GONE!

Alaska is certainly one of the countless paradoxes of Russian history. Except for the most adventurous and daring fur hunters and traders, few in the country had ever been aware of the very existence of this distant and cold piece of land. Until the day when it was sold to Americans. Since then, no matter which regime was in power, there were always patriotic lamentations condemning the shameful sale of «our dearest little Alaska»

GONE!

Under Stalin, the secret police originated a rumor according to which Alaska was not sold but leased out for one hundred years, and soon the time would come to claim it back, capital and interest. Lately, the most advanced proponents of a strong Russian statehood have added a pathetic twist to this tale, arguing that the lease was actually not for a hundred but for fifty years, and that it expired in 1917. Therefore, the revolution, which happened in that year in Russia, was perpetrated by the free masons mainly to prevent Russia from getting Alaska back. The most exotic fantasy about the subject was published a few years ago by a small magazine specializing in occult matters. According to the article, somewhere in Alaska is situated the magic point of a mysterious Hyperboreya, and those who have it under their control become masters of the world; the perfidious Americans had learnt about it and... You know, if you repeat time and time again, with a ferocious enough undertone, any word, be it «Alaska» or «mason», you are bound to achieve some impressive results.

At the opposite — liberal — end of the spectrum, progress achieved has not been any better. Why did the tsar fail to include Chukotka in the deal? If it were not for the agreement of 1867, Alaska would have hosted some especially atrocious camps of the GULAG, and all Natives, who today prosper in American reservations, would have been dead from alcoholism. Following this logic, Siberia would have been better off sold to Americans too. Even better, why not wrap Russia up and give it as a gift to the Swiss? In America, the local breed of patriots, encouraged by all this nonsense, happily dream of new American states in the Russian Far East. They press their government with questions as to why it does not claim Sakhalin from the Russians, since it also belonged to the Russian American Company, owner of Alaska at the time of its sale. These poor souls are unaware that the sales agreement defined clearly the borders of the traded lands, east of the Bering Straight.

The really important question is why did Russia feel like selling this territory at all. The answer lies in the many obscure intricacies of the history of Russian America. It was truly Russian: in 1732, Russian seamen Ivan Fedorov and Mikhail Gvozdev, sailing on the «Saint Gavriil», were the very first to reach the Alaskan shore. Vitus Bering, even though of Danish stock, became totally «russified» over the many years he spent searching for the «North-Western Straight». One certainly couldn't be any more Russian than the famous businessman Grigory Shelikhov who, after the death of his beloved wife, left his native Rylsk forever and moved to Siberia and then further on to America. In 1784, he started the first Russian settlement on Kodiak Island. Fifteen years later, the Russian American Company was established, which eventually received a full monopoly over all of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The Emperor Paul I granted to the Company exclusive rights for fur hunting, trade and sailing in the Northern Pacific. The Company became virtually a State within a State with its capital in the fortress of New Archangel (Sitka).

In 1795, death put an end to the dynamic ventures of Shelikhov. Aleksander Baranov, nicknamed «assistant to the Russian Columbus», became the first governor of all Russian settlements. He established a strong administrative structure designed to achieve his one and only goal: bring in more and more furs. He was so consumed by this endeavor, that he left unnoticed news about the discovery of rich deposits of coal and gold. He did not try to expand further south either, and soon Americans had footholds of their own there. But was he really capable of any major achievement without the backing of Russian government?

By that time, other powers had their eyes on Alaska too. In the 30s of last century, in St Petersburg, many people already believed that sooner or later Alaska would be given up. The question remained who would be the winner, Britain or the USA. The Hudson Bay Company, a British twin brother of the Russian American Company, had set up its outposts along Alaskan borders and was buying furs from the Natives. In the South, Americans were pushing North, encouraged by their president James Monroe's statement that all of America was to be theirs. But Russians and Americans soon discovered that they had a common enemy, Britain. In 1824, they signed an agreement allowing American ships to trade freely along Alaskan coast. This did nothing to help the Company, since Americans were selling to Natives not only «fire water» but also arms. Asked not to do it, they arrogantly stated that they were a commercial nation free to trade in anything that brought profit.

American businesses prospered, and the Company accumulated losses, hardly compensated by the government. After Baranov's departure, his sophisticated system of fur trade collapsed. Owner of huge prosperous territories, the Company was nevertheless in the red, year after year.

The first man to plead in favor of a sale of Alaska to the Americans was count Muravyov, who presided over the raising of the Russian flag on Sakhalin and in the Far East. He strongly argued that Russian interests would be better promoted by an advance further south towards the riches of the huge Chinese markets. But these plans had no serious chance of success as long as emperor Nicholas I lived: he firmly believed that giving away the tiniest piece of national land was a crime. This belief eventually dragged him into the Crimean War, a disaster for Russia.

As the war was raging, there was a widespread fear that Britain was about to invade Russian America. The Company pretended to mortgage all its assets against a loan of 7,2 million American dollars, the same amount which was later paid for the territory. Sure, there was no actual mortgage, but from then on, discussions about a possible sale of Alaska never stopped. Russia and the USA were on very friendly terms at the time, especially after Russian government lent its support to the North in the Civil War, and because both countries needed the assistance of each other against Britain. Many Russian politicians were quite willing to sacrifice to the cause of the alliance a territory for which they had no real use. In Washington, there were quite a few of those who were willing to buy this seemingly useless Alaska. Unable to generate profits, the management of the Company, in desperation, was also in favor of the sale.

The combination of all these factors led to what became known as the «sale of Alaska». The deal was mostly made by Eduard de Stoeckl, Russian ambassador in the USA, whose personal motives remain unclear. Maybe he was hoping for a promotion, or maybe he craved a hefty fee, which indeed he got — an immensely generous 25 thousand dollars in gold. He spent more than a year shuttling between the two capitals and bargained in earnest with William Seward. But overall, it was an easy an agreement, since the parties had already done a similar one, in 1841, when Americans bought Fort Ross, also sold for reasons of financial losses.

In October 1863, while putting up the first pole for the telegraph line in New Archangel, Americans stroke gold! They did not even care to report it to the Russian authorities. And anyway, through the untiring efforts of de Stoeckl, the matter was already settled. On December 16, a meeting took place in the ceremonial hall of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended by emperor Aleksander himself. All participants supported unanimously the decision to get rid of the embarrassing territory for 7,2 million dollars. The minister of finance Reytern easily persuaded everyone that without this relatively small sum Russia would never settle all its debts and would have to default.

On March 30, 1867, de Stoeckl and Seward met in Washington and signed the agreement. But an extra 200 000 dollars were added to the originally agreed price. With St Petersburg's consent, this money was immediately released to de Stoeckl. For what purpose? Surprise, surprise! Almost no one in America wanted to buy Alaska — which they called «ice box» or «zoo for polar bears» — accusing the government of wasting public money. In these circumstances, Congress was almost certain to turn down the proposed agreement. And this is where de Stoeckl's funds were to be used: he busily reported to his superiors sums «pocketed» by congressmen and editors of newspapers. Soon, all money was gone, but the agreement did pass, even if barely. That was a paradox, if there ever was one! One big power bent backwards to sell a huge, rich and strategically important piece of land for a pittance to another big power, which did not even want it!

Under the agreement, Russians and christened Natives of Alaska were free to either leave for Russia or to stay and become citizens of America. Initially, many of them decided to stay. But soon they felt very unwelcome, especially after the official hand-over of Alaska to the USA on October 6. On that day, in the central square of New Archangel, when the Russian flag was to be formally brought down, it got stuck and sailors had to climb on top of the mast to cut the thick wet fabric.

Followed an exodus of Russian-speaking population. Since the Russian American Company had already ceased to exist, nobody else really cared about them or was prepared to pay for their return. But very soon all nostalgia was forgotten, outpaced by greed: gold was discovered, followed by coal, oil and whatever. Today, Alaska has one of the highest standards of living in America, but first, it had to live through the Gold Rush and other nasty things, vividly described by Jack London. Nevertheless, any serious comparison of today's Alaska and Chukotka makes us feel, first, deeply regretful and, second, as deeply jealous.

It is also sad that each time when relations between Russians and Americans are at a low, stupid mutual accusations start again. We may be witnessing something similar today. Despite all the research done and facts published, some respected papers and magazines still allow this silly mumbling about a cancellation of a lease, or a recovery of Alaska, with interest.

Vadim ERLIHMAN