Vyacheslav Konstantinovich von Plehve ( rus, Вячесла́в (Wenzel (Славик)) из Плевны Константи́нович фон Пле́ве, p=vʲɪtɕɪˈslaf fɐn ˈplʲevʲɪ; – ) served as a director of

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...

from 1881 to 1884 and later as Minister of the Interior (in office: 1902–1904) prior to his assassination.

Biography

Plehve was born in

Meshchovsk Meshchovsk (russian: Мещо́вск) is a town and the administrative center of Meshchovsky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Tureya River southwest of Kaluga, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History ...

Kaluga Governorate Kaluga Governorate (1796–1929) was a governorate of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR. Its capital was Kaluga. Administrative division Kaluga Governorate consisted of the following uyezds (administrative centres in parentheses): * B ...

, Russia, on 20 April 1846. He was the only son of schoolteacher Konstantin von Plehve and Elizaveta Mikhailovna Shamaev, daughter of a minor landowner. In 1851, Plehve's family moved from Meshchovsk to

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

, where his father accepted a job as an instructor in a gymnasium. After studying law at the

Moscow University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

, he joined the ministry of justice in 1867. He served as assistant prosecutor in the Vladimir circuit court and as a prosecutor in

Vologda Vologda ( rus, Вологда, p=ˈvoləɡdə) is a city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population: The city serves as a major transport hub of ...

. In 1876 he was appointed assistant prosecutor of the Warsaw Chamber of Justice, and in 1879 as prosecutor of the

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Chamber of Justice. In 1881 he investigated the murder of Alexander II and then joined the

MVD The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; russian: Министерство внутренних дел (МВД), ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia. The MVD is responsible for law enfor ...

as a Director of the Department of Police, also in charge of

Okhrana The Department for Protecting the Public Security and Order (russian: Отделение по охранению общественной безопасности и порядка), usually called Guard Department ( rus, Охранное отд ...

. He is credited with the destruction of numerous " People's Will" terrorist groups. He became a member of the

Governing Senate The Governing Senate (russian: Правительствующий сенат, Pravitelstvuyushchiy senat) was a legislative, judicial, and executive body of the Russian Emperors, instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and last ...

in 1884 and assistant minister of Interior in 1885. As an assistant minister, at first under Count Dmitry Tolstoy and later under his successor,

Ivan Durnovo Ivan Nikolayevich Durnovo (russian: Иван Николаевич Дурново, the patronymic is also transcribed as Nikolaevich; – ) was a Russian political figure. He served as Chairman of the Committee of Ministers between 1895 and ...

, Plehve had shown definite administrative talent. Made an Actual Privy Counsellor in 1899, he was Finnish Minister Secretary of State from that year until 1904. He supported the abolition of the separate Finnish army in 1901. In April 1902, following the assassination of

Dmitry Sipyagin Dmitry Sergeyevich Sipyagin (russian: Дми́трий Серге́евич Сипя́гин) ( – ) was a Russian politician. Political career Born in Kiev, Sipyagin graduated from the Judicial Department of St Petersburg University in 187 ...

, he was appointed minister of interior and chief of

Gendarmes Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (literally, " ...

. After a brief attempt at conciliation with the ''

zemstvo A ''zemstvo'' ( rus, земство, p=ˈzʲɛmstvə, plural ''zemstva'' – rus, земства) was an institution of local government set up during the great emancipation reform of 1861 carried out in Imperial Russia by Emperor Alexande ...

'' conservatives failed, he relapsed—disbanding the police-supported labour unions ('' zubatovshchina''). In 1902, Plehve used his position as minister of interior to insist that Hirsh Lekert, who had tried to assassinate the governor of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

, Victor von Wahl, be tried under wartime law. This virtually guaranteed a death sentence. In August 1903 he met with

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern pol ...

, discussing the establishment of Zionist societies in Russia, and proposed a Russian government request to the Turks to obtain a charter for Jewish colonisation of Palestine. Plehve became a target for Jewish revolutionaries after his meeting with Theodor Herzl although he had forwarded Herzl's proposals to the czar. After he did nothing to prevent a bloody wave of anti-Jewish violence in 1903, the known double agent

Yevno Azef Yevno Fishelevich Azef (russian: Евгений Филиппович (Евно Фишелевич) Азеф, also transliterated as ''Evno'' Azef, 1869–1918) was a Russian socialist revolutionary who also operated as a double agent and agen ...

decided not to inform on the

Socialist Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...

plans to kill Plehve. He survived one attack in 1903 and two in 1904 before the Socialist-Revolutionary Combat Organization succeeded. On 28 July 1904, a bomb was thrown into Plehve's horse-drawn carriage by a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party named Igor Sazonov, on his weekly audience with the Tsar at Izmailovsky Prospekt in

, killing him. File:EM S. PETERSBURGO — Assassinato do Sr. Plehwe, ministro do interior.jpg, Assassination of Mr. Plehve,

Minister of Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

( Angelo Agostini, '' O Malho'', 1904). File:The assassination of Vyacheslav von Plehve, Le Patriote Illustré.jpg, The assassination of Vyacheslav von Plehve, '' Le Patriote Illustré''. File:Pleve mort Peterburg VII-1904 Varschav voksal.jpg, Scene of assassination in

on 15 July 1904

Political legacy

Because Plehve carried out the russification of the provinces within the Russian Empire, he earned bitter hatred in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, in Lithuania and especially in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

. He despoiled the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

, and was credited with being accessory to the

Kishinev pogrom The Kishinev pogrom or Kishinev massacre was an anti-Jewish riot that took place in Kishinev (modern Chișinău, Moldova), then the capital of the Bessarabia Governorate in the Russian Empire, on . A second pogrom erupted in the city in Octob ...

s. His logical mind and determined support of the autocratic principle gained the tsar's entire confidence. He opposed commercial development on ordinary European lines on the ground that it involved the existence both of a dangerous

proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...

and of a prosperous middle class equally inimical to

autocracy Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except per ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pleve, Vyacheslav 1846 births 1904 deaths People from Meshchovsk People from Meshchovsky Uyezd Russian people of German descent Russian nobility Active Privy Councillor (Russian Empire) Members of the Russian Assembly Interior ministers of Russia Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Senators of the Russian Empire Russian police chiefs Moscow State University alumni Assassinated politicians of the Russian Empire Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class

Biography

Political legacy

Notes

References

Further reading

External links