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"Russian America" is perhaps one of the least known episodes in history...
Donald Trump will hold a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss a peace deal that would end the war in Ukraine.
However, if we go back almost 160 years, if the meeting had taken place then, Putin would have played this role. Russian America is perhaps one of the most forgotten colonial episodes, that of Russia's presence in the Pacific, the empire's only overseas presence.
Although the Spanish Empire (in the 15th century) and the British (18th century) considered Alaska to be part of their territory, it was the Russians who campaigned towards the shores of the peninsula when Peter the Great's expansionist plans reached the Pacific after the conquest of Kamchatka.
At the beginning of the 18th century, it was still unknown whether there was a sea between Asia and America, a doubt that was clarified by the expeditions of Vitus Bering, KP von Werdt and Alexei Chirikov. In the second of them, they were able to verify that the sea separated the continent from the American coast, after 7 years of exploration, to which 3 more were added to reach North America. In 1741, they reached southern Alaska, at Mount St. Elias, and began to establish temporary settlements during the expeditions.
It wasn’t the ambition to expand their empire that drove the Russians to colonize Alaska. It was furs, Russia’s main export, that they fell in love with when the crew returned home: sea otters. In fact, the activity that brought Russia into the global economy was the fur trade. It managed to monopolize everything through an alliance with the United States, creating a semi-private company.
Explorers and traders were the source of a Russian community that established its permanent settlement in New Archangel, present-day Sitka, in 1808. This was the capital of Russian America and one of the most powerful trading ports in the North Pacific.
Alaska, an opportunity for the USA
However, the Russian Empire never achieved the expected growth, a reflection of the grandeur of the Tsarist era, given the obstacle of distance from the homeland. Russia was a sparsely populated colony, composed of Russians and natives from Siberia. Given the low profitability, Tsar Alexander II had no problem selling Alaska in 1867.
To make the decision, he met with senior officials and his brother in St. Petersburg in a secret meeting. Three months later, the US paid $7.2 million (the equivalent of over $100 million, adjusted for inflation) for Alaska and ended Russian America.
This story offers a variety of interpretations for Trump's choice of Alaska location to meet with Putin. Is this a nod from the US president to the Russian leader? Or is it a way to convey the message that the US is always in control of the region? Either way, it's an important location.
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