Nikolay Girs: Difference between revisions

[[File:Girs Nikolai (1820-1895).jpg|230px|thumb|right|Nikolay Girs {{circa|1885–1890}}]]

'''Nikolay de Girs''' or '''Giers''' ({{lang-ru|Никола́й Ка́рлович Гирс}}; {{OldStyleDate|21 May|1820|9 May}} – {{OldStyleDate|26 January|1895|14 January}}) was thea Russian statesman and diplomat who served as the [[Ministry of Foreign Minister,Affairs (Russia)|foreign minister]] from 1882- to 1895, during the reign of [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]]. He was one of the architects of the [[Franco-Russian Alliance]], which was later transformed into the [[Triple Entente]], He promoted an image of Russia as a peaceful partner in dealing with complex and dangerous diplomatic situations, but most of the public credit went to Tsar Alexander.

Nikolay Girs was born in Ukraine. Like his predecessor, [[Alexander Gorchakov|Prince Gorchakov]], he was educated at the [[Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum]], near [[St Petersburg]], but his career was much less rapid, because he had no influential protectors, and was handicapped by being a Protestant of Teutonic origin. At the age of eighteen, he entered the service of the Eastern department of the ministry[[Ministry of foreignForeign affairsAffairs of the Russian Empire]], and spent more than twenty years in subordinate posts, chiefly in south-eastern Europe, until he was promoted in 1863 to the post of [[List of ambassadors of Russia to Iran|minister plenipotentiary]] in [[Qajar Iran|Persia]]. Here he remained for six years, and, after serving as a minister in [[Switzerland]] and [[Sweden]], he was appointed in 1875 director of the Eastern department and assistant minister for foreign affairs under Prince [[Alexander Gorchakov|Prince Gorchakov]], whose niece he had married.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Giers, Nicholas Karlovich de |volume=12 |pages=2–3 |first=Donald Mackenzie |last=Wallace |inline=1}}</ref>

On the death[[Assassination of [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] in 1881, it was generally expected that Girs would be dismissed as deficient in Russian nationalist feeling, for [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]] was credited with strong anti-German [[Slavophilia|Slavophile]] tendencies. In reality, the young tsar did not intend to embark on wild political adventures, and was fully determined not to let his hand be forced by men less cautious than himself. What he wanted was a minister of foreign affairs who would be at once vigilant and prudent, active and obedient, and who would relieve him from the trouble and worry of routine work while allowing him to control the main lines, and occasionally the details, of the national policy. Girs was exactly what he wanted, and accordingly the tsar not only appointed him minister of foreign affairs on the retirement of Prince Gorchakov in 1882, but retained him to the end of his reign in 1894.<ref name=EB1911/>

Girs systematically followed a pacific policy. Accepting as a fait accompli the existence of the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]], created by [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]] for the purpose of resisting any aggressive action on the part of Russia and [[French Third Republic|France]], he sought to establish more friendly relations with the cabinets of Berlin, Vienna, and Rome. To the advances of the French government, he at first turned a deaf ear, but when the rapprochement between the two countries was effected with little or no co-operation on his part, he utilized it for restraining France and promoting Russian interests.<ref name=EB1911/>

Rivalry between [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and Russia grew steadily over [[Central Asia]] in the [[Great Game]] of the late 19th century. Russia desired warm-water ports on the Indian Ocean while Britain wanted to prevent Russian troops from gaining a potential invasion route to India. <ref>David Fromkin, "The Great Game in Asia," ''Foreign Affairs''(1980) 58#4 pp. 936-951 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20040512 in JSTOR]</ref> In 1885, Russia annexed part of [[Emirate of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] in the [[Panjdeh incident]], which caused a war scare. However Girs and the Russian ambassador to London [[Egor Egorovich Staal|Baron de Staal]] set up an agreement in 1887, which established a buffer zone in Central Asia. Russian diplomacy won grudging British acceptance of its expansionism. Persia was also an arena of tension, but without warfare. <ref>[[Firuz Kazemzadeh]], ''Russia and Britain in Persia, 1864-1914: A Study in Imperialism'' (Yale UP, 1968).</ref>

He died on 26 January 1895, soon after the accession of [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]].<ref name=EB1911/> His son [[Mikhail Nikolayevich von Giers]] acted as last Imperial Russian Ambassador in [[Constantinople]] until the beginning of [[World War I]] in 1914. There were many high ranked 'von Giers' in Russian government, among them President in Podolien and minister Fredrik von Giers (1776 in St. Petersburg, 1842), minister Karl Ferdinand von Giers (1777, 1835), minister Konstatin von Giers (1777, 1835), Ambassador Nikolaus von Giers (1853, 1924), Ambassador Mikail von Giers (1856, 1932), Admiral Theodor von Giers (1835, 1905) etc. And some of these Giers relatives were married to other high ranked Russian families, among them General Komaroff, Princess Olga Cantacuzene and General Karl de Meyer.

According to Margaret Maxwell, historians have underrated his success in a diplomacy that featured numerous negotiated settlements, treaties and conventions. These agreements defined Russian boundaries and restored equilibrium to dangerously unstable situations. He supported numerous international commissions and made many goodwill missions, during which he repeatedly stressed Russia's peaceful intentions. His most dramatic success came in 1885, settling long-standing tensions with Great Britain, which was fearful that Russian expansion to the South would be a threat to India. <ref>Raymond A. Mohl, "Confrontation in Central Asia, 1885," ''History Today'' (1969) 119#3 pp 176-183.</ref> Girs was usually successful in restraining the aggressive inclinations of Tsar Alexander III, convincing him that the very survival of the tsarist system depended on avoiding major wars. With a deep insight into the tsar's moods and views, Girs was usually able to shape the final decisions by outmaneuvering hostile journalists, ministers, and even the tsarina, as well as his own ambassadors. Under his leadership, Russia fought no foreign wars.<ref>Margaret Maxwell, "A Re-examination of the Rôle of N.K. Giers as Russian Foreign Minister under Alexander III." ''European Studies Review'' 1.4 (1971): 351-376.</ref>

[[Category:Nobility from the Russian nobilityEmpire]]