Nicholas 2 sold Alaska. Whose money was used to buy Alaska? The true price and motives for buying and selling

In 1867, Alaska ceased to be part of Russia. Until now, this page of Russian history is read diagonally by many, giving rise to a lot of myths. Like those that Catherine II sold Alaska, and Russia leased Alaska. 7 secrets of selling Alaska.

Russia and America

By the time of the sale of Alaska, friendly relations between Russia and America had reached their peak. During Crimean War America has repeatedly emphasized that if the boundaries of the conflict expand, it will not take an anti-Russian position. The agreement on the sale of Alaska was carried out in deep secrecy. Amazing, but with enough high level intelligence of the time, the information was not leaked to third parties. The London Times then wrote with concern about the mutual “mysterious sympathy” that existed between Russia and the United States. London's discontent and concerns were justified: the 1867 treaty not only made Russia and the United States closest neighbors, but also allowed the Americans to surround British possessions in North America on all sides. At one of the dinner parties in honor of the Russian delegation, the American General Welbridge said: “Providence has indicated that there should be two great hemispheres, Eastern and Western. The first should be personified by Russia, and the second by the United States!” Of course, it was a good diplomatic game, but the fact remains that Russia seriously supported America in its rise. The purchase of Alaska strengthened the United States, the money paid for it paid off in a short time, and the strategic advantage for the United States from this deal simply cannot be overestimated.

Narrow circle

The sale of Alaska is unique in that it was concluded within a very small circle. Only six people knew about the proposed sale: Alexander II, Konstantin Romanov, Alexander Gorchakov (Minister of Foreign Affairs), Mikhail Reitern (Minister of Finance), Nikolai Krabbe ( maritime minister) and Eduard Stekl (Russian envoy to the USA). The fact that Alaska was sold to America became known only two months after the transaction was completed. Finance Minister Reuters is traditionally considered its initiator.

A year before the transfer of Alaska, he sent a special note to Alexander II, in which he pointed out the need for strict savings 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 annually paid subsidies to the Russian-American Company; the sale of Alaska saved Russia from these expenses. RAC did not receive a penny from the sale of Alaska.

Even before the historical note by the Minister of Finance, the idea of selling Alaska was expressed by the Governor General Eastern Siberia Muravyov-Amursky. He said that it would be in Russia's interests to improve relations with the United States to strengthen its position on the Asian coast Pacific Ocean, be friends with America against the British.

Alaska was a real gold mine for Russia. Directly and figuratively. One of the most expensive acquisitions of Alaska was the valuable sea otter fur, which was worth more than gold, but due to the greed and short-sightedness of the miners, by the forties of the 19th century, valuable animals were practically destroyed. In addition, oil and gold were discovered in Alaska. Oil at that time was used for medicinal purposes, but gold found in Alaska, ironically, became one of the incentives to sell Alaska as quickly as possible.

American prospectors began to arrive in Alaska and the Russian government quite rightly feared that after the prospectors they would come American troops. Russia was not ready for war. Giving away Alaska without receiving a penny for it was imprudent, to say the least.

Mormons and creeping colonization

Ten years before the sale of Alaska, E.A. Stekl sent a dispatch to St. Petersburg in 1857, in which he outlined a rumor about the possible emigration of representatives of the Mormon religious sect from the United States to Russian America, which was hinted to him in a playful manner by the American President J. Buchanan himself. . Although it was only about rumors, Stekl wrote with alarm that in the event mass relocation American sectarians in Alaska, the Russian government will be faced with an alternative: to provide armed resistance or to give up part of its territory.

In addition, there was a “creeping colonization”, which consisted of the gradual resettlement of the British and Americans on the territory of Russian America and on the lands adjacent to it. IN in the early 1860s, British smugglers began to settle on Russian territory in the southern part of the Alexander Archipelago, despite the formal prohibitions of the colonial administration. Sooner or later this could lead to tension and military conflicts.

On October 18, 1867, at 15:30, the flag was changed on the flagpole in front of the house of the main ruler of Alaska. American and Russian troops lined up at the flagpole. At a signal, two non-commissioned officers began to lower the flag of the Russian-American company. The ceremony did not lose its degree of solemnity until the flag got tangled in the ropes at the very top and the painter broke. By order of the Russian commissar, several sailors rushed to climb up to untangle the flag, which hung on the mast in rags. They didn’t have time from below to shout to the sailor who was the first to reach him, so that he would not throw the flag down, but would get down with it, when he threw it from above: the flag landed right on the Russian bayonets. Conspiracy theorists and mystics should rejoice at this point.

Eduard Stekl played a significant role in the sale of Alaska. From 1850, he served as charge d'affaires of the Russian embassy in Washington, and in 1854 he took up the post of envoy. Steckl was married to an American and was deeply integrated into the highest circles of American society. Extensive connections helped him carry out the deal; he actively lobbied for the interests of his management. In order to persuade the US Senate to purchase Alaska, he gave bribes and used all his connections.

Stekl was dissatisfied with his remuneration of 25 thousand dollars and an annual pension of 6 thousand rubles. Eduard Andreevich arrived in St. Petersburg for a short time, but then left for Paris. Until the end of his life, he avoided Russian society, just as it avoided him. After the sale of Alaska, Glass fell into disrepute.

Where is the money, Zin?

The most main secret The sale of Alaska is the question: "Where is the money?" Stekl received a check in the amount of 7 million 035 thousand dollars - of the original 7.2 million he kept 21 thousand for himself, and distributed 144 thousand as bribes to senators who voted for ratification of the treaty. 7 million was transferred to London by bank transfer, and from London to St. Petersburg by sea They brought the gold bars purchased for this amount.

When converting first into pounds and then into gold, another 1.5 million was lost, but this was not the last loss. The barque Orkney, carrying a precious cargo, sank on July 16, 1868, on the approach to St. Petersburg. Was there gold in it at that time, or did it not leave the area at all? Misty Albion, unknown. The insurance company that insured the ship and cargo declared bankruptcy, and the damage was only partially compensated.

Most likely, there was no gold on the Orkney. During search operation it was not found. Where did it go - the main mystery of the sale of Alaska. There is a version that this money was used to purchase materials for construction roads, but it is much more interesting to think that the money mysteriously disappeared, otherwise what kind of secret is it?

Alexey Rudevich

TASS DOSSIER. October 18, 2017 marks the 150th anniversary of the official ceremony of transferring Russian possessions in North America to the jurisdiction of the United States, which took place in the city of Novoarkhangelsk (now the city of Sitka, Alaska).

Russian America

Alaska was discovered in 1732 by Russian explorers Mikhail Gvozdev and Ivan Fedorov during an expedition on the boat "St. Gabriel". The peninsula was studied in more detail in 1741 by the Second Kamchatka Expedition of Vitus Bering and Alexei Chirikov. In 1784, an expedition of the Irkutsk merchant Grigory Shelikhov arrived on Kodiak Island off the southern coast of Alaska and founded the first settlement of Russian America - the Harbor of Three Saints. From 1799 to 1867, Alaska and its surrounding islands were administered by the Russian-American Company (RAC).

It was created on the initiative of Shelikhov and his heirs and received a monopoly right to fisheries, trade and development of minerals in the north-west of America, as well as on the Kuril and Aleutian Islands. In addition, the Russian-American Company had the exclusive right to open and annex new territories in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean to Russia.

In 1825-1860, RAC employees surveyed and mapped the territory of the peninsula. Local tribes who became dependent on the company were obliged to organize the harvest of fur-bearing animals under the leadership of RAC employees. In 1809-1819, the cost of furs obtained in Alaska amounted to over 15 million rubles, that is, approximately 1.5 million rubles. per year (for comparison, all Russian budget revenues in 1819 were calculated at 138 million rubles).

In 1794, the first Orthodox missionaries arrived in Alaska. In 1840, the Kamchatka, Kuril and Aleutian diocese was organized, in 1852 the Russian possessions in America were allocated to the Novo-Arkhangelsk Vicariate of the Kamchatka diocese. By 1867, about 12 thousand representatives of indigenous peoples who converted to Orthodoxy lived on the peninsula (the total population of Alaska at that time was about 50 thousand people, including about 1 thousand Russians).

The administrative center of Russian possessions in North America was Novoarkhangelsk, their general territory was about 1.5 million sq. km. The borders of Russian America were secured by treaties with the USA (1824) and British Empire (1825).

Plans for selling Alaska

For the first time in government circles, the idea of selling Alaska to the United States was expressed in the spring of 1853 by the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky. He presented Emperor Nicholas I with a note in which he argued that Russia needed to give up its possessions in North America. According to the Governor General, the Russian Empire did not have the necessary military and economic means to protect these territories from US claims.

Muravyov wrote: “We must be convinced that the North American States will inevitably spread throughout North America, and we cannot help but keep in mind that sooner or later we will have to cede our North American possessions to them.” Instead of developing Russian America, Muravyov-Amursky proposed focusing on the development of the Far East, while having the United States as an ally against Britain.

Later, the main supporter of the sale of Alaska to the United States was younger brother Emperor Alexander II, Chairman State Council and the head of the Naval Ministry, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich. On April 3 (March 22, old style), 1857, in a letter addressed to Foreign Minister Alexander Gorchakov, he proposed for the first time at the official level to sell the peninsula to the United States. As arguments in favor of concluding a deal, the Grand Duke referred to the “cramped situation public finance"and the supposedly low profitability of the American territories.

In addition, he wrote that “one should not deceive oneself and must foresee that the United States, constantly striving to round off its possessions and wanting to dominate inseparably in North America, will take the aforementioned colonies from us, and we will not be able to return them.”

The emperor supported his brother's proposal. The note was also approved by the head of the foreign policy department, but Gorchakov proposed not to rush to resolve the issue and postpone it until 1862. The Russian envoy to the United States, Baron Eduard Stekl, was instructed to “find out the opinion of the Washington Cabinet on this subject.”

As the head of the Naval Department, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich was responsible for the security of overseas possessions, as well as for the development Pacific Fleet and the Far East. In this area, his interests collided with the Russian-American company. In the 1860s, the emperor's brother began a campaign to discredit the RAC and oppose its work. In 1860, on the initiative of the Grand Duke and Minister of Finance of Russia Mikhail Reitern, an audit of the company was carried out.

The official conclusion showed that the annual treasury income from the activities of the RAC amounted to 430 thousand rubles. (for comparison, total state budget revenues in the same year amounted to 267 million rubles). As a result, Konstantin Nikolaevich and the Minister of Finance who supported him managed to achieve a refusal to transfer the rights to the development of Sakhalin to the company, as well as the abolition of many trade benefits, which led to a significant deterioration in the financial performance of the RAC.

Make a deal

On December 28 (16), 1866, a special meeting was held in St. Petersburg in the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the sale of Russian possessions in North America. It was attended by Emperor Alexander II, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, Finance Minister Mikhail Reitern, Naval Minister Nikolai Krabbe, and the Russian envoy to the United States Baron Eduard Stekl.

At the meeting, an agreement was unanimously reached on the sale of Alaska. However, this decision was not made public. The secrecy was so high that, for example, Minister of War Dmitry Milyutin learned about the sale of the region only after the signing of the agreement from British newspapers. And the board of the Russian-American company received notification of the transaction three weeks after its official registration.

The conclusion of the treaty took place in Washington on March 30 (18), 1867. The document was signed by the Russian envoy Baron Eduard Stoeckl and US Secretary of State William Seward. The transaction amount was $7 million 200 thousand, or more than 11 million rubles. (in terms of gold - 258.4 thousand troy ounces or $322.4 million in modern prices), which the United States pledged to pay within ten months. Moreover, in April 1857, in a memo by the main ruler of the Russian colonies in America, Ferdinand Wrangel, the territories in Alaska belonging to the Russian-American Company were valued at 27.4 million rubles.

The contract was drawn up in English and French. The entire Alaska Peninsula, the Alexander and Kodiak archipelagos, the islands of the Aleutian chain, as well as several islands in the Bering Sea passed to the United States. The total area of land sold was 1 million 519 thousand square meters. km. According to the document, Russia transferred all RAC property to the United States free of charge, including buildings and structures (with the exception of churches), and pledged to withdraw its troops from Alaska. Indigenous people was transferred under the jurisdiction of the United States, Russian residents and colonists received the right to move to Russia within three years.

The Russian-American company was subject to liquidation; its shareholders eventually received minor compensation, the payment of which was delayed until 1888.

On May 15 (3), 1867, the agreement on the sale of Alaska was signed by Emperor Alexander II. On October 18 (6), 1867, the Governing Senate adopted a decree on the execution of the document, the Russian text of which, under the heading “The Highest Ratified Convention on the Cession of the Russian North American Colonies to the United States of America,” was published in Full meeting laws Russian Empire. On May 3, 1867, the treaty was ratified by the US Senate. On June 20, the instruments of ratification were exchanged in Washington.

Execution of the contract

On October 18 (6), 1867, the official ceremony of transferring Alaska to the United States took place in Novoarkhangelsk: the Russian flag was lowered and the American flag was raised amid gun salutes. On the Russian side, the protocol on the transfer of territories was signed by a special government commissioner, captain 2nd rank Alexey Peschurov, on the United States side - by General Lowell Russo.

In January 1868, 69 soldiers and officers of the Novoarkhangelsk garrison were taken to Far East, to the city of Nikolaevsk (now Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk region). The last group of Russians - 30 people - left Alaska on November 30, 1868 on the ship "Winged Arrow" purchased for this purpose, which was heading to Kronstadt. Only 15 people accepted American citizenship.

On July 27, 1868, the US Congress approved the decision to pay Russia the funds specified in the agreement. At the same time, as follows from the correspondence Russian minister Finance Reitern with Ambassador to the USA Baron Steckl, $165 thousand from total amount was spent on bribes to senators who contributed to the decision-making of Congress. 11 million 362 thousand 482 rubles. in the same year they came into use Russian government. Of these, 10 million 972 thousand 238 rubles. was spent abroad on the purchase of equipment for the Kursk-Kyiv, Ryazan-Kozlov and Moscow-Ryazan railways under construction.

In the 8th 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 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-bearing animals, such as sea otters, minks, and foxes, brought good income. Fur's price was equal to that of precious metals. In addition, the Russian government signed a decree allowing foreign citizens lead entrepreneurial activity on Russian soil for a period of 20 years.

The capital of Alaska within 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, industrial enterprises. The city grew very quickly and as a result became the central port of the west coast.

After few years active life In Alaska, fur production declined sharply, and foreigners engaged in the oil and gold mining business provided great competition to Russian industrialists. At the end of the 30s, the Russian government considered Alaska an unprofitable region and refused to invest money in its development.

Who sold Alaska to the USA?

The sale of the peninsula has become overgrown with 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 misconception that the mainland was sold to the Americans by Catherine II. There is also a version about leasing Alaska for 99 years, after which Russia never claimed 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 had passed since the death of Catherine II.

The Russian side was the first to talk about selling Alaska during the reign of Alexander II.

There were enough reasons to get rid of the peninsula:

Stream of poachers destroyed the main state income, which came from the sale of furs.
A lack of money in the treasury after the defeat in the Crimean War hindered economic recovery 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 transferring the peninsula to the United States with the aim of strengthening its position on the Pacific coast. The vast territory of the peninsula and the gold found in its depths attracted the attention of Russia’s main enemy, England. The Emperor understood that Russian army unable to resist foreign country. 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 purchase and sale agreement for the transfer of Alaska to the United States was signed by both parties. The transaction price was more than $7 million in gold. This was a lot of money for Russia, 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 the lands were 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 coastline a length of 10 miles to the south becomes the property of the United States. All real estate, archives and historical documents. Surprisingly, there is no agreement in Russian. It is known that Russia received a check for the specified amount, but no one still knows 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 is for a long time remained a secret. 2 months after the agreement, the information was made public on last pages newspapers. Due to illiteracy, people did not pay attention to this fact special significance. 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 largest and richest natural resources 49th US state. On its territory there is 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 World War II, the importance of the peninsula increased. Shortly before Alaska became an American state, a huge amount of oil and minerals were discovered in its depths. In 1959, the peninsula received statehood.

Since 1968, Alaska has been in full swing:

development of mineral resources;
crude oil production, natural gas, gold, copper, iron, coal;
fishing;
rearing reindeer;
logging;
military air bases were built.

In the 1970s, an oil pipeline was built in Alaska, which can be compared in scale to pipelines in the Arabian Peninsula and Western Siberia.

Despite huge developments, the state's population density is the lowest: about 800 people per square meter. This is due to the harsh climate of the peninsula with big amount swamps and permafrost.

After Alaska passed to America, the capital of the peninsula was renamed from Novo-Arkhangelsk to Sitka, which existed until 1906. Currently, the city of Juneau has the status of capital. Sitka is a small provincial town with a population of 9 thousand people, which has retained all historical monuments about the Russian past.

The vast territory of Alaska accommodates three Frances. 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%...

Many in Russia are sure that Catherine II sold Alaska. This opinion is especially strong after the famous group “Lube” performed a song about Alaska. The youth then decided that the Great Queen had made the wrong move.

Once upon a time, the Bering Strait, with a crust arctic ice, connected two continents - Asian and American. There was no difficulty in moving from one bank to the other using dog sleds.

The width of the strait between the continents is only 86 kilometers. The Indians, moving to the north, were the first to explore Alaska. 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 eastward beyond Ural Mountains and to Siberia. Encouraged by the Russian tsars, brave, courageous people They were not heading to the hot southern countries, but to the North and Far East.

1732 for Russia was the year of the annexation of Alaska. But the discovery of new lands is one thing, the development of new lands is quite another. Russian explorers began settling 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 there, and fur was equal to gold. Hunters caught animals, and merchants bought them, taking them to the continent. At the beginning of the exploration of Alaska, the Russians jealously guarded the territory.

But gradually the population of fur-bearing animals fell. The hunt was carried out without any rules and the animals disappeared, finding new habitats for life. Many species were on the verge of extinction. Fur production has decreased greatly.

The Russians had no intention of exploring new lands. It was cold there. The hunters hoped only for the fur trade. This was the primary reason why the territory of Alaska was sold to America. Business circles called the territories unprofitable.

The ruling emperor gradually came to the conclusion that the lands of Alaska would only bring headaches. Industrialists believed that by investing money in an unprofitable region, you could lose everything. The payback is zero.

Russia already has Siberian, Altai and Far Eastern territories. There climatic conditions better. 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 and was succeeded by Alexander II. The country's population expected a change in policy, the abolition of serfdom, and freedoms. But, as always, there was no money in Russia.

It was not 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 literature that the queen did not speak Russian well. And she signed the Alaska document without understanding well enough what it was about. we're talking about. 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 turned out not to be better side. Selling land is a shameful fact for any country. Who wants to talk about the weakness of the ruling cabinet, which is incapable of governing the territory? But the treasury was in dire need.

Purchase and sale

Silence and secrecy shrouded the deal. There was no television or internet. The Russian Government sent a representative at large to the US Congress. The proposal took place in 1866.

Although in America there were difficult times, they quickly realized the significance of owning an entire continent. America had just ended the Civil War, and the country's treasury was depleted to the limit.

In ten 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 amounts to half a billion dollars. No one else would have bought these lands. They were most convenient only for America. The reader must agree that Alaska is immeasurably more expensive.

To maintain diplomatic relations between the countries, a year after the sale of the territories, America loudly proposed to 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. Russia's dignity was preserved. 1867 marked the official annexation of Alaska to America.

Food for thought

You can argue for a long time about selling or leasing Alaska. But let us remember, reader, that the recent abolition of serfdom, the lost Crimean War - all this placed enormous pressure on the country.

Deprived of a stable income from the serfs, the landowners expected payment of money from the state, which pledged to compensate for the losses. Tens of millions of gold rubles flowed from the treasury.

The tsarist government was forced to make loans from foreign banks. Many countries gave loans to Russia with great pleasure. Rich country– Russia had untold riches.

But the current situation required immediate capital. Every ruble was on the emperor's personal account. The sale of Alaska became urgent need. Its territories did not bring a penny of income to the treasury.

All 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 it. The American Congress was also against the purchase.

When gold was found in Alaska, the emperor was ridiculed by all and sundry. But finance and politics have no subjunctive mood. But at that moment the Russian emperor made the only right decision.

1863 The capital of Russian America is Novo-Arkhangelsk, now the city of Sitka in Alaska.

Merchants' initiative - RAC

Catherine I, the widow of Peter the Great, hardly even heard of the existence of such a land during the two years of her reign. Russian explorers and industrialists had not yet reached there yet. And during the reign of the second Catherine, the development of Alaska by the Russians began.

Then Russia acquired Alaska thanks to a private merchant initiative. The first Russian settlements in North America were founded by merchant Grigory Shelikhov on Kodiak Island in 1784 to extract and purchase furs from local residents. Novoarkhangelsk became the center.

In July 1799, by decree of Paul I, the Russian-American Company (RAC) was created to develop Russian lands in America. The company organized 25 expeditions, 15 of which were around the world. The activities of the RAC today are assessed differently. On the one hand, the company conducted a predatory fur trade, on the other hand, it actually developed the territory, introduced arable farming, cattle breeding, and gardening. But already with early XIX century, the activities of the RAC were complicated by the struggle for furs with American and British competitors, who armed the Indians for attacks on the Russians. The sale of Alaska took place under the great-grandson of Catherine II, Alexander II, on March 30, 1867. For some reason, this deal is considered extremely unprofitable for Russia.

Most of all, of course, they regret the lost gold and oil (though it was discovered only in the middle of the 20th century). Indeed, almost thirty years after the sale, by the mid-1990s, large-scale gold mining began in Alaska. Few people in their youth did not read Jack London’s brilliant prose about that era of the northern “gold rush”. But at the same time, the same London emphasized that after 10 years, gold mining had practically disappeared. It didn't last long. The gold miners' happiness turned out to be deceptive. Lucky were mainly those few who managed to stake out their plots on time and managed to sell their mines just as quickly. So what is still unknown - was more gold obtained from the bowels of Alaska or spent on its development?

Ross Fortress in 1828

It must be said that for Russia, Alaska quickly ceased to be profitable. The period when Russian America brought serious dividends to shareholders did not last too long. Economic situation The territory was fragile and deteriorating. The fur trade continued to be the economic base of the colony, but the sea otters with their precious fur were almost completely killed. The number of seals, however, was still in the millions, but their skins were not highly valued at that time, and minks, foxes and beavers had to be bought from Indians who hunted on land.

The vast territory was practically undeveloped. Very rare settlements, trading posts, and hunting bases were located only along the coast and at several points along the Yukon. Penetration into the continent, in order to avoid clashes with the Indians, was prohibited for the colonists.

English and American traders supplied the Indians with weapons and incited them to rebel. In a part of Alaska remote from the coast, on the Upper Yukon, having penetrated from Canada, the British established a trading post in 1847. And the Russians were forced to put up with this invasion. The coastal waters of Alaska were teeming with whaling ships from various powers. And the colony could not cope with them either.

International law recognized as its property only a strip of water “at a distance of a cannon shot from the shore.”

And the whalers behaved like bandits, depriving the Alaskan Eskimos of their main means of livelihood. Complaints to Washington - “quiet your filibusters” - did not achieve their goal. In order to somehow stay on its feet, RAC was forced to sell coal, fish and Alaskan ice (the buyer was San Francisco; refrigerators were not yet produced at that time). The company's ends meet no longer meet. State subsidies were needed to maintain the territory. Which was extremely difficult for the treasury.

In addition, the territorial distance makes it incredibly difficult to defend unprofitable overseas territory in the event of war. And the idea of selling Alaska arose at court.

Signing of the treaty for the sale of Alaska on March 30, 1867. From left to right: Robert S. Chu, William G. Seward, William Hunter, Vladimir Bodisko, Eduard Stekl, Charles Sumner, Frederick Seward

Dangerous neighbors

The first time they tried to sell Alaska to the Americans fictitiously, retroactively, out of fear that in the outbreak of the Crimean War, the British, who had a powerful fleet, would tear away the distant, unprotected colony. The fictitious sale did not take place. But Washington became interested in the idea.

The United States is energetically, as expressed Grand Duke Constantine, in a note to Alexander II, rounded off their territory. Napoleon, when he was bogged down in European military affairs, was offered to sell Louisiana. He immediately understood: “if you don’t sell it, they’ll take it for nothing” - and agreed, receiving 15 million dollars for the vast territory (twelve current central states). In the same way, Mexico (after Texas was taken from it by force) ceded California for $15 million.

The USA was intoxicated by the continuous expansion of territory. “America is for the Americans” - this was the meaning of the proclaimed Monroe Doctrine. Publications and speeches contained thoughts about the “predestination” of owning the entire continent in the northern part of America.

It was obvious that further “rounding” would inevitably affect the Russian colony. There was no visible threat to Alaska at that time. Relations between Russia and the United States at this time were emphatically friendly. During the Crimean War, the United States openly stated this. But there remained a potential threat.

Alexander II understood everything, but hesitated - it was difficult to part with the territory discovered by the Russians, which was revered as the “tsar’s pride.” Finally the emperor made up his mind. But one problem remained. And as paradoxical as it sounds, the problem was to persuade American statesmen to make a deal. The Russian envoy Eduard Stekl, who arrived in Washington, was supposed to turn things around so that the initiative for the purchase would come from the United States. The Russian emperor agreed to sell Alaska for no less than $5 million. As a result, they agreed on 7 million 200 thousand dollars (that is, 5 cents per hectare). On March 30, 1867, the treaty for the sale of Alaska was signed.

A check for US$7.2 million presented to pay for the purchase of Alaska. The check amount is approximately equivalent to 2017 US$123.5 million

Ice box

The US Senate reacted to the ratification of the treaty without enthusiasm: “we’re paying money for an ice chest.” Then it took a long time to figure out who the Russians were giving bribes to?

And I really had to give them. Newspaper editors received their bribes for relevant articles, and politicians received their bribes for inspired speeches in Congress. Petersburg "on business, known to the emperor", spent over one hundred thousand dollars (serious money at that time). Original version put forward by the American researcher Ralph Epperson, arguing that US Secretary of State William Seward (one of the main participants in the deal) simply paid the Russian Tsar for help against the probable intervention of England in civil war on the side of the southerners.

We are talking about the appearance of Russian warships off the coast North America at the end of the summer of 1863. Two military squadrons - the Atlantic under the command of Rear Admiral Lesovsky and the Pacific under the command of Admiral Popov - completely unexpectedly for England and France, entered the ports of New York and San Francisco. Russian warships sailed off the coast of the United States for almost a year. And the expenses to the Russian treasury cost almost 7.2 million dollars (exactly the amount for which the deal was concluded).

Transfer of Alaska and raising of the flag

The version is, of course, original, but controversial. One of Seward’s speeches a few years before the deal has been preserved: “Standing here (in Minnesota - A.P.) and turning my gaze to the North-West, I see a Russian who is preoccupied with the construction of harbors, settlements and fortifications at the tip of this continent, as outposts St. Petersburg, and I can say: “Go ahead and build your outposts along the entire coast, even to Arctic Ocean“They will nevertheless become outposts of my own country—monuments of the civilization of the United States in the Northwest.” No comments needed. As a result, the States were satisfied, although they had not yet fully appreciated the huge “add-on” to their territory. Russia's enemies gloated - the sale of Alaska was an admission of weakness. The official transfer of the colony to the Americans took place on October 18, 1867. The square in front of the residence of the Russian governor in Novoarkhangelsk was filled with colonists, Russians and American soldiers. The Russian was lowered from the mast and raised American flag. In total, there were 823 people in the Russian colony at that moment. 90 of them wished to stay. The capital of the Russian colony, Novoarkhangelsk, was renamed Sitka. Twenty families remained to live here... At first, the former Russian territory had the status of a district, then - a territory. It was only in 1959 that Alaska became a separate US state.

Then it became clear that the real wealth of this region is not furs or gold, but oil. Alaska's oil reserves are estimated to range from 4.7 to 16 billion barrels. But know this Russian Emperor Alexander II could not (and it is unlikely that this would have solved anything)...