WI: No Alaska Purchase?

[PoeFacedKilla]

what if Russia never sold Alaska to the us?
how would this effect the US/USSR? Assuming a cold war still happens?
Could Russia populate it? Or would it remain a territory to this day?

 

[Woolly Mammoth]

Russia was quite keen to sell Alaska becuase they veiwed it as vunerable and poor land which could drag them into wars and offered little benefit for it's owner, as a result they were keen to sell it to somebody else and make some money rather than lose it for nothing in case of a war. Therefore you are likely to see it tranferred to some other power, Britain is possible but unlikely because they were stuck in the mini-cold war "Great Game" and Russia hated them.

 

[PoeFacedKilla]

ok, well what are some other countries that might purchase it?
i'm not entirely sure about what resources could be extracted in the 19th century.

France, Japan?

 

[Anaxagoras]

Russia was quite keen to sell Alaska becuase they veiwed it as vunerable and poor land which could drag them into wars and offered little benefit for it's owner, as a result they were keen to sell it to somebody else and make some money rather than lose it for nothing in case of a war. Therefore you are likely to see it tranferred to some other power, Britain is possible but unlikely because they were stuck in the mini-cold war "Great Game" and Russia hated them.

They were anxious to sell the land because they thought it was useless and possessed nothing of value. An easy POD is to have someone stumble upon a sizable gold deposit, thereby setting off the Alaska Gold Rush while the territory is still under Russian control. If that happens, then they either won't want to sell it any longer or demand a steeper price than people are willing to pay.

 

[twovultures]

Could a non-British European power looking to throw it's weight around in the Colonial game take it at this point? Perhaps Belgium, Germany or France?

 

[Shtudmuffin]

Could a non-British European power looking to throw it's weight around in the Colonial game take it at this point? Perhaps Belgium, Germany or France?

It seems unlikely. Alaska is too far and out-of-the-way for everyone except Russia, the USA, Britain (via Canada), and maybe Japan (although that last one is pretty damn improbable).

 

[Woolly Mammoth]

They were anxious to sell the land because they thought it was useless and possessed nothing of value. An easy POD is to have someone stumble upon a sizable gold deposit, thereby setting off the Alaska Gold Rush while the territory is still under Russian control. If that happens, then they either won't want to sell it any longer or demand a steeper price than people are willing to pay.

A large part of the russian point of veiw was not that they didnt value the land or want to keep it but rather they thought a war with Britain was quite likely ( "Great Game" ) and that if that happened Alaska would be invaded and seized whilst Russia could not prevent it. Thus if gold was found they would still probably want to sell Alaska because it would be seen as even more appealing to British war planners. If they cannot easily find a buyer then they might approach Britain, perhaps with a deal regarding spheres of influence in Central Asia.