At a time when the Russia-Ukraine War is going on, a social media post has gone viral, triggering a sensation worldwide! The post shows Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin declaring the 1867 sale of Alaska to the US illegal!

In January 2024, a Ukrainian user, named Igor Sushko, wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) handle: “Putin signed an order insinuating the sale of Alaska to the United States in 1867 was illegitimate. This mofo is trolling the West and our leaders shake in their boots in response.” Users of social media were not aware of the fact that Sushko made this claim on the basis of an article published by Essanewsdotcom on January 21, 2024. Hence, another user posted on the microblogging site: “Hahahah – seriously. not kidding: Putin has signed a decree making the sale of Alaska to the US illegal. Territory is to be declared occupied.“

Later, these posts turned out to be a rumour that originated from the Essa News article, titled Putin stokes tensions with the US, declares 1867 sale of Alaska ‘illegal’. The article read: “Enterprise for Property Management Abroad of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation as the recipient of a subsidy for financial support of costs associated with the search of real estate of Russian Federation, the former Russian Empire, the former USSR, the proper registration of the Rights of the Russian Federation in relation to the existing federal real estate.“

It may be noted that Imperial Russia had decided to sell Alaska to the US in 1859 so that the latter could counterbalance the intentions of Britain, the main Pacific adversary of Russia at that time. Although William Seward, the then US Secretary of State, promptly accepted the Russian offer, Moscow had to postpone the sale because of the impending American Civil War.

According to the US State Department website, Washington DC officially accepted the proposal made by visiting Russian Minister Edouard de Stoeckl to purchase Alaska for USD 7.2 million on March 30, 1867. The US Senate approved the treaty of purchase on April 9, and President Andrew Johnson signed the treaty on May 28. Alaska was incorporated into the US on October 18, 1867. This acquisition allowed the US to get access to the northern rim.

For the next three decades, Military, Navy or Treasury Rule had governed Alaska. Often, the land was not governed by anyone, as the US paid little attention to it. The US finally established a Civil Government there in 1884 in order to enforce US mining laws.

Initially, many US citizens considered the acquisition of Alaska as “Seward’s Folly“. However, they changed their stand when a significant gold deposit was found in the Yukon in 1896, and Alaska started serving as the entry point to the Klondike Gold Fields. However, the US realised the strategic significance of Alaska during the Second World War. On January 3, 1959, Alaska became a state of the US.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das