In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million—a deal that still baffles many. But behind the sale lies a story of imperial desperation, family feuds, and strategic calculation. In this episode of The Romanov Dynasty, Lucas and Luna explore how Tsar Alexander II, reeling from the Crimean War's devastation, was persuaded by his brother Grand Duke Constantine to unload a frozen asset that was more liability than treasure. We follow Russian envoy Eduard Stoeckl as he navigates Washington politics, outmaneuvers British interests, and seals a treaty that critics in the US mocked as 'Seward's Folly.' From the decline of the Russian-American Company to the last days of Sitka's Novo-Arkhangelsk, this is the untold story of how the Romanovs quietly surrendered the last of their American empire.
#RomanovDynasty #SaleOfAlaska #AlexanderII #GrandDuchessConstantine #EduardStoeckl #WilliamSeward #RussianAmerica #NovoArkhangelsk #RussianAmericanCompany #CrimeanWar #SewardsFolly #AlaskaPurchase #RussianEmpire #19thCenturyDiplomacy #USRussiaRelations #History #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope
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