Mais, \u00e0 partir des ann\u00e9es 1820, l\u2019Alaska n\u2019est plus un territoire attractif \u00e9conomiquement, tandis que l\u2019\u00e9volution g\u00e9opolitique en Europe rend ce territoire difficile \u00e0 conserver, et que la guerre de Crim\u00e9e (1853-1856) ach\u00e8ve de vider les caisses de la Russie.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/capture-decran-2025-08-15-181150.png\"\/)
Portrait d\u2019Edouard de Stoeckl, ann\u00e9es 1850. Source : Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division<\/p>\n
L\u2019id\u00e9e de se s\u00e9parer et de vendre l\u2019Alaska aux \u00c9tats-Unis \u00e9merge en Russie d\u00e8s 1857. Si, dans un premier temps, les \u00c9tats-Unis ne pr\u00eatent pas attention \u00e0 cette id\u00e9e, elle finit par aboutir 10 ans plus tard. Cette vente est surtout le produit de la volont\u00e9 de deux hommes : Edouard de Stoeckl pour la Russie et Henry Seward pour les \u00c9tats-Unis. Le baron\u00a0Edouard Andre\u00efevitch de Stoeckl<\/b> (1804-1892), fils d\u2019un diplomate, est promu envoy\u00e9 extraordinaire et ministre pl\u00e9nipotentiaire de Russie \u00e0 Washington,\u00a0 le 21 f\u00e9vrier 1857. Il a 53 ans et tr\u00e8s vite les soir\u00e9es de l\u2019ambassadeur deviennent le lieu mondain par excellence de Washington. Dans les ann\u00e9es 1858 et 1859, Stoeckel participe \u00e0 des entretiens secrets avec le s\u00e9nateur d\u00e9mocrate de Californie William Gwin concernant la cession de l\u2019Alaska, rencontres qu\u2019il r\u00e9sume r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement par courriers au prince Alexandre Mikha\u00eflovitch Gortchakov<\/b>, ministre des affaires \u00e9trang\u00e8res de Russie. L\u2019affaire est finalement conclue le 30 mars 1867 pour la modique somme de 7,2 millions de dollars (l\u2019\u00e9quivalent de 4,5 dollars le m\u00e8tre carr\u00e9).<\/p>\n
L\u2019extrait que nous vous proposons provient d\u2019un article publi\u00e9 en avril 1920 dans The<\/strong> American historical review, <\/strong>revue d\u2019histoire scientifique cr\u00e9\u00e9e en 1895 sur le mod\u00e8le de l\u2019English Historical Review <\/a>et de la Revue historique <\/a>fran\u00e7aise. Si les extraits choisis ne mentionnent pas l\u2019action de Seward pour lequel l\u2019achat de l\u2019Alaska r\u00e9pond \u00e0 sa vision continentale de l\u2019Am\u00e9rique<\/a>, il met par contre en avant les motivations russes et l\u2019action de Stoeckl en faveur de la vente de l\u2019Alaska, qui, selon lui, ne valait finalement plus un kopec.\u00a0<\/p>\n Version fran\u00e7aise\u00a0 :<\/p>\n [\u2026] Le v\u00e9ritable promoteur de la vente de l\u2019Alaska n\u2019\u00e9tait autre que le grand-duc Constantin, fr\u00e8re du tsar Alexandre II. Entre le 23 mars et le 4 avril 1857, il \u00e9crivit une lettre \u00e0 Gorchakov pour l\u2019inciter \u00e0 transf\u00e9rer les possessions russes en Am\u00e9rique [l\u2019Alaska] aux \u00c9tats-Unis. Il donna trois raisons pour lesquelles cela devait \u00eatre fait : la faible valeur des colonies pour la Russie, le grand besoin d\u2019argent et la n\u00e9cessit\u00e9 pour les \u00c9tats-Unis de compl\u00e9ter leurs possessions dans le Pacifique. Il sugg\u00e9ra que, pour d\u00e9terminer la valeur des terres, les officiers \u00e0 la retraite de la compagnie, le baron Wrangell et d\u2019autres personnes qu\u2019il nomma, soient consult\u00e9s, mais il mit en garde contre le fait de prendre leurs chiffres trop au s\u00e9rieux, car ils \u00e9taient actionnaires de la compagnie. La question fut soumise \u00e0 Wrangell, qui fixa le prix de vente des colonies \u00e0 7 442 800 roubles d\u2019argent, dont la moiti\u00e9 devait aller \u00e0 la compagnie en paiement de ses 7 484 actions et l\u2019autre moiti\u00e9 au gouvernement.<\/p>\n Au cours du mois, Gorchakov fit un rapport au grand-duc sur la base de l\u2019avis et des estimations de Wrangell. Il expliqua la n\u00e9cessit\u00e9 de faire preuve de prudence et de discr\u00e9tion afin de ne pas nuire aux int\u00e9r\u00eats de la Compagnie russe d\u2019Am\u00e9rique. \u00c0 cette \u00e9poque, la compagnie connaissaient des diff\u00e9rends avec la Compagnie commerciale russe am\u00e9ricaine de San Francisco au sujet d\u2019un contrat conclu en 1853, et Gorchakov proposa de laisser l\u2019affaire en suspens jusqu\u2019\u00e0 ce que ces diff\u00e9rends soient r\u00e9gl\u00e9s.<\/p>\n \u00c0 Washington, Stoeckl avait du mal \u00e0 prot\u00e9ger les int\u00e9r\u00eats de la Compagnie russe d\u2019Am\u00e9rique. Chaque ann\u00e9e, de plus en plus d\u2019Am\u00e9ricains s\u2019installaient dans le territoire de l\u2019Oregon, et cette colonisation le mettait mal \u00e0 l\u2019aise. \u00ab L\u2019\u00e9tablissement des Am\u00e9ricains \u00bb, \u00e9crivait-il \u00e0 Nesselrode en janvier 1856, \u00ab\u00e0 proximit\u00e9 de nos possessions du Nord-Ouest les mettra en danger r\u00e9el et deviendra une source d\u2019embarras et de harc\u00e8lement entre les deux gouvernements\u00bb. En novembre 1857, il rapportait \u00e0 Gorchakov que la situation devenait tr\u00e8s embarrassante. Selon le trait\u00e9 du 5\/17 avril 1824 entre la Russie et les \u00c9tats-Unis, il \u00e9tait convenu \u00abque les citoyens des \u00c9tats-Unis ne se rendraient en aucun lieu o\u00f9 se trouvait un \u00e9tablissement russe sans l\u2019autorisation du gouverneur ou du commandant ; et que, r\u00e9ciproquement, les sujets russes ne se rendraient dans aucun \u00e9tablissement des \u00c9tats-Unis sur la c\u00f4te nord-ouest sans autorisation\u00bb. La Russie appliqua cet article du trait\u00e9 ; les \u00c9tats-Unis ne le firent pas. [\u2026]<\/p>\n \u00c0 cette \u00e9poque, une pression indirecte pour vendre l\u2019Alaska vint d\u2019une source inattendue. Dans une lettre adress\u00e9e \u00e0 Gorchakov, dat\u00e9e du 20 novembre\/2 d\u00e9cembre 1857 r\u00e9dig\u00e9e depuis Washington, Stoeckl rapporta une conversation qu\u2019il avait eue r\u00e9cemment avec Buchanan au sujet de Brigham Young et des Mormons, et de l\u2019information selon laquelle ils pr\u00e9voyaient de s\u2019installer soit sur le territoire de la Compagnie de la Baie d\u2019Hudson, soit sur celui de la Compagnie russo-am\u00e9ricaine. Stoeckl demanda au pr\u00e9sident si les mormons partaient en conqu\u00e9rants ou en colons. \u00c0 cela, le pr\u00e9sident r\u00e9pondit en riant que cela lui importait peu, \u00e0 condition de s\u2019en d\u00e9barrasser. \u00c0 cela s\u2019ajoutait une lettre de l\u2019agent de la compagnie \u00e0 San Francisco demandant des informations sur la migration des mormons en Alaska. Stoeckl \u00e9tait quelque peu inquiet de ces rumeurs et ne savait pas quelle importance leur accorder. Il ne manqua pas cependant d\u2019attirer l\u2019attention de son gouvernement sur eux et de faire remarquer que si les Mormons venaient, la Russie serait oblig\u00e9e soit de les combattre, soit de leur c\u00e9der du territoire.<\/p>\n [\u2026]<\/p>\n \u00c0 un moment donn\u00e9, entre 1858 et 1859, Stoeckl se rendit \u00e0 Petrograd pendant ses vacances et discuta de l\u2019Alaska avec Gorchakov. Ils convinrent que si les \u00c9tats-Unis faisaient une nouvelle offre d\u2019achat du territoire, celle-ci devrait \u00eatre s\u00e9rieusement \u00e9tudi\u00e9e. Vers la fin de l\u2019ann\u00e9e 1859, cette initiative fut prise. Le 4 janvier 1860 (N. S.), Stoeckl rapporta que Gwin l\u2019avait r\u00e9cemment approch\u00e9 au sujet de la vente de l\u2019Alaska et lui avait assur\u00e9 que le pr\u00e9sident \u00e9tait pr\u00eat \u00e0 l\u2019acheter. Quelques jours plus tard, Gwin aborda \u00e0 nouveau le sujet et dit \u00e0 Stoeckl que Buchanan souhaitait que le gouvernement russe soit consult\u00e9 sur la question et que, pour l\u2019instant, les discussions \u00e0 ce sujet devaient se faire avec le secr\u00e9taire d\u2019\u00c9tat adjoint, Appleton, et non avec Cass, le secr\u00e9taire, qui \u00e9tait d\u00e9lib\u00e9r\u00e9ment tenu \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9cart. Au cours de la conversation, Gwin mentionna incidemment que les \u00c9tats-Unis seraient pr\u00eats \u00e0 payer jusqu\u2019\u00e0 cinq millions de dollars. Pour Stoeckl, cela semblait une somme importante, sup\u00e9rieure \u00e0 la valeur actuelle ou future des colonies du point de vue des revenus, et probablement autant que les \u00c9tats-Unis seraient pr\u00eats \u00e0 donner. Sans recommander directement la vente, Stoeckl r\u00e9ussit n\u00e9anmoins \u00e0 glisser indirectement quelques arguments convaincants en sa faveur. Il a soulign\u00e9 que la situation dans le Pacifique avait compl\u00e8tement chang\u00e9 au cours du si\u00e8cle.<\/p>\n Le commerce des fourrures, qui occupait autrefois une position dominante, \u00e9tait en train de dispara\u00eetre, remplac\u00e9 par l\u2019agriculture, le commerce et l\u2019industrie, qui se d\u00e9veloppaient rapidement. Mais les possessions russes en Am\u00e9rique, en raison de leur situation g\u00e9ographique, ne pouvaient esp\u00e9rer se d\u00e9velopper dans ce sens et allaient donc prendre du retard par rapport aux autres r\u00e9gions de la c\u00f4te. Si la compagnie devait \u00e0 l\u2019avenir, comme par le pass\u00e9, dominer les colonies, la situation ne ferait sans doute qu\u2019empirer ; et si le gouvernement devait les reprendre, personne ne pouvait \u00eatre certain que cela am\u00e9liorerait la situation. D\u2019autre part, les colonies n\u2019avaient aucune importance pour la Russie et ne pouvaient \u00eatre prot\u00e9g\u00e9es ; toute puissance navale en guerre avec la Russie pouvait s\u2019en emparer en les attaquant. Enfin, et c\u2019\u00e9tait l\u00e0 le coup de gr\u00e2ce, en c\u00e9dant l\u2019Alaska aux \u00c9tats-Unis, l\u2019Angleterre serait grandement d\u00e9concert\u00e9e. La conqu\u00eate de la Californie par les Yankees avait \u00e9t\u00e9 le premier coup dur port\u00e9 aux ambitions de la Grande-Bretagne dans le Pacifique, et l\u2019acquisition de l\u2019Alaska y mettrait d\u00e9finitivement fin. Coinc\u00e9e entre l\u2019Oregon et l\u2019Alaska, la Colombie-Britannique n\u2019aurait pas de grand avenir.<\/p>\n Parmi les documents du minist\u00e8re russe des Affaires \u00e9trang\u00e8res, il existe un rapport sur les colonies russes, dat\u00e9 du 7 f\u00e9vrier 1860, r\u00e9dig\u00e9 par un anonyme qui s\u2019\u00e9tait rendue en Californie et en Alaska. Il y a lieu de croire que l\u2019auteur \u00e9tait le contre-amiral Popov, qui avait navigu\u00e9 dans le Pacifique Nord \u00e0 cette \u00e9poque. Il \u00e9crivait fr\u00e9quemment au grand-duc Constantin, qui jouait un r\u00f4le de premier plan dans la direction des affaires navales de la Russie et qui a probablement transmis des copies \u00e0 Gorchakov. Le rapport brosse un tableau sombre de la grande mis\u00e8re que la Compagnie russe d\u2019Am\u00e9rique avait inflig\u00e9e aux autochtones d\u2019Alaska, des dommages qu\u2019elle avait caus\u00e9s \u00e0 ce territoire et du pr\u00e9judice qu\u2019elle avait caus\u00e9 au commerce russe. Selon le rapport, la compagnie ne pense qu\u2019aux dividendes, et les seuls \u00e0 profiter de son existence sont les actionnaires. Elle d\u00e9tient le monopole du commerce dans le Pacifique Nord, ce qui suscite une profonde ranc\u0153ur chez les Am\u00e9ricains qui y vivent ; sans Stoeckl, le s\u00e9nateur Gwin aurait d\u00e9j\u00e0 port\u00e9 l\u2019affaire devant le Congr\u00e8s. Non seulement la compagnie ne sert pas les int\u00e9r\u00eats de la Russie, mais elle ali\u00e9nait la bonne volont\u00e9 d\u2019un peuple ami. Il est facile, poursuit l\u2019auteur, pour les Europ\u00e9ens de se moquer de la doctrine Monroe et de la \u00ab Destin\u00e9e manifeste \u00bb, mais s\u2019ils connaissaient mieux les Am\u00e9ricains, ils sauraient que ces id\u00e9es sont dans leur sang et dans l\u2019air qu\u2019ils respirent. Il y a vingt millions d\u2019Am\u00e9ricains, tous libres et convaincus que l\u2019Am\u00e9rique appartient aux Am\u00e9ricains. Ils ont pris la Californie, l\u2019Oregon, et t\u00f4t ou tard, ils prendront l\u2019Alaska. C\u2019est in\u00e9vitable. [\u2026]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Source : Franck B. Golder \u00ab\u00a0The purchase of Alaska\u00ab\u00a0,\u00a0 The American Historical Review, n\u00b03, avril 1920, p. 411-423, extraits<\/p>\n Version am\u00e9ricaine d\u2019origine :<\/strong><\/p>\n [\u2026] The real promoter of the sale of Alaska was no other than the Grand-duke Constantine, brother of the Tsar Alexander II. On March 23\/April 4, 1857, he wrote a letter to Gorchakov urging the transfer of the Russian American possessions to the United States. He gave three reasons why this should be done: the small value of the colonies to Russia, the great want of money, and the need of the territory by the United States to round out its holdings in the Pacific. He suggested that in order to determine the worth of the property the retired officers of the company, Baron Wrangell and others whom he named, should be consulted, but he cautioned against taking their figures too seriously, since they were stockholders of the company. The matter was referred to Wrangell, and he put the selling price of the colonies at 7,442,800 rubles silver, one-half of it to go to the company in payment for its 7484 shares and the other half to the government.<\/p>\n In the course of a month Gorchakov made a report to the grand-duke based on the opinion and estimates given by Wrangell. He explained the necessity of caution and secrecy in order not to injure the interest of the Russian American Company. At that time the company was having some misunderstandings with the American Russian Commercial Company of San Francisco about a contract made in 1853, and Gorchakov proposed to let the matter rest until these differences were adjusted.<\/p>\n Stoeckl in Washington was having trouble in protecting the interests of the Russian American Company. Each year more and more Americans were settling in the Oregon Territory, and this colonization made him uneasy. \u00ab\u00a0The establishment of the Americans,\u00a0\u00bb he wrote to Nesselrode in January, 1856, \u00ab\u00a0in the vicinity of our Northwest possessions will put them in real danger and will become a source of embarrassment and harassment between the two governments.\u00a0\u00bb In November, 1857, he reported to Gorchakov that the situation was becoming very embarrassing. According to the treaty of April 5\/17, 1824, between Russia and the United States, it was agreed \u00ab\u00a0that the citizens of the United States shall not resort to any point where there is a Russian establishment, without the permission of the governor or commander ; and that, reciprocally, the subjects of Russia shall not resort, without permission, to any establishment of the United States upon the Northwest coast.\u00a0\u00bb Russia enforced this article of the treaty ; the United States did not. [\u2026]<\/p>\n About this time indirect pressure to sell Alaska came from an unexpected quarter. In a letter to Gorchakov, dated Washington, November 20\/December 2, 1857, Stoeckl related a conversation he had had recently with Buchanan about Brigham Young, the Mormons, and the report then current that they planned to settle either in the territory of the Hudson\u2019s Bay Company or in that of the Russian American Company. Stoeckl asked the President whether the Mormons were going as conquerors or as colonists.To this the President laughingly replied that it mattered little to him which, pro- vided he got rid of them. On the top of this came a letter from the company\u2019s agent in San Francisco asking for information on the subject of the Mormon migration to Alaska. Stoeckl was somewhat worried by these rumors and did not know just how much impor- tance to attach to them. He did not fail, however, to call the attention of his government to them and to remark that if the Mormons should come, Russia would be obliged either to fight them or to give up territory to them.<\/p>\n [\u2026]<\/p>\n At some time during 1858-1859, Stoeckl went to Petrograd on his vacation and while there discussed Alaskan affairs with Gorchakov. It was agreed between them that if America should make another move to purchase the territory, it should be considered seriously. Towards the end of 1859, the move came. On January 4, 1860 (N. S.), Stoeckl reported that Gwin had approached him recently on the matter of the sale of Alaska and had assured him that the President was ready to buy. A few days later, Gwin brought up the subject again and told Stoeckl it was Buchanan\u2019s wish that the Russian government should be sounded on the question and that, for the present, discussion on the subject should be with the assistant secretary of state, Appleton, and not with Cass, the secretary, who was purposely left in the dark. In the course of the conversation, Gwin incidentally mentioned that the United States would be willing to pay as high as five million dollars. To Stoeckl, this seemed a large sum, more than the colonies were then worth or would ever be worth from the point of view of revenue, and probably as much as the United States would ever be willing to give. Without directly recommending the sale, Stoeckl nevertheless managed to slip in indirectly a few telling arguments in its favor. He pointed out that the situation on the Pacific had completely changed in the course of the century.<\/p>\n The fur trade, which at one time held a commanding position, was becoming a thing of the past, and in its place agriculture, commerce, and industry were rapidly developing. But the Russian American possessions, because of their geographic position, could not hope to grow along these lines and would therefore drop behind the other parts of the coast. If the company should in the future, as in the past, dominate the colonies, the situation would undoubtedly grow worse; and if the government should take them over no one could be certain that it would improve. Then again, the colonies were of no importance to Russia and could not be protected ; any naval power at war with Russia could get them by going after them. Finally, and this was the shot intended to reach home, by the handing of Alaska to the United States England would be greatly discomfited. The conquest of California by the Yankees was the first effective blow to Great Britain\u2019s ambitions in the Pacific, and the acquisition of Alaska would put an end to them altogether. Sandwiched in between Oregon and Alaska, British Columbia could have no great future.<\/p>\n Among the documents in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is a paper on the Russian colonies, dated February 7, 1860, written by someone who had been in California and Alaska. There is reason to believe that the author was Rear-Admiral Popov, who had cruised in the North Pacific around that time. He frequently wrote to Grand Duke Constantine, who played a leading role in guiding Russia\u2019s naval affairs and who probably transmitted copies to Gorchakov. The report paints a grim picture of the great misery the Russian American Company had brought upon the natives of Alaska, the harm it had done to that territory, and the injury it had caused to Russian commerce. All the company thinks about, says the report, is dividends, and the only people who profit by its existence from are the shareholders. It has a monopoly of the trade in the North Pacific, and this is deeply resented by the Americans who live there ; and were it not for Stoeckl, Senator Gwin would have brought the matter to the attention of Congress before now. Not only is the company not advancing the interest of Russia, but it is actually alienating the good-will of a friendly people. It is easy enough, the writer goes on to say, for Europeans to sneer at the Monroe Doctrine and \u00ab\u00a0Manifest Destiny,\u00a0\u00bb but if they were better acquainted with Americans, they would know that these ideas are in their very blood and in the air they breathe. There are twenty million Americans, every one of them a free man filled with the idea that America is for Americans. They have taken California, Oregon, and sooner or later, they will get Alaska. It is inevitable. [\u2026]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Source : Franck B. Golder \u00ab\u00a0The purchase of Alaska\u00ab\u00a0,\u00a0 The American Historical Review, n\u00b03, avril 1920, p. 411-423, extraits<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"La rencontre diplomatique entre Donald Trump et Vladimir Poutine, le 15 ao\u00fbt 2025 en Alaska, fait ressurgir la…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1591],"tags":[11,1887,12,1885,1886,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-322637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russie","8":"tag-actualites","9":"tag-federation-de-russie","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-russia","12":"tag-russian-federation","13":"tag-russie"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@fr\/115037841938081613","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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