Pushkin's portrait of Alexander Gorchakov

Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov (16 July 1798 – 11 March 1883) was a Russian statesman from the Gorchakov princely family. Events 622 - The beginning of the Islamic calendar. 1054 - Three Roman legates fractured relations between the Western and Year 1798 ( MDCCXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 1425 BC - Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty Year 1883 ( MDCCCLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Gorchakov, or Gortchakoff (Горчако́в is a Russian Princely family of Rurikid stock descended from the Rurikid sovereigns of Peremyshl He has an enduring reputation as one of the most influential and respected diplomats of the nineteenth century. Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting Negotiations between representatives of groups or states The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar

Early life and career

Gorchakov was born at Hapsal and was educated at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where he had the poet Alexander Pushkin as a school-fellow. Haapsalu ( German and Hapsal Хаапсалу formerly Гапсаль is a seaside Resort town located on the west coast of Estonia. The Imperial Lyceum in Tsarskoe Selo near Saint Petersburg was founded by the Emperor Alexander I with the object of educating youths of He became a good classical scholar, and learnt to speak and write in French with facility and elegance. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Pushkin in one of his poems described young Gorchakov as Fortune's favored son, and predicted his success.

On leaving the lyceum Gorchakov entered the foreign office under Count Nesselrode. Baltic-German Count Karl Robert Nesselrode ( December 14, 1780 - March 23, 1862) was a Russian diplomat and a leading His first diplomatic work of importance was the negotiation of a marriage between the grand duchess Olga and the crown prince Charles of Wurttemberg. He remained at Stuttgart for some years as Russian minister and confidential adviser of the crown princess. Stuttgart (ˈʃtʊtgaɐ̯t is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. He foretold the outbreak of the revolutionary spirit in Germany and Austria, and was credited with counselling the abdication of Ferdinand in favor of Francis Joseph. The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout the European Ferdinand ( April 19, 1793 &ndash June 29, 1875) was Emperor of Austria as Ferdinand I, King of Hungary and Croatia and Archduke Franz Joseph I Karl (- German, in English Francis Joseph I Charles, see the name in other languages) (18 August 1830 &ndash 21 November When the German Confederation was re-established in 1850 in place of the parliament of Frankfurt, Gorchakov was appointed Russian minister to the diet. The German Confederation (Deutscher Bund was the association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to serve as the successor to The Bundestag ("Federal Diet " or "Lower House of German Parliament" is the Parliament of Germany. It was here that he first met Prince Bismarck, with whom he formed a friendship which was afterwards renewed at St Petersburg. Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen Duke of Lauenburg Prince of Bismarck ( April 1, 1815 July 30, 1898) Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River

The emperor Nicholas found that his ambassador at Vienna, Baron Meyendorff, was not a sympathetic instrument for carrying out his schemes in the East. He therefore transferred Gorchakov to Vienna, where the latter remained through the critical period of the Crimean War. Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought Gorchakov perceived that Russian designs against Turkey, which was supported by Britain and France, were impracticable, and he counselled Russia to make no more useless sacrifices, but to accept the basis of a pacification. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches At the same time, although he attended the Paris conference of 1856, he purposely abstained from affixing his signature to the treaty of peace after that of Count Orlov, Russia's chief representative. The Treaty of Paris of 1856 settled the Crimean War between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Sardinia, France Orlov ( Орлóв) is the name of a Russian noble family which produced several distinguished statesmen diplomatists and soldiers For the time, however, he made a virtue of necessity, and Alexander II, recognizing the wisdom and courage which Gorchakov had exhibited, appointed him minister of foreign affairs in place of Count Nesselrode. Alexander (Aleksandr II Nikolaevich (Александр II Николаевич ( Moscow, 29 April 1818 – 13 March 1881 in St

Gorchakov's promotion of Dreikaiserbund

Not long after his accession to office Gorchakov issued a circular to the foreign powers, in which he announced that Russia proposed, for internal reasons, to keep herself as free as possible from complications abroad, and he added the now historic phrase, La Russie ne bouge pas; elle se recueille. The League of the Three Emperors, also known as the Three Emperors' League (Dreikaiserbund was an 1873 alliance among the Emperors of Germany During the Polish insurrection Gorchakov rebuffed the suggestions of Britain, Austria and France for assuaging the severities employed in quelling it, and he was especially acrid in his replies to Earl Russell's despatches. The January Uprising ( Polish: powstanie styczniowe, Lithuanian: 1863 m The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located John Russell 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC (18 August 1792 &ndash 28 May 1878 known as Lord John Russell before 1861 was an English In July 1863 Gorchakov was appointed chancellor of the Russian empire expressly in reward for his bold diplomatic attitude towards an indignant Europe. Chancellor or chancellour (archaic ( Latin: cancellarius) is an official Title used in countries whose civilization has arisen The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya The appointment was hailed with enthusiasm in Russia, and at that juncture Prince Chancellor Gorchakov was unquestionably the most powerful minister in Europe.

An approchement now began between the courts of Russia and Prussia; and in 1863 Gorchakov smoothed the way for the occupation of Holstein by the Federal troops. Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state Year 1863 ( MDCCCLXIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The First Schleswig War occurred in 1848–1851. The Second Schleswig War (2 This seemed equally favorable to Austria and Prussia, but it was the latter power which gained all the substantial advantages; and when the conflict arose between Austria and Prussia in 1866, Russia remained neutral and permitted Prussia to reap the fruits and establish her supremacy in Germany. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Year 1866 ( MDCCCLXVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common In 1867 Russia and the US concluded the sale of Alaska, a process which began as early as 1854 during the Crimean War. Gorchakov was not against the sale but always advocated for careful and secret negotiations, seeing the eventuality of the sale but not the immediate necessity. When the Franco-German War of 1870-71 broke out Russia answered for the neutrality of Austria. The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871 An attempt was made to form an anti-Prussian coalition, but it failed in consequence of the cordial understanding between the German and Russian chancellors.

In return for Russia's service in preventing the aid of Austria from being given to France, Gorchakov looked to Bismarck for diplomatic support in the Eastern Question, and he received an instalment of the expected support when he successfully denounced the Black Sea clauses of the treaty of Paris. The " Eastern Question " in European history, encompasses the diplomatic and political problems posed by the decay of the Ottoman Empire The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey This was justly regarded by him as an important service to his country and one of the triumphs of his career, and he hoped to obtain further successes with the assistance of Germany, but the cordial relations between the cabinets of St Petersburg and Berlin did not subsist much longer. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.

Gorchakov and Bismarck: Battle of Chancellors

In 1875 Bismarck was suspected of a design of again attacking France, and Gorchakov gave him to understand, in a way which was not meant to be offensive, but which roused the German chancellor's indignation, that Russia would oppose any such scheme. The tension thus produced between the two statesmen was increased by the political complications of 1875–1878 in south-eastern Europe, which began with the Herzegovian insurrection and culminated at the Berlin congress. Herzegovina ( Bosnian, Croatian: Hercegovina, Serbian: Херцеговина) is a traditionally See also Berlin Conference (1884-85 re Africa and Berlin Conference of 1954 (Cold War Gorchakov hoped to utilize the complications in such a way as to recover, without war, the portion of Bessarabia ceded by the treaty of Paris, but he soon lost control of events, and the Slavophile agitation produced the Russo-Turkish campaign of 1877-78. Bessarabia ( Basarabia in Romanian, Бесарабія in Ukrainian, Бессарабия in Russian, Бесарабия in Bulgarian The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 had its origins in a rise in nationalism in the Balkans as well as in the Russian goal of recovering territorial losses it had suffered

By the preliminary peace of San Stefano, the Slavic aspirations seemed to be realized, but the stipulations of that peace were considerably modified by the congress of Berlin (13th June to 13th July 1878), at which the aged chancellor held nominally the post of first plenipotentiary, but left to the second plenipotentiary, Count Shuvalov, not only the task of defending Russian interests, but also the responsibility and odium for the concessions which Russia had to make to Britain and Austria. The Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War 1877–78. See also Berlin Conference (1884-85 re Africa and Berlin Conference of 1954 (Cold War Count Pyotr Andreyevich Shuvalov (граф Пётр Андреевич Шувалов (1827 - 1889 was an influential Russian statesman and a counselor to Tsar He had the satisfaction of seeing the lost portion of Bessarabia restored to his country by the Berlin treaty, but at the cost of greater sacrifices than he anticipated.

Gorchakov considered the Berlin treaty the greatest failure of his official career. After the congress he continued to hold the post of foreign minister, but lived chiefly abroad, with Dmitry Milyutin taking responsibility for foreign affairs. Count Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin ( June 28, 1816, Moscow - January 25, 1912, Simeiz near Yalta) was Gorchakov resigned formally in 1882, when he was succeeded by Nicholas de Giers. Year 1882 ( MDCCCLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Nikolay Karlovich Giers (1820-1895 was a Russian Foreign Minister during the reign of Alexander III. He died at Baden-Baden and was buried at the family vault in Strelna. Baden-Baden is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River Strelna (Стре́льна is a historic settlement situated about halfway between St

Assessment

Prince Gorchakov devoted himself entirely to foreign affairs, and took no part in the great internal reforms of Alexander II's reign. The Emancipation Reform of 1861 in Russia was the first and most important of liberal reforms affected during the reign of Alexander II of Russia. As a diplomatist he displayed many brilliant qualities: adroitness in negotiation, incisiveness in argument and elegance in style. His statesmanship, though marred occasionally by personal vanity and love of popular applause, was far-seeing and prudent. In the latter part of his career his main object was to raise the prestige of Russia by undoing the results of the Crimean War, and it may fairly be said that he in great measure succeeded. The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought

Bibliography

• Проект письмо г. министра к генерал-адмиралу, 1857
  • Digitized page images
  • English translation

References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. Baltic-German Count Karl Robert Nesselrode ( December 14, 1780 - March 23, 1862) was a Russian diplomat and a leading This page lists foreign ministers of Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and Russian Federation: Heads of Posolsky Prikaz, 1549-1699 Nikolay Karlovich Giers (1820-1895 was a Russian Foreign Minister during the reign of Alexander III. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone