Seward's Folly: The Biggest Blunder in Geopolitical History? (by Russia...)

 The 30th of March, 1867 was a historic day for the United States of America; 1.5 million km² of practically barren ice was purchased by the government from the Russian Empire for a whopping $7.2 million (equivalent to $132 million 2019 dollars). 

At the time, many people believed that this was a sheer waste of public funds and won't benefit the United States in any way. Consequently, many opponents named the purchase as 'Seward's Folly' after the Ameican figurehead of the deal, Secretary of State William Seward.  

With hindsight, we can see that all of this criticism was irrational and unjust. Today, Alaska contributes more than 50 billion dollars each year to the US economy with its main exports being oil, natural gas, and seafood. So, according to me, the acquisition of Alaska was a very wise move by Seward and evidently proved to be very fruitful for the US in the long run. Therefore, the question we are gonna ask in this blog is whether or not the sale of Alaska was a blunder on Russia's side?      

(Please note that the conclusion is going to be a piece of my personal analysis based on the evidence)

The signing of the purchase treaty, 1857

 

The History

Russian tribes had firmly established their presence in Alaska by the end of the 18th century. In 1799, the Russian-American Company received an exclusive charter from the Russian monarchy to hunt for fur in the region. After two decades, in 1821, Tsar Alexander I formally declared Russian sovereignty over Alaska. 

Things, however, took a sadistic turn for Russia. The 1850s saw the otter population in the region becoming almost extinct, thus devastating fur trade in the region. Moreover, the ruinous defeats in the Crimean war compelled Russia to look for sources to fill its treasuries. The events of the Crimean war had left a bitter taste in the Russians' minds and they now feared British annexation of Alaska (via Canada) more than ever. British control of Alaska would mean that nothing but the frail Bering sea would separate the fierce enemies from Mainland Russia.

Considering all of this, the Russian government decided to sell the territory to the United States. This would not only mean significant money for a territory whose economic value seemed to be depreciating at the time but would also ensure a sufficient buffer zone between Russia and the ever-expanding British territories in North America. 

The Crimean war

So.....

Well given the situation at the time, I think that Russia's decision of the sale was quite prudent and logical. We cannot blame Russia for downscaling the economic value of Alaska as the lack of technology and resources during the 19th century prevented detailed explorations of such harsh terrains. Moreover, remember that Russia was not in a very strong economic condition during the 1850s and therefore funding costly expeditions in the dubious search of things such as seafood and gold would have been almost impossible. Also, apart from the economical point of view, the sale was also a question of national security; Russia was in no state to defend itself from an attack by Britain at the time--especially in such a remote region--and therefore the Russians had to prevent, at any cost, the catastrophic consequences that might follow after a potential British occupation of Alaska.