Alaska's Unexpected Acquisition

The USA gained the opportunity to purchase Alaska after Russia's devastating loss in the Crimean War (1853-1856), where it fought against an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, Britain, France, and Sardinia over influence in the declining Ottoman territories. Burdened by heavy casualties and economic strain, and fearing it couldn't defend its distant Alaskan territory from British forces in nearby Canada, Russia chose to sell Alaska to the U.S. in 1867.

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