As you know, all empires arise at some point, expand, but then inevitably fall apart for various reasons. The Russian Empire collapsed in 1917, and the USSR in 1991.
As a result of the Revolution of 1917, Russia lost Finland, Poland, the Kars region (now Turkey), and lost the First World War.
As a result of 1991, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Estonia seceded from Russia.
Even earlier, as everyone knows, Tsar Alexander II sold Alaska to America.
However, few people know that the Russians made attempts to create colonies in Africa, America, and the Pacific Ocean. Little is written and known about this here; many, for example, will be surprised by the fact that there were Russian colonies in both the Hawaiian Islands and California...
Tobago Island(now part of the state of Trinidad and Tobago). Total area 300 sq. km.
A Russian colony off the coast of South America could become the island of Tobago, which was a colony of Courland, which became part of the Russian Empire.
In 1652, Duke Jacob of Courland took possession of Fr. Tobago off the coast of South America. Over the course of 30 years, 400 Courlanders moved here, and more than 900 black slaves were purchased from Africa. In Africa, the Courlanders acquired the island of St. Andrew (James Island, now part of Gambia).
However, in 1661 these territories in two hemispheres came into the use of England: the Duke of Courland actually contributed them as collateral for loans. When Courland became part of the Russian Empire, Catherine II tried to sue these two islands from the British until 1795, but to no avail.
Trinidad is rich in oil and gas. Being relatively close to the United States and the Panama Canal, the island is of great strategic importance.
“Russian America”: Alaska, West Coast of North America, California
Alaska is a huge (1,481,347 sq. km of land) US state, a former colony of Russia. The so-called Russian America was not at all limited to Alaska. Alexander Baranov, Nikolai Rezanov and other leaders of the Russian-American Company clearly understood the need to colonize the west coast of America, up to and including California.
As is well known, the Russian “discovery of America” occurred during the development of the Far East in the first half of the 18th century. So, in 1741, during the Kamchatka expedition, an officer of the Russian fleet, Commander Ivan (Vitos) Bering discovered the strait that was later named after him and discovered the coast of Alaska, in fact, and what was called Russian America. In the second half of the 18th century. Russians began to populate the Aleutian Islands and the North American coast. In 1784, the expedition of the “Russian Columbus”, navigator and industrialist Grigory Shelikhov (Shelekhov), landed on the Aleutian Islands, who in the same year founded the first Russian settlement in America on Kodiak Island. And in the first half of the 19th century, Shelikhov’s associate, merchant Alexander Baranov, founded Novo-Arkhangelsk on the island of Sitka, which became the capital of Russian America, and more than twenty Russian settlements intended for fishing and trading activities.
At one time, Count Nikolai Rezanov was appointed ruler of the Russian-American Company. He received an order to conduct an inspection of Russian settlements in Alaska and upon arrival in Novo-Arkhangelsk discovered the terrible state of the Russian colony: constant famine reigned in Russian America, associated with the difficulty of delivering necessary food through the Far East.
Nikolay Rezanov
Count Rezanov decided to establish trade relations and purchase food in Spanish California. And for this purpose, he arrived in San Francisco on two ships, “Juno” and “Avos” - a story based on which not a single work was created, from the text of the American prose writer Francis Breath Harte “Concepcion de Argelo” - to the poem by Andrei Voznesensky and rock Alexey Rybnikov's opera “Juno and Avos”...
The treasure trove of material and spiritual culture of the Slavs, who so accidentally settled on the formerly wild lands of the North-West of America, is now the subject of study by Americans. Russian America thus became part of American history.
Russian Old Believers in Alaska
It is not surprising that there are still more Russians in Alaska than Americans, and the Russian names of cities, islands and other toponyms - there are almost one and a half hundred of them - never cease to amaze. Not only all fourteen rulers of Russian America are “registered” on the current map of Alaska, but also many sailors, explorers, pioneers and priests...
If the history of the exploration of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands by Russian navigators is quite well known, the existence of a Russian colony and fortress Fort Ross in California many still find out with great surprise.
It was this California fortress that became the southernmost point in America, where Russian colonists settled, and was directly related to “Russian America”, and to the “Russian-American Company”, and to Count N.P. Rezanov.
This unique point in Russian California existed from 1812 to 1841, becoming the most important intermediate base that provided the entire territory of Russian America with necessary food. By 1814, all the main structures of the fort were built, many of which turned out to be truly innovative for the territory of California! According to surviving information, the Russian settlers who settled their Californian colony were distinguished by incredible hard work and were very skilled in a variety of crafts; which gives every reason to once again be surprised at the distorted, but unfortunately established image of the Russian in modern consciousness...
Fort Ross in 1828
The first windmills in California were built in Fort Ross, as well as the necessary facilities for a full-fledged settlement: a brick factory, a tannery, forges, stables, carpentry, locksmith and shoe shops, a dairy farm and others. In addition, in the surrounding area of Fort Ross, Russian settlers established large grain fields, vegetable gardens, and orchards and vineyards, with most of these fruit trees and vineyards being planted on this territory, again for the first time in its history.
In addition to all of the above, according to surviving information, the Russian colonists did not have any clashes with local Indian tribes, in contrast to Spanish practice. Thus, Grigory Shelikhov, who in 1784 founded the first Russian settlement in America, in contrast to the massacre of the local population carried out by Columbus in his time, not only established peaceful relations with them, but also organized several schools for Indians. This unique practice stemmed directly from the official policy of the Russian-American Company, whose charter simply strictly prohibited the exploitation of local populations and required frequent inspections of compliance with this requirement. Moreover, the Russian colonists not only lived peacefully with the Indian tribes, but provided them with a basic education, including teaching them literacy, as well as various professional skills. As a result, receiving education in Russian schools, many Indians became carpenters, blacksmiths, shipbuilders, and paramedics.
As you know, in the middle of the 19th century, despite the work, plans and projects carried out, Russian America ceased to exist. In 1841, Fort Ross was sold to a large Mexican landowner, John Sutter, for almost 43 thousand silver rubles, of which, by the way, he underpaid about 37 thousand. In 1850, Fort Ross, along with all of California, was annexed to the United States.
The sale of the Ross colony did not pass without leaving a trace for Russia. The difficulties that arose in supplying Russian America with food added to the list of reasons that ultimately led to its sale. In 1867, one and a half million square kilometers of Russian land, Alaska and 150 islands of the Aleutian chain were sold to the United States for 7,200,000 US dollars (about 11 million rubles) - two cents per acre. That same year, the Russian-American Company was abolished.
At that time, more than twelve thousand Russian citizens already lived in 45 settlements of Russian America, although there were only about 800 Russians among them, most of whom returned to their homeland. Those who remained in America united around the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church, which, under the terms of the agreement on the sale of Alaska, retained its buildings, lands, property and the right to continue its activities.
The Russian government easily sold Alaska, ignoring both its strategically important position, which allows it to dominate the Pacific Ocean, and information about gold deposits that was repeatedly received in St. Petersburg.
The reasons for abandoning such a seemingly very important and promising project need to be discussed separately. In any case, it can be stated that by the middle of the 19th century, the Russian-American Company was unable to attract the required number of Russian settlers to the Russian colony. And first of all, in connection with territorial difficulties: we must not forget that the journey from St. Petersburg or the European part of Russia to Russian America took about a year at that time. And besides, it was associated with a real risk to life, the most compelling evidence of which is the biographies of its first leaders - Grigory Shelikhov, Alexander Baranov, and Nikolai Rezanov, who died precisely on this difficult path...
Inside the fortress chapel
In our time, Fort Ross exists as one of the national parks of the state of California, while preserving the memory of its history, primarily through the efforts and desires of the Russian American community. A number of organizations have been operating with these goals for several years - such as the Congress of Russian Americans, which unites Russian emigrants, as well as the historical and educational association Fort Ross, which studies the cultural heritage of the first Russian settlers.
Children from the Russian community
Her efforts created a small museum on the territory of the fortress, dedicated to the history of the founding of the Russian colony, its main figures and the Russian customs and traditions they brought. But besides the museum exhibits, the main historical monument is the fortress itself, a number of buildings of which have been preserved from those very times.
To be continued.
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Tanya Marchant and Masha DenezhkinaHistory of the State of Alaska
part 1Alaska's first inhabitants
According to scientists, Alaska was discovered by Siberian hunters - the ancestors of most native American Indians, who migrated north during the Ice Age in search of mammoths - the main animal hunted by Stone Age people.
Ancient people migrated to the American continent through the Bering Strait, which at that time was a 1,600-kilometer natural ice bridge between the two continents. When the climate changed and warmed, the ice melted and the world's oceans rose, flooding this bridge and dividing Siberia and Alaska by the Bering Sea.
Excavations by researchers and scientists in Alaska revealed interesting facts to us: objects from human use were found that were used in his household 12 thousand years ago - that is, several centuries before the end of the Ice Age. Apparently, the ancestors of the Eskimo nation appeared 6 thousand years BC.
Settlement of the northwestern lands
The coast of the American Northwest was once the domain of Prince William. The Indians who inhabited these lands of northern California also gradually migrated north, bringing their culture to these lands. The north was rich in fish: salmon, flounder, cod, herring, edible species of shellfish and marine mammals were found in abundance in the coastal waters of Alaska. On the fertile soil of these lands, thousands of species of plants suitable for food grew, and many animals lived in the forests. That's why the lands of Alaska were so attractive to people.
Three indigenous peoples became the founders and first inhabitants of these places: Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian. People of these tribes settled southern Alaska.
The most numerous was the Tlingit tribe. They founded many settlements on these lands. Tlingit had their own language, which scientists attribute to the internal American group of languages of the Athabascan Indians. Since the Tlingit were the most numerous tribe, it was they, as the owners of this territory, who were the first to come into contact with Russian travelers and explorers who came to these lands in 1741.
The Haida people lived on the lands of British Columbia, on the Queen Charlotte Islands and in southern Alaska - on the Prince of Wales Islands. It is traditionally believed that the Haida peoples began moving north about 1,700 years ago.
The Tsimshian people inhabited the southeast coast and nearby islands in the area of what is now Fort Simpson, which is located in British Columbia. This fort was founded in 1834 as a consequence of the activities of the British company in Hudson's Bay Company. And in 1887, a large group of Tsimshian Indians, led by the Anglican missionary William Duncan, settled Anette Island off the coast of Alaska .
The peoples of all three tribes were engaged in fishing. They fished using fish traps and nets. To hunt sea creatures, a harpoon with a rope was widely used. For sea hunting, canoes of various shapes and sizes were built. And for their hunt for forest animals, they made bows and arrows and set up various cunning traps: nooses. Arcana and pits. The Indians usually made their hunting tools from wood, and the tips of harpoons and arrows from sharpened stones or sea shells. The Indians decorated their products, skillfully finishing them with amazing patterns.
The Indians of these tribes lived in large houses, in which, as in dormitories, the whole village lived, traditionally considering all its inhabitants as one family.
Social relations in these tribes were built on the principle of matriarchy. They traced their ancestry through their mother's side. However, in the Tlingit and Haida tribes, marriages between direct relatives: siblings were prohibited. The Tlingit also had clans in which social relations were traced back to the first legendary ancestors. The ancestors of the ancestors constituted a special aristocracy of clans: leaders, elders, masters and slaves. However, these class differences were constantly subject to a kind of change and were not static.
Each clan and each tribe usually had political independence from other tribes. All the spoils from the hunt were shared within the circle of one family-clan, which had its own leader or elder in charge. Each clan had its own deity, its own leader, its own personal name, its own songs and ritual dances. The deities of the Indian clans were animals that served as the main prey of hunting, as well as the forces of nature, which, according to the Indians, were responsible for the length of human life and the fertility of the earth. The Indians were pagans and endowed all living things, the entire surrounding nature, with a magical spirit.
Political leadership was achieved through competitions of prestige. If a clan man aspired to leadership, he had to be the most successful hunter, on whom the well-being of the entire tribe would depend.
Unlike the inhabitants of the coast, who had their own rich natural resources, representatives of the peoples of the Athabascan linguistic group lived in the more severe conditions of the Arctic and subarctic in the north of the continent. This huge space had extremely poor natural conditions, and people had to find and obtain food with great difficulty. The weather conditions in this region have always been characterized by long winters and short, cold summers. The Attabasca Indians hunted elk, musk deer, grizzly bears, wild goats, and fished.
The Athabascans led a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle, moving from one area to another in search of prey for hunting and fishing. They caught trout and pike in the rivers; in the forests they hunted mainly musk deer, hares and polar partridges. The tools for hunting and fishing were used by all the Indians of the North American continent. And although the Athabascans hunted a lot of animals and birds, however, periods when their tribes went hungry were not uncommon in the life of the Athabascans.
They designed the construction options for their wigwam houses depending on the upcoming season. All Athabascans built their houses from wood and poles in such a way that, in addition to the family, they could also accommodate domestic animals and birds. Nomadic groups of Indians built lighter dwellings. The Indians of such tribes of the Athabasca people as the Ingalik, who lived on the Yukon River, or the Kuskokwim tribe, usually built a temporary settlement for the winter, and moved to bivouac “camps” for summer fishing. They built winter houses according to the principle of Eskimo dugouts.
The Athabascans had very simple social divisions of society. They spent most of the year among small groups of neighboring families. The similarity between them existed in the fact that they professed the principles of matriarchy and relatives maintained close relationships, observing all the obligations of members of the same family. A family member had to find a spouse not among close relatives, but in another tribe.
When natural resources allowed, several tribes united to hunt together. Despite the fact that everyone hunted together, Indian men competed with each other for the right to be a leader in the hunt, on the basis of which a man could become one of the leaders of the tribe. Also, an Indian who proved himself a brave warrior in inter-tribal conflicts could become the leader of a tribe. Leaders were not elected for life. And if one day the leader’s luck turned away, he could no longer claim leadership in the tribe.
The Athabascans had traditions and ceremonies in which, for example, the tribe welcomed and gave gifts to its guests. Also, a family meal was held when one of the tribe members died. When the Athabascans began to participate in trade exchanges with the "palefaces", they began to more often organize communal meals in honor of their new partners, thereby modeling the attitudes and traditions of treating the "palefaces" for tribes throughout the northwest coast of the American continent.
The Indians held feasts to commemorate the first hunt, a military feat, the return of hunters from a long campaign, successful revenge, or a new campaign. A man about to get married had to feast three times for his tribe. Ceremonies were also held when the tribe made a general decision to expel one of its members for an offense - he could not receive any support from any of his loved ones for at least one year.
The Athabascans were also pagans. They lived in a world inhabited by many spirits. They believed that after death, human souls move into animals and used these legends in their rituals.
The Athabascans had special members of the tribes who performed religious ceremonies and were responsible for connecting the Indians with the world of otherworldly forces. These people were called shamans. Shamans were the guardians of religious rituals and possessed much knowledge: how to heal the sick; how to bring luck to a hunter; how to predict the weather and the future.
Eskimo culture developed in the territories of western Alaska, so it is natural that the languages of the Eskimos and Aleuts are so different from each other. The Eskimos mastered the waters of the Arctic Ocean and therefore paid great attention to means of water transportation.
Traditional Eskimo farming tools were in use in Siberia long before their appearance on the lands of Alaska. And this culture and management technologies penetrated into the territory of North America 4 thousand years BC. spread from Alaska to Greenland.
From the shores of northern Alaska to Greenland, the Eskimos hunted sea animals: ringed seals, fur seals, and whales. Some groups of Eskimos hunted deer and musk deer. These groups of Eskimo people were called the Caribou Eskimo and lived in Canada, in the west of Hudson Bay. Other small groups of Eskimo people lived along the Colville and Noatak rivers, as well as in the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers.
However, despite the difference in habitat, the Eskimos had a common culture, national clothing and traditions. This happened because thousands of years ago the wild, primitive culture of this people: dog sleds, kayak boats, and many others. etc. - spread through Alaska throughout North America to Greenland.
Social relations among the Eskimos were concentrated around the tribal family. The men were hunting. The Yupik Eskimo had special ceremonial houses in which Eskimo men taught boys the art of hunting, and women stayed at home and raised girls. Most Eskimo marriages took place within the clan community.
The Eskimos hunted and fished. They had their own taboos and prohibitions: for example, they did not dare to mix land and sea creatures for food. The Bering Sea Eskimo had many rituals and ceremonies related to hunting animals. And the Eskimos who lived north of their territories did not have similar hunting and fishing traditions.
The Aleuts have adapted very well to life in the difficult natural conditions of the Aleutian Islands. They have learned to make excellent use of the rich resources of the sea for life. However, their traditions were forgotten and absorbed by the more civilized culture of the Russian people, with whom the Aleuts first met in 1740.
The Aleuts built separate dugouts in which families lived. Sometimes the Aleuts migrated to the northern shores of the Bering Sea. This happened when populations of marine animals migrated to other areas. Then the Aleuts built seasonal houses and seasonal camps.
Society was divided into social classes: leaders, common people and slaves. The traditions of the Aleuts have many similarities with the customs of the Tlingit tribe and ethnic groups of Siberia. It is possible that initially the Aleuts also professed the family principle of organizing the tribe. The Aleut community usually consisted of an elder father and his wife or wives, a married eldest son and his family, and sometimes a younger brother and his family. Young children were usually sent to be raised by their mothers, who had their own homes.
When the sea waters were free of ice, the Aleuts went out to sea to hunt. They hunted seals, walruses, sea lions and whales. Many of their hunting tools were similar to those of the southern Eskimos: a two-seater kayak boat; bone and stone weapons. The Aleuts also hunted birds, 140 species of which nested on the Aleutian Islands. To hunt birds, the Aleuts used bolos (ropes to the ends of which stones were tied - braided and thrown at birds). For fishing, they used nets and harpoons. Also, the Aleuts collected sea shellfish and northern berries and herbs.
Early European exploration of Alaska
Russian expeditions
In 1654, the Russian merchant Fedot Alekseev set off from the east of the Siberian Kolyma Peninsula along the Pogicha River with his expedition, wanting to find lands rich in gold, fur-bearing animals and walruses, the bones of which were very valuable. Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev went on this campaign with him - as a representative of the government, vested with the authority to establish duties on trade with the local population. On this journey, Dezhnev was the first explorer to discover a sea passage from the shores of the Arctic to the ocean.
Now this sea route is called the Bering Strait, since Dezhnev’s report on the opening of the strait never reached the government. Tsar Peter the Great, who ruled Russia at that time, never learned that Siberia was closely adjacent to the North American continent. However, shortly before his death, Peter the Great sent Captain Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator who was in Russian service, to explore the sea shores of Siberia.
Peter sent Bering on an expedition to study and describe the northeastern coast of Siberia. In 1728, the Bering expedition rediscovered the strait, which was first seen by Semyon Dezhnev. However, due to fog, Bering was unable to see the outlines of the North American continent on the horizon.
In 1733, the Russian government again appointed Bering as head of a new expedition, the purpose of which was to explore the resources of Siberia and establish trade with Japan.
On this expedition, Bering also explored the American coast. The expedition of Vitus Bering set off for the shores of America from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on June 8, 1741 on two ships: “St. Peter” (under the command of Bering) and “St. Paul” (under the command of Alexei Chirikov). Each ship had its own team of scientists and researchers on board.
On June 20, the ships took different routes; on July 15, land was spotted on Chirikov’s ship. Presumably, the sailors saw the shores of Prince of Wales Island. And the ship under the control of Bering, which was moving north, reached the shores of Kayak Island the next day. Bering, from the sea, saw the top of the mountain, which he named Mount Saint Elias, since July 16 is Saint Elias Day. The ship's doctor, the German scientist Georg Wilhelm Steller, was among the first to land on shore in order to collect some medicinal plants to help the crew who were suffering from scurvy. Steller also collected some samples of shells and herbs on the shore, discovered new species of birds and animals, from which the researchers concluded that their ship had reached the new continent of North America.
Chirikov's ship returned to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on October 8, but Bering's ship was carried by the current and wind to the east of the Kamchatka Peninsula - to the Commander Islands. The ship was wrecked near one of the islands and washed ashore. The travelers were forced to spend the winter on the island, which now bears the name Bering Island. On this island, the commander died without surviving the harsh winter. In the spring, the surviving crew members built a boat from the wreckage of the broken "St. Peter" and returned to Kamchatka only in September. Thus ended the first Russian expedition to discover the northwestern coast of the North American continent.
The Russian Empress Elizabeth had no interest in the lands of North America. She issued a decree obliging the local population to pay duties on trade, but did not take any further steps towards developing relations with Alaska.
For the next 50 years, Russia showed very little interest in this land. Individual merchants traded with the Aleuts, buying furs from them. The thin fur of the sea otter, a sea otter, was especially prized. Russian merchants sold Aleutian furs especially profitably in Chinese markets.
In 1743, Russian traders and fur trappers established very close contact with the Aleuts. The European diseases that the new settlers brought to the Aleuts were fatal to the natives of the new continent. Smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, venereal diseases, pneumonia - became the weapons that almost exterminated the Aleuts. Before contact with Europeans, the Aleut population numbered 15-20 thousand people. In 1834, there were only 2,247 of them left, in 1848 - already 1,400. Since 1864, when the Russians settled on the islands, the Aleut population again jumped sharply to 2,005 people - thanks to mixed marriages and the influx of new blood. But by 1890 it had dropped again to 1,702 people.
Hunters migrated to the eastern Aleutian Islands following the animals they hunted. As the fishery moved away from Kamchatka, fur prices rose and small trading companies went bankrupt. Until 1770, among the merchants and fur harvesters in Alaska, Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov, Pavel Sergeevich Lebedev-Lastochkin, as well as the brothers Grigory and Pyotr Panov were considered the richest and most famous.
In 1762, Empress Catherine the Great became the ruler of Russia, and the government again turned its attention to the Aleuts. Catherine issued a decree in 1769 that abolished duties on trade with the Aleuts, and also issued a decree that ordered the government to be concerned with the fate of the Aleut people. Unfortunately, the empress's decree remained only a decree on paper. Without the control and supervision of the ruler over its implementation.
Competition among other powers
Spain was also interested in territories in the North Pacific. Fear of Russian expansion into the lands of North America pushed Spain to occupy the lands of Alta California (now the state of California) and build their forts San Diego, Monterey and other California settlements on them.
In 1774, 1777, 1778 and 1790, Spanish expeditions were sent to Alaska. And the expedition of 1790 already had a specific goal: to explore and, if possible, take possession of territories in Alaska. However, when Spanish ships came into confrontation with ships from the British land of Nootka Sound (now the Canadian province of British Columbia), the Spaniards were forced to admit defeat and abandon attempts to seize the northern territories.
Britain, France, and the United States explored Alaska but did not attempt to acquire the territory. In 1778, British captain James Cook compiled topographic maps of the Alaskan coast and visited the Aleutian lands. In Alaska, Cook and his crew purchased many valuable sea otter pelts, which they sold at great profit in China; subsequent British interest in Alaska focused on trade.
France also sent an expedition to Alaska under the command of Jean de Galoupe, who returned from his expedition in 1788. But the French Revolution of 1789 cut short further French exploration in this region of North America.
Colonization
Russian fur merchants were annoyed by foreign competitors. Especially the British, who offered cheaper goods for exchange with the local population than Russian merchants. The Russians felt that a state establishment of the colony was necessary. In 1784, the merchant Shelikhov built and equipped his own ships and sent them to Kodiak Island. Gradually (by 1788) the number of Russians in the Aleutian Islands and North America reached 500, and by 1794, as a result of the ongoing activities of G.I. Shelikhov, it exceeded 800 people.
It was thanks to Shelikhov’s energy and foresight that the foundation of Russian possessions was laid in these new lands. The first permanent settlement appeared on Kodiak Island, in the Bay of Three Saints. Shelikhov also headed the first agricultural colony "Glory to Russia". The settlement plans he drew up included smooth streets, schools, libraries, and parks. At the same time, Shelikhov was not a statesman. He remained a merchant. industrialist, entrepreneur, acting with the permission of the government.
Until 1786, Shelikhov was the most successful fur trader in the Aleutian lands, but his fur empire needed other capable leaders. He saw one such assistant in Alexander Andreevich Baranov, a Siberian merchant who came to Kodiak in 1791. Soon, a merchant from Kargopol, 43-year-old Alexander Baranov, was appointed chief manager on Kodiak Island. Baranov was on the verge of bankruptcy when Shelikhov took him as his assistant, recognizing exceptional qualities in him: enterprise, perseverance, firmness.
Soon Baranov moved the company's representative office from the Bay of Three Saints to the north of the island, to the city of Pavlovsk, which had a better harbor and was located in a wooded area, which was very important for future construction. Now Pavlovsk is the main city of Kodiak Island.
The new ruler Alexander Baranov faced many problems. Most food and almost all goods for exchange had to be imported from Russia, and there were not enough ships. The motto of the Russian colony was the saying: “work tirelessly.” The colony was constantly short of people to build ships, protect the colony, and organize everyday life. Local Aleuts came to the rescue. They made up the main labor force of the colony, hunting fur-bearing game, while the Russians were busy arranging their residence and procuring the skins and triggers of animals. The Aleuts guarded the fort and stood guard.
During Baranov's tenure as Ruler of Russian America, Russia's possessions expanded to the south and east. Baranov founded and built Russian representative offices in the Aleutian lands. The largest is Novo-Arkhangelsk, founded in 1799. In 1802, the Tlingit tribe attacked the fort and destroyed it. And in 1804, Baranov returned to these lands with a Russian warship and defeated the Tlingits. After the victory, Novo-Arkhangelsk was rebuilt. 4 km south of this city, the famous Alaskan city of Sitka later grew.
Baranov faithfully served Shelikhov and then the Russian-American Company from 1790 to 1818, until he retired at the age of 71. During his lifetime, legends circulated about him: he inspired respect and fear in the people around him. Even the strictest government auditors were amazed at his dedication, energy and dedication.
Russian-American company
With the merger of the companies of the merchants G.I. Shelikhova, I.I. and M.S. Golikov and N.P. Mylnikov in 1798 was created and in 1799 the unified Russian-American company was finally formed. It received from Paul I monopoly rights to fur fishing, trade and the discovery of new lands in the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean, designed to represent and protect with its own means the interests of Russia in the Pacific Ocean.
Since 1800, the main board of the company, consisting of several directors, was located in St. Petersburg on the Moika River near the Blue Bridge. The company was declared to be under "the highest patronage." Since 1801, the company's shareholders were Alexander I and the grand dukes and major statesmen.
Shelikhov died in 1795. His son-in-law and legal heir of the Russian-American Company, Nikolai Petrovich Ryazanov, in 1799 received from the ruler of Russia, Emperor Paul the First, the right to a monopoly of the American fur trade. This authority obliged the company to take ownership of the northern territories previously discovered by the Russians. And establish Russian missions not only on them, but also on new lands, however, trying not to come into conflict with other powers.
In 1812, Baranov established the company's southern representative office (on the shores of the Californian Bay of Bodega. This representative office was named Russian Village (Selenie Ross), now known as Fort Ross. Later, in 1841, Fort Ross was sold to John Sutter, a German industrialist who went down in California history thanks to his sawmill in Coloma, on the territory of which a gold mine was found in 1848, which began the famous California Gold Rush.
Baranov left the post of director of the Russian-American Company in 1818 (retired). He wanted to return home - to Russia, but died on the way.
Naval officers took over the management of the company and contributed to the development of the company. And in 1821, the company’s policy stipulated the following point: from now on, only naval officers were to be the leaders of the Russian-American Company. The company's naval leadership improved its administration and expanded its colonies. However, unlike Baranov, the naval leadership had very little interest in the trading business itself, and were extremely nervous about the settlement of Alaska by the British and Americans. The management of the company, in the name of the Russian Emperor, prohibited the incursion of all foreign ships into the 160 km water area near the Russian colonies in Alaska. Of course, such an order was immediately protested by Great Britain and the United States government.
The dispute with the United States was settled by a convention in 1824, which determined the exact northern and southern boundaries of Russian territory in Alaska. In 1825, Russia came to an agreement with Britain, also defining the exact eastern and western borders. The Russian Empire gave both sides (Britain and the United States) the right to trade in Alaska for 10 years, after which Alaska completely became the property of Russia.
Alaska Purchase
In 1843, US Secretary of the Government William Marcy and Senator William M. Gwin, both proponents of expansionism, asked the Russian ambassador to the US, Baron Edward Stoeckl, with the provocative question: “Is it true that Russia is putting up its colony of Alaska for sale?” Stoeckle replied, “Of course not!” - however, this question intrigued him.
In 1844, the Russian-American Company's patent for monopoly trade was extended for another 20 years. The company tried to make profit from new sources: coal mining; whaling and even exporting ice to San Francisco. However, all these adventures were unprofitable.
The sale of Alaska took place in 1867, not long after the popular term “Russian America” was coined. Russian possessions in America were, in fact, not state property, but the property of companies - first several private Russians, and then, from 1799, Russian-American... Russia did not have any act on the annexation of these possessions - they were possessions of Russian subjects.
This kind of ownership was common in the 18th - 19th centuries (East India Company, Hudson's Bay Company, etc.). It is no wonder that first Fort Ross, and then other Russian possessions in America, were ceded. In essence, a deal was made between the patrons of the RAC - the government and the emperor himself - with America.
Thus, Russia, as it were, got rid of, first of all, a company that was unprofitable and constantly troubled by problems. And one more thing - RAC was burdened by the knowledge that there were no dividends and they were not expected. Just debts. Moreover, at this time, large investments were required to develop new lands in Primorye.
But most of all, the fate of Russian America was influenced by the Crimean War (1853-56), which led to the impoverishment of the treasury and at the same time showed the vulnerability of the territories in the Pacific Ocean to the British fleet. By 1866, the RAC owed the Ministry of Finance 725 thousand rubles. In government circles, talk began that the sale of Russian America would help replenish the treasury and at the same time get rid of a vulnerable and unprofitable colony, which would one way or another go to the United States. In addition, by selling Alaska, Russia would have acquired an ally in the fight against England, which was hostile at that time.
Ultimately, the Russian government decided to sell Alaska to the United States and instructed Baron Stoeckl to negotiate. On March 11, 1867, Stockl began negotiations for the sale of Alaska with U.S. Secretary of the Government William H. Seward.
The agreement on the cession by Russia of its North American colonies to the United States for 7 million 200 thousand dollars in gold was drawn up in Washington on March 18, 1867. Seward had some difficulty obtaining government consent for such a monumental purchase at the time. But he gained the support of many Congressmen and, finally, the Senate approved the purchase, passing this decision by a vote of 37 in favor to 2 against. Some newspapers called the purchase crazy and Seward a madman, but, under pressure from the official press, the US public supported the Alaska purchase.
The signature and seal of Alexander II on the contract appeared only on May 3, but in fact Alaska had already been sold. On March 23, the editors of St. Petersburg newspapers received a message about this via the Atlantic telegraph - and refused to believe it. This news was presented by newspapermen as an empty rumor. The famous publisher of “Voice” A. A. Kraevsky expressed the bewilderment of Russian society on this issue: “Today, yesterday and the day before today we are transmitting and transmitting telegrams received from New York and London about the sale of Russia’s possessions in North America... We are still , as then, we cannot treat such an incredible rumor as anything other than the most evil joke on the gullibility of society.”
On July 18, the White House officially announced its desire to pay Russia the amount assigned in the bidding for Alaska.
Only on October 8, the “Highly ratified treaty on the cession of the Russian North American colonies” was published in the newspaper of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “Northern Post”. The formal transfer of Alaska to the United States took place on November 11, 1867 in Sitka.
The Russian history of exploration of Alaska lasted 126 years. However, Russian activity in these lands took place, by and large, within the territory of the Aleutian Islands, Kodiak and the Alexander Archipelago. Some exploration was certainly carried out within the continent, but it was limited to very few settlements. The peak of the Russian population in Alaska did not exceed 700 people. The most significant contribution to the development of the lands of Alaska by Russian people should be considered the activities of the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church. They built their churches on these lands and were engaged in missionary work among the local residents - the Aleuts and Tlingits. The Russian Orthodox Church has never ceased its activities. She still serves in Alaska today.
The United States was no better prepared to rule Alaska than the Russians. Many Americans had no information at all about these lands. The Civil War had just ended, and the country's leaders were more concerned about resolving the former conflict. Be that as it may, many Americans still came to the new lands of Alaska to trade, hunt or whale. In addition, in 1864, the Western Union Company began building a telegraph line to connect North America with East Asia and Europe through Alaska. However, this enterprise burst when in 1866 the project of laying a transatlantic cable connecting the New World with the Old was brilliantly completed.
However, the efforts expended by Western Union to implement its project were not in vain and stimulated American interest in the lands of Alaska. Scientific expeditions to these regions were organized. The successful scientific study of Alaska was also facilitated by the rich scientific and educational information accumulated by Russian researchers and generously provided to America after its purchase of Alaska.
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Russian Alaska
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian Empire had huge possessions not only in the Asian part of the Pacific region, but also in the Americas - the Aleutian and Hawaiian Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, and possessions in California. These were territories of strategic importance, which made it possible to control the entire territory of the Northern part of the Asia-Pacific region and exert a dominant influence on this region.
Flag of Russian Alaska
The numbers on the Map indicate:
1. The village of Port Chichagov on Attu Island.
2. The village of Atkha (founded 1795) on the island of Atha -
center of the Akha department of Russian America.
3. The village of Gavanskoye, later Good Accord,
Illyulyuk, Unalaska (1800) -
center of the Unalaska department of Russian America.
4. Three Saints Fortress (1784) on Kodiak Island.
5. Pavlovsk harbor (1792)
on Kodiak Island - the center of the Kodiak department of Russian America
6. Nikolaevsky redoubt (1786) in Cook Bay.
7. Resurrection Harbor (1793) on the Kenai Peninsula,
now the city of Seward,
named after the US Secretary of State who secured the purchase of Alaska in 1867.
8. Fortress of St. Constantine and Helena,
later Konstantinovsky redoubt (1793) on Nuchek island.
9. Yakutat fortress and the village of Slavorossiya, later Novorossiysk (1796).
10. Fortress of St. Archangel Michael, later Mikhailovskaya Fortress (1799).
11. Novo-Arkhangelsk (1804) - administrative center of Russian America
and the Sitka department on Sitkha Island (later Baranova Island).
12. Ozersky redoubt (1810) on the island of Sitkha.
13. Dionysevsky redoubt (1819) on Wrangel Island.
14. Novo-Alexandrovsky redoubt (1819) in Bristol Bay.
15. Nushagak village (1835).
16. Kolmakovsky redoubt (1841) on the Kuskokwim River.
17. Mikhailovsky redoubt (1833) in Norton Bay.
Remember the film "Chief of Chukotka"? This is where they came!
18. Settlement of Nulato (1839) on the Yukon River.
In the 21st century, this region is becoming a leading region in world politics. How did it happen that we lost the lands of Russian America?
Fort Ross
Reasons
Usually the main reason for the loss of these territories is the inability to retain such gigantic possessions. They say that near St. Petersburg, Siberia and the Far East were poorly developed, and all resources had to be devoted to retaining them; Russian America had to be sacrificed. They are also happy that they didn’t just leave there, but sold them, received benefits, and laid the foundation for “good relations” with the United States of America.
As an argument, we can cite data on the number of Russians in America in the mid-19th century - less than a thousand people (with the Aleuts about 40 thousand people). This is more than 80 years of ownership. For example, the number of American and English colonists in North America from the mid-18th to the mid-19th centuries grew from 20 thousand people to 3 million.
Russian America in 1860.
On October 14, 1778, the famous English traveler James Cook approached an unknown island off the coast of Alaska on the ship Resolution.
James Cook
“Resolution”
Two dozen canoes with natives moved towards the British from the island. But to the great surprise of the “enlightened sailors,” a European was sitting on the lead boat, speaking broken English. In Cook's diary he was recorded as "Erasim Gregorev Sin Izmailov." But here is evidence from the other side: Report to the Kamchatka Bolsheretsk Chancellery of the Navigator’s student Gerasim Izmailov dated October 14 (25), 1778: “Upon my arrival to the local Aleutian Islands this 1778, August 14th, but due to the debt of my assigned office to the post census of the local peoples, I had to leave the harbor from the island of Unalaska on September 2nd to the island of Umnak, Four Hills and others. And upon my arrival, on September 23rd, we arrived on the same island of Unalaska, and stood not far from my harbor, on the midnight side of the bay, two packet boats from the island of London, called the British. And I, having corrected my position, had to arrive at them at extreme speed, and upon arrival I stayed for three days, showing them kindness and greeting.” So, Cook was unlucky: the Aleutian Islands and Alaska were “terra incognita” only for Western Europeans, while the Russians had been conducting economic activities there for a long time.
How the Russians discovered North America
The history of Russian discoveries in North America began in 1648, when the Cossack chieftains Semyon Dezhnev and Fedot Alekseev passed through the strait separating Asia from America. Soon the Anadyr fort was built in Chukotka. (For details, see the website: For advanced - Naval commanders - S. Dezhnev). And even earlier, in 1646, a Russian winter quarters were founded on the western coast of Siberia at the mouth of the Okhota River, which the following year turned into the Okhotsk fort, which in 1731 was transformed into the first Russian port on the Pacific Ocean - the Okhotsk port. At the beginning of the 18th century. Nizhnekamchatsky, Verkhnekamchatsky and Bolsheretsky forts were built in Kamchatka. Somewhat later, the Tigil fortress appeared. By the beginning of the 18th century. Semyon Dezhnev’s campaign was almost forgotten, and on January 2, 1719, Peter I wrote instructions to surveyors Ivan Evreinov and Fyodor Luzhin: “You should go to Tobolsk and from Tobolsk, taking guides, go to Kamchatka and further, where you are indicated, and describe the local place, has America come together with Asia, which must be done very carefully.” Evreinov and Luzhin did not find out whether America had converged with Asia. Only in 1722 did they deliver a map of the Kuril Islands to the Tsar. Peter, of course, was not satisfied with this and in 1725 wrote instructions to Captain Bering: “1) It is necessary to make one or two boats with decks in Kamchatka or another place there. 2) On these boats (sail) near the land that goes north, and according to hope (they don’t know the end) it seems that that land is part of America. 3) And in order to look for where it came into contact with America (with Asia), and in order to get to which city of the European possessions and visit the shore ourselves, and take the real statement, and, putting it on the map, come here.” (Look in detail at website: For advanced - Naval commanders - V. Bering).
On July 23, 1732, the bot “Gabriel” again left Nizhnekamchatsk. This time he was commanded by M.S. Gvozdev. On August 13, the boat approached Cape Dezhnev. On August 20, Gvozdev ordered to go east. Approaching the island, later named after Krusenstern, the Russian sailors saw the shores of America. This happened on August 21, 1732. “Gabriel” headed for these shores and soon approached American soil in the area of \u200b\u200bthe present Cape Prince of Wales. The boat went south and the next day approached King Island, from which the Chukchi came to the boat. From him Gvozdev learned a lot about the mainland. It was difficult to continue the voyage, since food and fresh water were running out, and the ship required repairs. The sailors asked Gvozdev “to return to Kamchatka without any consent, since they have a small number of sterns, and they cannot pour water out of the ship.” On September 27, “Gabriel” barely reached the Kamchatka River. Without exaggeration, this trip can be called the second discovery of America.
A.I. Chirikov on the packet boat "St. Paul", having parted ways with Bering, went not to the south, but to the east, then to the northeast. On July 15, 1741, the sailors saw land. Chirikov wrote in his journal: “At 2 o’clock in the afternoon we saw land in front of us, on which there are high mountains, and then it was not yet very light, for this reason we lay down to drift; at 3 o’clock it became easier to see the land.” This was America. The packet boat was located near Cape Addinggon on Baker Island, at latitude 55°20." On July 17, Chirikov sent a boat from the packet boat to the shore with navigator Abraham Mikhailovich Dementiev, eight sailors and two interpreters. For a week, Chirikov waited for the boat to return, and then sent another a boat with four sailors, but this boat also disappeared without a trace. Apparently, those sent were killed by the natives. Chirikov remained off the coast of America for another two weeks, and on August 6, when the food ran out, “St. Paul” went to Kamchatka. The islands of Umnak, Unalaska and others were discovered. On September 20, Aleuts came from Adak Island in canoes. At the beginning of October, Agatu Island was discovered. And only on October 22, 1741, “St. Paul” entered the Peter and Paul Harbor. While we were talking only about government expeditions. ships of the navy, but already in the 40s of the 18th century Russian merchants flocked to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.
Merchant ships off the coast of Alaska
So, for example, the Irkutsk merchant Nikifor Alekseevich Trapeznikov, in partnership with the Moscow merchant Andrei Chabaevsky and the sergeant of the Okhotsk irregular team Emelyan Sofronovich Basov, built the “Peter” shitik. In the summer of 1743, Shitik went east and reached Bering Island. The fishery turned out to be successful, and in 1744 Basov returned to Kamchatka with 1,200 beaver skins and 4,000 seal skins, which were sold for 64 thousand rubles. In 1745-1746 Basov, with the merchant Evtikhey Sannikov, set sail again and hunted on Medny Island, which he discovered, where signs of copper were found. His companion was still the merchant Trapeznikov. In 1747-1848. and in 1749-1750. voyages to Medny Island continued. They were attended by N.A. Trapeznikov, A. Tolstykh and D. Nakvasin. All these voyages were decreed by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. So, on the last voyage of E.S. Basov there is a decree dated December 23, 1748 to the mayor of the Kamchadal forts Nikifor Trapeznikov about permission to make such a voyage. The decree also says: “... and if he sees on some that ours will be found again, on unfamiliar islands, not the Yasash people, who are not under her high power and. V. hand is not in citizenship, then call to citizenship with affection and greetings.” In 1745, N. Trapeznikov and A. Chabaevsky set off on a new voyage on the ship “St. Evdokim”. The leader was Yakov Chuprov, and the navigator was an experienced sailor and cartographer of the Okhotsk port, Mikhail Vasilyevich Nevodchikov. On September 19, 1745, “Saint Evdokim” left Nizhnekamchatsk to the southeast and soon reached the Near Islands of the Aleutian ridge. These were the islands of Attu, Agatu and Semichi. Seine fishermen with several hunters landed on Agata, then they moved to Attu, where they hunted sea animals until the fall of 1746. During the first winter on the Aleutian Islands, several people died of scurvy, but the hunt was successful. Chuprov was more involved in hunting the beast, while Nevodchikov drew up geographical maps and described the islands. It was he who compiled the first map of the Near Aleutian Islands, which was subsequently presented to the Senate, which is why he is considered the discoverer of this group of Aleutian islands. Fishing expeditions to the Aleutian Islands became commonplace. In total, from 1743 to 1797 there were at least ninety of them.
Russian exploration of Alaska
Since the 80s XVIII century A new stage in the economic development of Alaska begins.
The greatest contribution was made by the North-Eastern Company of the merchant Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov.
G.I. Shelikhov
In 1781, he concluded an agreement that the partners wanted “a relationship with the rich merchant I.L. Golikov told his nephew Mikhail about the typical villages and fortresses on the shores and islands of America.” Fragment of “Map of Shelikhov’s Wanderings” from the book “The First Wandering of the Russian merchant of the eminent Rylsky citizen Grigory Shelikhov...”. In 1793
Shelikhov, using company funds, built three galliots at the mouth of the Urik River south of the port of Okhotsk: “Three Saints”, “St. Simeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess” and “Archangel Michael”. On August 16, 1783, he set off on these galliots “with 192 working people” to Bering Island. On September 12, a strong storm began, during which the galliots lost sight of each other. Two days later, “Three Saints” and “St. Simeon" met near Bering Island, where they spent the winter. On June 16, 1784, the galliots set off for the shores of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. On the third day the courts dispersed. Then Shelikhov on the “Three Saints” went to Medny Island, hoping that “St. Simeon". Without waiting for “Simeon” there, Shelikhov went to the Aleuts. “Three Saints” passed the islands of Atha, Amlya, Sopochny and on July 12 met “Simeon”, after which both galliots arrived at Unalaska, where they stayed in the Captain’s Harbor for more than two weeks, replenishing supplies of fresh water and food.
Unalaska today
There Shelikhov took with him two interpreters and ten Aleuts with canoes. On August 3, the galliots arrived on Kodiak Island in Pavlovsk harbor.
“Three Saints” on Fr. Kodiak
The island's aborigines, the horses, initially greeted the travelers unfriendly. On the night of August 11-12, the horses “in a great crowd” attacked the Russians. However, the Russians were on the alert and with well-aimed rifle fire they put them to flight. None of the team was killed or even wounded. Then, on Shelikhov’s orders, the Russians approached the fortified settlement of horsemen. The rifle fire this time made little impression on the natives, who responded with a hail of arrows. Then Shelikhov ordered two small half-pound cannons to be fired. In total, five such guns were delivered to the walls of the fortress. After this, as Shelikhov wrote, “timidity took possession of them,” and after a few minutes there was not a single person left in the native fortress. The Russians pursued the fleeing people, who surrendered without resistance. Next, I will quote Shelikhov: “Of those taken captive, we brought more than four hundred souls to the harbor, releasing the rest to freedom. From among the prisoners I chose one commander, who is called Khashak in horsemanship, and finally gave all the prisoners to a precise command, providing them with a canoe, kayaks, nets and everything necessary for their life; However, he took up to 20 amanats from the children as a pledge of fidelity. These prisoners wanted to live 15 miles from the harbor, which I allowed them to do. The continuation of time has shown them to be faithful allies.”
horses
Further, Shelikhov wrote about the horses: “They considered the hasty construction of our houses to be a miracle, because they work on one of their huts, cutting off boards with sharpened iron for several years, and therefore they consider them to be worth a great price. Their ignorance is so great that when we put out the Kulibin lantern that I had during the dark nights, they thought that it was the sun that we had stolen, attributing the darkness of the days as the reason for it... I showed them the ability and benefits of Russian houses, dress and eating. They saw the labors of my workers when they dug the soil in the garden, sowed and planted seeds; When the fruits ripened, I ordered them to distribute them, but when they consumed them, they expressed nothing but surprise. I ordered many to be fed with food prepared by my workers for themselves, for which they feel an extreme desire. This behavior of mine with them tied them to me more and more from hour to hour, and they, not knowing how to please me, brought a great multitude of their children to the amanat when I did not demand them and when I did not need them; but, in order not to leave them in displeasure, I accepted many, and, having presented others with things decent for them, I sent them away. After their affection for me, I tried to get to know their worship. I did not find their hearts infected with any idolatry; they only recognize two beings in the world, one good and the other evil, adding absurdities about them that are worthy of the concept of their complete savagery. Seeing this, I made an experiment to tell them, as simply and clearly as possible, about my law. And as I saw their greatest curiosity in that, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, and therefore, teaching the curious in my free hours my law and to what path it leads, I set their hearts on fire; in a word, before I left, I converted 40 people into Christians, and they were baptized with such ceremonies.”
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Shelikhov sent galliots to explore nearby places. They visited the Kenai and Chugach bays, near the island of Afognak, passed through the strait between the island of Kodiak and Alaska, “not seeing any attacks from the horses, nor from the Chugach and from the Kenai all summer (1785), but still these peoples up to 20 people in amanates...” So Shelikhov, step by step, expanded the sphere of Russia’s interests in the Pacific Ocean.
On the northern shore of Kodiak Island, the closest to Alaska, in Pavlovsk harbor, construction of a fortress and village began. From there it was easier to sail to the shores of Alaska. Fortresses were built both on the island of Afognak and at the Kenai Bay. Shelikhov, preparing to leave America after a two-year stay there, ordered his successors, primarily the Yenisei merchant K. Samoilov, to “proceed with the resettlement of Russian artels for the reconciliation of the Americans and the glorification of the Russian state in the designated land of America and California to 40 degrees.” In 1787, Shelikhov arrived in St. Petersburg. To analyze his voyages, a special commission was created there, consisting of Alexander Vorontsov, Christopher Minich and Pyotr Soimonov. The commission recognized as true the statements of the merchants Shelikhov and Golikov that they spent 250 thousand rubles on exploration of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. The commission proposed that the empress give Shelikhov and Golikov a 200 thousand ruble loan for 25 years interest-free. “Such a noble benefit from the treasury will provide a way to complete what they started, to return to them the capital they spent, and at the same time, in addition to the expansion of your Majesty’s power, the treasury will receive an increase in income from the collection of duties and tithes, and private people will receive an increase in trade and crafts.” The commission proposed allowing Russian industrialists to build “fortresses” in the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. “The Commission believes that the space for discoveries at sea by our navigators should be left unlimited, since not a single nation has ever explored new islands in this part of the Pacific Sea, except for Russian navigators. And in thinking about the motherland to the south, limit their travel to the 55th degree of latitude, near which in 1741 Captain Chirikov met the motherland of America. This circumstance can serve as a refutation of all the claims of other powers to the lands to the north located from the said degree of latitude, which, by right of the first discovery, unquestioningly belong to the possession of Your Majesty. Such a limitation within limits, based on the strictest justice, will be a rule of moderation for other powers approaching such establishments on the American shore, if they do not want to expose themselves to unpleasant consequences. Another fortress on the 21st or 22nd of the Kuril Islands is needed, firstly, so that, having a solid foundation on it, it is possible to support, guard and defend all the surrounding inhabitants with better convenience in the desired structure; secondly, through this same convenience, over time, it is possible to establish a trade with Japan.” Yes, the members of the commission cannot be denied insight - it is most convenient to trade with the Japanese if you have a “fortress” in the South Kuril Islands. Alas, the empress turned out to be stingy and wrote with her own hand on the report of the “Commission on Commerce on navigation and trade in the Pacific Ocean”: “Two hundred thousand for twenty years without interest... With sufficient collateral or a sure guarantee they can borrow from the non-treasury, but from the treasury now there is no money. Such a loan is similar to the proposal that he wanted to teach an elephant to speak after a thirty-year period and, having asked why such a long period of time, said: either the elephant will die, or I, or the one who gives me the money to teach the elephant... So that Golikov and Shelikhov alone traded in the newly discovered place, this request is a real monopoly and exclusive trade, contrary to my rules. What they established well, they say, no one there in place witnessed their assurance... Much spread into the Pacific Sea will not bring lasting benefits. Trading is another matter, taking possession is another matter.” Catherine managed to get rid of Shelikhov and Golikov with swords decorated with diamonds and medals. Here there is a great temptation to accuse the empress of not understanding the significance of the discoveries of Russian sailors and industrialists. But let's remember what time it was. Potemkin had just annexed Crimea, was building the cities of Novorossiya and the Black Sea Fleet. Türkiye and Sweden were preparing for war with Russia. So it was clearly inappropriate to give 200 thousand government money to Shelikhov and Golikov. And the antimonopoly policy of Catherine II was more than reasonable. Only a state can be a monopolist, and only one that is controlled by the iron hand of a monarch or leader. Any private monopoly gradually ruins the business. Catherine II perfectly understood the difficulties of the land route from Central Russia to Okhotsk and other forts on the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk.
Therefore, she decided to send a squadron of five ships to Kamchatka. For this purpose, two ships were specially built - "Kholmogor" and "Turukhan" and three more ships - "Falcon", "Smely" and "Nightingale" - were purchased in 1786 from Russian industrialists. Captain 1st Rank G.I. was appointed to command the squadron. Mulovsky. He was supposed to go around the Cape of Good Hope and head to Kamchatka, and then to Alaska. All newly discovered small and large islands were to be declared by Mulovsky as the possession of the Russian State.
However, the war with Sweden put an end to preparations for the first Russian circumnavigation. The ships of Mulovsky's flotilla were converted into transport and hospital ships of the Baltic Fleet. And Captain 1st Rank Mulovsky himself was appointed commander of the 74-gun ship Mstislav. He was killed by a cannonball on July 15, 1789 during the Battle of Öland. It is worth noting that technically the possibility of circumnavigating the world was quite real in the second half of the 18th century. Moreover, it was possible not only for ships to pass from the Baltic to Kamchatka, but also in the opposite direction. Both military and merchant galliots built in Okhotsk could easily reach Kronstadt. Another question is that they were not given such a task. The seaworthiness of Russian ships is confirmed by a curious incident. In 1770, Mother Empress sent the dashing Pole, Pan Moritz Benevsky, to Kamchatka. The restless nobleman did not like living in the Bolsheretsky prison, and he incited the exiles and several local Russian residents to start a riot. The head of the Bolsheretsky fort, Captain Grigory Nilov, was killed, and the fort was captured by the rebels. On June 30, 1771, the galliot “St. Peter” arrived in Bolsheretsk, which was immediately captured by Benevsky. Then the Pole with 96 accomplices sailed from Kamchatka to the south, without maps, not knowing the route. As a result, Benevsky and his company sailed to the Portuguese colony of Macau, where he sold the galliot to its governor, and from there he reached Paris.
Help: Russian America, in 1784, an expedition under the command of G. I. Shelikhov landed on the Aleutians; in 1799, Shelikhov and A. A. Baranov created the Russian-American Company to develop new territories. In 1808, Novo-Arkhangelsk became the capital of the new territories of the Russian Empire.
Novo-Arkhangelsk
Russian America was included in the Siberian General Government, since 1822 the East Siberian General Government, the capital of the Russian-American company was the city of Irkutsk. The southernmost point of Russian possessions was Fort Ross (founded in 1812) 80 km north of San Francisco in California, further on were the territories of the Spaniards. In 1818, the Russian businessman Schaeffer occupied the island of Kauai and achieved the signing of a treaty on a protectorate over it by the ruler of the island of Kaumualii, a vassal of King Kamehameha I of Hawaii, but the Emperor of Russia refused to ratify the treaty. In January 1841, Fort Ross was sold to Mexican citizen John Sutter for 42,857 rubles; in payment, Sutter supplied wheat to Alaska, but, according to P. Golovin, he never paid almost 37.5 thousand rubles.
John Sutter
Alexander Alexandrovich Baranov.
Russian-American company
But this is already a consequence, and the reason is that St. Petersburg did not even try to develop overseas possessions. They were mastered by heroic ascetics - Shelikhov, Ryazanov, Baranov. Officials and many merchants viewed this territory as a source of profit. Initially, these lands were actually not even part of the Russian Empire; for their development, a “joint-stock company” was created - the “Russian-American Company”. She owned the rights to these territories. This company also owned all the Pacific lands of Russia, including the Kuril Islands.
The Russian-American company received from Paul the First a monopoly on fur mining, trade and the discovery of new lands in the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. The company's capital was divided into 724 shares worth 1 thousand rubles per share; Shelikhov had the most shares, the “controlling stake” (370). In 1801, Emperor Alexander I and the imperial “family” became shareholders of the company; the merchants allocated 20 shares to them at their own expense. That is, the state did not help with people, finances, ships, and also pumped “cash” out of the company.
Until the 1820s, the company’s profits allowed them to develop the territories themselves; for example, according to Baranov, in 1811 the profit from the sale of sea otter skins amounted to 4.5 million rubles, a huge amount of money at that time. The profitability of the Russian-American company was 700-1100% per year. This was facilitated by the great demand for sea otter skins; their cost from the late 18th century to the 20s of the 19th century increased from 100 rubles per skin to 300 (sable cost about 20 times less).
Rezanov Nikolay Petrovich.
But the greed of officials grew, of course - such money passes by, and the state decided to strengthen its control and share of the profits. After the death of Baranov (in 1818), the decision to tighten control was pushed through, and naval officers were placed in the leadership. In 1821, a change was made to the charter - now only officers could manage the company. Several more members of the imperial family became shareholders. The managers set their salary at 1,500 rubles per year (an order of magnitude higher than in the army), the head of the company began to receive 150 thousand rubles per year. The exploitation of the indigenous inhabitants of Russian America (Aleuts and others) was intensified: the purchase price of a sea otter decreased from 10 rubles. to 5, and for the arctic fox - from 1 ruble to 50 kopecks. Hunters, in order to compensate for the decrease in value, increased the number of animals killed, and as a result, by the 1840s, the population of valuable animals decreased sharply. This was one of the reasons for several riots by local Indians.
As a result, profitability fell sharply; instead of systematically populating the territories with Russian peasants, developing them, building settlements, new cities, and building local enterprises, the parastatal company (shared with the imperial “family”) predatorily exploited the territory’s biological resources.
Since the 40s, the Russian-American company tried to establish new types of business: hitting whales, mining coal, speculating in Chinese tea, but it did not succeed anywhere. And the income from such activities was much less. As a result, the state had to pay the company state aid - 200 thousand rubles. per year, give interest-free loans from the treasury, while officials did not reduce their huge salaries. When Alaska was sold to the States, the state forgave the company a debt of 725 thousand rubles.
In 1866, the Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire, Reitern, gave several reasons for the sale of Alaska:
The Russian-American company did not carry out either sufficient Russification of the population or its lasting settlement.
The company did not develop merchant shipping.
The company has ceased to make a profit and exists due to government subsidies.
Russian River (Slavyanka) in California.
Fort Ross.
Attitude to the deal in the US and Russian society
There were few supporters of the Alaska purchase in the United States; only Secretary of State William Seward spoke in favor of it. Congress and the Senate were against it, and there was enough trouble with their territories. The Russian envoy in Washington, Steckl, even gave bribes to “promote” the idea of sale - 30 thousand dollars to the owner of the Washington newspaper “Daily Morning Chronicle” J. Forney; 1 thousand dollars to the editor of the Alta California newspaper M. Noah; 10 thousand dollars to the owner of the Western Union telegraph company D. Forney. 73 thousand dollars were given in bribes to 10 members of the US Congress. In total, they spent 165 thousand dollars on bribes. American society was not happy with the purchase - American newspapers called it “Seward's Folly.”
The opinion of the majority of the Russian public was well expressed by the publisher of “Voice” A. A. Kraevsky: “Today, yesterday and the day before today we are transmitting and have been transmitting telegrams received from New York and London about the sale of Russia’s possessions in North America...”
We, now, as then, cannot regard such an incredible rumor as anything other than a cruel joke on the gullibility of society. RAC conquered this territory and established settlements on it with a huge donation of labor and even blood of Russian people. For more than half a century, the company spent its capital on the durable establishment and organization of its colonies, on the maintenance of the fleet, and the spread of Christianity and civilization in this distant country. These expenses were made for the future, and only in the future could they pay for themselves.
If sold, the company loses everything. Moreover, the amount paid by America for Alaska is so insignificant that it can hardly be assumed that it could have any serious significance for our finances, even in their current non-prosperous situation.”
Fort Ross in 1828.
Was there a military danger?
Some authors argue that there was a military danger. They say that the Russian Empire simply could not defend these territories, given the defeat in the Crimean War. But during the war of 1853-1856, St. Petersburg was able to agree with London that they would not attack each other’s colonial possessions.
And if someone had been able to seize the possessions of the Russian Empire (we must remember that the United States of that time was a provincial country that had no weight in international affairs), no one would have stopped St. Petersburg from recapturing them later - after the combat effectiveness of the army and navy had been restored.
The USA had just emerged from the bloody Civil War of 1861-1865, they were ruined, they had no time for campaigns of conquest, and besides, British Canada was nearby. And, as we have seen, American society was against the purchase of these territories, much less would they fight for them.
Russia could easily keep these territories for itself, without even developing them (until gold and oil were found). The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the creation of Pacific Fleet bases in the late 19th and early 20th centuries would have made Russian America more accessible to development and control.
By giving up these territories, St. Petersburg itself created a competitor for itself - the United States, strengthening it with access to the Arctic and gaining the opportunity to control the North Pacific Ocean.
Signing of the agreement on the sale of Alaska. From a painting by the artist Emmanuel Leitze.
Who's to blame
The main culprits of this shameful deal were Emperor Alexander II, his brother Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich (liberal, naval inspector), Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire M. Reitern (in the modern world he would be called a monetarist, Kudrin of that time), Russian Ambassador to the USA Stekl.
Despite the fact that even the money did not arrive in Russia, it went to the West to pay for railway equipment. This was another scam of the businessmen of that time - the railway one.
Stekl Eduard Andreevich
US Treasury check for the purchase of Alaska from Russia.
Hawaiian Islands
Baranov was a true Russian statesman, and under other circumstances (for example, another emperor on the throne) the Hawaiian Islands could become a Russian naval base and resort.
In the early 1800s, Baranov established trade with Hawaii - they bought salt and products for Alaska, Kamchatka and other territories. Since the local princelings were constantly at war with each other, Baranov offered one of them patronage. In May 1816, one of the leaders - Tomari (Kaumualia) - officially transferred to Russian citizenship.
On the island of Kauai in 1816-1817, the Elizabethan fortress was built, the so-called “Schaeffer plan”. By 1821, other Russian outposts had been built. The Russians could also take control of the Marshall Islands.
By 1825, Russian power was increasingly strengthened, Tomari became king, the children of the leaders studied in the capital of the Russian Empire, the first Russian-Hawaiian dictionary was created, trade was underway: Russian ships brought salt, sandalwood, tropical fruits, coffee, and sugar from Hawaii. They planned to populate the islands with Old Believers-Pomors from the Arkhangelsk province.
But in the end, St. Petersburg abandoned the idea of making the Hawaiian and Marshall Islands Russian. Although their strategic position is obvious, their development was also economically profitable.
Twenty-fourth US Secretary of State William Henry Seward (1801-1872).
P . S.
The signing of the treaty took place on March 30, 1867 in Washington. An area of 1 million 519 thousand square meters. km was sold for $7.2 million in gold, that is, $0.0474 per hectare. Is it a lot or a little? If the current dollar costs 0.0223663 grams of gold, then the one from 1861 contained 1.50463 grams. This means that the then dollar was equal to 67 dollars 27 cents in today's money. Consequently, we sold Alaska at the rate of 3.19 current dollars per hectare.
If we now, at the end of 2010, had to sell all of Siberia at these prices, we would have been given only 3 billion 105 million 241 thousand dollars for it. Agree, not much.
How much should Russian America be sold for? One tithe (2.1 hectares) cost 50-100 rubles in European provinces, depending on the quality of the land. Waste land in Siberia was sold for 3 kopecks per square fathom (4.5369 sq. m.). So, if you divide all these 1 million 519 thousand square meters. km by the number of square fathoms and multiply all this by three kopecks, you get an amount of 10 billion and another 44 million rubles - 1395 times more than the amount for which Alaska was sold. True, America would hardly have been able to pay such a sum then - its annual budget was 2.1 billion dollars or 2.72 billion rubles at that time.
By the way, it would also not have been possible to pay off the debt to the Rothschilds with the money received for Alaska. The then British pound was worth $4.87. That is, the borrowed amount was $73 million. Alaska was sold for less than a tenth of this amount.
However, Russia did not get this money either. The Russian ambassador to the USA (North American United States) Eduard Stekl received a check in the amount of 7 million 035 thousand dollars - of the original 7.2 million he kept 21 thousand for himself, and distributed 144 thousand as bribes to senators who voted for ratification of the treaty. And he transferred these 7 million to London by bank transfer, and the gold bars purchased for this amount were transported from London to St. Petersburg by sea. When converting first into pounds and then into gold, another 1.5 million was lost, but this was not the last loss.
The bark "Orkney", which had a precious cargo on board, sank on July 16, 1868 on the approach to St. Petersburg. Whether there was gold in it at that time, or whether it never left Foggy Albion at all, is unknown. The insurance company that insured the ship and cargo declared bankruptcy, and the damage was only partially compensated.
The mystery of the death of the Orkney was revealed seven years later: on December 11, 1875, while loading luggage onto the Moselle steamer, departing from Bremen to New York, a powerful explosion occurred. 80 people were killed and another 120 were injured. The documents accompanying the cargo survived, and by five o'clock in the evening of the same day, the investigation learned the name of the owner of the exploding luggage. He turned out to be an American citizen, William Thomson.
According to the documents, he was sailing to Southampton, and his luggage was supposed to go to the United States. When they tried to arrest Thomson, he tried to shoot himself, but he died only on the 17th from blood poisoning. During this time, he managed to confess. However, he admitted not only to an attempt to send the Moselle steamer to the bottom in order to receive insurance payment for lost luggage.
In this way, he has already sent almost a dozen ships to the bottom.
It turned out that Thomson learned the technology of making time bombs during the American Civil War, in which he fought on the side of the southerners with the rank of captain. But, being a captain, Thomson did not command a company, a squadron, or a battery. He served in the SSC - Secret Service Corps. The SSC was the world's first commando unit. His agents blew up warehouses, trains and ships of the northerners, disrupting the supply of the enemy army.
However, the war ended, and the captain of the defeated army found himself out of work. In search of happiness, he sailed to England, where the then British intelligence services quickly drew attention to him - his skills were no secret to them. One day Thomson was arrested for a drunken brawl, and in his cell he was given a man who promised him a thousand pounds for carrying out one delicate assignment. These thousand pounds then cost 4866 dollars or 6293 rubles. With this money in Russia one could buy an estate of one hundred dessiatines of land, and in America - a huge ranch for a thousand head of cattle. In current money, as of December 8, 2010, this is 326 thousand 338 dollars.
Having been released a few days later, Thomson got a job as a port loader and, under the guise of a bag of coal, smuggled a mine with a clock mechanism on board the Orkney. When there were several hours left before entering the St. Petersburg harbor, an explosion occurred in the coal hold, and the Orkney sank.
When the task was completed, Thomson received from the same man a thousand pounds sterling and an order to immediately leave England, signed by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli himself.
Thomson moved to Dresden, the capital of the then independent Saxony. There he bought a house, got married, had children and lived peacefully under the name of William Thomas until the remains of those same thousand feet began to come to an end. It was then that Thomson decided to send insured luggage overseas and send steamships to the bottom. On average, he sent to the bottom one steamship per year, and they all disappeared in the area of the Bermuda Triangle, and although Associated Press correspondent Jones first mentioned “mysterious disappearances” in the Bermuda Triangle in the press, it was only on September 16, 1950 that sailors’ stories about the enchanted They began to walk in this area of the sea precisely from this time.
P.S. The Orkney sinking site is now located in Finnish territorial waters. In 1975, a joint Soviet-Finnish expedition examined the area where it sank and found the wreckage of the ship. The study confirmed that there was a powerful explosion and a strong fire on the ship. However, it was not possible to find gold - most likely, it remained in England.
P . P . S . There was, however, one benefit from the sale of Alaska - as a bonus, the Americans transferred to Russia the drawings and production technology for the Berdan rifle. This brought Russia out of the state of permanent rearmament and made it possible during the Russian-Turkish War to take partial revenge for the defeat in the Crimean campaign
And D.I. Pavlutsky -1735. Gvozdev's expedition recorded the territory of Cape Prince of Wales.
Russian America
In 1763-1765, a native uprising occurred in the Aleutian Islands, which was brutally suppressed by Russian industrialists. In 1772, the first Russian trading settlement was founded on the Aleutian Unalaska. In the summer of 1784, an expedition under the command of G.I. Shelekhov (-) landed on the Aleutian Islands and on August 14 founded the Russian settlement of Kodiak. In 1791, Fort St. was founded on the American continent. Nicholas. In 1792/1793, the expedition of the industrialist Vasily Ivanov reached the banks of the Yukon River.
In September 1794, an Orthodox mission consisting of 8 monks from the Valaam and Konevsky monasteries and the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, led by Archimandrite Joasaph (since April 10, 1799, Bishop of Kodiak), arrived on the island of Kodiak. Immediately upon arrival, the missionaries immediately began to build a temple and convert the pagans to the Orthodox faith. Since 1816, married priests also served in Alaska. Orthodox missionaries made a significant contribution to the development of Russian America.
Russia clashed with the British Hudson's Bay Company. To avoid misunderstandings, the eastern border of Alaska was delineated in 1825 by agreement between Russia and Great Britain (now the border between Alaska and British Columbia).
Selling Alaska
As part of the USA
To meet the spiritual needs of the Orthodox residents of Alaska, the Aleutian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church was created in 1870 (currently the Diocese of Alaska within the Orthodox Church in America). Until 1917, bishops and priests came from Russia to Alaska, icons, vestments and church utensils, spiritual and liturgical literature were sent, and funds were received for the construction and maintenance of churches and schools.
In 1880, the leader of one of the Tlingit Indian tribes named Covey led two prospectors to a stream flowing into Gastineau Strait. Joseph Juneau and Richard Harris found gold there and laid claim to the site - "Golden Brook", which turned out to be one of the richest gold mines. A village grew nearby, and then the city of Juneau, which in 1906 became the capital of Alaska. Ketchikan's history began in 1887, when the first cannery was built. The region developed slowly until the start of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1896. During the years of the gold rush in Alaska, about one thousand tons of gold were mined, which in April 2005 prices corresponded to 13-14 billion dollars.
"Gold rush"
The rush began when prospectors George Carmack, Jim Skookum, and Charlie Dawson discovered gold on Bonanza Creek, which flows into the Klondike River, on August 16, 1896. News of this quickly spread to the inhabitants of the Yukon River basin. However, it took another year for the information to reach the wider world. Gold was not exported until June 1897, when navigation opened and the ocean liners Excelsior and Portland took on cargo from the Klondike. The Excelsior arrived in San Francisco on July 17, 1897, with a cargo worth nearly half a million dollars, arousing public interest. When Portland arrived in Seattle three days later, it was greeted by a crowd. Newspapers reported half a ton of gold, but this was an understatement since the ship carried more than a ton of the metal.
In 1911, August 17 was declared Opening Day in the Yukon Territory. Discovery Day). Over time, the third Monday in August became a day off. The main festivities take place in the city of Dawson.
Alaska Territory
In 1912, Alaska received territorial status. In 1916, the population of Alaska numbered 58 thousand people. The economy was based on copper mining and fishing.
On June 3, 1942, Japanese aircraft attacked the Dutch Harbor Naval Station and Fort Mears in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. In the same year, the Japanese took possession of a number of islands near Alaska for a year: Attu (June 6) and Kiska. In 1943, the bloody Battle of Attu took place there between the Japanese garrison of the island and the American-Canadian landing force. As a result of this battle, 3,500 soldiers died on both sides.
US state
The post-war confrontation between America and the Soviet Union, the years of the Cold War further strengthened the role of Alaska as a shield against a possible transpolar attack and contributed to the development of its uninhabited spaces. Alaska was declared a state on January 3, 1959. Since 1968, various mineral resources have been exploited, particularly in the Prudhoe Bay area, southeast of Point Barrow. In 1977, an oil pipeline was laid from Prudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil spill caused serious environmental pollution.
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An excerpt characterizing the History of Alaska“Dismiss the old man to the village, who remains so disgraced that he could not fulfill the great and glorious lot to which he was chosen. I will await your most gracious permission to do so here at the hospital, so as not to play the role of a clerk, and not a commander in the army. Excommunicating me from the army will not make the slightest disclosure that the blind man has left the army. There are thousands of people like me in Russia.”“Le Marieechal se fache contre l"Empereur et nous punit tous; n"est ce pas que with"est logique! “Voila le premier acte. Aux suivants l"interet et le ridicule montent comme de raison. Apres le depart du Marieechal il se trouve que nous sommes en vue de l"ennemi, et qu"il faut livrer bataille. Boukshevden est general en chef par droit d"anciennete, mais le general Benigsen n"est pas de cet avis; d"autant plus qu"il est lui, avec son corps en vue de l"ennemi, et qu"il veut profiter de l"occasion d"une bataille „aus eigener Hand “ comme disent les Allemands. Il la donne. C"est la bataille de Poultousk qui est sensee etre une grande victoire, mais qui a mon avis ne l"est pas du tout, comme vous savez, une tres vilaine. habitude de decider du gain ou de la perte d"une bataille. Celui qui s"est retire apres la bataille, l"a perdu, voila ce que nous disons, et a ce titre nous avons perdu la bataille de Poultousk. Bref, nous nous retirons apres la bataille, mais nous envoyons un courrier a Petersbourg, qui porte les nouvelles d"une victoire, et le general ne cede pas le commandement en chef a Boukshevden, esperant recevoir de Petersbourg en reconnaissance de sa victoire le titre de general en chef. Pendant cet interregne, nous commencons un plan de man? uvres excessivement interessant et original. Boukshevden, qui par droit d"ancnnete serait notre chef. Nous poursuivons ce but avec tant d"energie, que meme en passant une riviere qui n"est ras gueable, nous brulons les ponts pour nous separer de notre ennemi, qui pour le moment, n"est pas Bonaparte, mais Boukshevden. Le general Boukshevden a manque etre attaque et pris par des forces ennemies superieures a cause d"une de nos belles man?uvres qui nous sauvait de lui. Boukshevden nous poursuit – nous filons. A peine passe t il de notre cote de la riviere, que nous repassons de l"autre. A la fin notre ennemi Boukshevden nous attrappe et s"attaque a nous. Les deux generaux se fachent. Il y a meme une provocation en duel de la part de Boukshevden et une attaque d "epilepsie de la part de Benigsen. Mais au moment critique le courrier, qui porte la nouvelle de notre victoire de Poultousk, nous apporte de Petersbourg notre nomination de general en chef, et le premier ennemi Boukshevden est enfonce: nous pouvons penser au second, a Bonaparte. Mais ne voila t il pas qu"a ce moment se leve devant nous un troisieme ennemi, c"est le Orthodox qui demande a grands cris du pain , de la viande, des souchary, du foin, – que sais je! Les magasins sont vides, les chemins impraticables. Le Orthodox se met a la Marieaude, et d"une maniere dont la derieniere campagne ne peut vous donner la moindre idee. La moitie des regiments forme des troupes libres, qui parcourent la contree en mettant tout a feu et a sang. Les habitants sont ruines de fond en comble, les hopitaux regorgent de malades, et la disette est partout. une de ces attaques on m"a importe ma malle vide et ma robe de chambre. L"Empereur veut donner le droit a tous les chefs de divisions de fusiller les Marieaudeurs, mais je crins fort que cela n"oblige une moitie de l"armee de fusiller l"autre. [Since our brilliant successes at Austerlitz, you know, my dear prince, that I have not left the more important apartments. I have decidedly acquired a taste for war, and I am very pleased with it; what I saw these three months is incredible. “I start ab ovo. The enemy of the human race, known to you, is attacking the Prussians. The Prussians are our faithful allies, who deceived us only three times in three years. We stand up for them. But it turns out that the enemy of the human race does not pay any attention to our charming speeches, and in his discourteous and wild manner rushes at the Prussians, not giving them time to finish their begun parade, smashes them to smithereens and takes up residence in the Potsdam palace. “I really wish,” the Prussian king writes to Bonaparte, that your majesty be received in my palace in the most pleasant manner for you, and with special care I made all the necessary orders for this, as far as circumstances allowed. I really wish that I achieve my goal.” Prussian generals show off their politeness before the French and surrender on demand. The commander of the Glogau garrison, with ten thousand, asks the Prussian king what he should do if he has to surrender. All this is positively true. In a word, we thought to instill fear in them only by the position of our military forces, but it ends up being that we are involved in a war, on our own border and, most importantly, for the Prussian king and at the same time with him. We have everything in abundance, only one little thing is missing, namely, the commander-in-chief. Since it turned out that Austerlitz’s successes could have been more positive if the commander-in-chief had not been so young, a review of octogenarian generals is made, and the latter is chosen between Prozorovsky and Kamensky. The general comes to us in a Suvorovski carriage, and he is received with joyful and solemn exclamations. On the 4th the first courier from St. Petersburg arrives. They bring suitcases to the office of the field marshal, who likes to do everything himself. They call me to help sort through the letters and take those that are assigned to us. The field marshal, leaving us to do this task, is waiting for envelopes addressed to him. We are looking - but they are not there. The field marshal begins to worry, gets to work himself and finds letters from the sovereign to Count T., Prince V. and others. He becomes extremely angry, loses his temper, takes the letters, opens them and reads the Emperor’s letters addressed to others... Then he writes the famous daily order to General Bennigsen. The field marshal is angry with the sovereign and punishes us all: isn’t this logical! Here's the first step. With the following, interest and fun increase, it goes without saying. After the field marshal leaves, it turns out that we are in sight of the enemy, and it is necessary to give battle. Buxhoeveden, the commander-in-chief by seniority, but General Bennigsen is not at all of the same opinion, especially since he and his corps are in sight of the enemy, and wants to take the opportunity to fight on his own. He gives it. This is the Battle of Pultu, which is considered a great victory, but which is not at all like that, in my opinion. We civilians have, as you know, a very bad habit of deciding whether a battle is won or lost. The one who retreated after the battle lost it, that's what we say, and judging by this, we lost the Battle of Pultu. In a word, we are retreating after the battle, but we send a courier to St. Petersburg with the news of the victory, and General Bennigsen does not yield command of the army to General Buxhoeveden, hoping to receive from St. Petersburg the title of commander-in-chief in gratitude for his victory. During this interregnum, we begin a very original and interesting series of maneuvers. Our plan no longer consists, as it should have consisted, in avoiding or attacking the enemy, but only in avoiding General Buxhoeveden, who by right of seniority should have been our superior. We pursue this goal with such energy that even when crossing a river that has no fords, we burn the bridge in order to alienate our enemy, who at the present time is not Bonaparte, but Buxhoeveden. General Buxhoeveden was almost attacked and captured by superior enemy forces, as a result of one of these maneuvers that saved us from him. Buxhoeveden is pursuing us - we are running. As soon as he crosses to our side of the river, we cross to the other. Finally our enemy Buxhoeveden catches us and attacks. Both generals are angry and it comes to a challenge to a duel from Buxhoeveden and an attack of epilepsy from Bennigsen. But at the most critical moment, the courier who carried the news of the Pultus victory to St. Petersburg returns and brings us the appointment of the commander-in-chief, and the first enemy, Buxhoeveden, is defeated. We can now think about the second enemy - Bonaparte. But it turns out that at this very moment a third enemy appears before us - the Orthodox, who with loud cries demands bread, beef, crackers, hay, oats - and you never know what else! The shops are empty, the roads are impassable. The Orthodox begins to plunder, and the plunder reaches a degree of which the last campaign could not give you the slightest idea. Half of the regiments form free teams that go around the country and put everything to the sword and flame. Residents are completely ruined, hospitals are filled with sick people, and there is hunger everywhere. Twice the marauders even attacked the main apartment, and the commander-in-chief was forced to take a battalion of soldiers to drive them away. During one of these attacks, my empty suitcase and robe were taken from me. The Emperor wants to give all division commanders the right to shoot marauders, but I am very afraid that this will force one half of the army to shoot the other.] Prince Andrei at first read with only his eyes, but then involuntarily what he read (despite the fact that he knew how much he should have believed Bilibin) began to occupy him more and more. Having read this far, he crumpled the letter and threw it away. It was not what he read in the letter that made him angry, but he was angry that this life there, alien to him, could bother him. He closed his eyes, rubbed his forehead with his hand, as if driving away all interest in what he was reading, and listened to what was happening in the nursery. Suddenly he heard a strange sound outside the door. Fear came over him; he was afraid that something had happened to the child while he was reading the letter. He tiptoed to the nursery door and opened it. The minute he entered, he saw that the nanny, with a frightened look, had hidden something from him, and that Princess Marya was no longer at the crib. “My friend,” he heard from behind him the desperate, as it seemed to him, whisper of Princess Marya. As often happens after a long period of insomnia and prolonged anxiety, an unreasonable fear came over him: it occurred to him that the child had died. Everything he saw and heard seemed to him to be confirmation of his fear. “It’s all over,” he thought, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead! He walked up to the crib in confusion, confident that he would find it empty, that the nanny was hiding a dead child. He opened the curtains, and for a long time his frightened, darting eyes could not find the child. Finally he saw him: a ruddy boy, spread out, lying across the crib, lowering his head below the pillow and smacking his lips in his sleep, moving his lips, and breathing evenly. Prince Andrei was delighted to see the boy as if he had already lost him. He bent down and, as his sister had taught him, tried with his lips to see if the child had a fever. His tender forehead was wet, he touched his head with his hand - even his hair was wet: the child was sweating so much. Not only did he not die, but now it was obvious that the crisis had occurred and that he had recovered. Prince Andrei wanted to grab, crush, press this small, helpless creature to his chest; he didn't dare do it. He stood over him, looking at his head, arms, legs, which were located under the blanket. A rustling sound was heard next to him, and some shadow appeared to him under the canopy of the crib. He didn’t look back and listened to everything, looking into the child’s face and his even breathing. The dark shadow was Princess Marya, who with silent steps approached the crib, raised the curtain and lowered it behind her. Prince Andrei, without looking back, recognized her and extended his hand to her. She squeezed his hand. “He’s sweating,” said Prince Andrei. - I came to you to tell you this. The child moved slightly in his sleep, smiled and rubbed his forehead on the pillow. Prince Andrei looked at his sister. The radiant eyes of Princess Marya, in the matte half-light of the canopy, shone more than usual from the happy tears that stood in them. Princess Marya reached out to her brother and kissed him, lightly touching him to the canopy of the crib. They threatened each other and stood still in the dull light of the canopy, as if not wanting to part with this world in which the three of them were separated from the whole world. Prince Andrei was the first, tangling his hair on the muslin canopy, to move away from the crib. - Yes. “This is the only thing left for me now,” he said with a sigh. Soon after his admission into the brotherhood of Masons, Pierre, with a complete manual written for himself about what he was supposed to do on his estates, left for the Kyiv province, where most of his peasants were located. |
The history of Alaska before its sale to the United States in 1867 is one of the pages of the history of Russia.
In the middle of the 17th century. Russian explorers and sailors reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The program of further discoveries and research at the border of Asia and America was outlined by Peter I. Equipping the First Kamchatka Expedition, on January 6, 1725, Peter I defined its main tasks as follows:
1. “... it is necessary to make one or two boats with decks in Kamchatka or another place there...”;
Alaska History
“... on these boats (to follow) near the land that goes north, and according to hope (before they don’t know the end), it seems that that land is part of America...”;
3. “...and in order to look for where it came together with America...”.
In 1728, this expedition led by V. Bering on the boat “St. Gabriel" from Kamchatka passed to 67 18 s. w. and established that Asia “did not agree” with America, but the sailors returned to their starting point without seeing the American continent.
Four years later, in August 1732, navigator I. Fedorov and surveyor M. Gvozdev on the same boat discovered the American coast lying opposite the “Chukchi nose”, maneuvered for two days in close proximity to it and established that it was “ not an island, but a great, Great Land.”
In 1741, the packet boats of the Second Kamchatka Expedition “St. Peter" under the command of V. Bering and "St. Pavel”, led by A. Chirikov, left Petropavlovsk, which had just been built in Kamchatka, crossed the Pacific Ocean and discovered the northwestern shores of America. On October 10, 1741, A. Chirikov reached Peter and Paul Harbor. V. Bering did not reach Kamchatka; death overtook him on December 8, 1741 on a deserted island, which was later named after him. The surviving companions of V. Bering returned to Peter and Paul Harbor on August 26, 1742.
Assessing the scientific and political results of the second expedition of V. Bering and A. Chirikov, the Soviet historian A. V. Efimov recognized them as enormous, because during the Second Kamchatka Expedition, the American coast was reliably mapped for the first time in history as “part of North America.” Thus ended the second Russian expedition, which discovered the northwestern coast of the North American continent.
The Russian Empress Elizabeth had no interest in the lands of North America. She issued a decree obliging the local population to pay duties on trade, but did not take any further steps towards developing relations with Alaska.
For the next 50 years, Tsarist Russia showed very little interest in this land.
But in 1743, Russian traders and fur trappers established very close contact with the Aleuts. The European diseases that the new settlers brought to the Aleuts were fatal to the natives of the new continent. Smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, venereal diseases, pneumonia - became the weapons that almost exterminated the Aleuts. Before contact with Europeans, the Aleut population numbered 15-20 thousand people. In 1834 there were only 2,247 of them left, in 1848 there were already 1,400. Since 1864, when the Russians settled on the islands, the Aleut population has again jumped sharply to 2,005 people - thanks to mixed marriages and the influx of new blood. But by 1890 it had dropped again to 1,702 people.
The furs delivered by the crew of the St. Peter" with Fr. Bering, stories about islands rich in sea animals aroused the interest of enterprising Russian commercial and industrial people. Moving east along the Aleutian Islands, discovering new lands, they drew up maps, although they were not very accurate.
After V. Bering and A. Chirikov, who first visited the Alaska Peninsula in 1741, the navigator G. Pushkarev (participant of the Second Kamchatka Expedition of V. Bering) arrived on the ship “Gabriel” in 1760. For wintering and fishing on the island, “ called Atha." “Through the winter,” G. Pushkarev wrote in his report, “... we set off from this Athi island to the second named Alaska on May 26th (1761).”
In 1762, Empress Catherine the Great became the ruler of Russia, and the government again turned its attention to the Aleuts. Catherine issued a decree in 1769 that abolished duties on trade with the Aleuts, and also issued a decree that ordered the government to be concerned with the fate of the Aleut people. Unfortunately, the empress's decree remained only a decree on paper. Without the control and supervision of the ruler over its implementation, it was not carried out.
Some information and maps of Russian industrialists, even before their publication, were used by M. V. Lomonosov when developing the project of the Northern Sea Route in 1764. Having become acquainted with the materials of the expedition of S. G. Glotov, M. V. Lomonosov suggested that the “hazelnut” ("Alahshak") may be a cape.
However, the government expedition of P.K. Krenitsyn and M.D. Levashov (1764-1769), sent to check the data of S.G. Glotov and S.T. Ponomarev, showed “Alaska” as an island on the final survey map.
The above-mentioned peninsula was first shown as the Alaska Peninsula on a map compiled during the third voyage of the English expedition of J. Cook, which visited the northern waters of the Pacific Ocean in 1778-1779. However, on this map a group of islands merged with it - Kodiak, Shuyak and Marmot, because J. Cook did not notice the strait (Shelikhov Strait) separating these islands from the mainland.
“The narrow part of Northwestern America, extending several hundred miles to the southwest, is called Alaska or Alyaksa, and in Aleutian Alahshak,” wrote the Russian missionary to Unalashka I. E. Veniaminov. Translated from Aleutian “a-la-as-ka” “Big Land”.
At the end of the 18th century. The Russians began to call “Alaska” not only the narrow peninsula, but also the entire northwestern protrusion of the North American continent. The name “Alaska” as applied to the northwestern part of the North American continent completely disappears in official documents in 1799 and is retained only as the geographical name of the saber-shaped Alaska Peninsula, which is still called that way on maps.
With the merger of the companies of merchants G.I. Shelikhov, I.I. and M.S. Golikov and N.P. Mylnikov in 1798, a single “Russian-American company” was created and in 1799 finally took shape. It received from Paul I monopoly rights to fur fishing, trade and the discovery of new lands in the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean, designed to represent and protect with its own means the interests of Russia in the Pacific Ocean.
Since 1800, the main board of the company, consisting of several directors, was located in St. Petersburg on the Moika River near the Blue Bridge. The company was declared to be under "the highest patronage." Since 1801, the company's shareholders were Alexander I and the grand dukes and major statesmen.
Shelikhov died in 1795. His son-in-law and legal heir of the Russian-American Company, Nikolai Petrovich Ryazanov, received the right to a monopoly American fur trade from the ruler of Russia, Emperor Paul I, in 1799. This authority obliged the company to take ownership of the northern territories previously discovered by the Russians. And establish Russian missions not only on them, but also on new lands, however, trying not to come into conflict with other powers.
In 1812, Baranov, director of the Russian-American Company, established the southern representative office of the company (on the shores of California's Bodija Bay). This mission was named Russian Village, now known as Fort Ross. Later, in 1841, Fort Ross was sold to John Sutter, a German industrialist who went down in California history thanks to his sawmill in Coloma, on the territory of which a gold mine was found in 1848, which began the famous California Gold Rush.
Baranov left the post of director of the Russian-American Company in 1818 (retired). He wanted to return home to Russia, but died on the way.
Naval officers took over the management of the company and contributed to the development of the company. And in 1821, the company’s policy stipulated the following point: from now on, only naval officers were to be the leaders of the Russian-American Company. The company's naval leadership improved its administration and expanded its colonies. However, unlike Baranov, the naval leadership had very little interest in the trading business itself, and were extremely nervous about the settlement of Alaska by the British and Americans. The management of the company, in the name of the Russian Emperor, prohibited the invasion of all foreign ships within 160 km of the waters near the Russian colonies in Alaska. Of course, such an order was immediately protested by Great Britain and the United States government.
The dispute with the United States was settled by a convention in 1824, which determined the exact northern and southern boundaries of Russian territory in Alaska. In 1825, Russia came to an agreement with Britain, also defining the exact eastern and western borders. The Russian Empire gave both sides (Britain and the United States) the right to trade in Alaska for 10 years, after which Alaska completely became the property of Russia.
In relation to the territory subordinate to the “Russian-American Company” on the North American continent, Russian official documents used the names: “Russian-American villages”, “Russian colonies in America”, “Russian North American colonies”, etc. But only in one official document does the term “Russian America” appear. We are talking about the “Report on the review of the Russian-American colonies of the actual state councilor S. A. Kostlitsev,” who conducted an audit of the activities of the “Russian-American Company” in 1860-1861.
However, the term “Russian America” was used in the 60s of the 19th century. and in informal documents. Naval officer D.I. Nedelkovich, an employee of the Russian-American Company, called Russia’s colonies in America that way in his diary.
Exploring the origin of the term “Russian America,” the Soviet historian N. N. Bokhotinov rightly noted that “as a result of Russian expeditions of the 18th century. Asia “converged” with America and more or less systematic and lasting contacts began between the two neighboring continents. Russia has become not only a European and Asian, but also, to some extent, an American power. The term “Russian America...” appeared and won citizenship rights.
More than one hundred and thirty years have passed since in the capital of Russian America, Novo-Arkhangelsk, in accordance with the treaty on the cession of Alaska by Russia to the United States, on October 18, 1867, with salvos from a Russian coastal battery and American naval artillery, the flag of the “Russian-American Company” was lowered and The stars and stripes flag of the United States of America rose: the official ceremony of transferring Russian possessions in America to the United States took place.
After 1867, the part of the North American continent ceded by Russia to the United States received the status of “Alaska Territory”. On January 3, 1959, the Territory of Alaska was created as the 49th state of the United States.
