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

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, 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 th ...

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 and t ...

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 It ...

Kaluga Governorate Kaluga Governorate (1796–1929) was a List of governorates of the Russian Empire, governorate of the Russian Empire and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR. Its capital was Kaluga. Administrative division Kaluga Go ...

, 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 officia ...

, 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 Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

circuit court and as a prosecutor in

Vologda Vologda ( rus, Вологда, p=ˈvoləɡdə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda (river), Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. ...

. 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

Interior Ministry An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

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

Secret Police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...

. He is credited with the destruction of numerous "

People's Will Narodnaya Volya ( rus, Наро́дная во́ля, p=nɐˈrodnəjə ˈvolʲə, t=People's Will) was a late 19th-century revolutionary political organization in the Russian Empire which conducted assassinations of government officials in an att ...

" 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 Count Dmitry Andreyevich Tolstoy (russian: Дми́трий Андре́евич Толсто́й; , Moscow – , Saint Petersburg) was a Russian Politician, statesman, a member of the State Council of Imperial Russia (1866). He belonged to t ...

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 The Table of Ranks (russian: Табель о рангах, Tabel' o rangakh) was a formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a s ...

in 1899, he was

Finnish Minister Secretary of State Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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 18 ...

, 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 Alexander ...

'' 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 Hirsh Lekert (born 1880 in Onuškis, in the Troksky Uyezd of Vilna GovernorateNachman Ben-Yehuda, "Political assassinations by Jews: a rhetorical device for justice", SUNY Press, 1993, pg. 106/ref> died June 10, 1902 in VilniusJeffrey S. Gurock, " ...

, 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 urb ...

Victor von Wahl Viktor Karl Konrad Wilhelm von Wahl (russian: Ви́ктор Вильге́льмович Ва́ль, Viktor Vil’gel’movich Val’; 1840 – 1915) was a Baltic German general, mayor of St. Petersburg, and governor of Vilnius. He came from B ...

, 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 p ...

, 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 agent ...

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 Igor Sazonov AKA Yegor Sazonov, Y.S. Sazonov, and Yegor Sozonov (Russian: Егор Сергеевич Созонов'';'' 7 June ld Style and New Style dates, O.S. 23 May1879 – 10 December .S. 27 November1910) was a Russian revoluti ...

, on the way to his weekly audience with the Tsar at Izmailovsky Prospekt in

, killing him at the age of 58. 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 (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

(

Angelo Agostini Angelo Agostini (April 8, 1843 – January 23, 1910) was an Italian-born Brazilian illustrator, journalist and founder of several publications, and although born in Italy, is considered the first Brazilian cartoonist. Biography Agostini was b ...

, ''

O Malho ''O Malho'' (Portuguese: ''The Mallet'') was a Brazilian weekly satirical magazine published from 1902 to 1954. It was based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was the first commercially successful Brazilian satirical magazine during the Republican re ...

'', 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. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. 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 B ...

. 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 Octobe ...

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 perh ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pleve, Vyacheslav 1846 births 1904 deaths People from Meshchovsk People from Meshchovsky Uyezd People from the Russian Empire of German descent Nobility from the Russian Empire Active Privy Councillor (Russian Empire) Members of the Russian Assembly Interior ministers of the Russian Empire Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Senators of the Russian Empire Police chiefs from the Russian Empire 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