W.I. Imperial Russia Banished Dissidents to Alaska & they Seceded pre OTL Revolution?

Dissidents,Revolutionarys,Idealists,Convicts&People the Tsarist Govt deemed A threat etc are Banished en mass to Alaska pre the OTL sale to the U.S. As A result of Butterflys in this TL, The 1st successful example of Revolution against the Tsar occurs in Alaska&the sale never happens. After Seccession the Bountiful Whale hunts&good Fishing provide the fledgling Country A source of income via export of Fish&Whale products like Verdigris,Lamp oil,Tallow,Meat,Caviar etc To secure Imports of Food&other goods.
 
The Russians would have had to banished literally hundreds of thousands of people to make Alaska economically sufficient at the very least. Perhaps they start early?
 
Exile to Alaska sounds really uneconomical.

As for the OP, i feel they would be Finlandized or even annexed by Canada/Britain or America.
 
Exile to Alaska sounds really uneconomical.

As for the OP, i feel they would be Finlandized or even annexed by Canada/Britain or America.

It certainly isn't, which was what I was getting at. If Russia held on to Alaska, unless they *really* get interested in the area (unlikely...) then Alaska will just be as weak as OTL Alaska. In other words, a complete push over that the Gendarmerie of San Marino could take over. :p
 
Hi Novak. Yes...That is the thought I was running with. I was envisioning an advisor to the Tsar attempting to persuade him to emulate what the British Empire did to populate Australia. So while it might start as A large penal colony with A small group of Coastal Settlements & Administrators & Soldiers, It wouldnt be long before the place develops with A large enough influx of people. With tensions growing in Russia, I doubt the Tsar would hesitate to use Alaska as A large scale dumping ground.
 
The *massive* problem though with Russia and Alaska is quite simple, Siberia is in the way. Unlike Britain and Australia, Russia would either have to spend a huge amount of money to ship the people around the world, or by Siberia. More money than they'd get back, I'm willing to guess.

Not only that, but outside furs the Russians found no value in Alaska, and until gold and other spiffy minerals were found, it was worthless.
 
I was thinking Siberian/Pacific route.The Population boost exercise is A multifold agenda.Its A measure to save face&retain prestige in regards to having Colonial Assets like other World Powers.Its also A way to Deal with those deemed problematic&makes use of them as free labour to develop Alaska,Convicting people means no need for voluntary settlers.Canada was very sparsely settled,So A blurring of the Alaska/Canada Borders to make A cheeky landgrab was on the cards.
 
I was thinking that with the advent of the 1st World War the resentment that was slow boiling in Alaska at the Injustice of being Banished,Opressed&Exploited would Boil over&Explode when news of mandatory Conscription to be cannon fodder is revealed.Greater levels of Settlement&Infrastructure in this TL mean the chances of Gold being discovered sooner is possible.I like the Idea of Gold being found just as the Conscription news gets out,This newfound resource could be what cements the decision to Revolt.
 
The problem with penal settlement of Alaska seems to me the same as the problem with ordinary settlement: there's still a lot of Russia to fill up. And indeed, the Russians did send people to Siberia in increasing numbers as the strains of the 19th C increased. The USSR didn't build its labour-camp infrastructure out of nothing.

Why send them that much further?
 
Start Russian colonization of Siberia earlier and with greater numbers so that it's easier to send people to Alaska and so that the locals in Siberia won't want exiles around.
 
You basically need to have a Russia with a severe overpopulation problem, to the point where every bit of Russia is dotted with settlers. To make this happen in tandem with Russia keeping Alaska, the POD will have to be certainly early.
 
Top