Subject: Re: WI: Russian Pacific North America
From: "Doug Hoff" <hoff5767@sprynet.com>
Date: 1997/01/28
Message-ID: <01bc0cae$d65d1ac0$77efaec7@doughoff>
Newsgroups: alt.history.what-if
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Andrew S Goldstein <Andrew@world.std.com> wrote in article
<E4FAyo.Jsu@world.std.com>...
> In a brief lapse of mental clarity, I wrote:
>
> >gerakkag@wam.umd.edu (James Walter Frusetta) writes:
> Aaaarghh...forgive the typo. I meant that the Russians would liberate it
> for the Americans. Or not. Anyway, how likely is it that the Russians
> would sell us part of Alaska? What was the reason for Seward's
> purchase...was it a land grab, for strategic reasons, or to take
> advantage of the natural resources (mostly fishing and timber at that
point)?
Actually, from what I have read, I thought Seward bought Alaska because he
saw it as a bridge to the Asian markets. Also, he figured western Canada
would gravitate towards the US if sandwitched between US territory (seems
kind of funny, huh? This was also the period when folks thought the US was
going to annex Mexico and Central America to control the land between it
and a canal.).
If the Russians held onto Alaska, the Japanese would probably have grabbed
it during 1905. Probably only be a minor operation, since the Russkies
would be very busy in Manchuria, and it is unlikely that they would have
garrisoned Alaska very heavily.
T. Roosevelt probably would have made the Japanese disgorge Alaska during
the peace process, tho.
dh
