Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 November 24

= November 24 =

Islands in Alaska Purchase
A question out of curiosity... why did Russia include various islands in the Alaska Purchase? Looking at the map, St. Lawrence Island is closer to mainland Russia than to mainland US, wouldn't it have made sense for Russia to keep such territories out of the sale? -- Soman (talk) 21:36, 24 November 2023 (UTC)
 * The Russians wanted to prevent Alaska from falling into British hands more than anything else. It was difficult to defend. One assumes that the islands would be particularly difficult to patrol and defend, given the weakness of the Russian Navy in the Pacific, and the strength of the Royal Navy. Abductive  (reasoning) 22:23, 24 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Russian colonization of North America was motivated by the fur trade, which was quite lucrative two centuries ago. The Russians had over-hunted the Pacific coast of Siberia, causing populations of fur bearing marine mammals like sea otters to plummet. They then tried to colonize the coastal areas of the fur rich Alaskan panhandle, which had less severe weather than Alaska further north. They also established tiny settlements in Northern California and Hawaii. It worked for a couple of decades, but again, they over-hunted and sent otters and other fur bearing species into deep declines, resulting in profits being non-existent. Plus, the British were masters of fur trading in that part of the world, with far better transportation and a well developed network of fur trading across what is now Canada. By 1842, the British Hudson's Bay Company had established a sucessful fur trading post, called Fort Victoria (British Columbia) on Vancouver Island. So, the Russians decided to cut their losses, and sell Alaska to the United States. Given how fragile the existence of the Yupik peoples was on St. Lawrence Island a couple of centuries ago was, I cannot imagine how it would be beneficial for the Russians to hold onto it. Cullen328 (talk) 09:25, 28 November 2023 (UTC)

Royal ambassador
Who was the Russian ambassador in Spain in 1820? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.175.7 (talk) 22:17, 24 November 2023 (UTC)
 * According to our article: In September 1815 Dmitry Tatishchev was appointed as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain, with concurrent accreditation to the Dutch royal court, holding these positions until January 1821. Alexcalamaro (talk) 08:46, 25 November 2023 (UTC)