Презентация - Великий дипломат Горчаков

Сompetition : «school of young diplomats»
The genius of Russian diplomacy
Alexander Gorchakov
The general school of Mukhtolovo
By: Maxim Alexandrovich Konov

Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov was born 15 July 1798 . Russian diplomat and statesman from the Gorchakov princely family. He has an enduring reputation as one of the most influential and respected diplomats of the mid-19th century.

Gorchakov was educated at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where he had the poet Alexander Pushkin as a school-fellow. He became a good classical scholar, and learned to speak and write in French with facility and elegance. Pushkin in one of his poems described young Gorchakov as Fortune's favoured son, and predicted his success

On leaving the lyceum Gorchakov entered the foreign office under Count Nesselrode. 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.

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 boude pas; elle se recueille ('Russia is not sulking, she is composing herself')
Russia is not sulking, she is composing herself'

In July 1863 Gorchakov was appointed Chancellor of the Russian Empire, expressly in reward for his bold diplomatic attitude towards an indignant Europe. The appointment was hailed with enthusiasm in Russia.A rapprochement now began between the courts of Russia and Prussia, and in 1863, Gorchakov smoothed the way for the occupation of Holstein by German troops. That seemed equally favourable to Austria and Prussia, but it was the latter power that gained all the substantial advantages. When conflict arose between Austria and Prussia in 1866, Russia remained neutral and permitted Prussia to reap the benefits arising from the conflict and establish its supremacy in Germany.

When the Franco-German War of 1870-1871 broke out, Russia argued for the neutrality of Austria. An attempt was made to form an anti-Prussian coalition, but it failed because of the cordial understanding between the German and the Russian chancellors.[3]In return for Russia's service in preventing Austrian support being given to France, Gorchakov looked to Bismarck for diplomatic support on 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 (Treaty of London (1871)). That 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. However, the cordial relations between the cabinets of St Petersburg and Berlin did not last much longer.[3]Pushkin's doodle representing Alexander GorchakovIn 1875, Bismarck was suspected of having designs to again attack France, and Gorchakov let him know, in a way that was not meant to be offensive but roused his 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 Southeastern Europe, which began with the Herzegovian insurrection and culminated at the Congress of Berlin. Gorchakov hoped to use the complications of the situation 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.[3]The Peace of San Stefano, drafted by Gorchakov, Alexander Nelidov, and Nikolai Ignatiev. redrew Ottoman boundaries to further Russia's economic and strategic plans. A key goal was control of the port city of Batumi on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, in addition to several strategic points in the Caucasus. Most important Bulgaria was greatly enlarged to serve as the dominant power in the Balkans, and be under Russian control. France, Germany and Austria objected and radically reduced Russia's gains at the Berlin Congress (13 June to 13 July 1878). Gorchakov was honored as first plenipotentiary but he 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. He had the satisfaction of seeing the lost portion of Bessarabia restored to Russia but at the cost of greater sacrifices than he anticipated. On the whole Russia was humiliated again. Gorchakov considered the treaty the greatest failure of his official career. He continued to hold the post of foreign minister, but lived chiefly abroad, with Dmitry Milyutin taking responsibility for foreign affairs

Gorchakov died 11 March 1883 at Baden-Baden and was buried at the family vault in Strelna Monastery