What If Russia Kept Alaska? | Alternate History

during the 1500s in the northern lands of central eurasia the grand duchy of moscow is showing itself to be a determined highly expansionist force slowly but successfully overpowering and assimilating the neighboring turkic successor states of what was once the golden horde until finally it formed what came to be known as the zardom of russia an empire with its eyes cast eastward toward ever greater expansion all the while in the west spain had introduced europe to the vast lands of the new world making of this period an age of colonialism for not merely russia but all of europe as well by 1650 the western european powers had staked their claims in the americas whilst the russians expanded into asia as far east as the pacific coast armed with knowledge of the new world and having seemingly reached the easternmost end of eurasia star peter the great just before his passing ordered an investigation of lands beyond the kamchatka peninsula for potential colonization and development words soon returning back to the capital of several islands and in immense mainland occupied by plentiful foxes otters beavers and martins whose fur was quite valuable especially among the russians who had over hunted many of their fur producing animals russia's eastward expansion proved a convenient and unique backdoor to north america presenting it with a land untouched by the other european empires it was a fine opportunity to further assert their role in the pacific and make a profit off what soon gained fame as the home of the finest fur pelts in the world bringing much attention to the new land from ambitious russian hunters and trappers but fur gathering alone had not been russia's initial plan for the region zarpeter had hoped that the northeastern region beyond eurasia might reveal a reliable northern sea route linking russia's highly populated west with its untapped eastern lands also giving russians quick and easy access to the pacific alaska then along with the siberian far east was to be russia's personal gateway from one side of its empire to the other but alas the expedition fell short of circling back to the capital restricting russia to a reliance on time-consuming land and cross-atlantic routes while this initial effort had fallen short the allure valuable fur had still remained and attracted a wave of settlers to what would then merely be a new outpost of the russian empire one which as we'll soon see came to be viewed by the imperial government as increasingly cumbersome settlement of alaska once it began was extremely sluggish and limited as what we've already discussed might indicate russia's motives and approach to colonization were not quite the same as those of the western european nations the russians already possessed a vast swath of resource rich land to draw upon russia wasn't a relatively small country as britain or the netherlands was and though these countries possessed more reliable access to the sea they lacked physical land and manpower which overseas colonies could compensate for the russians needed none of that but rather sought purely strategic acquisitions if alaska could become russia's gibraltar to a northern sea route then it would have value but as a mere fur colony it easily took a backseat to more tactical territories notably those which might grant russia better access to trade with the western powers and china in this regard it seems valuable to mention that the russians also considered hawaii as a potential colony being a small bit of land to hold though possessing tremendous opportunity as a trade hub in the pacific however as a consequence of its historic land-based growth russia did not have the naval capability to reasonably defend a hawaiian colony from the us or britain and russia's leadership knew this perfectly well it's why small colonies were established in california but abandoned not long after when it became clear would eventually lead to a dispute with the u.s whom the russians saw as a potential future ally thus the colonies were established at little cost used for as long as they remained profitable and sold once they became inconvenient such would also be the case for alaska only on a larger scale that said while the imperial russian government saw alaska as being of lesser importance than other territories that did not stop the local alaskan government and the russian-american company from attempting to make the region a lasting and valued part of the russian empire unfortunately alaska would face continued difficulties throughout its existence under russian rule the hunter and trapper population having done little to develop other domestic cash products and usable resources leaving the colony and great part dependent upon the motherland the fragility of this existence would prove itself when on one occasion nearly all supply ships bound for alaska had been lost at sea before they could reach the colony leading to a period of shortage and near starvation which forced alaska to barely scrape by on what it could acquire from hawaii and california it wouldn't be until the 1830s under the guidance of a new governor and manager that alaska would begin successful efforts to develop sustainable living conditions though still it remained highly dependent upon its fur trading economy even as the animal population dwindled to scarce levels peace would be brokered with the native tribes some time later one governor famously using an eclipse as part of his bargaining strategy threatening to steal away the moon should the natives continue their attacks on the russian settlements it would finally appear despite having a very slow start that alaska was finally shedding its impractical economic model and shaping up to be a functional albeit small self-sustaining colony however just as things appeared optimistic russia would have fought and lost the crimean war leaving it a great war debt to address and several domestic issues to resolve alaska having been seen as leeching off resources from the mainland with little return the colony's proximity to rival britain's colonial possessions in canada and russia's overall inability to properly defend the region would motivate the empire to finally part ways with the colony there was also a growing sense that even if britain who asserted they held no great interest in alaska didn't seize the territory one day the united states likely would and russia for all of its efforts to develop the region would ultimately end up with nothing to show for it and so with past present and future conditions taken into consideration alaska was finally sold to the united states in 1867 russia simply having been happy to make some extra money from the sale and potentially threaten bryn's position in north america by giving the u.s another strategic asset in the minds of many within the imperial government an unreliable and costly asset had simply been done away with before it became a bigger loss however just some decades later a gold rush in the neighboring yukon and in alaska itself would encourage a surge of travelers to the region aiding in the establishment and development of several towns and cities this resource boom foreshadowing the later discovery of oil and other highly valuable resources which now belonged to the us but what if that changed what if in an alternate timeline russia never sold alaska before going any further let's take a minute to thank today's generous sponsor surf shark surf surfshark is a vpn service keen on providing both security and privacy to you while browsing the internet from your phone laptop tablet or what have you all at the same time being the only vpn to offer coverage to an unlimited number of devices all from one account surfshark gives you an extra layer of anonymity when entering sensitive information online by routing your activity through an encrypted channel so that all your valuable data becomes harder for nefarious third parties to track down and 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either being slown or halted entirely most likely the region would simply be expanded into at a slower pace as the russians though having been repelled from the region in the past held several advantages including a more strategically beneficial position in uzbekistan to later invade the lands of turkmenistan which itself would allow for a smoother invasion of remaining territories russia's role in the balkans 2 wouldn't be significantly hampered by the maintaining of alaska as overall management of the colony was already a low priority the only major impact alaska could have on russian foreign policy of the time is if it happened to be invaded and resources needed to be actively diverted away to defend it which may not even happen as the russians probably didn't think it worth it when considering the situation in alaska it's important to also consider what was occurring in far eastern siberia at the time this region was also struggling with proper colonization and settlement and only feared better on account of its geographic connection to russia though still it suffered from much of the same issues of shortage low population and dependency on foreign powers like alaska did just as was the case for alaska the imperial government hesitated to take action on account of the financial risk and how few financial prospects were seen as existing within the region however increased demands and propositions soon motivated action to be taken resulting in what came to be the construction of the trans-siberian railway a line which would see to the settling of millions of western russians across the siberian and far eastern realms in this alternate timeline alaska 2 would benefit from this increased settlement seeing a much smaller but still significant russian population set up shop within its lands this flow of visitors and settlers to alaska booming near the end of the 1890s as the klondike gold rush and the neighboring yukon would make many coastal and inland settlements in alaska major waypoints and bases of operation for several prospectors this massive new population later shifting its attention to alaska itself in early 1900s when gold was discovered in the then small town of gnome it would be during these gold rushes that russia's sovereignty over alaska might be tested by canada and the u.s however that said it's unlikely to result in a major conflict as while british canada was certainly more capable of moving its forces through the yukon than russia was and the us possessed numerical superiority in the region given the sparsely populated nature of that whole area such an effort might be considered more trouble than it's worth we should also consider that if alaska remained in russian hands it would have likely attracted far more russian prospectors than in our world potentially evening the odds in a russia-american or russia-canadian conflict the russians had also made a great point of maintaining friendly relations with the us who in turn wish not to antagonize russia as the russians could threaten american interests in asia and the pacific this balance of russia-american relations means that any conflict between the two is likely to be diffused before it could grow into a full-scale war the innovations of the trans-siberian railway new ice breaking technology for ships and the peaked interest of both russian and american prospectors to strike it rich in alaska would create a perfect storm of conditions which would propel the alaskan settlements forward the colony would soon boast a population of several thousand and house a number of growing industries russia's newly restored interest in north america would motivate it to foster friendlier relations with the us who would support russia's development of a defensive alaskan naval fleet russia's far eastern fleet had proved itself to be extremely vulnerable and limited often needing to be reinforced by the far-off baltic fleet this was a matter of interest to the us because it tended to recognize russia as a check against japanese ambitions in the pacific diverting its attention away from the contested hawaiian and philippine islands which the u.s held claim too should russia find itself a naval conflict with japan it would be at a great disadvantage worse yet potentially giving the japanese a foothold in north america if they managed to occupy alaska and the us though friendly toward russia refused to directly involve itself in a war between the two as it preferred to play the russians and japanese off against each other to prevent russia from being overwhelmed by the rising japanese navy and thus prevent a japanese-dominated pacific the us would act as a logistical and technological partner to the russians much as britain had become to japan following the anglo-japanese alliance this partnership would prove very significant come the russia-japanese war when caught off guard by preemptive japanese siege on port arthur the russians would be able to count on their small but present alaskan fleet to relieve the pressure placed on the far eastern fleet averting the blunder of sending the baltic fleet on a several month long voyage to do the same thing only to arrive after port arthur had already fallen the baltic fleet may well still be sent in and arrived just as late as it did in our world however if nothing else the alaskan fleet could at least buy them more time allowing russia to ultimately repel the japanese invasion and muster a victory japan's defeat would keep russia as a powerful rival in the pacific greatly hampering japanese goals of expansion and crippling morale polarizing japan's politics and leaving it more vulnerable in the following decades alaska had now begun to prove itself as not only a promising resource asset but a strategic base of operations in the far east as well its significant role in preventing what might have been a disastrous loss during the war motivates russia to further expand its naval capabilities in the region as well as take advantage of its newly acquired warm water ports in korea in our timeline following the near total destruction of its navy russia set about rebuilding its fleets which by the time world war one broke out had not been completed we'd see a similar endeavor taken up in this timeline but now to reinforce the navy not replace it entirely although the greater value of alaska and newly acquired territories in asia would begin to shift russia's prime focus to the far east its investment in the balkans would still be a major part of the russian agenda and as such once serbia came under threat from austro-hungary the russians would find themselves tied to the impending conflict though russia would have been in better shape the great war still deals a tremendous toll to the russians who eventually demands our nicholas step down what follows would be a russian civil war much like that of our timeline with the bolsheviks concentrated in the industrial west while the white army under admiral coltrack came to occupy the remaining east unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any reason for the fate of former zoro nicholas and his royal family to be any different than in our world however while the czar may still perish imperial russia would soldier on as greater investment in the far east and alaska would have gifted the white army additional resources with which to carry on the fight that said lack of cohesive leadership would still ultimately prove to be the white army's downfall as it became clear the bolsheviks had kolchak on the ropes in western siberia ward would be relayed to white leadership in the far east and southwest to evacuate and regroup away from mainland russia in our world many of these remnant forces fled with nowhere to go finding themselves spread as far off as paris or shanghai this time there is a sanctuary a piece of russia safe from bolshevik hands alaska its geographic disconnect from the russian mainland and proximity to friendlier powers made it an ideal location from which to recover an invasion of alaska is considered but thought to be extremely risky as intruding upon the north american continent could easily spark a more aggressive reaction from the us and canada if even the coast could be breached the white remnants no doubt having fortified this their final stronghold concentrating all that remained of their strength and holding it and so white alaska would endure and the civil war would come to a close the influx of white russian refugees to alaska would reach unprecedented levels to the point that if not for the infrastructure and industries established during the gold rush era starvation and overpopulation would have been a devastating issue they do however remain manageable expansion of settlements and further exploration of the interior being incentivized by the provisional military government through monetary and resource subsidization new russia would be off to a rocky start but with its american neighbors who fearing poor living conditions might lead the white russians to accept soviet domination would be more than happy to help in whatever way possible lending financial support directly participating in the construction of new rail lines as well as sharing naval and aviation technology to make navigating the rough environment all the easier aside from resource-based and developmental hurdles alaska's new population would be politically very divided embodying nearly the full spectrum of russia's politics short of the far left monarchists republicans constitutionalists liberals and social democrats would all have a presence but of them all it would be the more conservative elements which would dominate policy still restructuring would be embraced as the local government would need to meet the needs of its new population adapting alaska's governor role to take on many characteristics to that of a presidency overseeing the bulk of policy meanwhile the monarchy would be restored with nicholas's cousin grand duke kiril vladimirovic taking the throne the duke had previously supported the provisional government and seemed content to make the monarchy more parliamentary so long as the romanov dynasty was allowed to continue if anything he seemed enthused to adopt aspects of even socialist ideology if it meant gaining greater favor amongst the public the news are would very likely be restricted to a symbolic role new russia's chief allies in the following years would be the us canada and britain japan was in a more unique position as though they resented what was perceived as a continuation of the imperial government for the events of the russia-japanese war the soviets remained a more clear and present danger that said despite their shared anti-communist views in close proximity they found great difficulty in fostering an alliance the japanese would have been happy to do away with the communists and merely restore european russia to white rule however with alaska having become as significant as it has the russians would very likely wish to preserve the whole of their empire so as to access alaskan lands creating a great dispute over russia and japanese claims in the far east ultimately this conflict of interest would cost both states a powerful ally against their shared foe as new russia stabilized in order to return to the lives of the average citizen so could the populace no longer fearing for their own survival once again promote ideals of retaking the lost motherland this irredentist ideology becoming incredibly prevalent amongst the first generation of youths born in and growing up in alaska many of their parents having already become weary from what conflict they had seen but these new russians still bold and daring would know only stories of the greatness that had been lost at the hands of a truly villainous enemy the anti-communist culture of alaska and growing nationalism paired with fragments of non-bolshevik socialism which had escaped to the colony could give rise to what was known in our world as solidarism an ideology which stressed collective responsibility for cooperation between classes based on christian principles of selflessness and charity while also balancing the rights and freedoms of the individual to not be a tool of the state but a willing and active part of a greater identity this movement would grow in the background and reach significance around the 1930s as the great depression hit alaskan industries especially hard because of their still vulnerable state and dependency on the us economy the difficult circumstances which first created new russia followed by the turmoil of the depression would have essentially forced the governor already serving a long term to assume near dictatorial power to ensure economic solutions be carried out quickly and free of debate and bureaucracy the rapid improvement of germany's economic situation and anti-communistic position might encourage new russia to explore an alliance between itself and germany especially following the establishment of the anti-comma turn pact appearing as though the germans were preparing a joint operation against the soviet union however much as was the case with japan several conflicts of interest would get in the way for one joining the anti-combat turn pact meant not only aligning with germany but also japan reintroducing disputed japanese claims which would need to be resolved secondly the pact carried an underlying threat to britain's interests the naval command of the ax is primarily preparing for a british reaction should a war break out in the near future new russia would thus be hesitant to step on the toes of its ally unless of course britain became much too friendly with the ussr concerns over how alliances were being drawn and the threat of potentially being surrounded by enemies would lead new russia to a crossroad on one hand emphasis could be placed on maintaining alaskan self-sufficiency while supporting germany and the anti-comma turn pact to finally eliminate the soviet union no land gains would be expected but a possibility did exist to cut japan short and become germany's primary ally in the east the issue would later be resolving land disputes with germany in the west alternatively new russia could double down on its historic special relationship to the united states and with it attempt to establish an independent north american alliance by estranging canada from a likely upcoming war between britain and germany should new russia align itself with the axis it would be in a particularly vulnerable position once canada and the us enter the war thus it might opt to merely be supporting power but not actively participate in combat understandably this would sour alaskan-american relations during the period only to rebound during the cold war era when alaska would serve as a valuable strategic and ideological ally on the other hand alaska could have turned its back to the chaos about to break out in europe and for the time rebuilt its strength and partnership with the american powers so that it might make its grab for mainland russia not in a moment of vulnerability but once it stood rightly ready historically this had been the russian strategy slow and strategic acquisition not high-risk high-reward conflicts it's for that reason and various disputes with axis ambitions that new russia would stick close to the u.s and attempt to keep the continent out of the war though finally relenting following the attack on pearl harbor assuming a crucial role in the pacific theater and later denying the soviet's occupation of japanese held lands in the north post war japan would be partitioned between the u.s and alaska with the lands of outer manchuria northern korea hokkaido and shakolin island being directly annexed into the new russian empire whilst korea and all japanese islands south of hokkaido fell deep under american influence expected to be valuable assets in the coming cold war when russia gave away alaska it had done so just before the region truly had an opportunity to take off in a world where that never happened alaska thanks to resource discovery's greater connection with the united states and increased strategic importance is able to step in at times when the russian empire was just short of success the russia-japanese war though its territorial changes were briefly undone in this timeline helped preserve russian prestige and laid the foundations for additional developments in the east which later facilitated a great exodus of anti-bolshevik russians to a safe haven across the strait it allowed russia to survive and ride out the red flood until it was time to again set foot on the shores of the mainland and reclaim it once more and that is where i'll end this video for now the usfz thanks for watching support your legion by liking the video or join our ranks by subscribing for more mr z out

Channel: Monsieur Z

Views: 120,941

Keywords: Alternate History, Althist, Althistory, Russia, Russian History, Russian Alaska, Alaska, What If Russia Kept Alaska, What If Russia Never Sold Alaska, What If Russia Won WW1, What If Russia Won The Russo Japanese War, Russian National Anthem, Documentary, Explained, What Happened, Russian Settlers, Russian Colonization, Russian Empire, Alaska Purchase, Why Did Russia Sell Alaska, What If, Animated, History, Bridge, Bering Straight, Russian Hawaii, Russian Colonial Empire, Sale Of

Id: xNqiQm_QdjA

Length: 22min 20sec (1340 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 08 2020