Whose Alaska is it Anyway?

If you’re relatively new to the issues related to Kremlin propaganda and how it’s affecting other countries (including the United States), I recommend reading some background posts I wrote that explains things in more detail along with links to other sites where you can read more to educate yourself.

Anyone who has studied the history of Russia, Alaska, and the United States will know this basic history. The earliest people who lived in Alaska were the indigenous people. The Russian Empire laid claim to the area from 1732 to 1867 and it was even called Russian America. As the Wikipedia further explains:

By the middle of the 19th century, profits from Russia's North American colonies were in steep decline. Competition with the British Hudson's Bay Company had brought the sea otter to near extinction, while the population of bears, wolves, and foxes on land was also nearing depletion. Faced with the reality of periodic Native American revolts, the political ramifications of the Crimean War, and unable to fully colonize the Americas to their satisfaction, the Russians concluded that their North American colonies were too expensive to retain.

So the Russian Empire decided to sell Alaska. The United States decided to buy it in 1867. Nearly all of the Russian settlers had left Alaska soon after the purchase was made. Alaska would remain sparsely populated until the start of the Klondike Gold Rush. After the purchase it was initially known as the Department of Alaska. In 1884 it was renamed as the District of Alaska. In 1912 the name was changed again to the Territory of Alaska. In 1959 Alaska formally became a US state and it has remained so ever since.

It's pretty straightforward. Alaska was part of the Russian Empire. The Russian Empire sold Alaska to the United States and it has remained part of the US ever since 1867. You'd think that the issue has long since been settled in the 157 years since the US purchased Alaska from Russia.

Well, think again. With Russian leader Vladimir Putin's obsession with reconstructing the old Russian Empire/Soviet Union, Alaska has suddenly come into play as far as Russia is concerned. Last year this photo of a Russian billboard raised eyebrows because the slogan was translated as “Alaska is ours.”

And then there is this Russian billboard that says “We'll teach you to love the motherland.” Alaska is included as part of “Motherland Russia.”

If that weren’t enough, it was recently revealed that Putin had signed a decree declaring the sale of Alaska to the US to be illegal.

Here is the official letter signed by Putin in the original Russian and in an English translation.

Russia did a similar propaganda mechanism with Crimea, which was legally transferred to Ukraine under the Soviet Union. And we all know what happened to Crimea.

With Putin signing that decree, it doesn't mean that Russia will soon annex Alaska. In the case of Crimea, Russia had a strategic advantage in that it has the Sevastopol Naval Base.

With Alaska it would be way more challenging for Russia to simply annex it. First it is still fighting that war in Ukraine, which has become increasingly costly for Russia in terms of people and military hardware.

Secondly, the US military has nine military bases in Alaska. The Russians would have a much harder time with invading and annexing Alaska.

Additionally Russia has used the presence of Russian speakers in Crimea and the Donbass region as justification for annexing these Ukrainian regions. According to the 2020 US census, there are only 25,000 people of Russian descent still living in Alaska. In contrast there are far more Russian speakers in Crimea and the Donbass region.

It is simply not feasible for Russia to even try to get Alaska back. But we are not dealing with rationality when it comes to Vladimir Putin and his ambition to recreate the Russian Empire. Right now a Russian annexation of Alaska is highly unlikely as long as Joe Biden remains president.

But Biden is up for reelection this year and Donald Trump is running for the Republican nomination. The Kremlin is doing everything possible to ensure that Trump wins in November. If Trump gets into the Oval Office again, I can easily imagine Putin pressuring Trump into returning Alaska to Russia as a thank you present for helping Trump to win the election. Alaska is another issue that will cause chaos in the US should Donald Trump become president once again.

My blog is free to subscribe but if you want to make a comment, you’ll need to take out a paid subscription. Click on the button below for more details.