9332 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA/200 UNITED KINGDOM
MID#2
Dispute Number: 2
Date(s): July 1902 to January 24, 1903
Participants: 2 United States/200 United Kingdom
Outcome (and Settlement): Compromise (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: This dispute describes the Alaska boundary dispute between the United
States and the United Kingdom, which, by that time, controlled Canada’s foreign
affairs. The border between Alaska and Canada had been a gray area throughout the
19th century. Russia and the United Kingdom, which then controlled Alaska and
Canada outright, had disputed interpretations of where the boundary between the
two was. The United States simply inherited the problem from Russia following the
Alaska purchase. The matter between the United States and the United Kingdom was
being discussed through the 1890s, but the United States—seemingly out of respect
for Anglo-American relations—backed away from the matter while Britain was mired
with its South African problems. In January 1903, the matter came to a close when
both sides agreed to a convention of six jurists—three from both sides—who were
charged with fixing the boundary. This was the Hay-Herbert Treaty. The following
decision was an almost perfect compromise between the maximal claims of the United
States and the maximal claims of Britain.
MID#3709
Dispute Number: 3709
Date(s): November 6, 1939 to March 27, 1941
Participants: 200 United Kingdom/2 United States of America
Outcome (and Settlement): Compromise (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Chapter 7
Major States