows from the agreement that legally Alaska belongs to Russia, but transferred to the physical administration of the United States.
“Thus, Alaska was not sold to the United States and was not leased to the United States, which everyone is now arguing about. It was transferred under the seda agreement, i.e. under the agreement on the transfer of physical control over the territory without selling the territory to the United States of America. the term for the transfer of the territory to physical administration was not specified, then Russia has every right to demand Alaska back at any time, since according to the treaty concluded with the United States, Alaska continues to belong to Russia, and the United States has only been transferred the right to physical administration of the territory. of the validity of the agreement, it is recognized as valid until the moment the owner makes a demand for the return of the right of physical control, i.e. until Russia declares its right to physical control of the territory, which must be returned to it immediately by the United States of America upon the first declaration of this from the Russian side," the article says.
A typewritten text of the treaty is available at the online library Bartleby.com, where it is cited from American Historical Documents, 1000-1904. The handwritten original of the treaty has never been published.
The Russian flag in Novo-Arkhangelsk, the capital of Russian settlements in North America, was lowered on October 18, 1867. In 1884, Alaska received the status of a district, in 1912 it was officially declared a territory of the United States. Alaska became the 49th state of the United States in 1959.
