Alaska, where Putin is meeting Trump, was Russian territory. US got it dirt cheap

India Today

4 days ago

Separated by the narrow-cold Bering Strait, where continental America and Eurasia nearly meet, lies Alaska, the US's largest state. This is where President Donald Trump will meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Friday to explore ways to end the 3.5-year war in Ukraine. But Alaska was part of Russia till the 19th century. How it became a part of the United States is a real-estate saga that Trump, who has the instincts of a property agent, wouldn't fail to appreciate.advertisementFor Putin, the first Russian president to visit the Alaska region across the strait from Russia, it might feel like a bitter symbolic homecoming, given his special liking and fascination for Russia's (Tsarist and USSR times) territories.Alaska, rich in minerals and strategic value, was once Russian territory under the Russian Tsar until it was sold in 1867 to the US for a mere $7.2 million, a bargain, even in today's terms. Adjusting for current inflation, $7.2 million would be $160 million today, making the deal a steal.
However, back then, the deal was famously dubbed "Seward's Folly", after US Secretary of State William H Seward, who orchestrated the transaction. What was once considered a frozen wasteland is America's prized possession because of its mineral resources and strategic location.Centuries after Russian troops bid farewell to Alaska in 1867, Putin will land there for an all-important meeting with many implications.ALASKA, WHERE US ALMOST MEETS RUSSIA IS A PRACTICAL, SYMBOLIC CHOICEThe choice of Alaska as the place of meeting is symbolic too. It allows Putin to break his Western geopolitical isolation while meeting Trump in a region where the Americas are closest to Eurasia. It is also closer home for Putin.Russian Presidential aide Yury Ushakov, who was also an ambassador to the US, said that the location "does make sense", given the proximity of the two nations, separated by just 55 miles across the Bering Strait."So it does make sense if our delegation simply crosses the Bering Strait and if such an important and expected meeting between the two leaders takes place specifically in Alaska," Ushakov said, according to a Kremlin press release on August 9.Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy stressed Alaska's strategic importance on X."Alaska is the most strategic location in the world, sitting at the crossroads of North America and Asia, with the Arctic to our north and the Pacific to our south... It's fitting that discussions of global importance take place here," Dunleavy posted on X.While Alaska is now firmly an American territory, it's worth revisiting its earlier history of how the land was first discovered, how Russia came to rule it, and the circumstances that led to its sale to the United States.HOW FUR TRADE SHAPED EARLY RUSSIAN INTERESTS IN ALASKA?advertisementAlaska's Russian history began in 1728 when Danish explorer Vitus Bering, on a Tsarist expedition, sailed through the Bering Strait. That's when he discovered Alaska for the West. Though Indigenous people lived there for millennia.By 1799, Tsar Paul I established the Russian-American Company to exploit the lucrative fur trade, particularly from the sea otters, leading to its colonisation, starting on the Kodiak Island off the archipelago's southern coast. However, overhunting decimated the seal and otter population. The economic viability of the Russian colony collapsed.By the 1850s, Russia's defeat in the Crimean War (1853–56) left the empire financially strained and unable to defend its remote Alaskan territory, especially against potential British aggression from neighbouring Canada.WHY RUSSIAN TSAR DECIDED TO SELL ALASKA TO THE USFaced with these challenges, the Russian Tsar Alexander II decided to sell Alaska.The Alaskan territory was seen as a liability. It was remote, costly to maintain, and vulnerable to British conquest.Negotiations began in 1859 but were delayed by the American Civil War.In 1867, Seward, a fervent expansionist, finalised the deal with Russian diplomat Eduard de Stoeckl for $7.2 million, or about 2 cents per acre, for 586,412 square miles.advertisementCritics in the US mocked it as "Seward's Icebox", believing America had acquired a frozen wasteland.However, Seward envisioned Alaska as a strategic base for Pacific trade and American influence. The Senate ratified the treaty on April 9, 1867, and Alaska was formally transferred on October 18."...The troops were promptly formed, were, at precisely half past three o'clock, brought to a 'present arms', the signal given to the Ossipee... which was to fire the salute, and the ceremony was begun by lowering the Russian flag The United States flag was properly attached and began its ascent, hoisted by my private secretary [and son], George Lovell Rousseau, and again salutes were fired as before, the Russian water battery leading off. The flag was so hoisted that in the instant it reached its place, the report of the big gun of the Ossipee reverberated from the mountains around..." General Lovell Rousseau of the US Army wrote to Secretary of State Seward."Captain Pestchouroff stepped up to me and said, 'General Rousseau, by authority of his Majesty the Emperor of Russia, I transfer to the United States the Territory of Alaska' and in a few words I acknowledged the acceptance of the transfer, and the ceremony was at an end," Rousseau added in his dispatch.advertisementPost-sale, Alaska went from years of neglect to a booming Gold Rush era, setting the stage for its transformation into a thriving US territory and eventually a state.HOW US OWNING ALASKA TURNED FROM FOLLY TO JACKPOTAfter the purchase, the US initially paid little attention to Alaska, leaving it under military and Treasury rules with minimal investment.Most Russian settlers left, and the territory remained sparsely populated. But in decades, change was around the corner.The Klondike Gold Rush of 1896 changed everything.It drew thousands to Alaska and the world got to know about its mineral wealth. Gold discoveries, followed by oil in the 1950s and 1960s, proved Seward's foresight.It was not a folly, but a jackpot.Alaska became an American state in 1959, and its strategic importance grew during World War II and the Cold War due to its proximity to Russia.Today, Alaska's economy thrives on oil, gas, fishing, and tourism, with immense geopolitical importance, which even has its imprint on the upcoming Trump-Putin meeting on Friday. From the much-ridiculed purchase to a cornerstone of the US defence and Arctic edge, Alaska has come a long way. That would be on the minds of both Trump and Putin when they meet on Friday.- EndsTune InMust Watch