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 that became dependent on the company were obliged to organize fishing fur-bearing animal under the leadership of RAC staff. 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 total territory was about 1.5 million square meters. 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 Eastern Siberia Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky. He presented a note to Emperor Nicholas I, 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 developing Far East, while having the US 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 of the State Council and Manager of the Naval Ministry, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich. On April 3 (March 22, old style), 1857, in a letter addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Gorchakov, for the first time he official level offered to sell the peninsula to the United States. As arguments in favor of concluding the deal, the Grand Duke referred to the “constrained situation of public finances” and the allegedly low profitability of the American territories.
In addition, he wrote that “one should not deceive oneself and one 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 income state budget 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. total area The land area sold amounted to 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. The indigenous population was transferred to 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 the 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 Reitern's finances with the Ambassador to the United States Baron Steckl, $165 thousand of the total amount went to bribes to senators who contributed to the decision of Congress. 11 million 362 thousand 482 rubles. in the same year they came into the possession of the 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.
And D.I. Pavlutsky -1735. Gvozdev's expedition recorded the territory of Cape Prince of Wales.
Russian America
In 1763-1765, a native uprising occurred in the Aleutian Islands, which was brutally suppressed by Russian industrialists. In 1772, the first Russian trading settlement was founded on the Aleutian Unalaska. In the summer of 1784, an expedition under the command of G. I. Shelekhov (-) landed on the Aleutian Islands and founded the Russian settlement of Kodiak on August 14. In 1791, Fort St. was founded on the American continent. Nicholas. In 1792/1793, the expedition of industrialist Vasily Ivanov reached the banks of the Yukon River.
In September 1794, an Orthodox mission consisting of 8 monks from the Valaam and Konevsky monasteries and the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, led by Archimandrite Joasaph (since April 10, 1799, Bishop of Kodiak), arrived on the island of Kodiak. Immediately upon arrival, the missionaries immediately began to build a temple and convert the pagans to the Orthodox faith. Since 1816, married priests also served in Alaska. Orthodox missionaries made a significant contribution to the development of Russian America.
Russia clashed with the British Hudson's Bay Company. To avoid misunderstandings, in 1825 it was outlined eastern border Alaska by agreement between Russia and Great Britain (now the border between Alaska and British Columbia).
Selling Alaska
As part of the USA
To meet the spiritual needs of the Orthodox residents of Alaska, the Aleutian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church was created in 1870 (currently the Diocese of Alaska within the Orthodox Church in America). Until 1917, bishops and priests came from Russia to Alaska, icons, vestments and church utensils, spiritual and liturgical literature were sent, and funds were received for the construction and maintenance of churches and schools.
In 1880, the leader of one of the Tlingit Indian tribes named Covey led two prospectors to a stream flowing into Gastineau Strait. Joseph Juneau and Richard Harris found gold there and laid claim to the site - "Golden Brook", which turned out to be one of the richest gold mines. A village grew nearby, and then the city of Juneau, which in 1906 became the capital of Alaska. Ketchikan's history began in 1887, when the first cannery was built. The region developed slowly until the start of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1896. During the years of the gold rush in Alaska, about one thousand tons of gold were mined, which in April 2005 prices corresponded to 13-14 billion dollars.
"Golden fever"
The rush began when prospectors George Carmack, Jim Skookum, and Charlie Dawson discovered gold on Bonanza Creek, which flows into the Klondike River, on August 16, 1896. News of this quickly spread to the inhabitants of the Yukon River basin. However, it took another year for the information to reach the wider world. Gold was not exported until June 1897, when navigation opened and the ocean liners Excelsior and Portland took on cargo from the Klondike. The Excelsior arrived in San Francisco on July 17, 1897, with a cargo worth nearly half a million dollars, arousing public interest. When Portland arrived in Seattle three days later, it was greeted by a crowd. Newspapers reported half a ton of gold, but this was an understatement since the ship carried more than a ton of the metal.
In 1911, August 17 was declared Opening Day in the Yukon Territory. Discovery Day). Over time, the third Monday in August became a day off. The main festivities take place in the city of Dawson.
Alaska Territory
In 1912, Alaska received territorial status. In 1916, the population of Alaska numbered 58 thousand people. The economy was based on copper mining and fishing.
On June 3, 1942, Japanese aircraft attacked the Dutch Harbor Naval Station and Fort Mears in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. In the same year, the Japanese took possession of a number of islands near Alaska for a year: Attu (June 6) and Kiska. In 1943, the bloody Battle of Attu took place there between the Japanese garrison of the island and the American-Canadian landing force. As a result of this battle, 3,500 soldiers died on both sides.
US state
The post-war confrontation between America and the Soviet Union, the years of the Cold War further strengthened the role of Alaska as a shield against a possible transpolar attack and contributed to the development of its uninhabited spaces. Alaska was declared a state on January 3, 1959. Since 1968, various mineral resources, especially in the Prudhoe Bay area, southeast of Point Barrow. In 1977, an oil pipeline was laid from Prudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil spill caused serious environmental pollution.
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An excerpt characterizing the History of Alaska“Dismiss the old man to the village, who remains so disgraced that he could not fulfill the great and glorious lot to which he was chosen. I will await your most merciful permission here at the hospital, so as not to play the role of a clerk and not a commander in the army. Excommunicating me from the army will not make the slightest disclosure that the blind man has left the army. There are thousands of people like me in Russia.”“Le Marieechal se fache contre l"Empereur et nous punit tous; n"est ce pas que with"est logique! “Voila le premier acte. Aux suivants l"interet et le ridicule montent comme de raison. Apres le depart du Marieechal il se trouve que nous sommes en vue de l"ennemi, et qu"il faut livrer bataille. Boukshevden est general en chef par droit d"anciennete, mais le general Benigsen n"est pas de cet avis; d"autant plus qu"il est lui, avec son corps en vue de l"ennemi, et qu"il veut profiter de l"occasion d"une bataille „aus eigener Hand “ comme disent les Allemands. Il la donne. C"est la bataille de Poultousk qui est sensee etre une grande victoire, mais qui a mon avis ne l"est pas du tout. Nous autres pekins avons, comme vous savez, une tres vilaine habitude de decider du gain ou de la perte d"une bataille. Celui qui s"est retire apres la bataille, l"a perdu, voila ce que nous disons, et a ce titre nous avons perdu la bataille de Poultousk. Bref, nous nous retirons apres la bataille, mais nous envoyons un courrier a Petersbourg, qui porte les nouvelles d"une victoire, et le general ne cede pas le commandement en chef a Boukshevden, esperant recevoir de Petersbourg en reconnaissance de sa victoire le titre de general en chef. Pendant cet interregne, nous commencons un plan de man?uvres excessivement interessant et original. Notre but ne consiste pas, comme il devrait l"etre, a eviter ou a attaquer l"ennemi; mais uniquement a eviter le general Boukshevden, qui par droit d"ancnnete serait notre chef. Nous poursuivons ce but avec tant d"energie, que meme en passant une riviere qui n"est ras gueable, nous brulons les ponts pour nous separer de notre ennemi, qui pour le moment, n"est pas Bonaparte, mais Boukshevden. Le general Boukshevden a manque etre attaque et pris par des forces ennemies superieures a cause d"une de nos belles man?uvres qui nous sauvait de lui. Boukshevden nous poursuit – nous filons. A peine passe t il de notre cote de la riviere, que nous repassons de l "autre. A la fin notre ennemi Boukshevden nous attrappe et s" attaque a nous. Les deux generaux se fachent. Il y a meme une provocation en duel de la part de Boukshevden et une attaque d "epilepsie de la part de Benigsen. Mais au moment critique le courrier, qui porte la nouvelle de notre victoire de Poultousk, nous apporte de Petersbourg notre nomination de general en chef, et le premier ennemi Boukshevden est enfonce: nous pouvons penser au second, a Bonaparte. Mais ne voila t il pas qu"a ce moment se leve devant nous un troisieme ennemi, c"est le Orthodox qui demande a grands cris du pain , de la viande, des souchary, du foin, – que sais je! Les magasins sont vides, les chemins impraticables. Le Orthodox se met a la Marieaude, et d"une maniere dont la derieniere campagne ne peut vous donner la moindre idee. La moitie des regiments forme des troupes libres, qui parcourent la contree en mettant tout a feu et a sang. Les habitants sont ruines de fond en comble, les hopitaux regorgent de malades, et la disette est partout. Deux fois le quartier general a ete attaque par des troupes de Marieaudeurs et le general en chef a ete oblige lui meme de demander un bataillon pour les chasser. Dans une de ces attaques on m"a importe ma malle vide et ma robe de chambre. L"Empereur veut donner le droit a tous les chefs de divisions de fusiller les Marieaudeurs, mais je crains fort que cela n"oblige une moitie de l"armee de fusiller l"autre. [Since our brilliant successes at Austerlitz, you know, my dear prince, that I have not left the more important apartments. I have decidedly acquired a taste for war, and am very pleased with it; what I saw these three months is incredible. “I start ab ovo. The enemy of the human race, known to you, is attacking the Prussians. The Prussians are our faithful allies, who deceived us only three times in three years. We stand up for them. But it turns out that the enemy of the human race does not pay any attention to our charming speeches, and in his discourteous and wild manner rushes at the Prussians, not giving them time to finish their begun parade, smashes them to smithereens and takes up residence in the Potsdam palace. “I really wish,” the Prussian king writes to Bonaparte, that your majesty be received in my palace in the most pleasant manner for you, and with special care I made all the necessary orders for this, as far as circumstances allowed. I really wish that I achieve my goal.” Prussian generals flaunt their politeness before the French and surrender on demand. The commander of the Glogau garrison, with ten thousand, asks the Prussian king what he should do if he has to surrender. All this is positively true. In a word, we thought to instill fear in them only by the position of our military forces, but it ends up being that we are involved in a war, on our own border and, most importantly, for the Prussian king and at the same time with him. We have everything in abundance, only one little thing is missing, namely, the commander-in-chief. Since it turned out that Austerlitz’s successes could have been more positive if the commander-in-chief had not been so young, a review of octogenarian generals is made, and the latter is chosen between Prozorovsky and Kamensky. The general comes to us in a Suvorovski carriage, and he is received with joyful and solemn exclamations. On the 4th the first courier from St. Petersburg arrives. They bring suitcases to the office of the field marshal, who likes to do everything himself. They call me to help sort through the letters and take those that are assigned to us. The field marshal, leaving us to do this task, is waiting for envelopes addressed to him. We are looking - but they are not there. The field marshal begins to worry, gets to work himself and finds letters from the sovereign to Count T., Prince V. and others. He becomes extremely angry, loses his temper, takes the letters, opens them and reads the Emperor’s letters addressed to others... Then he writes the famous daily order to General Bennigsen. The field marshal is angry with the sovereign and punishes us all: isn’t this logical! Here's the first step. With the following, interest and fun increase, it goes without saying. After the field marshal leaves, it turns out that we are in sight of the enemy, and it is necessary to give battle. Buxhoeveden, the commander-in-chief by seniority, but General Bennigsen is not at all of the same opinion, especially since he and his corps are in sight of the enemy, and wants to take the opportunity to fight on his own. He gives it. This is the Battle of Pultu, which is considered a great victory, but which is not at all like that, in my opinion. We civilians, as you know, have a very bad habit of deciding whether a battle is won or lost. The one who retreated after the battle lost it, that's what we say, and judging by this, we lost the Battle of Pultu. In a word, we are retreating after the battle, but we send a courier to St. Petersburg with the news of the victory, and General Bennigsen does not yield command of the army to General Buxhoeveden, hoping to receive from St. Petersburg the title of commander-in-chief in gratitude for his victory. During this interregnum, we begin a very original and interesting series of maneuvers. Our plan no longer consists, as it should have consisted, in avoiding or attacking the enemy, but only in avoiding General Buxhoeveden, who by right of seniority should have been our superior. We pursue this goal with such energy that even when crossing a river that has no fords, we burn the bridge in order to alienate our enemy, who at the present time is not Bonaparte, but Buxhoeveden. General Buxhoeveden was almost attacked and captured by superior enemy forces, as a result of one of these maneuvers that saved us from him. Buxhoeveden is pursuing us - we are running. As soon as he crosses to our side of the river, we cross to the other. Finally our enemy Buxhoeveden catches us and attacks. Both generals are angry and it comes to a challenge to a duel from Buxhoeveden and an attack of epilepsy from Bennigsen. But at the most critical moment, the courier who carried the news of the Pultus victory to St. Petersburg returns and brings us the appointment of the commander-in-chief, and the first enemy, Buxhoeveden, is defeated. We can now think about the second enemy - Bonaparte. But it turns out that at this very moment a third enemy appears before us - the Orthodox, who with loud cries demands bread, beef, crackers, hay, oats - and you never know what else! The shops are empty, the roads are impassable. The Orthodox begins to plunder, and the plunder reaches such a degree that last campaign I couldn't give you the slightest idea. Half of the regiments form free teams that go around the country and put everything to the sword and flame. Residents are completely ruined, hospitals are filled with sick people, and there is hunger everywhere. Twice the marauders even attacked the main apartment, and the commander-in-chief was forced to take a battalion of soldiers to drive them away. During one of these attacks, my empty suitcase and robe were taken from me. The Emperor wants to give all division commanders the right to shoot marauders, but I am very afraid that this will force one half of the army to shoot the other.] Prince Andrei at first read with only his eyes, but then involuntarily what he read (despite the fact that he knew how much he should have believed Bilibin) began to occupy him more and more. Having read this far, he crumpled the letter and threw it away. It was not what he read in the letter that made him angry, but he was angry that this life there, alien to him, could bother him. He closed his eyes, rubbed his forehead with his hand, as if driving away all interest in what he was reading, and listened to what was happening in the nursery. Suddenly he heard a strange sound outside the door. Fear came over him; he was afraid that something had happened to the child while he was reading the letter. He tiptoed to the nursery door and opened it. The minute he entered, he saw that the nanny, with a frightened look, had hidden something from him, and that Princess Marya was no longer at the crib. “My friend,” he heard from behind him the desperate, as it seemed to him, whisper of Princess Marya. As often happens after a long period of insomnia and prolonged anxiety, an unreasonable fear came over him: it occurred to him that the child had died. Everything he saw and heard seemed to him to be confirmation of his fear. “It’s all over,” he thought, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead! He walked up to the crib in confusion, confident that he would find it empty, that the nanny was hiding a dead child. He opened the curtains, and for a long time his frightened, darting eyes could not find the child. Finally he saw him: a ruddy boy, spread out, lying across the crib, his head lowered below the pillow and in his sleep he smacked his lips, moved his lips, and breathed evenly. Prince Andrei was delighted to see the boy as if he had already lost him. He bent down and, as his sister had taught him, tried with his lips to see if the child had a fever. His tender forehead was wet, he touched his head with his hand - even his hair was wet: the child was sweating so much. Not only did he not die, but now it was obvious that the crisis had occurred and that he had recovered. Prince Andrey wanted to grab, crush, press this small, helpless creature to his chest; he didn't dare do it. He stood over him, looking at his head, arms, legs, which were located under the blanket. A rustling sound was heard next to him, and some shadow appeared to him under the canopy of the crib. He didn’t look back and listened to everything, looking into the child’s face and his even breathing. The dark shadow was Princess Marya, who with silent steps approached the crib, raised the curtain and lowered it behind her. Prince Andrei, without looking back, recognized her and extended his hand to her. She squeezed his hand. “He’s sweating,” said Prince Andrei. - I came to you to tell you this. The child moved slightly in his sleep, smiled and rubbed his forehead on the pillow. Prince Andrei looked at his sister. The radiant eyes of Princess Marya, in the matte half-light of the canopy, shone more than usual from the happy tears that stood in them. Princess Marya reached out to her brother and kissed him, lightly touching him to the canopy of the crib. They threatened each other and stood still in the dull light of the canopy, as if not wanting to part with this world in which the three of them were separated from the whole world. Prince Andrei was the first, tangling his hair on the muslin canopy, to move away from the crib. - Yes. “This is the only thing left for me now,” he said with a sigh. Soon after his admission into the brotherhood of Masons, Pierre, with a complete manual written for himself about what he was supposed to do on his estates, left for the Kyiv province, where most of his peasants. |
A region in northwestern North America, currently a US state.
Etymology and early settlers
The name comes from the Aleutian "alakshak" ( big land, mainland, not an island). The first inhabitants of North America moved to this continent through Alaska 40 thousand years ago or later. The proto-Indian site of Mesa dates back more than 11 thousand years ago. Alaska was settled by the time Europeans arrived.
Discovery of Alaska
In 1648, an expedition passed through the Bering Strait and may have seen the shores of Alaska. On August 21, 1732, during the expedition of A. Shestakov and D. Pavlutsky (1729-1735), the boat “St. Gabriel" under the leadership of S. Gvozdev and I. Fedorov (Prince of Wales Cape). In 1745, there was a clash between the Russians and the Aleuts on the island of Attu. Since 1758, Russian "industrialists" lived from time to time in the Aleutian Islands, hunted, traded with the Aleuts and collected tribute (yasak) from them. In 1763-1765, the Aleuts rebelled, but were defeated. In 1772, the first permanent trading settlement was founded on the island of Unalaska. In 1761, traveler G. Pushkarev reported the discovery of a large land in these places. The expeditions of P. Krenitsyn - M. Levashov (1764-1769) and I. Billings - G. Sarychev (1785-1795) set the task of securing Russia's rights to Alaska and bringing the population into Russian citizenship.
In 1774, the Spaniards approached Alaska, and in 1778, D. Cook. In 1784, an expedition under the command of G. Shelekhov founded the settlement of Trekhsvyatitelskoye on Kodiak Island. Since 1794, an Orthodox mission began to operate here, headed by Archimandrite (since 1799 - bishop) Joasaph. In 1791, Fort St. was founded on the mainland. Nicholas.
Russian-American company
On July 8, 1799, by decree, the Russian-American Company (RAC) was created for the monopoly development and management of Armenia. A. Baranov was appointed the main ruler of Alaska. Since 1796, he built the center of Alaska in Yakutat Bay: the Yakutat fortress and the city of Novorossiysk. However, Yakutat suffered from native attacks and supply difficulties, and in 1805 the Russian settlement here was destroyed by the Tlingit during the 1802-1805 war, which delayed the Russian advance into Alaska. The center of Russian Alaska was moved to Novo-Arkhangelsk (now Sitka). In 1821, foreign trade in Alaska was prohibited. On February 28, 1825, the border between the Russian-American Company and the British Hudson's Bay Company was established (now the border between the United States and Canada). Russia thus gained rights to 586,412 square miles (1,518,800 km²). However, she was unable to master them. The population of “Russian” Alaska and the Aleutian Islands was about 2,500 Russians and several tens of thousands of Indians and Eskimos.
By the middle of the 19th century, RAC was unprofitable. The Governor General of Eastern Siberia in 1853 proposed to sell Alaska. At the same time, it showed the vulnerability of Russian possessions remote from the center.
Selling Alaska
In 1854, the United States expressed interest in acquiring Alaska (at least temporarily, to prevent its capture by Britain). RAC negotiated this with the American-Russian Trading Company, controlled by the US government, as well as the settlement of relations with the British Hudson's Bay Company.
In 1857, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich expressed a proposal to sell Alaska in a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs A. Gorchakov, who supported this idea. In 1862, the RAC's privileges expired, and after that Russia was ready to negotiate the terms of the sale, but the issue was postponed until completion. In the United States, the idea of buying Alaska was actively supported by Senator Charles Sumner, who became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
At a meeting with the emperor on December 16 (28), 1866, with the participation of Grand Duke Constantine, ministers of finance and maritime ministry, Russian envoy to the USA E. Stekl, the idea of sale was unanimously approved. The threshold amount below which Russia would not agree to cede Alaska was set at 5 million dollars in gold. On December 22, 1866, Alexander II approved the border of the ceded territory: the Alaska Peninsula along a line running along the meridian of 141° west longitude, then along the ridge of mountains parallel to the coast to 56° northern latitude and Prince of Wales Island, including the Alexander Archipelago, Aleutian and other islands.
In March 1867, Steckl reminded US Secretary of State William Steward “of the proposals that have been made in the past for the sale of our colonies” and added that “the Imperial Government is now disposed to enter into negotiations.” President E. Johnson approved the start of negotiations. At a second meeting on March 14, 1867, Seward and Steckle discussed the main provisions of the future treaty.
On March 30, 1867, an agreement was signed on the transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States for $7.2 million in gold. Along with the territory, the United States received all real estate and archives.
On 3 (15).5.1867 the treaty was ratified by Alexander II, on 6 (18).10.1867 the Governing Senate adopted a decree on the implementation of the “Highest Ratified Convention on the Cession of the Russian North American Colonies to the United States of America.”
The treaty could not be ratified by the US Congress because the congressional session was over. Johnson called an emergency executive session of the Senate. A discussion ensued in the Senate, as some senators believed that after the end of the destructive war, such a purchase would be difficult for the US budget. It turned out that payment would be made through Stekl’s personal account. However, the treaty was ratified by 37 votes to 2. On June 8, 1867, the instruments of ratification were exchanged. On October 6-7 (18-19), 1867, Alaska was officially transferred to the United States. The signing ceremony took place in Novo-Arkhangelsk (Sitka) on board the American sloop of war Ossipee.
Immediately after the transfer of Alaska to the United States, they arrived in Sitka American troops.
Of the 11,362,481 rubles 94 kopecks received from the United States, most (10,972,238 rubles 4 kopecks) was spent on the purchase abroad of supplies for the railways: Kursk-Kyiv, Ryazansko-Kozlovskaya, Moscow-Ryazan and others. Thus, the sale of Alaska gave impetus to railroad construction, which became one of the most important features post-reform development Russia.
Since 1867, the Department of Alaska has been under the jurisdiction of the US War Department, since 1877 - the Treasury Department, and since 1879 - the Navy Department. General J. Davis became the first governor. On May 17, 1884, Alaska became special administrative district led by an appointed governor (the first of them was J. Kinkead). Various departments of the US federal government began to deal with Alaska's affairs.
There are about 200 Russians and more than one and a half thousand Russian-speaking Creoles left in Alaska. Alaska was part of the Ninth Judicial Circuit of the United States, which also included the states of Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. The closest judges lived in California and Oregon. It was not until 1934 that Alaskans received the status of American citizens.
Golden fever
In 1880, Indian Covey and prospectors J. Juneau and R. Harris found gold, creating the Golden Brook mine. The city of Juneau arose nearby, which became the capital of Alaska in 1906. On August 16, 1896, prospectors J. Carmack, J. Skookum and C. Dawson found gold on Bonanza Creek, which flows into the Klondike River. On July 17, 1897, a cargo of gold worth about half a million dollars arrived in San Francisco. In the USA and then in Europe, a “gold rush” began; more than 18 thousand people, hoping for quick enrichment, rushed to Alaska and western Canada (Yukon). To combat permafrost steam and ignition of oil were used. Although the fever zone was located on both sides of the border, it was initially dominated by self-government of miners, relying on supplies from the United States. In 1895, the Canadian Mounted Police began to impose dominion laws on the Yukon. In Alaska, decisions, including judicial decisions, were made by open vote at a meeting of miners.
As part of the USA
The Canada-Alaska border was not demarcated. In 1883, American Lieutenant F. Svatka established the approximate position of the 141st meridian, missing by several kilometers. The geodetic party of W. Ogilvy in 1888 clarified the location of the border on the ground. At the same time, to facilitate the further orientation of residents on the area, it was decided to name the villages on the Canadian side after Canadian figures, and on the US side - American ones. The demarcation in southern Alaska in the area of Lake Bennett presented difficulties due to the difficult terrain and bays. In 1895, the American-Canadian commission adopted a compromise decision on the border in the lake area. Bennett, which went to Canada. The border dispute continued until October 12, 1903, when it was resolved by an international arbitration commission.
Since 1906, Alaska has been represented by a delegate in Congress. On August 24, 1912, Alaska received territory status. In 1913, Governor J. Strong was elected. In 1916, the possibility of turning Alaska into a state was discussed, but this proposal was not supported. In 1917-1918, the McKinley and Katmai nature reserves (then national parks) were founded. The population of Alaska grew in the first 20 years of the twentieth century from 44 thousand to 58 thousand people. They mined copper and gold and were engaged in fishing. With the passage of the Merchant Vessel Act of 1920, trade with Alaska could only be carried out on U.S. ships, primarily through Seattle. Because of this monopoly, prices in Alaska have increased significantly. At the same time during Great Depression Demand and prices for goods produced in Alaska fell. All this hindered the settlement of Alaska, but its development was facilitated by the development of aviation.
On June 3, 1942, Japanese aircraft attacked the Dutch Harbor naval base and Fort Mears. On June 6, 1942, the Japanese landed on Attu Island and then captured Kiska Island. An airfield was created on Kiska and a large Japanese garrison was present. Admiral T. Kincaid sent the battleships Nevada, Pennsylvania and Idaho, the aircraft carrier Nassau, submarines, cruisers and destroyers. The 7th Infantry Division of General A. Brown was intended for the landing. On May 11, 1943, American troops landed on the island. Cold and unflyable weather and rugged terrain hampered the advance of troops and aviation operations. The United States transferred 12,000 people to the island against 3,000 Japanese. On May 29, 1943, the commander of the Japanese garrison, Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki, attacked the Americans without hope of success. After hand-to-hand combat, almost all of the Japanese soldiers were killed. The Americans lost 549 people killed and 1148 wounded, 2100 people sick and frostbite. 29 Japanese remained alive. In August 1943, the Americans landed on Kiska after a heavy bombardment of the island. Shortly before the landing, the Japanese left the island, which the American command did not know, so several dozen Americans died from friendly fire during the landing.
On January 3, 1959, Alaska received statehood. In 1968, the Prudhoe Bay oil and gas field was discovered. In 1977, an oil pipeline was built from Prudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster resulted in an oil spill that seriously damaged environment Alaska.
For more than a century, the Russian Empire owned Alaska and the surrounding islands, until in 1867, Alexander II ceded these lands to the United States for more than seven million dollars. By alternative version, Alaska was not sold, but leased for a hundred years, but Comrade Khrushchev actually gave it to the Americans in 1957. Moreover, some are convinced that the peninsula is still ours, since the ship on which the gold was transported as payment for the transaction sank.
One way or another, this whole story with Alaska has become clouded over the years. We propose to understand how it happened that part of another continent became part of Russia and why they decided to sell the lands on which 200 million dollars in gold were mined in 30 years after the sale.
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Turnips and potatoes for you
In 1741, the outstanding Russian traveler of Danish origin Vitus Bering crossed the strait between Eurasia and North America(which was later named after him) and became the first person to explore the shores of Alaska. Half a century later, a merchant and part-time navigator Grigory Shelikhov arrived there, who taught local population to turnips and potatoes, spread Orthodoxy among the natives and even founded the agricultural colony “Glory to Russia.” From that time on, Alaska began to belong to the Russian Empire as a pioneer, and its inhabitants unexpectedly became subjects of the emperor.
Indian sabotage
View of the capital of Russian Alaska - Novo-Arkhangelsk.
The Indians, and they can be understood, were unhappy that foreigners had seized power over their lands, and even forced them to eat turnips. They expressed their displeasure by burning down the Mikhailovsky Fortress in 1802, which was founded by the company of Shelikhov and his business partners. Together with a church, a primary school, a shipyard, workshops and an arsenal. And three years later they set fire to another one strong point Russians. The natives would never have succeeded in these daring enterprises if they had not been armed by American and British entrepreneurs.
No matter what happens
A lot of money was siphoned out of Alaska: sea otter fur was worth more 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. True, by that time oil and gold had been discovered in Alaska. This, paradoxically, became the most important incentive to quickly get rid of these territories. The fact is that American prospectors began to actively arrive in Alaska, and the Russian government was justifiably afraid that American troops would come after them, or, even worse, the British would come. The empire was not ready for war, and giving up Alaska for thanks would have been completely stupid.
Onerous acquisition
The first page of the agreement “on the cession of the Russian North American Colonies to the United States of America.”
The idea to sell Alaska while it was still possible came from the Emperor’s brother, Konstantin Romanov, who served as head of the Russian Naval Staff. Autocrat Alexander II approved this proposal and on May 3, 1867 signed an agreement on the sale of overseas lands to the United States for 7.2 million dollars (at the current exchange rate - approximately 119 million in gold). On average, it turned out to be about four and a half dollars per square kilometer with all the real estate located on it.
In accordance with the procedure, the treaty was submitted to the US Congress. The Committee on Foreign Affairs (you can look at the faces of the members of this committee in the illustration above) expressed doubts about the advisability of such a burdensome acquisition in a situation where the country had just ended a civil war. Nevertheless, the treaty was ratified, and the Stars and Stripes flew over Alaska.
Where is the money, Zin?
Check for the purchase of Alaska. Issued in the name of Eduard Andreevich Stekl.
Baron Eduard Stekl, chargé d'affaires Russian embassy in Washington, received a check in the amount of 7 million 200 thousand dollars. He took 21 thousand for his work, and distributed 144 thousand as promised bribes to the senators who voted for ratification of the treaty. The rest was sent to London by bank transfer. The gold bars purchased for this amount were transported by sea to St. Petersburg. When converting the currency first into pounds and then into gold, we lost about one and a half million.
But that's not so bad. The ship Orkney, carrying gold bullion, sank on approach to Russian capital. The company that registered the cargo declared itself bankrupt, and the damage was only partially compensated. Meanwhile, a gold rush began on the peninsula, and, as already mentioned, in 30 years gold worth 200 million dollars was mined there.
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 lease expired, 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 free of charge from Russia. Be that as it may, Alaska is still shrouded in an aura of mystery.
The Russians taught the Alaskan natives to turnips and potatoes.
Under the rule of the “quiet” 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 explored the shores of Alaska in 1741. Although before him, in 1732, Mikhail Gvozdev was the first European to determine the coordinates and map the 300-kilometer coastline this peninsula. In 1784, the development of Alaska was carried out by Grigory Shelikhov, who accustomed the local population to turnips and potatoes, spread Orthodoxy among the Horse natives, and even founded the agricultural colony “Glory to Russia.” Since that time, residents 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 to the development of the Far East,” had monopoly rights to furs, trade, and the discovery of new lands, granted. The company also had the right to protect and represent the interests of Russia
The company was founded Mikhailovskaya Fortress(today Sitka), where the Russians built a church, an elementary school, a shipyard, workshops and an arsenal. Every ship that came into the harbor where the fortress stood was greeted with fireworks. In 1802, the fortress was burned by the natives, and three years later the same fate befell another Russian fortress. American and British entrepreneurs sought to liquidate Russian settlements and for this purpose they armed the natives.
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 was this fact, as absurd as it may sound, that became one of the incentives to quickly get rid of Alaska. The fact is that American prospectors began to actively arrive in Alaska, and the Russian government rightly feared that American troops would come after them. Russia was not ready for war, and giving up Alaska penniless was completely imprudent.
At the ceremony for the transfer of Alaska, the flag fell on Russian bayonets
October 18, 1867 at 15.30. 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 broke off completely. Several sailors, on orders, rushed to climb up to untangle the tattered flag hanging on the mast. The sailor who got to the flag first did not have time to shout to him to get off with the flag and not throw it, and he threw the flag down. The flag fell directly on Russian bayonets. Mystics and conspiracy theorists should rejoice.
Immediately after the transfer of Alaska to the United States, American troops entered Sitka and plundered the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, private homes 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 United States
The Russian Empire sold uninhabited and inaccessible territory to the United States for $0.05 per hectare. This turned out to be 1.5 times cheaper than Napoleonic France sold the developed territory of historical Louisiana 50 years earlier. America offered $10 million for the port of New Orleans alone, and besides, the lands of Louisiana had to be repurchased from the Indians living there.
Another fact: at the time when Russia sold Alaska to America, the state treasury paid more for one single three-story building in the center of New York than the American government paid for the entire peninsula.
The main secret of selling Alaska is where is the money?
Eduard Stekl, who since 1850 had been the charge d'affaires of the Russian embassy in Washington, and in 1854 was appointed envoy, received a check in the amount of 7 million 35 thousand dollars. He kept 21 thousand for himself, and distributed 144 thousand to the senators who voted to ratify the treaty as bribes. 7 million was transferred to London by bank transfer, and the gold bars purchased for this amount were transported from the British capital to St. Petersburg 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 barque Orkney, carrying a precious cargo, sank on the approach to St. Petersburg. Whether there was Russian gold on it at that moment, or whether it did not leave the borders of Foggy Albion, remains unknown today. The company that registered the cargo declared itself bankrupt, so the damage was only partially compensated.