How the US bought the peninsula from Russia and why the Russian Federation has raised this issue again
158 years ago, Russia sold Alaska to America. How was it and how did the harsh northern lands of the USA manage to become one of the richest states? And why will Putin never give up the idea of returning the peninsula back?
Putin wants to return Alaska back to Russia – is it really so? The story of the return of the northern lands intensified in Russia in January 2024. Then Putin issued a special decree under number 21, in which he ordered to search for real estate abroad that once belonged to the Russian Empire and the USSR, and to check the proper registration of rights to it.
And although there was no mention of specific territories at the disposal of the dictator, the world immediately started talking about Putin’s attempt to return Alaska back to the Russian Federation. In the US, these plans were ridiculed, but within six months, America had increased its naval presence near Alaska amid the Kremlin’s activity.
So why are the cold and harsh northern lands a strategic target for Putin? And why is the US ready to fight for them?
Covered in snow and overflowing with gold and oil, Alaska is the largest and northernmost state in the US. However, it was acquired by America not so long ago, only in the middle of the 19th century. And it was acquired for a pittance, considering the rich mineral resources and fishing industry. How much did the US pay for Alaska to the Russian Empire? And why did Tsar Alexander II sell it?
Alaska was discovered by Russian navigators in the first half of the 18th century. And these lands became a tasty morsel of profit for Russian merchants, who bought precious furs from local residents for next to nothing and resold them at a bargain price. As a result, settlements began to appear in Alaska, and this territory officially became part of the Russian Empire. But the distant and cold peninsula was of little interest to the Russian government at that time, in particular to Tsar Alexander II. However, in the 19th century, gold deposits were found in Alaska, and this changed history.
1856. Russia suffers a painful defeat in the Crimean War. Its army is exhausted, and the budget is almost empty. And the discovery of gold deposits in Alaska could well replenish the empire’s budget. But Alexander II is persuaded to sell these lands to the United States. They say that this gold vein can attract England, which was powerful at that time, which will try to seize the peninsula by force. In return, the sale of Alaska will bring Russia a good profit. This argument worked. Not wanting war, Alexander II agrees. After negotiations, the United States offered Russia 5 million dollars. However, the cunning envoy of the empire, Baron Eduard Steckl, who negotiated with the USA, managed to “knock out” 7 million 200 thousand dollars from the Americans. And although many senators did not agree to this, America bought Alaska. During the final vote in the Senate, the fate of the purchase and sale was decided by only one vote.
On March 30, 1867, an agreement was signed between the USA and the Russian Empire on the sale of Alaska. Then, in one moment, Russia lost more than 1.5 million square kilometers of its territories. On October 18 of the same year, the official ceremony of transferring Alaska to America took place.
In 1896, gold deposits were discovered in the upper reaches of the Yukon River. And soon the first prospectors reached Alaska. And in 1897, when news of gold reached San Francisco and Seattle, the “gold rush” began in the USA. About a hundred thousand people rushed to the Klondike in search of wealth. But the harsh climate and the difficult path to the gold fields turned into a real test for many. Most of the prospectors returned home with nothing. Among them was the writer Jack London. And although he did not succeed in collecting gold, his experience and memories became the basis of his Northern stories, which went down in the history of world literature. In them, London described the problem of plundering nature for profit and the trials that befell a person who was left alone with harsh nature. The “gold rush” lasted for several years, until new gold deposits were discovered in Alaska and the northeastern territories of Canada.
The peninsula became the 49th state of America in 1959. However, after the collapse of the Russian Empire and the formation of the USSR, Moscow actively talked about returning Alaska back. It was then that rumors arose that Russia supposedly did not sell, but leased Alaska for a hundred years. And in 1967, almost the entire “scoop” expected the peninsula to be returned – which has not happened yet. But is such a possibility still possible?
Alaska is the largest state in the USA. And its residents are some of the wealthiest in America. The average annual income of a local family can reach 80 thousand dollars, while throughout America it is about 57 thousand dollars.
Today, oil and gold mining is developing on the peninsula. Almost 60% of the US fish and seafood is caught in Alaska. And these harsh, but extremely picturesque lands attract tens of millions of tourists from all over the world every year.
Alaska’s military importance is invaluable to the USA. 1.5 million square kilometers of territory, the lion’s share of which is undeveloped, allow America to test and deploy nuclear weapons here. And this scares Putin. The collector of imperial lands dreams of returning Alaska. That he does not will never refuse, as evidenced by the behavior of his henchmen, such as Dmitry Medvedev’s English-language post on the social network “X” about the alleged inevitability of a war between the Russian Federation and the United States over the Alaska issue.
There were also statements by deputies of the Russian State Duma about a hypothetical tactical nuclear strike on the peninsula. And if Putin manages to seize Ukraine, then who knows what his next target will be — the Baltic countries, Poland or Alaska itself. And the United States should remember this.
Denis Rylsky, “NV”
