100 Historical Stories That Unlock Teenage Wisdom

Chapter 52 Tsarist Russia sells Alaska to the United States

Chapter 512 Tsarist Russia Sells Alaska to the United States——"The Open Broom" Should Cherish Itsself

Some things seem to be dispensable, but if you throw them away, you will regret it when you really discover its value.

Alaska is located in the northwestern part of the North American continent. Russian "land pioneers" discovered Alaska in the 17th and 18th centuries, and Tsarist Russia built settlements here since the 18s. In 80, the Russian American Company was established to exclusively manage fishing and hunting grounds in Alaska and mine minerals.

但是，1867年沙皇政府却将阿拉斯加卖给美国。1959年成为美国的No.40九个州。面积为151．9万平方公里的阿拉斯加，占美国领土面积的1／6，是美国面积最大的一个州。

It turned out that in March 1857, the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tsarist Russia, Ya?Duke Gorchakov received the important minister at the time, the younger brother of the tsar, Constant?A letter from Grand Duke Nikolaevich recommending the sale of Alaska.The Grand Duke Gorchako disapproved of selling Alaska, but he could not offend the Grand Duke, so he had to report the matter to the Tsar.

Unexpectedly, the tsar thought that Alaska was just a "wild land" and was very interested in it. The imperial pen commented: "This discussion is worth considering."After careful consideration, Gorchakov suggested to the tsar to suspend the sale of Alaska until Baron Stekli, the envoy to the United States, found out the intention of the United States before making a decision.

沙皇于1857年4月29日作了简短批示。大意是此事不算完，卖价可大大降低。可爱的戈尔恰科夫居然把此事压了10年。但在这10年里密谋集团并没睡大觉。

"Ten years of hard work", the conspiracy group began to split up: the Grand Duke was responsible for opening up the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and raised the issue again to the Minister of Foreign Affairs; the Minister of Finance used the financial crisis to pressure the Tsar and suggested loans to the West; the Minister to the United States stepped up cooperation with the United States. Government consultations.

At noon on December 1866, 12, all members of the conspiracy group came to the house of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the name of participating in the "Day of Prayer", and the Tsar himself also came.He explicitly agreed to sell Alaska.Tsar Alexander II's diary reads: "At 16:1 noon, Prince Gorchakov held a meeting on the American company. It was decided to sell to the United States."

At this time, the Russian Council of Ministers and State Council did not even know anything about it.The cabal eschewed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and assigned Baron Skeli the sole responsibility for negotiations and signings.However, the envoy, who is the plenipotentiary representative, did not have any written instructions or authorization letters from the government, but the Minister of Finance said: "Five million U.S. dollars is required."

The baron's negotiations with the United States were an out-and-out traitorous scandal.The text of the treaty was dictated by the American side. Five of the seven clauses are about the rights of the US side, that is, what the US government should get after signing the agreement.The remaining 7 items are related to payment issues, but there is no mention of the responsibility and punishment for breach of contract during the payment process.

From the middle of the night on March 1867, 3 to the early morning of the next day, U.S. Secretary of State Hugh Ald and Russian Minister to the U.S. Stanley officially signed the treaty.After signing the contract, the United States immediately obtained Alaska without waiting for Congress to approve the appropriation and without undertaking any obligations.

1868年8月男爵交给俄罗斯国库一张“720万美元全部收讫”的凭据，并称钱已转入纽约某银行。实际上这720万美元是用“格林别克”纸币支付的，实际只值540万美元。而此前美国欠俄国的720万美元的军费也一笔勾销了。

Wisdom Interpretation:

There is an idiom in China called "Bao broom Zizhen", which means that no matter how "broken" something is, as long as it is your own, you should cherish it.Not to mention national territory.The loss of a piece of land often represents the loss of national sovereignty.

This tells us that we must cherish everything we have and not easily discard anything that belongs to us, including emotions, defects, and all the inconspicuous things that belong to us now, because only when we know how to cherish can we discover deeper meaning .

(End of this chapter)