GORCHAKOV, or GORTCHAKOEF

This article appears in Volume V12, Page 247 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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GORCHAKOV, or GORTCHAKOEF , a noble Russian family, descended from Michael Vsevolodovich, prince of Chernigov, who, in 1246, was assassinated by the Mongols. PRINCE ANDREY IvANOVICH (17681855), general in the Russian army, took a conspicuous part in the final campaigns against

Napoleon

NAPOLEON

. ALEXANDER IVANOVICH (17691825) served with distinction
Gorchakov perceived that Russian designs against Turkey, supported by

Great

GREAT

Britain and France, were impracticable, and he counselled Russia to make no more useless sacrifices, but to accept the bases of a pacification. 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

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

representative. 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. 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; die se recueille." During the Polish insurrection Gorchakov rebuffed the suggestions of

Great

GREAT

Britain, Austria and France for assuaging the severities employed in quelling it, and he was especially acrid in his replies to

Earl

EARL

Russell's despatches. 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, 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. This seemed equally favourable 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. When the Franco-German War of 1870-71 broke out Russia answered for the neutrality of Austria. 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. 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

PETERSBURG

and Berlin did not subsist much longer. In 1895 Bismarck was suspected of a

design

DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

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

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

. The tension thus produced between the two statesmen was increased by the political complications of 1875-1878 in

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

-eastern Europe, which began with the Herzegovinian insurrection and culminated at the Berlin congress. 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

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

of events, and the Slavophil agitation produced the Russo-Turkish campaign of 1877-78. By the preliminary peace of San Stefano the Slavophil 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 Great Britain and Austria. He had the

satisfaction

SATISFACTION (Lat. salisfacerc, to satisfy)

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. After the congress he continued to hold the post of minister for foreign affairs, but lived chiefly abroad, and resigned formally in 1882, when he was succeeded by M. de Giers. He died at Baden-Baden on the 11th of March 1883. Prince Gorchakov devotedhimself entirely to foreign affairs, and took no part in the great internal reforms of Alexander II.'s reign. As a diplomatist he displayed many brilliant qualitiesadroitness in negotiation, incisiveness in argument and elegance in style. His statesman-ship, 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. (D. M. W.)

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