AHC: The British buy Alaska?

Tuskin38

Basically what the title presents. What would it take for the Russians to sell Alaska to the British instead of the Americans?

I'm guessing the PoD would probably have to be before the Crimean War.
 
Driftless

Driftless

Donor
Mackenzie & Vancouver?

Perhaps as a byproduct of the Alexander Mackenzie & George Vancouver explorations of northwest Canada during 1789-95?

Mackenzies explorations were sponsored in part by the North West Company. Mackenzies first expedition reached the Arctic Ocean, the second reached the Pacific near Bella Coola, BC.

Capt George Vancouver explored much of the western coast of North America at about the same time as Mackenzie. Vancouver & Mackenzie just missed meeting each other on the British Columbia coast. If they did meet, might that have had knock on impacts, such as pressing for the purchase of Alaska?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mackenzie_(explorer)
 

Simreeve

Part-exchange for British help in funding Russia's defence against Napoleon, and subsequent (non-OTL) modernisation?
 

NthBelisarius

Didn't Russia offer Alaska to Britain anyway? You just need to get Britain to actually want to buy it, and preferably the USA not want to at the same time. Not sure how to do those though :(.
 

Tyr

The entire point of Alaska selling it to the USA was they figured the Brits (enemy number 1) were bound to take it anyway so they might as well rip off the Americans while they lose it.
Pretty similar reasoning to the Louisiana Purchase.
Nations tend not to sell land just for the hell of it.

Britain buying it...I guess there could be an enforced purchase after a Anglo-Russian war.
 

SvoHljott

Actually I did quite a lot of research into this for my timeline and I found that the Russian Empire offered Alaska to both Britain and the United States at the same time in (56?) in hope that it would start a bidding war between the two, but only the US was interested.
 
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