There is a conspiracy theory, according to which the sale of the peninsula in 1867 was actually not a sale, but lease. We checked whether this is so.

Theory became especially popular after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Approvedthat "the USSR could not demand from the United States the fulfillment of any terms of the contract, since the Soviet government has repeatedly officially stated that it did not recognize international treaties concluded by the Government of Tsarist Russia, and, therefore, could not demand their compliance with other states." Also, supporters of theory distinguish the role of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, who in 1966, at the time of the expiration of the lease, decided not to get involved in the conflict with the United States.

One of the supports of conspiracy therapists is that the Russian text of the contract exists (it was signed in English and French), and in the English text there is no word Sell (“selling”). There is a verb SED, that is, “give in”, from which it is concluded that the Russian emperor transferred the USA rights to the USA.

The statement of languages is true, but let's take a look at the ratified convention in Russian:

So, "the Emperor of the All-Russian Sim undertakes to give in to the North American United States, immediately on the exchange of ratifications, the entire territory with the Supreme for the right now owned by His Majesty on the American mainland, as well as the islands adjacent to it." And further: “According to the previous article, the supreme power of the United States, which, is assigned, is assigned, the right of ownership of all public lands and squares, lands, are not busy with anyone, all public buildings, fortifications, barracks and other buildings that do not constitute private property.”

Nothing about the lease or any return time to the Convention is said. State lands were transferred to undivided ownership.

But the payment order in the amount of $ 7.2 million, which is stored in American archives:

As you can see, the payment took place.

This is far from the only Russian legend associated with Alaska. Part of the population is still sure that the peninsula was sold by Catherine II (thanks group "Lube"). Of course, it was a matter of her great -grandson by Alexander II. Another theory speaksthat the gold never reached Russia: the orkni bar, transporting it in 1868, got into the storm near St. Petersburg and sank. Moreover, it is argued that in 1875 it turned out: the bar was sank as a result of the explosion, which was arranged by the US citizen William Thomson, and 100 years later, Soviet-Finnish divers discovered the ship-with traces of the explosion and without traces of gold. All these assumptions are deprived of the foundation, because the orkni Bark is listed in the British insurance reference books of 1870-1871, and the state historical archive of the Russian Federation contains a document of 1868, where black and white said: it is said:

“For the Russian possessions ceded by the North American states in North America, 11,362,481 rubles came from the indicated states. 94 [Cop.]. Of the number 11,362,481 rubles. 94 kopecks. It was spent abroad for the purchase of accessories for railways: Kursk-Kyiv, Ryazan-Kozlovskaya, Moscow-Ryazanskaya, etc. 10 972 238 p. 4 K. The rest are 390 243 rubles. 90 K. arrived in cash. ”

Thus, the deal in Alaska was a full -fledged, final sale, and the money received as a result went to the construction of the railways of the Russian Empire.