Everything about Nicholas Pavlovich Ignatiev totally explained
Count Nikolai Pavlovich Ignatiev (
Russian: Николай Павлович Игнатьев) (
17 January Old Style (
29 January on
Western calendar)
1832 –
20 June Old Style (
3 July on
Western calendar)
1908) was a
Russian
statesman and
diplomat. During his career he was sometimes at odds with another
Corps of Pages alumni, Count
Pyotr Shuvalov.
Life
Early life
Nikolai Pavlovich Ignatiev was born in
St Petersburg. His grandfather was from the ancient
Georgian aristocratic family of Ignatishvili. The family changed its name to Ignatiev on coming to Russia. His father, Captain
Pavel Ignatiev, had been taken into favor by
Tsar Nicholas I, owing to his fidelity on the occasion of the
military conspiracy in 1825, and
Grand Duke Alexander (later Tsar
Alexander II) stood sponsor at the boy's
baptism. After graduating from the
Corps of Pages, at the age of seventeen he became an officer of the
Russian Guards. He was appointed
military attaché in
London in charge of intelligence but was expelled by
Britain after a failed operation.
Diplomatic career and involvement in the Great Game
Ignatiev's diplomatic career began at the
Congress of Paris in
1856, after the
Crimean War, where he took an active part as
military attaché in the negotiations regarding the demarcation of the Russo-
Ottoman frontier on the lower
Danube.
Two years later he was sent with a small escort on a dangerous mission to the
Central Asian
states of
Khiva and
Bukhara. The
khan of Khiva laid a plan for detaining him as a hostage, but he eluded the danger and returned safely, after concluding a treaty of friendship with the
emir of Bukhara.
His next diplomatic exploit was in the
Far East, as
plenipotentiary to the
court of
Peking (Beijing). When the
Qing Chinese government was terrified by the advance of the
Anglo-
French expedition of
1860 and the burning of the
Summer Palace in the
Second Opium War, he worked on their fears so dexterously that, in the
Convention of Peking, he obtained for Russia
Outer Manchuria – not only the left bank of the
Amur, the original object of the mission, but also a large extent of territory and seacoast south of that river that would become the Russian
Maritime Province.
The Balkans
Ignatiev's success was supposed to prove his capacity for dealing with "
Orientals" and paved his way to the post of
ambassador at
Constantinople (Istanbul), which he occupied from
1864 to
1877. Here his chief aim was to liberate from Ottoman domination and bring under the influence of Russia the Christian nationalities in general and the
Bulgarians in particular. His restless activity in this field, mostly of a semiofficial and secret character, culminated in the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, at the close of which he negotiated with the Ottoman
plenipotentiaries the
Treaty of San Stefano. As the war which he'd done so much to bring about didn't eventually secure for Russia advantages commensurate with the sacrifices involved, he fell into disfavour with
Alexander II in part due to efforts of Count
Pyotr Shuvalov, and retired from active service. Soon thereafter
Treaty of San Stefano was revised through the
Treaty of Berlin, 1878, signed on Russia behalf by Count
Pyotr Shuvalov.
Despite that Count Ignatiev remained widely popular in Bulgaria and even was considered by some for the
Bulgarian throne, which eventually was granted to Prince
Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, his personal enemy.
Later life
In meantime Count Ignatiev served as Governor of
Nizhny Novgorod, were he was credited for expansion of
Makariev Fair. Shortly after the accession of
Alexander III in
1881, he was appointed
Minister of the Interior on the understanding that he'd carry out a
nationalist, reactionary policy. After a period of intense, violent, destructive anti-
Jewish rioting, known as
pogroms, which some accused Ignatiev of fomenting, he issued the infamous "
May Laws" in May
1882. Pogroms received state-sponsorship from local authorities, and typically police were involved in them as well. He retired from office in June 1882. Explanations include that he was suspected of dishonesty or
extortion, or that the tsar feared he intended to introduce
constitutional government by reviving the
Zemsky Sobor (
parliament). After that time he exercised no important influence in public affairs.
Ignatiev's son,
Count Paul Ignatieff, served as the last
Minister of Education under
Tsar Nicholas II. His grandson
George Ignatieff became a
Canadian diplomat, and his great-grandson
Michael Ignatieff a prominent academic and Canadian politician.
Nicholas Ignatiev in popular media
Further Information
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