Sale of Alaska, 1867. Who ruled in Russia at that time and who decided to sell the peninsula?

It's been 147 years, and Russians still remember the bad word of 1867. Who ruled in Russia at that time? Who made such a short-sighted decision, like the sale of the rich in minerals and gold of the Alaska Peninsula? How could it be so carelessly to dispose of the wealth of the country? There were a lot of questions, but the answers to them appear only with the years, because there are a lot of rumors and conjectures around this business. According to some reports, Alaska was not sold, but was only rented, and forgotten to return, according to others - the territory was given to Americans by Catherine II Great, on the third - the ship carrying gold from America, sunk, documents disappeared, so the deal can be Consider invalid. But how was it really?

The opening of the territory by the Russians

For the first time about Alaska they learned in 1732 thanks to the navigators M. Gvozdev and I. Fedorov, but the official date of the opening of the peninsula is 1841, because it was then that Captain A. Chirikov registered the territory. The Russian Empire was not interested in this land, because it was uninhabited, far away, it was difficult to get there. Alaska was actively mastered by Russian merchants, who bought furs from the local population, a little later they engaged in commercial production and the search for minerals, and this continued until 1867. Who ruled in Russia at that time? The reins of power were held by Alexander II, but the tsar had many problems without the peninsula, that's why the merchants, who created together with the American businessmen their own company for the extraction of resources, were in charge of it. In Alaska, they extracted coal, supplied ice and fur seals to the United States .

The decision to sell the peninsula

1867 in the history of was a landmark, it was then that its territory was reduced by 1.5 million km ² . Prince Constantine Romanov, the brother of the emperor, recommended the tsar to get rid of Alaska. On the peninsula were found minerals, as well as gold deposits. Many sources say that the Russian side is not aware of the resources of the territory, but this is not so. The Emperor was well aware of how rich Alaska was, and he also feared the attack of the British, because there was nothing to defend him. Alexander II ordered to negotiate with the friendly United States on the sale of his peninsula.

Negotiations with the US government

The year 1867 was approaching. Who ruled in Russia at that time was placed in very tough conditions. Alexander II risked to remain at all with nothing, because the appetites of the monarchs of Great Britain were enormous. In the US, the emissary of the Russian Empire was Baron Eduard Stoeckl, he was instructed to conduct negotiations. Initially, the price of $ 5 million was indicated in gold, but the baron independently raised it to 7.2 million. Americans did not really want to buy icy and deserted territory. Steche distributed bribes, bribed newspapers, writing laudatory articles about Alaska, after all, the United States agreed to buy a peninsula.

Contemporaries and succeeding generations remember very well 1867 in the history of Russia. Who ruled the ball? It may seem to many that the younger brother influenced the emperor, but this is not so. Alexander II was well aware of the importance of his action, he simply had no other choice.

Did Russia make the right decision?

Now you can argue for a long time about the need to sell a huge piece of the country's territory, but you need to understand what was then 1867. Who ruled in Russia, perfectly understood the precariousness of his situation. Gold and minerals could attract enemies, including hostile Britain, and the Russian Empire had nothing to defend, the territories were not strengthened. Of course, $ 7.2 million for such a large and rich peninsula is an insignificant amount, but after all, Alexander II generally could not get anything if the British invaded there, and even lost a political face. Therefore, the sale of Alaska at that time was a fully justified act.