Admiral Thomas Moorer of the United States Navy shows the Azores on the map. Photo: AP
The deal did not take place due to the objections of the Naval General Staff, which did not see any benefit in it
At the beginning of the 20th century, private ownership of islands and entire archipelagos was a normal practice. There was a market for the sale and purchase of such overseas territories. Most often, the buyers were the states that participated in the colonial redistribution of the world.
In October 1907, Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin told Naval Minister Ivan Dikov that he had been approached by the Portuguese doctor Heinrich Abre with a proposal to sell two uninhabited islands that belonged to him to the Russian government. They were part of the Azores archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and were located south of Terceira Island. Their total area was 29 hectares.
Stolypin took Dr. Abre's proposal seriously, because he had heard about how the Confederates used the Azores to supply their fleet during the American Civil War (1861-1865). The prime minister was interested in how useful such an overseas acquisition would be for the Russian fleet.
The specialists of the Naval Ministry and the Naval General Staff began to analyze the proposal of Dr. Abre. Taking into account the geopolitical situation prevailing at that time, the Russian admirals considered the possible acquisition of two islands in the Azores archipelago from the point of view of its use in a possible war against Great Britain or Japan.
On the first option, it was immediately said that due to the small number of the Russian fleet and the complete domination of the British in the Atlantic, the purchase of the islands is meaningless. But in the resolution of the naval department it was specified that if Russia were to fight against England in an alliance with Germany, it would be desirable that the islands were acquired by Berlin. The German fleet could well use them as a base for the war in the Atlantic.
In the event of a war with Japan, the islands were supposed to be used as a coal base. However, the Azores archipelago would be extremely remote even from bypass routes for the Russian fleet, which would have kept its way to the Pacific Ocean.
The admirals responded with a resolution: "Tactically, the islands of De Chevre (Cabrash) proposed by Dr. Abre are not suitable for coal plants."
Minister Dikov supported the decision of the Naval General Staff. In his reply letter to Stolypin, he indicated that his department, in turn, considers the proposed islands unsuitable for any large-scale naval construction.
Stolypin took into account the recommendations of specialists and refused to Dr. Abra. The Russian tricolor was never raised over the Azores. Later on the Azores archipelago England and the USA have placed their military bases.
Source: Korshunov Yu. L. Russia, what it could be. History of acquisitions and losses of overseas territories - M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2007.
