Latest news with #Tsarist
eNCA
a day ago
- Business
- eNCA
Alaska: a source of Russian imperial nostalgia
Alaska, the US state that will host the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on Friday, is a source of imperial nostalgia and often less-than-serious territorial claims in Russia. The territory that Russia sold to the United States in 1867 is now a symbol of the entwined history of the countries, whose relations have been severely damaged since Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine in 2022. To some experts, the summit in Alaska evoked memories of the thaw between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War. "It's a classically orchestrated summit, like in the era of detente," Russian political scientist Fyodor Lukyanov said on Telegram. "Its symbolic significance is the absence of intermediaries: the powers, so to speak, decide for themselves," he added, saying that China is "not close" to Alaska and that Europe is "as far away as possible". - Fur trading hub - But beyond being a unique meeting place, Alaska also fuels Russian memories of the Tsarist empire, the historic predecessor of the Soviet Union. "For Russia, Alaska symbolises the peak of an expansion," Alexander Baunov, senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said on the centre's website. It was "when the Russian continental empire had, for the only time, succeeded in crossing an ocean like the European empires", Baunov said. A Russian colony since the 18th century, Alaska was eventually sold to the United States for $7.2 million in 1867 by Tsar Alexander II. The remote territory was economically very difficult for the Russians to exploit and at the time its sale was welcomed by the Imperial Court as the country was struggling economically. But the transaction later came to be seen as a regrettable bargain after what formerly was a fur trading hub turned out to house crucial natural resources: gold and oil. - 'Our bears' - In recent years, the price at which Alaska was sold, considered by some to be ridiculously low, and the legal validity of the transaction have become regularly recurring debates in Russia. In July 2022, in the midst of patriotic fervour in Russia and as tensions soared between Moscow and Washington following the offensive against Ukraine, the Alaska issue resurfaced. The speaker of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, spoke of "lands to be returned", describing Alaska as a "disputed territory". Russia's authorities are apparently not interested in reclaiming it. In 2014, Vladimir Putin, asked by a pensioner about the possibility, replied: "My dear, why do you need Alaska?" adding the territory was "too cold". Still, the idea of reclaiming Alaska is an endless source of memes widely circulating on Russian social media. One of the most famous claims that "our soul" suffered from the loss of Alaska because "it's where our bears live". The recapture of Alaska is even mentioned in a 1990s hit by a rock band Putin likes, Lyube, with the lyrics: "Stop messing around, America... And give back our Alaskan lands." bur/phz
Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Alaska: A Source Of Russian Imperial Nostalgia
Alaska, the US state that will host the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on Friday, is a source of imperial nostalgia and often less-than-serious territorial claims in Russia. The territory that Russia sold to the United States in 1867 is now a symbol of the entwined history of the countries, whose relations have been severely damaged since Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine in 2022. To some experts, the summit in Alaska evoked memories of the thaw between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War. "It's a classically orchestrated summit, like in the era of detente," Russian political scientist Fyodor Lukyanov said on Telegram. "Its symbolic significance is the absence of intermediaries: the powers, so to speak, decide for themselves," he added, saying that China is "not close" to Alaska and that Europe is "as far away as possible". But beyond being a unique meeting place, Alaska also fuels Russian memories of the Tsarist empire, the historic predecessor of the Soviet Union. "For Russia, Alaska symbolises the peak of an expansion," Alexander Baunov, senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said on the centre's website. It was "when the Russian continental empire had, for the only time, succeeded in crossing an ocean like the European empires", Baunov said. A Russian colony since the 18th century, Alaska was eventually sold to the United States for $7.2 million in 1867 by Tsar Alexander II. The remote territory was economically very difficult for the Russians to exploit and at the time its sale was welcomed by the Imperial Court as the country was struggling economically. But the transaction later came to be seen as a regrettable bargain after what formerly was a fur trading hub turned out to house crucial natural resources: gold and oil. In recent years, the price at which Alaska was sold, considered by some to be ridiculously low, and the legal validity of the transaction have become regularly recurring debates in Russia. In July 2022, in the midst of patriotic fervour in Russia and as tensions soared between Moscow and Washington following the offensive against Ukraine, the Alaska issue resurfaced. The speaker of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, spoke of "lands to be returned", describing Alaska as a "disputed territory". Russia's authorities are apparently not interested in reclaiming it. In 2014, Vladimir Putin, asked by a pensioner about the possibility, replied: "My dear, why do you need Alaska?" adding the territory was "too cold". Still, the idea of reclaiming Alaska is an endless source of memes widely circulating on Russian social media. One of the most famous claims that "our soul" suffered from the loss of Alaska because "it's where our bears live". The recapture of Alaska is even mentioned in a 1990s hit by a rock band Putin likes, Lyube, with the lyrics: "Stop messing around, America... And give back our Alaskan lands." US President Donald Trump meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday AFP Some Russians mourn the loss of Alaska because 'it's where our bears live' AFP
Euronews
2 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Why Alaska? Trump and Putin to meet in US site once part of Russia
When US President Donald Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to discuss ending Moscow's war in Ukraine, the pair will meet for their first face-to-face encounter since Russia's full-scale invasion began on US turf with close geographic and cultural links to Russia. The choice of Alaska is no accident. The westernmost US state occupies a strategic and symbolic position in US–Russian relations that stretches back centuries. It is not the first time the state has hosted world leaders: Ronald Reagan met Pope John Paul II there in 1984, and Richard Nixon welcomed Japanese emperor Hirohito in 1971. But holding talks with Russia's president there carries more significance. Speaking on Monday in the White House, Trump said he is 'going to Russia on Friday'. However, while Alaska was once part of the Russian Empire, in 1867 the US bought it from the Tsarist regime for $7.2 million, around $156m (€134m) in today's dollars. Links between Alaska and Russia run deeper still. In 1799, Tsar Paul I established the Russian–American Company, forging commercial and cultural connections that still echo today. Russian footprints Now fully part of the United States, Alaska retains visible traces of its Russian past. Historic buildings remain, and according to the state's official website, Russian Orthodox churches are active in some 80 communities. Many of these still use the old-style Julian calendar, celebrating Christmas on 7 January, for example. Indigenous peoples such as the Yupik and Chukchi have lived on both sides of the Bering Strait for centuries and have maintained family, cultural, and trade ties despite the formalisation of the US–Russia border. Not always your friendly neighbour Alaska's geography has long made it strategically vital. Nicknamed the 'Guardian of the North', it is the closest US state to Russia: only 88 kilometres separate their mainlands, and in the Bering Strait some islands lie just 3.8 km apart. During the Cold War, the Soviet government of Mikhail Gorbachev referred to the region as the 'Ice Curtain". Alaska was home to major US Air Force and Army installations, which operated as command centres, logistical hubs and bases for fighter interceptors on rapid alert. Today, Alaska is home to stations of the North Warning System, a joint US and Canadian radar system for the atmospheric air defence of the region. It provides surveillance of airspace from potential incursions or attacks from across North America's polar region. A contested highway to the Artic Today, Alaska sits at the gateway to a changing Arctic. The Bering Strait is the only direct maritime passage between the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, and as sea ice retreats because of climate change, the route's value to global shipping is growing. The Northern Sea Route, which traces Russia's Arctic coastline, is becoming more navigable, offering a shorter path between Asia and Europe, which echoes recent discussions on Greenland's strategic value. Traffic through the strait includes container ships, oil tankers, bulk carriers transporting minerals and ores, and vessels servicing oil, gas and mining operations in Alaska and Siberia. Land rich in resources Alaska's wealth in natural resources adds to its strategic weight. The state holds an estimated 3.4 billion barrels of crude oil reserves and 125 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It ranks among the top oil-producing states in the nation, with major output from the North Slope and Prudhoe Bay fields. These resources are critical to US energy security as developing Alaska's oil, gas and critical minerals reduces dependence and strengthens both economic and national security. The state's mineral output includes significant quantities of zinc, lead and coal, along with other materials deemed essential for modern industry. Its vast boreal forests also provide timber, with Native corporations responsible for more than half of Alaska's total production.
India Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Alaska, where Putin is meeting Trump, was Russian territory. US got it dirt cheap
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 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) 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 after Russian troops bid farewell to Alaska in 1867, Putin will land there for an all-important meeting with many 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 RUSSIAN TSAR DECIDED TO SELL ALASKA TO THE USFaced with these challenges, the Russian Tsar Alexander II decided to sell Alaskan territory was seen as a liability. It was remote, costly to maintain, and vulnerable to British began in 1859 but were delayed by the American Civil 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 in the US mocked it as "Seward's Icebox", believing America had acquired a frozen 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 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 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 Russian settlers left, and the territory remained sparsely populated. But in decades, change was around the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896 changed 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 was not a folly, but a became an American state in 1959, and its strategic importance grew during World War II and the Cold War due to its proximity to 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
Time of India
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
‘The Soviet Union rejected capitalism — yet, it caused huge carbon pollution'
Andy Bruno, Stephen F. Cohen Chair of Russian History at Indiana University Bloomington Andy Bruno is Stephen F. Cohen Chair of Russian History at Indiana University Bloomington. Speaking to Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke , he discusses Soviet environmental history — and why this matters today: What is the core of your research? My work studies human-environmental relationships that occupied the Soviet Union , going back into imperial Russia and forward to this day. Can you outline Kamchatka's earthquake? by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Nikita Stephanie Shares Her Journey Solitaire Read More Undo The Kamchatka region is very far to the east. It's an extremely volcanic area, sparsely populated and difficult to access. It's quite natural in terms of its ecosystems. Russia isn't necessarily known for earthquakes — so, this fault off the coast of Kamchatka is interesting. THE HEAT IS ON: Russia faces a dilemma — while it contributes to global warming through fossil fuels, Siberia is heating up faster than many other parts of the world You've studied Tsarist Russia becoming the USSR — did views about nature also change? There were continuities and disruptions. Imperial Russia had a strong modernising impulse, a desire to conquer nature and put it under human economic dominance. However, the Soviet project was framed as a departure from capitalism — it aimed to get rid of exploitations Soviet leaders believed existed in the Tsarist era. There were two impulses — the first was the Soviet desire to conquer the natural world. The second was to establish a balance where Soviet society could have a lot in common with what we call 'sustainable development' now — here, humans could somehow take from nature while having it flourish as well by being rational agents. What were interactions with industrialising places like the Kola Peninsula like? Other than a few Sami groups, Kola hadn't had people for millennia. It had less than 10,000 people at the 19th century's start — yet, it became the most built-up Arctic region in the world during the Soviet era. Nuclear power plants, hydroelectric facilities, copper mining, phosphates, rare earths, etc., developed. An entire militarised infrastructure took root — Kola was almost a microcosm of the developmentalist vision of the Soviet Union because you had a place with very little going on, where they developed a particular socialist type of industry. Were there similarities and differences on the environment between the Soviet Union and the United States as they grew? They both put growth and the economic use of nature first — conservation was a second-tier priority. Hence, they both went through the great acceleration of ramped-up production and environmental impacts post-WWII. They both thus enter the Anthropocene as active agents. However, there was a rationale behind the Soviets that gave them a different texture. Everything, from the nature preserves across the USSR, which were more about science than tourism compared to the US, to environmentalist discourse becoming widespread in the 1960s1970s, shows how ecology was thought about. There was a good deal of embracing nature rhetorically — but also not necessarily embracing the strictest conservation measures. The Soviet Union had rigorous environmental laws — which were often not enforced. Everyone was supposed to help nature, an aim propagandised all over the place — but very little happened to people who didn't follow that. This was different from the polarised debate on environmentalism which emerged in the United States. Did Chernobyl have a legacy? There was a major change with it — they first tried to keep it secret, then, it became open to the public. Chernobyl single-handedly helped to turn the world away from nuclear energy for a while. It also led to many exposes. There had been nuclear disasters earlier, like 1957's explosion in Mayak — those were kept secret. Of course, Chernobyl happened in 1986, shortly before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. It seems impactful — but, if the USSR survived, it might have been more of a blip. Can you tell us about animals in Russia? For a long time, there's been a fascination with various animals, from bears, which have a common connotation for Russia, to birds in Siberia , tigers, reindeer, etc. There's also been hunting culture in the Tsarist and Soviet eras. Overall though, the landmass was so big, there were places different species could remain relatively unperturbed by humans. Today, the state focuses its conservationist energies on 'charismatic megafauna' — it decides, for instance, 'We're going to save the tiger' and creates a reserve. This shows an environmental politics but one less threatening to economic interests because these activities are in distant locations. That happened in the Soviet Union too — many activist efforts were around things like shaming poachers and not criticising big polluting factories. How is Siberia viewed? There is interesting thinking about the Siberian landscape — it's seen as both a heaven and a hell, a place of natural abundance and of exile and punishment, whether in the Tsarist period or the gulag camps of the Soviets. I've written about the site of the 1908 Tunguska explosion in remote Siberia. Here, the largest asteroid explosion in modern times occurred — it fascinated generations of Soviet researchers who thought it was a meteorite, a comet, aliens. They created this whole culture of voluntary expeditions spending time in Tunguska, looking for clues. A very distinctive environmental relationship emerged, also shaping Soviet science, amateurism and voluntary effort. What role do indigenous groups play? Some have a voice with organisations speaking for them. Sometimes, those are captured by the state but they still have representatives. During the Soviet period, there was this dual sense of thinking, 'We must uplift these people but also modernise them.' Earlier, the Soviet authorities didn't look at indigenous populations as an enemy. But then, their politics forced them into collective farms, reduced their cultural autonomy and, in the 1930s, oppressed some. Through these experiences, indigenous groups developed different politics — some aligned with the Soviet system, feeling, 'Well, at least, we have some social security in this.' Things were certainly different in the 1990s when the Soviets collapsed and economic precarity arose. Today, the indigenous peoples of Siberia have less of a sense of being part of a global indigenous movement and more of being their own groups. LIFE AFTER UKRAINE: Russia is castigated for sending out 'ghost fleets' of oil Can you discuss climate change in Russia today, Siberia being among the fastest-heating regions on Earth? There are some renewable energy campaigns. Importantly, Soviet scientists played a very important role in helping to understand global warming worldwide and within Russia itself. There is wariness though about being too worried — Vladimir Putin apparently joked that we'd like it if it was a little bit warmer here. That shifted the discourse to some concern but not in a very radical way. A TINGE OF GOLD: Russia also earns through wheat and mineral deposits Why is the environmental history of the Soviet empire important today? It connects with the ways market eco-nomies and capitalism are organised today, the systems of our world which are structured towards certain kinds of energy politics and economic policies. The Soviet Union was a state that was trying to not put profit over everything — yet, it ends up becoming one of the biggest carbon polluters on Earth. There's much to be gained from thinking about what state socialism was earlier for where we might go today. Views expressed are personal
