The modern history of Alaska.
In the grand scheme of things 98% of Alaska's history is shaped by some 30 indigenous tribes foraging the coast and sparse lands of northwestern America.
The first humans crossed the land bridge to the American continent around 14,000 years ago.
This video however will only look at the last two percent of its history, starting on a cold July morning in 1741 in the Russian port city Petropavlovsk Kamtschatsky.
Years before the Russian tsar Peter the Great ordered the exploration of Russia's eastern waters, After which the danger explorer Vitus Bering, as well as the Russian explorer Aleksey Chirikov set sail to find the American continent.
Both crews were successful in their mission of finding land but only Chirikov survived the mission And returned with his crew and sea otter pelts which they found on the newly discovered shores.
The high quality of these furs sparked the Russian colonization of Alaska's coast and islands.
Due to the harsh conditions the Russian colonialists violently enslaved the indigenous population to conduct the dangerous hunting And in the coming decades the Russians strengthened their position in today's Alaska with permanent settlements in order to control the growing business.
During the turn of the century the Russian-American company which by then held a monopoly on the fur trade in Alaska turned into an official colonial possession of Russia but business was hard.
Imported disease from the European mainland decimated the indigenous population Leaving Russians to do the hard labor which diminished any profits from the operation.
