View source for Alexander Gorchakov

{{short description|Russian diplomat, minister, chancellor (1798–1883)}}
{{For|the noble family|Gorchakov}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Prince Gorchakov
| honorific_prefix = [[Serene Highness|His Serenity]]
| image = Köler Gorchakov.jpg
| caption = Portrait by [[Johann Köler]] (1867)
| office = [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia)|Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire]]
| term_start = 27 April 1856
| term_end = 9 April 1882
| predecessor = [[Karl Nesselrode]]
| successor = [[Nikolay Girs]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1798|6|15|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Haapsalu]], [[Governorate of Estonia]], [[Russian Empire]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1883|3|11|1798|7|15|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Baden-Baden]], [[Grand Duchy of Baden]], [[German Empire]]
| party = 
| spouse = 
| children = [[Mikhail Alexandrovich Gorchakov|Mikhail Gorchakov]],<br/>[[Konstantin Aleksandrovich Gorchakov|Konstantin Gorchakov]]
| religion = 
| profession = 
| parents = 
| signature =SignatureAlexanderGorchakov.png
}}

'''Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Горчако́в; 15 July 1798 – 11 March 1883<ref>[http://www.allross.ru/lenobl/images/stpp/Img_6722.html Приморская Троицкая пустынь. Могила Горчакова] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105011749/http://www.allross.ru/lenobl/images/stpp/Img_6722.html |date=5 January 2012 }}</ref>) was a [[Russian Empire|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.<ref>[http://encspb.ru/object/2805474378 Памятник Горчакову А. М.]. Saint Petersburg Encyclopedia</ref> Scholars agree that the termination of the demilitarisation of the [[Black Sea]] was Gorchakov's greatest accomplishment but add that he stayed too long as foreign minister.

== Early life and career ==
Gorchakov was born at [[Haapsalu]], [[Governorate of Estonia]], and 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 language|French]] with facility and elegance. Pushkin in one of his poems described young Gorchakov as ''Fortune's favoured son'', and predicted his success.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Gorchakov|display=Gorchakov s.v. Prince Gorchakov, Alexander Mikhailovich|volume=12|pages=246–247|first=Donald Mackenzie|last=Wallace|author-link=Donald Mackenzie Wallace}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://fondgorchakova.ru/ |title=Сайт Международного фонда канцлера Горчакова |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070821003512/http://fondgorchakova.ru/ |date=21 August 2007 |archivedate=21 August 2007 |language=ru |website=fondgorchakova.ru}}</ref>

On leaving the lyceum Gorchakov entered the foreign office under Count [[Karl Robert Nesselrode|Nesselrode]]. His first diplomatic work of importance was the negotiation of a marriage between the Grand Duchess [[Olga Nikolaevna of Russia|Olga]] and the crown prince [[Charles I of Württemberg|Charles of Württemberg]]. He remained at [[Stuttgart]] for some years as Russian minister and confidential adviser of the crown princess. He foretold the outbreak of the [[Revolutions of 1848|revolution]]ary spirit in Germany and Austria, and was credited with counselling the abdication of [[Ferdinand I of Austria]] in favour of [[Franz Joseph of Austria|Francis Joseph]]. When the [[German Confederation]] was re-established in 1850 in place of the [[Frankfurt Parliament]], Gorchakov was appointed Russian minister to the [[Federal Convention (German Confederation)|diet]]. It was here that he first met Prince [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]], with whom he formed a friendship which was afterwards renewed at [[St Petersburg]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

The Emperor [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas]] found that his [[Ambassador of Russia to Austria|ambassador at Vienna]], [[Pyotr Meyendorf|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]]. Gorchakov perceived that Russian designs against the [[Ottoman Empire]], which was supported by [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and [[Second French Empire|France]], were impracticable, and he counselled Russia to make no more useless sacrifices, but to accept the basis of a pacification. At the same time, although he attended the [[Treaty of Paris (1856)|Paris conference of 1856]], he purposely abstained from affixing his signature to the treaty of peace after that of Count [[Alexey Fyodorovich Orlov]], Russia's chief representative. For the time, however, he made a virtue of necessity, and [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]], recognising the wisdom and courage which Gorchakov had exhibited, appointed him [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire|minister of foreign affairs]] in place of Count Nesselrode.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref>[http://www.encyclopaedia-russia.ru/article.php?id=622 России — идеология государственного патриотизма].</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Andrey Alexandrovich |last=Ivanov |title=Россия не сердится, Россия сосредотачивается |url=http://ruskline.ru/history/2014/03/12/rossiya_ne_serditsya_rossiya_sosredotachivaetsya/ |website=ruskline.ru |language=ru |date=3 December 2014}}, [[:ru:Русская народная линия]]</ref>

== Minister of foreign affairs ==
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 boude pas; elle se recueille'' ('Russia is not sulking, she is composing herself'). During the [[January Uprising]] in [[Congress Poland]], Gorchakov rebuffed the suggestions of Britain, [[Austrian Empire|Austria]] and France for assuaging the severities employed in quelling it, and he was especially acrid in his replies to [[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|Earl Russell]]'s despatches. The [[Prussia]]n support was assured by the [[Alvensleben Convention]]. 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.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref name="ЭСБЭ">{{Cite web |title=ЭСБЕ/Горчаков, Александр Михайлович — Викитека |url=https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D0%A1%D0%91%D0%95/%D0%93%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%87%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80_%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 |access-date=2024-12-07 |website=ru.wikisource.org |language=ru}}</ref>

A rapprochement now began between the courts of Russia and Prussia, and in 1863, Gorchakov smoothed the way for the [[Second Schleswig War|occupation of Schleswig-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 [[Austro-Prussian War|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.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1867 Russia and the United States concluded the [[Alaska Purchase|sale of Alaska]], a process which had begun as early as 1854 during the Crimean War. Gorchakov was not against the sale but always advocated for careful and secret negotiations and saw the eventuality of the sale but not the immediate necessity.{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}}

When the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 1870–1871 broke out, Russia argued for the neutrality of [[Austria-Hungary]]. 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.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In return for Russia's service in preventing Austro-Hungarian 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 [[German Empire|Germany]]. However, the cordial relations between the cabinets of Saint Petersburg and Berlin did not last much longer.<ref name="EB1911"/>

[[File:Gorchakov by Pushkin.png|thumb|right|[[Alexander Pushkin|Pushkin]]'s [[doodle]] representing Alexander Gorchakov]]
In 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 Bismarck'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 [[Southeastern Europe]], which began with the [[Herzegovina uprising (1875–1877)|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 War (1877-78)]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

The [[Treaty of San Stefano|Peace of San Stefano]], drafted by Gorchakov, [[Aleksandr Nelidov]], and [[Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev]], 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 importantly, [[Principality of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] was greatly enlarged to serve as the dominant power in the Balkans and be under Russian control. Britain, [[French Third Republic|France]], Germany and Austria-Hungary objected and radically reduced Russia's gains at the [[Congress of Berlin]] (13 June to 13 July 1878). Gorchakov was honored as first plenipotentiary, but he left to the second plenipotentiary, Count [[Pyotr Andreyevich 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-Hungary. 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.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Later life==
Gorchakov resigned formally in 1882 and was succeeded by [[Nikolay Girs|Nicholas de Giers]]. He died at [[Baden-Baden]] and was buried at the family vault in [[Coastal Monastery of Saint Sergius|Strelna Monastery]].<ref name="ЭСБЭ"/>

== Assessment ==
Prince Gorchakov devoted himself mostly to foreign affairs but also took some part in the great internal [[emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia|reforms]] of Alexander II's reign: for example he submitted four projects of emancipation reform and also presented to analysis of the foreign experience of various reforms to Alexander II.<ref>see. В. Лопатников Горчаков, ЖЗЛ, М. 2004</ref>

As a diplomat, 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 greatly succeeded.<ref name="EB1911"/>

== Honours ==
[[File:Alexander Gorchakov 2023 stamp of Russia.jpg|thumb|Gorchakov on a 2023 stamp of Russia]]
* {{flag|Austrian Empire}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary|Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen]], ''1857''; in Diamonds, ''1872''<ref>{{citation|chapter-url=https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=shb&datum=1883&page=332&size=45|chapter=Ritter-Orden: Königlich Ungarischer Sankt-Stephans-Orden|title=Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie|date=1883|pages=[https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=shb&datum=1883&size=45&page=334 117]|location=Vienna|via=alex.onb.ac.at}}</ref>
* {{flag|Baden}}: Knight of the [[House Order of Fidelity]], ''1857''; in Diamonds, ''1863''<ref name="HandbuchBaden">{{citation|title=Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden|year=1880|chapter=Großherzogliche Orden|chapter-url=https://digital.blb-karlsruhe.de/blbihd/periodical/pageview/1875326|page=[https://digital.blb-karlsruhe.de/blbihd/periodical/pageview/1875329 60]|location=Karlsruhe|via=blb-karlsruhe.de}}</ref>
* {{flag|Denmark}}:<ref>{{cite book |year=1883 |orig-year=1st pub.:1801 |editor1-last=Bille-Hansen |editor1-first=A. C. |editor2-last=Holck |editor2-first=Harald |title=Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1883 |trans-title=State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1883 |url=https://slaegtsbibliotek.dk/900758.pdf |series=Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender |language=da |location=Copenhagen |publisher=J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri |pages=3–4, 7–8|via=[[:da:DIS Danmark]]}}</ref>
** Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Dannebrog]], ''8 July 1852''
** Knight of the [[Order of the Elephant]], ''16 September 1857''
* {{flag|Grand Duchy of Hesse}}: Grand Cross of the [[Ludwig Order]], ''2 July 1857''<ref>{{citation|title=Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Grossherzogtums Hessen|year=1881|chapter=Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen|language=German|location=Darmstadt|page=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030828746&view=1up&seq=48&skin=2021 24]|via=hathitrust.org}}</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Imperial Standard of Mexico (1864-1867).svg}} [[Second Mexican Empire|Mexican Empire]]: Grand Cross of the [[Mexican Imperial Orders#Imperial Order of Guadalupe|Imperial Order of Guadalupe]], ''1864''<ref>{{citation|title=Almanaque imperial para el año 1866|year=1866|language=es|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOAxAQAAMAAJ|chapter=Seccion IV: Ordenes del Imperio|page=246|access-date=29 April 2020}}</ref>
* {{flag|Nassau}}: Knight of the [[Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau]], ''August 1864''<ref>{{citation|title=Staats- und Adreß-Handbuch des Herzogthums Nassau|year=1866|chapter=Herzogliche Orden|chapter-url=https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10021632?page=5|page=[https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10021632?page=27 11]|location=Wiesbaden|via=digitale-sammlungen.de}}</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1803-1892).svg}} [[Kingdom of Prussia]]: Knight of the [[Order of the Black Eagle]], ''24 June 1856''; in Diamonds, ''1859''<ref name="prus">{{citation|title=Königlich Preussische Ordensliste|volume=1|chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878864&view=1up&seq=5&skin=2021|chapter=Schwarzer Adler-orden|pages=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878864&view=1up&seq=15&skin=2021 11]|language=German|location=Berlin|year=1877|via=hathitrust.org}}</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Italy (1861–1946).svg}} [[Kingdom of Sardinia]]: Knight of the [[Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation]], ''30 October 1859''<ref name="dell'interno1920">{{cite book|author=Italy. Ministero dell'interno|title=Calendario generale del regno d'Italia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dgUDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR3|year=1862|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dgUDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA68 68]|access-date=8 October 2020}}</ref>
* {{flagcountry|Restoration (Spain)}}: Knight of the [[Order of the Golden Fleece]], ''17 February 1857''<ref>{{cite book|url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000899508&search=&lang=es|chapter=Caballeros de la insignie orden del Toison de oro|title=Guía Oficial de España|date=1879|page=134|language=es}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|Sweden|1844}} {{flagicon|Norway|1844}} [[Sweden-Norway]]: Knight of the [[Royal Order of the Seraphim]], ''16 May 1860''<ref>{{cite book|title=Sveriges och Norges statskalender|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9JhaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA468|year=1874|publisher=Liberförlag|page=468}}</ref>
* {{Flagicon|Tuscany|habsburg}} [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]]: Commander of the [[Order of Saint Joseph]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Almanacco Toscano per l'anno 1855|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Y5fOnwLsZxsC|year=1855|publisher=Stamperia Granducale|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Y5fOnwLsZxsC/page/279/mode/2up 280]}}</ref>
* {{flag|Two Sicilies}}: Knight of the [[Order of Saint Januarius]], ''1845''<ref name="(Stato)1857">{{cite book|author=Napoli (Stato)|title=Almanacco reale del Regno delle Due Sicilie: per l'anno ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iclHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA401|year=1857|publisher=Stamp. Reale|page=401}}</ref>
* {{flag|Württemberg}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Crown (Württemberg)|Order of the Württemberg Crown]], ''1846''<ref>{{citation|title=Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg|year=1877|chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433082071733&view=1up&seq=7&skin=2021|chapter=Königliche Orden|page=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433082071733&view=1up&seq=73&skin=2021 35]|location=Stuttgart|via=hathitrust.org}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Internationalization of the Danube River]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Clark, Chester W. "Prince Gorchakov and the Black Sea Question, 1866 A Russian Bomb that did not Explode." ''American Historical Review'' (1942) 48#1: 52–60. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1843248 online]
*  Golicz, Roman, "The Russians shall not have Constantinople: English Attitudes to Russia, 1870–1878", ''History Today'' (November 2003) 53#9 pp 39–45.
* Hauner, Milan. "Central Asian geopolitics in the last hundred years: a critical survey from Gorchakov to Gorbachev." ''Central Asian Survey'' 8.1 (1989): 1–19.
* Jelavich, Barbara. ''St. Petersburg and Moscow: Tsarist and Soviet Foreign Policy, 1814–1974'' (1974), pp 133–91.
* Meyendorff, Alfred. "Conversations of Gorchakov with Andrássy and Bismarck in 1872." The Slavonic and East European Review 8.23 (1929): 400–408. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4202407 online]
* Saul, Norman E. ''Distant Friends: The United States and Russia, 1763–1867'' (UP of Kansas, 1991).
* Seton-Watson, Hugh. ''The Russian Empire 1801–1917'' (1967) 
* Splidsboel-Hansen, Flemming. "Past and future meet: Aleksandr Gorchakov and Russian foreign policy." ''Europe-Asia Studies'' 54.3 (2002): 377–396. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/826482 online]
* Stevens, John Knox. "The Franco-Russian Treaty of 1859: New Light and New Thoughts." ''Historian'' 28.2 (1966): 203–223. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24438483 online]

==External links==
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtfms.i1002 Digitized page images]
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtfms.i1019 English translation]

{{s-start}}
{{succession box|title=[[Foreign Minister of Russia]]|before=[[Karl Nesselrode]]|after=[[Nicholas de Giers]]|years=1856–1882}}
{{s-end}}

{{Foreign ministers of Russia and the Soviet Union}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorchakov, Alexander Mikhailovich}}
[[Category:1798 births]]
[[Category:1883 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Haapsalu]]
[[Category:People from Kreis Wiek]]
[[Category:Gorchakov family|Alexander Mikhailovich]]
[[Category:Russian princes]]
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[[Category:Diplomats of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:19th-century politicians from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum alumni]]
[[Category:Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Russian people of the Crimean War]]
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[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia)]]
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[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class]]
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[[Category:Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of Saint Joseph]]