Who, how and when to sell Alaska
Money from the sale of Alaska to Russia and has not received.
On the sale of Alaska go thousands of myths. Many believe that it has sold more Catherine II, some believe that it is not sold and loaned for 99 years, and allegedly Brezhnev refused to take her back. About how things actually, I'll tell you now. In 1861 in the Russian serfdom was abolished. To compensate landlords, Alexander II was forced in 1862 podzanyat Rothschilds £ 15 million at 5% per annum. However, the Rothschilds had something to return, and then the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich - the younger brother of the Emperor - offered to sell "anything unnecessary." The most useless thing in Russia turned out to Alaska.
The flag of Alaska until 1868
Gloomy overcast day December 16, 1866 in St. Petersburg held a special meeting, which was attended by Alexander II, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, the finance ministers and the Ministry of the Navy, as well as the Russian ambassador in Washington, Baron Edward A. Stoeckl. All participants endorsed the idea of selling. At the suggestion of the Ministry of Finance was determined threshold amount - not less than 5 million dollars in gold. December 22, 1866 Alexander II approved the border area. In March 1867 Stoeckl arrived in Washington and formally addressed to Secretary of State William Seward.
A check made payable to the Russian Ambassador Americans when buying Alaska
In those years the North American States was the only ally of Russia. In 1863-64., Two Russian squadron commanded by Rear Admirals Lesovsky SS and AA Popov took part in the hostilities on the side of the federal government to create the North Communications threat Britain and France support the South, and thereby , contributed to the victory of the Northmen. It is not surprising that it has been decided to sell Alaska American friends so that she did not get the British enemies.
Alaska, opened August 21 1732 komandoyrusskogo bot "St. Gabriel "under nachalomgeodezista Gvozdev and podshturmanaI.Fedorova during the expedition, AF Shestakov and DI Pavlutsky was the only major Russian ownership is the Eurasian continent (except outside the Russian Eurasia belonged to the Sandwich Islands and Fort Ross) .
Signing the agreement on sale of Alaska March 30, 1867. From left to right: Robert S. Chu, William H. Seward, William Hunter, Vladimir Bodisko Eduard Stoeckl, Charles Sumner, Frederick Seward.
The agreement was signed March 30, 1867 in Washington. An area of 1.519 million square meters. km was sold for 7, 2 million dollars in gold, ie, 0, 0474 dollars per hectare. A lot or a little? If the current dollar stoit 0 0,223,663 grams of gold, then - the sample in 1861 - contained 1, 50463 grams. This means that the dollar was then equal to 67 dollars 27 cents in today's money. Consequently, Alaska we sold at the rate of 3, 19 USD per hectare today.
If we now, at the end of 2010, had to sell at this price the whole of Siberia, then we would have given it for only 3 billion 105 million 241 thousand dollars. Agree, not a lot.
First page ratification of Russia's ratification of the agreement on the sale of Alaska, compiled 20 June 1867.
For how much should sell Russian America? One tithing (2, 1 hectare) cost in the European provinces of 50-100 rubles, depending on the quality of the land. Junk the earth in Siberia were sold at 3 kopecks per square fathom (4, 5369 sq. M). So, if you divide these 1.519 million square meters. km by the number of square yards and multiply it all on a penny, you get the amount of 10 billion and 44 million rubles - in 1395 times greater than the amount for which was sold to Alaska. However, this amount is unlikely to America could then pay - its annual budget amounted to 2, $ 1 billion, or 2, 72 billion rubles those days.
By the way, the Rothschilds repay money received for Alaska, too, have failed. The then British pound was worth 4, 87 dollars. That is, the occupied amount was $ 73 million. Alaska is sold for less than a tenth of that amount.
However, this money is not got to Russia. Russian Ambassador to the USA (North American United States) Eduard Stoeckl received a check in the amount of 7 million 035 thousand. Dollars - of the original 7, 2 million 21 thousand, he left himself and 144,000 distributed as bribes to senators who voted for the ratification of the treaty. And these 7 million he transferred to London by bank transfer, and even from London to St. Petersburg by sea drove purchased for this amount of gold bullion. When converting to pounds first and then gold was lost even 1, 5 million, but it was not the last loss.
Baron Edward A. Stoeckl [Stoeckle] (1804-1892). He was the son of an Austrian diplomat and Russian translator. Sale of Alaska, for which Alexander II granted him a one-time fee of 25 thousand dollars and a lifetime pension of 6,000 dollars per year, brought him fame. In 1869 he retired and went to Paris, where he lived until his death.
Bark "Orkney» (Orkney), carrying the precious cargo was, July 16, 1868 sank on its way to St. Petersburg. Was it at that time, gold, or it does not leave the Albion is unknown. The insurance company has insured the ship and cargo, declared itself bankrupt, and the damage has been compensated only in part.
The mystery of the death of "Orkney" was revealed after seven years 11 December 1875 when loading baggage on the ship 'Mosel' departing from Bremen to New York there was a powerful explosion. 80 people were killed and another 120 were injured. Accompany the consignment documents survived, and by five o'clock in the evening the same day, investigators learned the name of the owner of the exploded luggage. It appeared to be an American citizen William Thomson.
According to the documents, he sailed to Southampton and his luggage had to go to the United States. When Thompson tried to arrest him, he tried to kill himself, but he died only 17 the number of blood poisoning. During this time, he had to confess. However, he admitted not only in an attempt to send to the bottom of the steamer "Mosel" in order to obtain insurance payment for lost luggage.
In this way, he was sent to the bottom of nearly a dozen ships.
It turned out that the technology of a time bomb Thomson has learned during the American Civil War in which a captain fought on the Confederate side. But being a captain, Thomson did not command either a company or a squadron or battery. He served in the SSC - Secret Service Corps. SSC was the first in the world sabotage unit. His agents blew up depots, trains and ships northerners, disrupting supplies to the army of the enemy.
However, the war was over, and the captain of the defeated army was out of work. In search of happiness, he sailed to England, where it quickly drew the attention of the then British intelligence - his skills were not for them secret. Once Thompson was arrested for drunken brawl, and the camera to it hoisted the man who promised him a thousand pounds for the execution of the delicate tasks. These thousands of pounds worth then 4866 dollars or 6293 rubles. With the money in Russia could buy exactly the size of a hundred acres of land, and in America - a huge ranch a thousand head of cattle. In the current same money as at December 8, 2010 is 326 thousand 338 dollars.
Coming a few days of freedom, Thomson got a longshoreman and disguised as a bag of charcoal dragged on board "Orkney" mine with a clockwork mechanism. When the entrance to the harbor in St. Petersburg was only a few hours in the coal hold an explosion, and "Orkney" sank.
Twenty-fourth US Secretary of State William Henry Seward [William Henry Seward] (1801-1872). Each year, the State of Alaska for the last Monday in March celebrates Seward.
When the job was done, Thomson received from the same person a thousand pounds and determination to leave England immediately, signed by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.
Thompson 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 is the remains of those same thousands of feet have not started to come to an end. It was then decided to send Thomson insured baggage overseas and start at the bottom of the steamer. On average, he is sent to the bottom of one steamer in the year, and all of them disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle, and even in the press for the first time about the "mysterious disappearances" in the Bermuda Triangle mentioned correspondent Associated Press Jones, only on September 16, 1950, stories of sailors on an enchanted part of the sea began to go from that time.
P.S. Now place the flooding "Orkney" is located in the territorial waters of Finland. In 1975, a joint Soviet-Finnish expedition explored the area and found his sinking ship wrecks. Research the add confirmed that the ship was a powerful explosion and a large fire. However, gold could not be found - most likely, it had remained in England.
P.P.S. There was, however, from the sale of Alaska still another benefit - as a bonus, the Americans gave Russia drawings and production technology Berdan rifle. It brought Russia out of permanent upgrading and helped in the Russian-Turkish war to take partial revenge for the defeat in the Crimean War.
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