Sergey Yulyevich Witte
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Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte (; ), also known as Sergius Witte, was a Russian statesman who served as the first prime minister of the Russian Empire, replacing the tsar as head of the government. Neither a liberal nor a conservative, he attracted foreign capital to boost Russia's industrialization. Witte's strategy was to avoid the danger of wars. Witte served under the last two emperors of Russia, Alexander III () and
Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
().Harcave, Sidney. (2004)
''Count Sergei Witte and the Twilight of Imperial Russia: A Biography,'' p. xiii.
/ref> During the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), he had risen to a position in which he controlled all the traffic passing to the front along the lines of the Odessa Railways. As finance minister from 1892 to 1903, Witte presided over extensive
industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
and achieved government monopoly control over an expanded system of railroad lines. Following months of civil unrest and outbreaks of violence in what became known as the
1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
, Witte framed on the 17th the
October Manifesto The October Manifesto (russian: Октябрьский манифест, Манифест 17 октября), officially "The Manifesto on the Improvement of the State Order" (), is a document that served as a precursor to the Russian Empire's fi ...
and the accompanying government communication to establish constitutional government. However, he was not convinced it would solve Russia's problems with the Tsarist autocracy. On 20 October 1905 Witte was appointed as the first chairman of the
Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
(effectively prime minister). Assisted by his Council, he designed Russia's first constitution. But within a few months Witte fell into disgrace as a reformer because of continuing court opposition to these changes. He resigned before the First Duma assembled on . Witte was fully confident that he had resolved the main problem: providing political stability to the regime, but according to him, the " peasant problem" would further determine the character of the Duma's activity. He is widely considered to have been one of the key figures in Russian politics at the end of 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century. Orlando Figes has described Witte as the 'great reforming finance minister of the 1890s',Figes, p. 41 'one of Nicholas's most enlightened ministers',Figes, p. 8 and as the architect of Russia's new parliamentary order in 1905.Figes, p. 217.


Family and early life

Witte's father, Julius Christoph Heinrich Georg Witte, was from a Lutheran Baltic German family. He converted to
Russian Orthodoxy Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most C ...
upon his marriage with Yekaterina Fadeyeva. His father was made a member of the knighthood in
Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...
but moved as a civil servant to
Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...
and Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi, Georgia). Sergei was raised on the estate of his mother's parents. His grandfather was Andrei Mikhailovich Fadeyev, a Governor of
Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...
and Privy Councillor of the Caucasus, and is grandmother was
Princess Helene Dolgoruki Helene Dolgoruki, more correctly Elena Pavlovna Dolgorukaya (russian: Елена Павловна Долгорукая), married name Fadeeva (russian: Фадеева) (1789–1860), was a Russian noblewoman who was the grandmother of both Sergei ...
. Sergei had two brothers (Alexander and Boris) and two sisters (Olga and Sophia). Helena Blavatsky, noted as a mystic, was their first cousin. Witte studied at a Tiflis gymnasium, but he took more interest in music, fencing and riding than in academics. He finished Gymnasium I in Kishinev and began studying Physico-Mathematical Sciences at the Novorossiysk University in
Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
in 1866 and graduated at the top of his class in 1870.Harcave
p. 33.
/ref> After completing his studies he devoted some time to journalism in close relations with the Slavophiles and Mikhail Katkov. Witte had initially planned to pursue a career in academia with the intention of becoming a professor in theoretical mathematics. His relatives took a dim view of that career path, as it was considered unsuitable for a noble or aristocrat at the time. He was instead persuaded by Count Vladimir Pavlovich Machabelovy, Minister of Ways and Communication, to pursue a career in the
Russian railroads } ''Russian Railroads'' is a tile-based Euro-style board game for 2 to 4 players by Helmut Ohley and Leonhard Orgler. The game was published in 2013 by Hans im Glück Verlag. It is based on the worker placement principle, in which players can ...
. At the direction of the Count, Witte undertook six months of training in a variety of positions on the Odessa Railways to gain a practical understanding of Ukrainian railways operations. At the end of that period, he was appointed as chief of the traffic office.Harcave
p. 42.
/ref> After a wreck on the Odessa Railways in late 1875 cost many lives, Witte was arrested and sentenced to four months in prison. However, while he was still contesting the case in court, Witte directed the Odessa Railways and achieved extraordinary efforts towards the transport of troops and war materials in the Russo-Turkish War and attracted the attention of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, who commuted his prison sentence to two weeks. Witte had devised a novel system of double-shift operations in his efforts to overcome delays on the railways. In 1879, Witte accepted a post in St. Petersburg, where he would meet his future wife. He moved to
Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
the following year. In 1883, he published a paper on "Principles of Railway Tariffs for Cargo Transportation" in which he also discussed social issues and the role of the monarchy. Witte gained popularity in the government. In 1886, he was appointed manager of the privately-held Southwestern Railways, based in Kiev, and was noted for increasing its efficiency and profitability. Around then, he met Tsar Alexander III, but he conflicted with the Tsar's aides by warning of the danger in their practice of using two powerful freight locomotives to achieve high speeds for the royal train. His warnings were proven in the October 1888
Borki train disaster The Borki train disaster occurred on October 29, 1888 (N.S.), near Borki station in the former Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Birky, Chuhuiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine), 295 kilometers south of Kursk, when the imperia ...
, Witte was then appointed as Director of State Railways.


Political career


Railways

Witte worked in railroad management for 20 years after he had begun as a ticket clerk. He caught the attention of Finance Minister Ivan Vyshnegradsky, who appointed him as Russian Director of Railway Affairs within the Finance Ministry, where he served from 1889 to 1891. During thar period, he oversaw an ambitious program of railway construction. Until then, less than one fourth of the small railway systems were under direct state control, but Witte set about expanding the rail lines and getting the railway service under control as a state monopoly. Witte also obtained the right to assign employees based on their performance or merit, rather than for patronage for political or familial connections. In 1889, he published a paper, "National Savings and Friedrich List", which cited the economic theories of Friedrich List and justified the need for a strong domestic industry, to be protected from foreign competition by customs barriers. A new customs law for Russia was passed in 1891, spurring an increase in industrialization by the turn of the 20th century. While Witte worked to achieve industrialization, he also fought for practical education. He said that railways operated by the state would be useless "unless it does its utmost for spreading technical education..." Tsar Alexander III appointed Witte in 1892 as acting Minister of Ways and Communications. That gave him both control of the railroads in Russia and the authority to impose a reform on the tariffs charged. "Russian railroads gradually became perhaps the most economically operated railroads of the world".Boublikoff, p. 313 Profits were high: over 100 million gold rubles a year to the government (exact amount unknown because of accounting defects). In 1892 Witte became acquainted with Matilda Ivanovna (Isaakovna) Lisanevich in a theater. Witte began to seek her favour, urging her to divorce her gambling husband and marry him. The marriage was a scandal not only because Matilda was a divorcee but also because she was a converted Jew. That cost Witte many of his connections with the upper nobility, but the Tsar protected him.


Minister of Finance

In August 1892, Witte was appointed to the post of Minister of Finance, which he held for the next eleven years, and he nearly doubled the revenues of the empire. (Until 1905 matters pertaining to industry and commerce were within the province of the Ministry of Finance.) During his tenure, he greatly accelerated the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. He also emphasized creation of an educational system to train personnel for industry, in particular, the establishment of new "commercial" schools. He was known for appointing subordinates by their academic credentials or merit, rather than because of patronage political connections. In 1894, he concluded a 10-year commercial treaty with the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
on favorable terms for Russia. When Alexander III died, he told his son on his deathbed to listen well to Witte, his most capable minister. In 1895, on a crusade against the evils of drunkenness, Witte established a state monopoly on alcohol, which became a major source of revenue for the Russian government. In 1896, he concluded the
Li–Lobanov Treaty The Li–Lobanov Treaty or the Sino-Russian Secret Treaty (; russian: Союзный договор между Российской империей и Китаем ) was a secret and unequal treaty signed on June 3, 1896 in Moscow by foreign mini ...
with Li Hongzhang of the Qing dynasty. One of the rights secured for Russia was the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway across northeast China, which greatly shortened the route of the Trans-Siberian Railway to its projected eastern terminus at Vladivostok. However, following the Triple Intervention, Witte strongly opposed the Russian occupation of Liaodong Peninsula and the construction of the naval base at Port Arthur in the Russia–Qing Convention of 1898.


Gold standard

In 1896, Witte undertook a major
currency reform Monetary reform is any movement or theory that proposes a system of supplying money and financing the economy that is different from the current system. Monetary reformers may advocate any of the following, among other proposals: * A return t ...
to place the Russian ruble on the gold standard. That resulted in increased investment activity and an increase in the inflow of foreign capital. Witte also enacted a law in 1897 limiting working hours in enterprises, and in 1898 reformed commercial and industrial taxes. In 1899 the
Petrograd Polytechnical Institute Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, abbreviated as SPbPU (also, formerly "Saint Petersburg State Technical University", abbreviated as SPbSTU), is a Russian technical university located in Saint Petersburg. Other former names i ...
was founded on his initiative. In summer 1898, he addressed a memorandum to the Tsar calling for an agricultural conference on the reform of the peasant community. Tsar resulted in three years of talks about laws to abolish collective responsibility and facilitate the resettlement of farmers onto lands on the outskirts of the Empire. Many of his ideas were later adopted by
Pyotr Stolypin Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin ( rus, Пётр Арка́дьевич Столы́пин, p=pʲɵtr ɐrˈkadʲjɪvʲɪtɕ stɐˈlɨpʲɪn; – ) was a Russian politician and statesman. He served as the third prime minister and the interior minist ...
. In 1902 Witte's supporter, Dmitry Sipyagin, the Minister of Home Affairs, was assassinated. In an attempt to keep up the modernization of the Russian economy, Witte called and oversaw the Special Conference on the Needs of the Rural Industry. The conference was to provide recommendations for future reforms and compile the data to justify those reforms. By 1900 the growth in the manufacturing industry had been four times faster than in the preceding five-year period and six times faster than in the decade before that. External trade in industrial goods was equal to that of Belgium. In 1904, the Union of Liberation was formed, which demanded economic and political reform.


Worsening relations with Japan in 1890s

Witte controlled East Asian policy in the 1890s. His goal was peaceful expansion of trade with Japan and China. Japan, with its greatly expanded and modernized military, easily defeated the antiquated Chinese forces in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95). Russia had to confront collaborating with Japan with which relations had been fairly good for some years or acting as protector of China against Japan. Witte chose the second policy, and in 1894, Russia, Germany and France forced Japan to soften the peace terms that it had imposed on China. Japan was forced to cede the Liaodong Peninsula and Port Arthur back to China (both territories were located in south-eastern Manchuria, a Chinese province). The new Russian role angered Tokyo, which decided Russia was the main enemy in its quest to control Manchuria, Korea and China. Witte underestimated Japan's growing economic and military power and exaggerated Russia's military prowess. Russia concluded an alliance with China (in 1896 by the
Li–Lobanov Treaty The Li–Lobanov Treaty or the Sino-Russian Secret Treaty (; russian: Союзный договор между Российской империей и Китаем ) was a secret and unequal treaty signed on June 3, 1896 in Moscow by foreign mini ...
), which led in 1898 to Russian occupation and administration (by its own personnel and police) of the entire Liaodong Peninsula. Russia also fortified the ice-free Port Arthur and completed the Russian-owned Chinese Eastern Railway, which was to cross northern Manchuria from west to east and link Siberia with Vladivostok. In 1899, the
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
broke out, and the Chinese attacked all foreigners. A large coalition of the major Western powers and Japan sent armed forces to relieve their diplomatic missions in Peking. The Russian government used that as an opportunity to bring a substantial army into Manchuria. As a consequence, by 1900 Manchuria was a fully-incorporated outpost of the Russian Empire, and Japan prepared to fight Russia.


Loss of power

Witte, in a memorandum, tried to turn the reports of the zemstvo presidents into a condemnation of the Home Office. In a political conflict on land reform, Vyacheslav von Plehve accused him of being part of a Jewish- Masonic conspiracy. According to Vasily Gurko, Witte had dominated the irresolute Tsar, and his opponents decided that was the moment to get rid of him. Witte was appointed on 16 August 1903 ( O.S.) as chairman of the
Committee of Ministers The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe ( French: ''Comité des ministres du Conseil de l'Europe'') or Committee of Ministers ( French: ''Comité des ministres'') is the Council of Europe's decision-making body. It comprises the Forei ...
, a position he held until October 1905. While officially a promotion, the post had no real power. Witte's removal from the influential post of Minister of Finance was engineered under the pressure of the landed gentry and his political enemies within the government and at the court. But historians
Nicholas V. Riasanovsky Nicholas Valentine Riasanovsky (December 21, 1923 – May 14, 2011) was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and the author of numerous books on Russian history and European intellectual history. Biography Nicolai Valentinovitch R ...
and Robert K. Massie say that Witte's opposition to Russian designs on Korea resulted in his resigning from the government in 1903.


Diplomatic career

Witte was brought back into the governmental decision-making process to help deal with growing civil unrest. Confronted with increasing opposition and, after consulting with Witte and Prince Sviatopolk-Mirsky, the Tsar issued a reform '' ukase'' on December 25, 1904 with vague promises. After the Bloody Sunday riots of 1905, Witte supplied 500 rubles, the equivalent of 250 dollars, to Father Gapon in order for the leader of the demonstration to leave the country. Witte recommended that the government issue a manifesto related to the people's demands. Schemes of reform would be elaborated by Goremykin and a committee consisting of elected representatives of the
zemstva 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 ...
and municipal councils under the presidency of Witte. On 3 March the Tsar condemned the revolutionaries. The government issued a strongly worded prohibition of any further agitation in favor of a constitution. By spring a new political system was beginning to form in Russia. A petition campaign was conducted seeking a wide variety of proposed changes, such as ending the war with Japan, which lasted from February to July 1905. In June mutiny broke out on the Russian battleship Potemkin. The Tsar called upon Witte to negotiate an end to the Russo-Japanese War. He was sent to the United States for the talks, as the Russian Emperor's plenipotentiary titled "his Secretary of State and President of the Committee of Ministers of the Emperor of Russia," along with Baron Roman Rosen, Master of the Imperial Court of Russia. The peace talks were held in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...
. Witte is credited with negotiating brilliantly on Russia's behalf during the
Treaty of Portsmouth A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...
discussions. Russia lost little in the final settlement. But the loss of the war with Japan is believed to have marked the beginning of the end of Imperial Russia. For his efforts, he was made a ( ru , граф , translit = graf) following his service to the government in negotiations over the end of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. After that diplomatic success, Witte wrote to the Tsar stressing the urgent need for political reforms at home. He was dissatisfied with proposals by Bulygin, the successor of Sviatopolk-Mirsky. A 6 August (O.S.) manifesto created a Duma as a consultative body only. Elections of its representatives would not be direct but be held in four stages, and qualifications for class and property would exclude much of the intelligentsia and all of the working classes from
suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...
. The proposal was greeted by numerous protests and strikes across the country, which became known as the Russian Revolution of 1905. During that period, imperial troops were sent out 2,000 times to suppress violence. The Tsar remained quiet, impassive and indulgent; he spent most of that autumn hunting. Witte told Nicholas II, "that the country was at the verge of a cataclysmic revolution". Trepov was ordered to take drastic measures to stop the revolutionary activity. The Tsar asked his cousin
Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholas Romanov may refer to: * Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), third son of Paul I & Tsaritsa Maria Fedorovna; younger brother of Alexander I, ascended 1825 * Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia (1843–1865), eldest son of Emperor ...
to assume the role of dictator, but the Grand Duke threatened to shoot himself if the Tsar refused to endorse Witte's memorandum.''Scenarios of Power, From Alexander II to the Abdication of Nicholas II''
by Richard Wortman, pg. 398
Nicholas II had no choice but to take a number of steps in the constitutional liberal direction. The Tsar accepted the draft, hurriedly outlined by Aleksei D. Obolensky. It was known as the
October Manifesto The October Manifesto (russian: Октябрьский манифест, Манифест 17 октября), officially "The Manifesto on the Improvement of the State Order" (), is a document that served as a precursor to the Russian Empire's fi ...
, which promised to grant civil liberties such as
freedom of conscience Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints. Overview Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency by ...
,
speech Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...
, and association; constitutional order,
representative government Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a types of democracy, type of democracy where elected people Representation (politics), represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern liberal democr ...
, and the establishment of an
Imperial Duma The State Duma, also known as the Imperial Duma, was the lower house of the Governing Senate in the Russian Empire, while the upper house was the State Council. It held its meetings in the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg. It convened four times ...
. As the Duma was only a consultative body, the Council of Ministers or the Tsar still had the right to block certain proposals. Many Russians felt that the reform did not go far enough, and it did not achieve universal suffrage for men.


Chairman of the Council of Ministers

Witte described the regime's usual "incompetence and obstinacy" in response to the crisis of 1904–1905 as a "mixture of cowardice, blindness and stupidity". On 8 January 1905, Witte and Sviatopolk-Mirsky had been approached by a delegation of intellectuals led by Maxim Gorky, who begged them to negotiate with demonstrators. After the government's postings of warnings of 'resolute measures' against street gatherings led by Father Gapon, they worried about violent confrontation, which did take place. They were unsuccessful as the government had believed they could control Fr. Gapon. Leaving his visiting cards with Witte and Mirsky, Gorky was arrested, along with the other members of the deputations. In later 1905 Witte was approached by the Tsar's advisers, in an effort to save the country from complete collapse, and on 9 October 1905, he went to the Winter Palace for a meeting. Here he told the Tsar 'with brutal frankness' that the country was on the verge of a catastrophic revolution, which he said 'would sweep away a thousand years of history'. He presented the Tsar with two choices: either appoint a military dictator, or agree to broad and major reforms. In a memorandum arguing for a manifesto, Witte outlined the reforms needed to appease the masses. He argued for the following reforms: creation of a legislative parliament (
Imperial Duma The State Duma, also known as the Imperial Duma, was the lower house of the Governing Senate in the Russian Empire, while the upper house was the State Council. It held its meetings in the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg. It convened four times ...
) elected via a democratic franchise; granting of civil liberties; establishing a cabinet government and a 'constitutional order'.Figes, p. 191 Those demands, which basically comprised the political programme of the Liberation Movement, were an attempt to isolate the political Left by pacifying the liberals. Witte emphasised that repression would be only a temporary solution to the problem and a risky one because he believed that the armed forces, whose loyalty was now in question, could collapse if they were to be used against the masses. Most of the military advisers to the Tsar agreed with Witte, as did the Governor of Saint Petersburg, Alexander Trepov, who wielded considerable influence at court. Only when Nicholas II's cousin Grand Duke Nikolai threatened to shoot himself if he did not agree to Witte's demands, following the Tsar's request for him to accept appointment as dictator, would the Tsar agree. He was embarrassed to have been forced by a former "railway clerk", a man who was a bureaucrat and "businessman," to relinquish his autocratic rule. Witte later said that the Tsar's court were ready to use the Manifesto as a temporary concession, and later return to autocracy "when the revolutionary tide subsided".Figes, p. 192 In October Witte was charged with the task of assembling the nation's first cabinet government, and he offered the liberals several portfolios: Ministry of Agriculture to
Ivan Shipov Ivan Pavlovich Shipov (1865–1919) was an Imperial Russian politician. After graduating from the Imperial Alexander Lyceum, he entered the Ministry of Finance. He rose to the position of Assistant Director of the Special Credit Office, and was e ...
; Ministry of Trade and Industry to Alexander Guchkov; Ministry of Justice to Anatoly Koni and the Ministry of Education to Evgenii Troubetzkoy.
Pavel Milyukov Pavel Nikolayevich Milyukov ( rus, Па́вел Никола́евич Милюко́в, p=mʲɪlʲʊˈkof; 31 March 1943) was a Russian historian and liberal politician. Milyukov was the founder, leader, and the most prominent member of the Con ...
and
Prince Georgy Lvov Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov (7/8 March 1925) was a Russian aristocrat and statesman who served as the first prime minister of republican Russia from 15 March to 20 July 1917. During this time he served as Russia's ''de facto'' head of stat ...
were also offered ministerial posts. None of those liberals agreed to join the government, though. Witte had to form his cabinet from 'tsarist bureaucrats and appointees lacking public confidence'. The Kadets doubted that Witte could deliver on the promises made by the Tsar in October, knowing the Tsar's staunch opposition to reform. Witte argued that the Tsarist regime could be saved from a revolution only by the transformation of Russia to a 'modern industrial society', in which 'personal and public initiatives' were encouraged by a rechtsstaat who guaranteed civil liberties. In the two weeks following the
October Manifesto The October Manifesto (russian: Октябрьский манифест, Манифест 17 октября), officially "The Manifesto on the Improvement of the State Order" (), is a document that served as a precursor to the Russian Empire's fi ...
, several
pogroms A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian ...
took place against Jews, especially in St. Petersburg and
Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
. Witte ordered an official investigation, where it was revealed that the police in the former city had organised, armed and gave vodka to the anti-semitic crowds, and even participated in the attacks. Witte demanded the prosecution of the chief of police in St. Petersburg], who was involved in the printing of anti-semitic pamphlets, but the Tsar intervened and protected him. Witte believed that anti-semitism was 'considered fashionable' among the elite. In the aftermath of the Chișinău pogrom (1903), Kishinev pogrom in 1903, Witte had said that if Jews 'comprise about fifty percent of the membership in the revolutionary parties', it was 'the fault of our government. The Jews are too oppressed'.
Milyukov Milyukov (russian: Милюков), also spelled Milukoff, Milukov, Melukov, Melukoff, is an old Russian noble family (first recorded in the mid-14th century). Milyukovs were recorded in the ancient nobility books of Moscow, Orlov, Simbirsk, St.& ...
once confronted Witte to ask why he would not commit himself to a constitution; Witte replied that he could not 'because the Tsar does not wish it'.Figes, p. 195 Witte was worried that the court was only using him, as emerged in talks with members of the Kadet Party. After his skillful diplomacy Witte was appointed as Chairman of the
Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
, the equivalent of Prime Minister, and formed
Sergei Witte's Cabinet Cabinet of Sergei Witte – composition of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire, under the leadership of Sergei Witte, worked from November 6, 1905 to May 5, 1906. Cabinet of Sergei Witte was the first Cabinet in Russian history. Despi ...
, not belonging to any party, as there were none. No longer was the Tsar the head of the government. "Immediately upon my nomination as President of the Imperial Council I made it clear that the Procurator of the
Most Holy Synod The Most Holy Governing Synod (russian: Святѣйшій Правительствующій Сѵнодъ, Святейший Правительствующий Синод) was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church betwee ...
Konstantin Pobedonostsev, could not remain in office, for he definitely represented the past." He was replaced by Prince Alexey D. Obolensky. Trepov and
Bulygin Alexander Bulygin ( – 5 September 1919) was the Minister of Interior of Russia from February 1905 until October 1905. Biography Graduate of the Imperial School of Law, he began work in the Tambov district court in 1871. He then held various a ...
were dismissed and, after many discussions,
Pyotr Nikolayevich Durnovo Pyotr Nikolayevich Durnovo (russian: Пётр Никола́евич Дурновó) (1845 in Moscow Governorate – in Petrograd) was an Imperial Russian lawyer, politician, and member of Russian nobility belonged to House of Durnovo. Known b ...
was appointed as Minister of Interior on 1 January 1906; his appointment is considered one of the greatest errors Witte made during his administration. According to Harold Williams: "That government was almost paralyzed from the beginning. Witte acted immediately by urging the release of political prisoners and the lifting of censorship laws."Williams, p. 166 Alexander Guchkov and
Dmitry Shipov Dmitry Nikolaevich Shipov (14 May 1851 – 14 January 1920) was a Russian liberal Slavophile politician of the 19th and 20th centuries.Figes, pp. 164–5 Shipov acted as a political mentor of Georgy Lvov, Russia's future first Prime Minister.Figes ...
refused to work with the reactionary Durnovo and to support the government. On 26 October (O.S.), the Tsar appointed Trepov as Master of the Palace without consulting Witte, and had daily contact with the Emperor; his influence at court was paramount. "In addition mass violence broke out in the days following the issuance of the October Manifesto. The major source of the unrest was unrelated to the October Manifesto. It took the form of attacks by gangs in the cities on the Jews. In general, the authorities ignored the attacks. On 8 November, the sailors in Kronstadt mutinied. The same month, the border provinces were clearly taking advantage of the weakening of Central Russia to show their teeth. Witte later wrote in his ''Memoirs'' about the empire's ethnic minorities: On 10 November, Russian Poland was placed under martial law. Witte's position was not well established. The Liberals remained obdurate and refused to be cajoled. The Peasants' Union asked the Russian people to refuse to make redemption payments to the government and withdraw their deposits from banks that might be subject to government action. He promised an eight-hour working day and tried to secure vital loans from France to keep the "regime" from bankruptcy. Witte sent his envoy to the Rothschild bank; they responded that
"they would willingly render full assistance to the loan, but that they would not be in a position to do so until the Russian Government had enacted legal measures tending to improve the conditions of the Jews in Russia. As I deemed it beneath our dignity to connect the solution of our Jewish question with the loan, I decided to give up my intention of securing the participation of the Rothschilds."
On 24 November by Imperial decree provisional regulations on the censorship of magazines and newspaper was released. On 16 December Trotsky and the rest of the executive committee of the
St. Petersburg Soviet The Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Delegates (later the Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies) was a workers' council, or soviet, in Saint Petersburg in 1905. Origins The Soviet had its origins in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, when Nicholas I ...
were arrested. The Minister of Agriculture
Nikolai Kutler Nikolai Nikolayevich Kutler (Russian: Николай Николаевич Кутлер; 23 July 1859 – 10 May 1924) was a Russian politician. Biography Assistant minister of the Interior, 1904–1905. Assistant minister of Finance, manager o ...
resigned in February 1906; Witte refused to appoint Alexander Krivoshein. In the next few weeks, changes and additions to the Russian Constitution of 1906 were made, so that the Emperor was confirmed as the dictator of foreign policies and the supreme commander of the army and navy. The ministers remained responsible solely to Nicholas II, not to the Duma. The "peasant question" or
land reforms Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
was a hot issue; the influence of the "Duma of Public Anger" had to be limited, according to Goremykin and
Dmitri Trepov Dmitri Feodorovich Trepov (transliterated at the time as Trepoff) (15 December 1850 – 15 September 1906) was Head of the Moscow police, Governor-General of St. Petersburg with extraordinary powers, and Assistant Interior Minister with full contr ...
. The Bolsheviks boycotted the coming election. When Witte discovered that Nicholas never intended to honour those concessions, he resigned as Chairman of the Council of Ministers. The position and influence of General Trepov, Grand Duke Nicholas, the
Black Hundreds The Black Hundred (russian: Чёрная сотня, translit=Chornaya sotnya), also known as the black-hundredists (russian: черносотенцы; chernosotentsy), was a reactionary, monarchist and ultra-nationalist movement in Russia in t ...
, and overwhelming victories by the Kadets in the
1906 Russian legislative election Legislative elections were held in the Russian Empire from 26 March to 20 April 1906. At stake were the 497 seats in the State Duma of the Russian Empire, the legislative assembly. Election for the First State Duma, which only ran from 27 Apri ...
, forced Witte on 14th to resign, which was announced 22 April 1906 (O.S.). Witte confessed to Polovtsov in April 1906 that the success of the repressions in the wake of the Moscow uprising in 1905 had resulted in his losing all influence over the Tsar. Despite Witte's protests,
Durnovo The House of Durnovo (russian: Дурново) (known variant 'Durnovy' lural 'Durnov' ,'Durnova' (russian: 'Дурновы'; 'Дурнов', 'Дурнова')) is a prominent family of Russian nobility. Durnovo is one of two Russian noble famili ...
was allowed to 'carry out a brutal and excessive, and often totally unjustified, series of repressive measures.' In 1906, Father Gapon returned to Russia from exile and supported Witte's government. On 30 April 1905 Witte proposed the Law of Religious Toleration, followed by the edict of 30 October 1906 giving legal status to schismatics and sectarians of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the established state church. Witte argued that ending discrimination against religious rivals of the Orthodox Church 'would not harm the church, provided it embraced the reforms that would revive its religious life'. Although the Church's 'senior hierarchs' may for some time have played with the thought of self-government, Witte's demand that it would come at the cost of religious toleration 'guaranteed to drive them back into the arms of reaction'.Figes, p. 69 Witte had made that demand (self-government in exchange for religious toleration) in the hope of 'wooing' the important commercial groups of the ethnic minorities of Jewish and Old Believer communities.


Member of the State Council

According to Dmitry Filosofov, Witte was the only talented person in the government, but he brought many troubles to Russia. He destroyed the Autocracy not from the outside, as revolutionaries do, but from the inside. Witte failed to retain the confidence of the Emperor, but continued in Russian politics as a member of the State Council but he was never again appointed to an administrative role in the government. He was ostracized by the Russian establishment. In January 1907 a bomb was found planted in his home. The investigator
Pavel Alexandrovich Alexandrov Pavel Alexandrovich Alexandrov (russian: Павел Александрович Александров, 1866 - September 24, 1940) was a distinguished lawyer and state official of the Russian Empire, councillor of state.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 ...
, the tsarist secret police, had been involved. During the winter season, Witte lived in
Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...
and started writing his ''Memoirs,'' but he returned to St Petersburg in 1908. During the July Crisis in 1914,
Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus g ...
and Witte desperately urged the Tsar to avoid the conflict and warned that Europe faced calamity if Russia became involved. The advice went unheeded; the French ambassador Maurice Paléologue complained to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sazonov.


Death

Witte died in February 1915 at his home in St. Petersburg; his quick death was attributed to
meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...
or a brain tumor. His third-class funeral was held at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. On the black granite slab, in addition to the usual dates of birth and death, another date was carved: 17 October, 1905, the date he presented the Manifesto. Witte had no children, but he had adopted his wife's by her first marriage. According to
Edvard Radzinsky Edvard Stanislavovich Radzinsky (russian: Э́двард Станисла́вович Радзи́нский) (born September 23, 1936) is a Russian playwright, television personality, screenwriter, and the author of more than forty popular history ...
, Witte asked in vain for the title of count to be given to his grandson L.K. Naryshkin (1905-1963). Witte's reputation was burnished in the West after his secret memoirs were published in translation in 1921. They had been completed in 1912 and kept in a bank in
Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...
, France. He had left orders that they could not be published during the lifetimes of him and his contemporaries. The ambassador in France
Vasily Maklakov Vasily Alekseyevich Maklakov (Russian: Васи́лий Алексе́евич Маклако́в; , Moscow – July 15, 1957, Baden, Switzerland) was a Russian student activist, a trial lawyer and liberal parliamentary deputy, an orator, and on ...
received them from his widow. The original manuscript of his memoirs are now held in Columbia University Library's Bakhmeteff Archive of Russian and East European History and Culture.


Honours

The Sergei Witte University of Moscow, with campuses in Ryazan, Krasnodar and Nizhny Novgorod is named in his honour (a private institution accredited by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Russia) in 1997) ;Russian orders and decorations * Knight of St. Stanislaus, 1st Class, ''1890'' * Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class, ''1894'' * Commemorative Medal of the Reign of Emperor Alexander III, ''1896'' * Emperor Nicholas II Coronation Medal, ''1896'' * Medal "For Works on the First General Population Census", ''1897'' * Knight of the White Eagle, ''1904'' * Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky, in Diamonds, ''1906'' * Red Cross Medal "In Commemoration of the Russo-Japanese War", ''1906'' * Commemorative Medal of the Romanov Tricentenary, ''1913'' * Knight of St. Vladimir, 1st Class, ''1913'' ;Foreign orders and decorations


Popular culture depictions

*Witte was portrayed by
Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
in the film '' Nicholas and Alexandra'' (1971). *He was portrayed by Freddie Jones in the British BBC series '' Fall of Eagles'' (1974).


See also

* History of the Russian Far East * History of Sino-Russian relations


Footnotes


References


Bibliography

* Ananich, B. V. and S. A. Lebedev, "Sergei Witte and the Russo-Japanese War." ''International Journal of Korean History'' 7.1 (2005): 109-131.
Online
*Boublikoff, A.A. "A suggestion for railroad reform". In: Buehler, E.C. (editor) "Government ownership of railroads", ''Annual Debater's Help Book'' (vol. VI), New York, Noble and Noble, 1939; pp. 309–318. Original in journal ''North American Review,'' vol. 237, pp. 346+. (This issue is 90% about Russian railways.) * Davis, Richard Harding, and Alfred Thayer Mahan. (1905)
''The Russo-Japanese war; a photographic and descriptive review of the great conflict in the Far East,'' gathered from the reports, records, cable despatches, photographs, etc., etc., of Collier's war correspondents''
New York: P. F. Collier & Son
OCLC: 21581015
* * Harcave, Sidney. (2004)
''Count Sergei Witte and the Twilight of Imperial Russia: A Biography.''
Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. * Kochan, Lionel. "Sergei Witte: The Last Statesman of Imperial Russia" ''History Today'' (Feb 1968), Vol. 18 Issue 2, pp 102–108, online. * Kokovtsov, Vladamir. (1935)
''Out of My Past'' (translator, Laura Matveev).
Stanford:
Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It was among the presses officially ...
. * Korostovetz, J.J. (1920)
''Pre-War Diplomacy The Russo-Japanese Problem.''
London: British Periodicals Limited. * Theodore H. von Laue (1963) Sergei Witte and the Industrialization of Russia * Witte, Sergei. (1921)
''The Memoirs of Count Witte'' (translator, Abraham Yarmolinsky).
New York: Doubleday
online free
*


External links


Portsmouth Peace Treaty, 1905-2005

''Memoirs of Count Witte''
1921 English translation, available in full online at Internet Archive

peace treaty table on display * {{DEFAULTSORT:Witte, Sergei 1849 births 1915 deaths Politicians from Tbilisi People from Tiflis Governorate Politicians of the Russian Empire Heads of government of the Russian Empire Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Baltic German people from the Russian Empire Russian people of the Russo-Japanese War Deaths from brain cancer in Russia People of the 1905 Russian Revolution Southwestern Railways Committee of Ministers of the Russian Empire Burials at Lazarevskoe Cemetery (Saint Petersburg) Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Grand Crosses of the Order of Vasa Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Takovo Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal)