What Russia lost by selling the richest Alaska
As you know, Russian sailors discovered Alaska. The peninsula belonged to the Russian Empire until 1867, when it was sold to the Americans. The main reason for the sale was the lack of real development of Alaska and its absolute insecurity. At some point, the tops of the Russian Empire decided that it was better to get rid of the troubled peninsula and get at least some money for it. Throughout the time that Alaska belonged to the Russian Empire, the country's authorities did not pay any significant attention to the issues of its development.
When in the second half of the XVIII century there were real prospects for generating income from the ownership of Alaska, namely by organizing the extraction and export of furs, St. Petersburg reacted to the proposal of the merchants to establish a 30-year monopoly on trade and production in Alaska. Then the merchant Grigory Shelikhov began to explore the peninsula on his own. When in 1788 he again turned to Catherine II for permission to establish a monopoly, he was again refused.
However, Emperor Paul I, who replaced Catherine at the head of the empire, was full of ambitious plans and the project of developing Alaska and turning it into a full-fledged Russian possession and source of furs seemed to him quite reasonable. In 1799, with the permission of Paul, the Russian American Company (RAC) was mastered, which was to master the distant territories in the far north-west of America.
In a fairly short time, the RAC managed to achieve incredible success, its profit grew at an unprecedented pace. For example, a naval officer serving in the RAC received a salary ten times greater than that of an officer in the same rank in the imperial fleet. In addition to furs, shipbuilding began to develop in Alaska. A shipyard was built in Novoarkhangelsk (Sitka), the ships built here were launched. In 1853, it was in Novoarkhangelsk that the first Russian ship in the Pacific was launched.
The Russian Empire had every chance to gain a foothold in Alaska and even use it as a bridgehead for further advancement in the Pacific Ocean. By that time, far from all the Pacific islands were colonized by European powers, so the Russian Empire could well have acquired colonies in faraway Polynesia, and then turned the northern part of the Pacific Ocean into almost its inland sea.
But the emperors who ruled over Pavel were rather negative in their promotion of the country in the Pacific region. At least, no real measures were taken by St. Petersburg to make the plans and dreams of individual merchants and naval officers a reality. Gradually, the leadership of the country prevailed the point of view that it is very difficult to control Alaska, and the Russian Empire will not be able to protect this territory even more so.
Even during the reign of Nicholas I, Governor-General of Eastern Siberia Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky voiced the idea of selling Alaska to the United States, and under the successor of Nicholas I Alexander II, this plan became a reality - in 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States for $ 7 in gold. A little later, gold was found in Alaska and the famous “gold rush” began, but the profit from the gold mines came not from Russia, but from the USA.
Possession of Alaska, of course, would open up completely different development prospects for our country, and the United States probably would not have received such advantages if they had “Russian territories” with troops stationed on them. And the income from the exploitation of natural resources of Alaska, its geographical location would be very tangible for our country.
When in the second half of the XVIII century there were real prospects for generating income from the ownership of Alaska, namely by organizing the extraction and export of furs, St. Petersburg reacted to the proposal of the merchants to establish a 30-year monopoly on trade and production in Alaska. Then the merchant Grigory Shelikhov began to explore the peninsula on his own. When in 1788 he again turned to Catherine II for permission to establish a monopoly, he was again refused.
However, Emperor Paul I, who replaced Catherine at the head of the empire, was full of ambitious plans and the project of developing Alaska and turning it into a full-fledged Russian possession and source of furs seemed to him quite reasonable. In 1799, with the permission of Paul, the Russian American Company (RAC) was mastered, which was to master the distant territories in the far north-west of America.
In a fairly short time, the RAC managed to achieve incredible success, its profit grew at an unprecedented pace. For example, a naval officer serving in the RAC received a salary ten times greater than that of an officer in the same rank in the imperial fleet. In addition to furs, shipbuilding began to develop in Alaska. A shipyard was built in Novoarkhangelsk (Sitka), the ships built here were launched. In 1853, it was in Novoarkhangelsk that the first Russian ship in the Pacific was launched.
The Russian Empire had every chance to gain a foothold in Alaska and even use it as a bridgehead for further advancement in the Pacific Ocean. By that time, far from all the Pacific islands were colonized by European powers, so the Russian Empire could well have acquired colonies in faraway Polynesia, and then turned the northern part of the Pacific Ocean into almost its inland sea.
But the emperors who ruled over Pavel were rather negative in their promotion of the country in the Pacific region. At least, no real measures were taken by St. Petersburg to make the plans and dreams of individual merchants and naval officers a reality. Gradually, the leadership of the country prevailed the point of view that it is very difficult to control Alaska, and the Russian Empire will not be able to protect this territory even more so.
Even during the reign of Nicholas I, Governor-General of Eastern Siberia Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky voiced the idea of selling Alaska to the United States, and under the successor of Nicholas I Alexander II, this plan became a reality - in 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States for $ 7 in gold. A little later, gold was found in Alaska and the famous “gold rush” began, but the profit from the gold mines came not from Russia, but from the USA.
Possession of Alaska, of course, would open up completely different development prospects for our country, and the United States probably would not have received such advantages if they had “Russian territories” with troops stationed on them. And the income from the exploitation of natural resources of Alaska, its geographical location would be very tangible for our country.
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