He had the opportunity to shine dazzlingly in the diplomatic field, to witness the Crimean War, the abolition of serfdom, the reforms of the 60s, the rapid development of capitalism, the Russo-Japanese War, and the first revolution in Russia. S. Yu. Witte is a contemporary of Alexander III and Nicholas II, P. A. Stolypin and V. N. Kokovtsov, S. V. Zubatov and V. K. Pleve, D. S. Sipyagin and G. E. Rasputin.
The life, political affairs, and moral qualities of Sergei Yulievich Witte always evoked contradictory, sometimes polar opposite, assessments and judgments. According to some memoirs of his contemporaries, we have before us “an exceptionally gifted”, “highly outstanding statesman”, “superior in the variety of his talents, the vastness of his horizons, the ability to cope with the most difficult tasks with the brilliance and strength of his mind of all the people of his time.” According to others, he is “a businessman completely inexperienced in the national economy,” “suffering from amateurism and poor knowledge of Russian reality,” a gentleman with “an average philistine level of development and the naivety of many views,” whose policies were characterized by “helplessness, unsystematicness and... unprincipledness.”
Characterizing Witte, some emphasized that he was “European and liberal,” others that “Under no circumstances was Witte either a liberal or a conservative, but at times he was deliberately reactionary.” Moreover, the following was written about him: “a savage, a provincial hero, an insolent and libertine with a sunken nose.”
So who was this person - Sergei Yulievich Witte?
He was born on June 17, 1849 in the Caucasus, in Tiflis, in the family of a provincial official. Witte's paternal ancestors came from Holland and moved to the Baltic states in the middle of the 19th century. received hereditary nobility. On his mother's side, his ancestry was traced back to the associates of Peter I - the princes Dolgoruky. Witte's father, Julius Fedorovich, a nobleman of the Pskov province, a Lutheran who converted to Orthodoxy, served as director of the department of state property in the Caucasus. Mother, Ekaterina Andreevna, was the daughter of a member of the main administration of the governor of the Caucasus, former Saratov head of the regional administration Andrei Mikhailovich Fadeev and Princess Elena Pavlovna Dolgorukaya. Witte himself was very happy to emphasize his family ties with the Dolgoruky princes, but did not like to mention that he came from a family of little-known Russified Germans. “In general, my entire family,” he wrote in his “Memoirs,” was a highly monarchical family, “and this edge of character remained with me by inheritance.”
The Witte family had five children: three sons (Alexander, Boris, Sergei) and two daughters (Olga and Sophia). Sergei spent his childhood in the family of his grandfather A. M. Fadeev, where he received the usual upbringing for noble families, and “the initial education,” recalled S. Yu. Witte, “was given to me by my grandmother ... she taught me to understand the text and write” .
At the Tiflis gymnasium, where he was next sent, Sergei studied “very poorly”, preferring to study music, fencing, and horse riding. As a result, at the age of sixteen he received a matriculation certificate with mediocre grades in science and a unit in behavior. Despite this, the upcoming state participant went to Odessa with the intention of enrolling in university. But his young age (the university accepted people no younger than seventeen years old), and on top of everything, the behavioral unit blocked his access there... He had to go to the gymnasium again - first of all in Odessa, then in Chisinau. And only after intensive study did Witte pass the exams successfully and receive a decent matriculation certificate.
In 1866, Sergei Witte entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Novorossiysk University in Odessa. “... I studied day and night,” he recalled, “and therefore throughout my stay at the university I was actually the best student in terms of knowledge.”
This is how the initial year of student life passed. In the spring, having gone on vacation, on the way home Witte received news of the death of his father (not long before this he had lost his grandfather, A. M. Fadeev). It turned out that the family was left without a livelihood: shortly before their death, grandfather and father invested all their income in the Chiatura mines company, which soon failed. Thus, Sergei inherited only his father’s debts and was forced to take on the burden of caring for his mother and little sisters. He was able to continue his studies only thanks to a scholarship paid by the Caucasian governorship.
As a student, S. Yu. Witte was not very interested in social problems. He was not worried about either political radicalism or the philosophy of atheistic materialism that excited the minds of young people in the 70s. Witte was not one of those whose idols were Pisarev, Dobrolyubov, Tolstoy, Chernyshevsky, Mikhailovsky. “... I was constantly opposed to all these trends, because according to my upbringing I was an extreme monarchist... and also a religious person,” S. Yu. Witte later wrote. His spiritual world was formed under the influence of his relatives, especially his uncle, Rostislav Andreevich Fadeev, a general, participant in the conquest of the Caucasus, a talented military publicist, known for his Slavophile, pan-Slavist views.
Despite his monarchist beliefs, Witte was elected by students to the committee in charge of the student cash fund. This innocent idea did not end badly. This so-called mutual aid fund was closed as... a dangerous institution, and all members of the committee, including Witte, were under investigation. They were threatened with exile to Siberia. And only the brawl that happened to the prosecutor in charge of the case helped S. Yu. Witte avoid the fate of a political exile. The punishment was reduced to a fine of 25 rubles.
After graduating from university in 1870, Sergei Witte thought about a scientific career, about a professorship. However, my relatives - my mother and uncle - “looked very askance at my desire to be a professor,” recalled S. Yu. Witte. “Their main argument was that ... this is not a noble cause.” In addition, his scientific career was hindered by his ardent passion for the actress Sokolova, after this acquaintance with whom Witte “didn’t want to write more dissertations.”
Having chosen a career as an official, he was assigned to the office of the Odessa head of the regional administration, Count Kotzebue. And then, two years later, the first promotion - Witte was appointed head of the office. But out of the blue, all his plans changed.
Railway construction was rapidly developing in Russia. This was a new and promising branch of the capitalist economy. Various private societies arose that invested in the construction of railways amounts that exceeded investments in large-scale industry. The atmosphere of excitement surrounding the construction of railways also captured Witte. The Minister of Railways, Count Bobrinsky, who knew his father, persuaded Sergei Yulievich to try his luck as a specialist in the operation of railways - in the purely commercial field of railway business.
In an effort to thoroughly explore the practical side of the enterprise, Witte sat in the station ticket office, acted as an assistant and station manager, controller, traffic auditor, and also served as a freight service clerk and an assistant driver. Six months later, he was appointed head of the Odessa Railway traffic office, which soon passed into the hands of a private company.
However, after a promising start, S. Yu. Witte’s career almost ended completely. At the end of 1875, a train crash occurred near Odessa, causing countless casualties. The head of the Odessa Railway, Chikhachev, and Witte were put on trial and sentenced to four months in prison. However, while the investigation dragged on, Witte, while remaining in service, managed to distinguish himself in transporting troops to the theater of military operations (the Russian-Turkish battle of 1877-1878 was underway), which attracted the sensitivity of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, at whose order the prison for the accused was replaced by a two-week guardhouse.
In 1877, S. Yu. Witte became the head of the Odessa Railway, and after the end of the war - the head of the operational department of the Southwestern Railways. Having received this direction, he moved from the periphery to St. Petersburg, where he took part in the work of Count E. T. Baranov’s commission (to study the railway business).
Service in private railway companies had a very strong influence on Witte: it gave him management skills, taught him a prudent, businesslike approach, a sense of the situation, and determined the range of interests of the future financier and statesman.
By the beginning of the 80s, the name of S. Yu. Witte was already quite well known among railway businessmen and in the circles of the Russian bourgeoisie. He was familiar with the largest “railway kings” - I. S. Bliokh, P. I. Gubonin, V. A. Kokorev, S. S. Polyakov, and knew the future Minister of Finance I. A. Vyshnegradsky. Already in these years, the versatility of Witte’s energetic nature was evident: the qualities of an excellent administrator, a sober, practical businessman were well combined with the abilities of a scientist-analyst. In 1883, S. Yu. Witte published “Principles of railway tariffs for the transportation of goods,” which brought him fame among specialists. This was, it is appropriate to say, not the first and certainly not the last service to come from his pen.
In 1880, S. Yu. Witte was appointed manager of the South-Western roads and settled in Kyiv. A successful career brought him material well-being. As a manager, Witte received more than any minister - over 50 thousand rubles a year.
Witte did not take an active part in political life during these years, although he collaborated with the Odessa Slavic Benevolent Society, was well acquainted with the famous Slavophile I. S. Aksakov and, moreover, published a few articles in his newspaper “Rus”. The young entrepreneur preferred “the environment of actresses” to serious politics. “... I knew all the more or less prominent actresses who were in Odessa,” he later recalled.
The murder of Alexander II by the Narodnaya Volya radically changed S. Yu. Witte’s attitude towards politics. After March 1, he actively became involved in the big political game. Having learned about the death of the emperor, Witte wrote a message to his uncle R. A. Fadeev, in which he presented the idea of creating a noble secret organization to protect the new sovereign and fight the revolutionaries using their own methods. R. A. Fadeev picked up this idea and, with the help of Adjutant General I. I. Vorontsov-Dashkov, created the so-called “Sacred Squad” in St. Petersburg. In mid-March 1881, S. Yu. Witte was sublimely initiated into the squad and soon received his first assignment - to launch an attempt on the life of the famous revolutionary populist L. N. Hartmann in Paris. Fortunately, the “Holy Squad” soon compromised itself with inept espionage and provocateur activities and, after existing for a little over a year, was liquidated. It must be stated that Witte’s presence in this organization did not at all embellish his biography, although it gave him the opportunity to demonstrate ardent loyal feelings. After the death of R. A. Fadeev in the second half of the 80s, S. Yu. Witte moved away from the people of his circle and moved closer to the Pobedonostsev-Katkov group, which controlled state ideology.
By the mid-80s, the scale of the Southwestern Railways ceased to satisfy Witte's ebullient nature. The ambitious and power-hungry railway entrepreneur persistently and patiently began to prepare his own further advancement. This was fully facilitated by the fact that the authority of S. Yu. Witte as a theorist and practitioner of the railway industry attracted the sensitivity of the Minister of Finance I. A. Vyshnegradsky. And besides, the episode helped.
On October 17, 1888, the Tsar's train crashed in Borki. The reason for this was a violation of the rules of basic train traffic rules: the heavy composition of the royal train with two freight locomotives was traveling above the established speed. S. Yu. Witte previously warned the Minister of Railways about the possible consequences. With his characteristic rudeness, he once said in the presence of Alexander III that the emperor’s neck would be broken if the royal trains were driven at an illegal speed. After the crash in Borki (from which, in general, neither the emperor nor his family members suffered), Alexander III remembered this warning and expressed pleasure in having S. Yu appointed to the newly approved post of director of the department of railway affairs in the Ministry of Finance Witte.
And although this meant a three-fold reduction in salary, Sergei Yulievich did not hesitate to part with a profitable place and the position of a successful businessman for the purpose of the government career that beckoned him. Simultaneously with his appointment to the post of director of the department, he was immediately promoted from titular to actual state councilor (i.e., received the rank of general). It was a dizzying leap up the bureaucratic ladder. Witte is among I. A. Vyshnegradsky’s closest collaborators.
The department entrusted to Witte immediately becomes exemplary. The new director manages in practice to argue for the constructiveness of his ideas about state regulation of railway tariffs, to show a breadth of interests, a remarkable genius as an administrator, and strength of mind and character.
In February 1892, having successfully used the conflict between two departments - transport and financial, S. Yu. Witte sought appointment to the post of manager of the Ministry of Railways. However, he remained in this post for only a short time. In the same year, 1892, I. A. Vyshnegradsky fell seriously ill. In government circles, a behind-the-scenes battle began for the influential post of Minister of Finance, in which Witte took an active part. Not overly scrupulous and not particularly picky about the means to achieve the goal, using both intrigue and gossip about the mental disorder of his patron I. A. Vyshnegradsky (the one who had absolutely no intention of leaving his post), in August 1892. Witte achieved the position of manager of the Ministry of Finance. And on January 1, 1893, Alexander III appointed him Minister of Finance and at the same time promoted him to Privy Councilor. The career of 43-year-old Witte has reached its shining peak.
True, the road to this peak was dramatically complicated by the marriage of S. Yu. Witte to Matilda Ivanovna Lisanevich (née Nurok). This was not his first marriage. Witte's first wife was N.A. Spiridonova (née Ivanenko), the daughter of the Chernigov leader of the nobility. She was married, but was not happy in her marriage. Witte met her back in Odessa and, having fallen in love, obtained a divorce. S. Yu. Witte and N. A. Spiridonova got married (apparently in 1878). However, they did not live long. In the fall of 1890, Witte's wife died suddenly.
About a year after her death, Sergei Yulievich met a lady (also married) in the theater who made an indelible impression on him. Slender, with gray-green sad eyes, a mysterious smile, a bewitching voice, she seemed to him the embodiment of charm. Having met the lady, Witte began to gain her favor, convincing her to end the marriage and marry him. In order to obtain a divorce from her intractable husband, Witte had to pay compensation and, moreover, resort to threats of administrative measures.
In 1892, he married the woman he loved dearly and adopted her child (he did not have any children of his own).
His new marriage put him in a very delicate social position. A high-ranking dignitary turned out to be married to a divorced Jewish woman, and even as a result of a scandalous story. Sergei Yulievich, moreover, was ready to “determine the end” of his career. However, Alexander III, having delved into all the details, said that that same marriage only increased his respect for Witte. Nevertheless, Matilda Witte was not accepted either at court or in high society.
It should be noted that Witte’s relationship with high society was not easy at all. High-society Petersburg looked askance at the “provincial upstart.” He was offended by Witte's harshness, angularity, non-aristocratic manners, southern accent, and poor French pronunciation. Sergei Yulievich became a favorite character in metropolitan jokes for a long time. His rapid progress caused undisguised envy and hostility on the part of officials.
Along with this, Emperor Alexander III obviously favored him. “... He treated me especially favorably,” wrote Witte, “he loved me extremely,” “he trusted me until the last day of his life.” Alexander III was impressed by Witte's directness, his courage, independence of judgment, moreover, the sharpness of his expressions, and the complete absence of servility. And for Witte, Alexander III remained the ideal autocrat until the end of his life. “A true Christian”, “a faithful heir to the Orthodox Church”, “an ordinary, tough and honest man”, “an outstanding emperor”, “a man of his word”, “royally noble”, “with royal lofty thoughts” - this is how Witte characterizes Alexander III .
Having taken the chair of the Minister of Finance, S. Yu. Witte received great power: the department of railway affairs, trade, and industry were now subordinate to him, and he could put pressure on the conclusion of the most important issues. And Sergei Yulievich actually showed himself to be a sober, prudent, flexible politician. Yesterday's Pan-Slavist, Slavophile, confident supporter of Russia's original path of development in a short time turned into an industrializer of the European standard and declared his readiness to quickly bring Russia into the ranks of advanced industrial powers.
By the beginning of the 20th century. Witte’s economic platform has acquired completely finished outlines: within about ten years, to catch up with the more industrially developed countries of Europe, take a strong position in the markets of the East, ensure the accelerated industrial formation of Russia by attracting foreign capital, accumulating domestic resources, customs protection of industry from competitors and encouragement export A special role in Witte’s program was given to foreign capital; The Minister of Finance advocated their unlimited involvement in Russian industry and railway work, calling it a cure against poverty. He considered unlimited government intervention to be the second most important mechanism.
And this was not a simple declaration. In 1894-1895 S. Yu. Witte achieved stabilization of the ruble, and in 1897 he did what his predecessors had failed to do: he introduced a gold currency appeal, providing the country with hard currency and an influx of foreign capital until the first important war. In addition, Witte grossly increased taxation, especially indirect taxation, and introduced a wine monopoly, which soon became one of the main sources of the government budget. Another major event carried out by Witte at the beginning of his activity was the conclusion of a customs agreement with Germany (1894), after which S. Yu. Witte became interested, moreover, O. Bismarck himself. This damnably flattered the young minister’s vanity. “... Bismarck... paid special attention to me,” he later wrote, “and several times through his acquaintances he expressed the highest point of view about my personality.”
During the economic boom of the 90s, Witte’s organization worked excellently: an unprecedented number of railways were built in the country; by 1900, Russia became the world's number one oil producer; Russian government bonds were highly quoted abroad. The authority of S. Yu. Witte grew immeasurably. The Russian Finance Minister became a popular figure among Western entrepreneurs and attracted favorable attention from the foreign press. The domestic press harshly criticized Witte. Former like-minded people accused him of inculcating “state socialism,” adherents of the reforms of the 60s criticized him for the use of state intervention, Russian liberals perceived Witte’s program as “a grandiose sabotage of the autocracy,” which distracted the sympathy of society from socio-economic and cultural-political reforms.” the only state member of Russia was not the subject of previously varied and contradictory, but persistent and passionate attacks, like my ... husband, - Matilda Witte later wrote. - At court he was accused of republicanism, in radical circles he was credited with the desire to curtail the rights of the people in in favor of the monarch. The landowners reproached him for seeking to ruin them in favor of the peasants, and the radical parties for seeking to deceive the peasantry in favor of the landowners." Moreover, he was accused of friendship with A. Zhelyabov, of trying to lead to the decline of Russian agriculture in order to bring benefits to Germany.
In reality, the entire policy of S. Yu. Witte was subordinated to a single goal: to implement industrialization, achieve successful development of the Russian economy, without affecting the political system, without changing anything in public administration. Witte was an ardent supporter of autocracy. He considered an unlimited monarchy “the best form of government” for Russia, and everything he did was done in order to strengthen and “preserve autocracy.
For the same purpose, Witte begins to develop the peasant question, trying to achieve a revision of agrarian policy. He realized that it was not impossible to expand the purchasing power of the domestic market only through the capitalization of peasant farming, through the transition from communal to private land ownership. S. Yu. Witte was a staunch supporter of private peasant ownership of land and strenuously sought the government's transition to a bourgeois agrarian policy. In 1899, with his participation, the government developed and adopted laws abolishing mutual responsibility in the peasant community. In 1902, Witte achieved the creation of a special commission on the peasant question (“Special meeting on the needs of the agricultural industry”), which aimed to “establish personal property in the countryside.”
However, Witte’s long-time enemy V.K. Plehve, appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, stood in Witte’s way. The agrarian questioning motive turned out to be the arena of confrontation between two influential ministers. Witte never succeeded in realizing his ideas. However, the initiator of the government’s transition to bourgeois agrarian policy was S. Yu. Witte. As for P. A. Stolypin, later Witte repeatedly emphasized that he “robbed” him and used ideas of which he himself, Witte, was a convinced supporter. It was precisely because of this that Sergei Yulievich could not remember P. A. Stolypin without a feeling of bitterness. “... Stolypin,” he wrote, “had a very superficial mind and almost a complete lack of state culture and education. In terms of education and intelligence... Stolypin was a type of bayonet cadet.”
Events of the beginning of the 20th century. put all Witte's grandiose undertakings in doubt. The global economic crisis has severely slowed down the formation of industry in Russia, the influx of foreign capital has decreased, and the budgetary balance has been disrupted. Economic expansion in the East aggravated Russian-British contradictions and brought the war with Japan closer.
Witte's economic "system" was positively shaken. This made it possible for his opponents (Plehve, Bezobrazov, etc.) to gradually push the Minister of Finance out of power. Nicholas II willingly supported the campaign against Witte. It should be noted that quite complex relations were established between S. Yu. Witte and Nicholas II, who ascended the Russian throne in 1894: on the part of Witte, distrust and disdain were demonstrated, on the part of Nicholas, distrust and hatred. Witte crowded the restrained, outwardly correct and well-mannered tsar, insulting him all the way, without noticing it, with his harshness, impatience, self-confidence, and inability to hide his native disrespect and disdain. And there was one more situation that turned simple dislike for Witte into hatred: after all, it was in no way forbidden to get settled without Witte. Always, when a truly enormous intelligence and resourcefulness were required, Nicholas II, albeit with gnashing of teeth, turned to him.
For his part, Witte gives a very sharp and bold characterization of Nikolai in “Memoirs”. Listing the countless advantages of Alexander III, he always makes it clear that his offspring in no way possessed them. About the sovereign himself, he writes: “... Emperor Nicholas II... was a kind man, far from stupid, but shallow, weak-willed... His main qualities were courtesy when he wanted it... cunning and complete spinelessness and lack of will." Here he adds a “proud character” and a rare “grudge.” In S. Yu. Witte’s “Memoirs,” the Empress also received many unflattering words. The author calls her a “strange person” with a “narrow and stubborn character”, “with a stupid egoistic character and a narrow worldview.”
In August 1903, the campaign against Witte was successful: he was removed from the post of Minister of Finance and appointed to the post of Chairman of the Committee of Ministers. Despite the loud name, it was an “honorable resignation”, since the new post was disproportionately less influential. At the same time, Nicholas II did not intend to completely remove Witte, because the Empress-Mother Maria Fedorovna and the Tsar’s brother, the huge Prince Mikhail, directly sympathized with him. In addition, for any episode, Nicholas II himself wanted to have such an experienced, intelligent, energetic dignitary at hand.
Having been defeated in the political struggle, Witte did not return to private enterprise. He set himself the goal of regaining lost positions. Remaining in the shadows, he tried not to completely discredit the tsar, more often attract the “highest attention” to himself, strengthened and established connections in government circles. Preparations for war with Japan made it possible to begin an active struggle for a return to power. However, Witte's hopes that with the beginning of the war Nicholas II would call him were not justified.
In the summer of 1904, the Socialist-Revolutionary E. S. Sozonov killed Witte’s longtime enemy, Minister of Internal Affairs Plehve. The disgraced dignitary made every effort to occupy the vacant position, but even here bad luck awaited him. Despite the fact that Sergei Yulievich successfully completed the mission entrusted to him - he concluded a new agreement with Germany - Nicholas II appointed Prince Svyatopolk-Mirsky as Minister of Internal Affairs.
Trying to direct attention to himself, Witte takes an active part in meetings with the tsar on the issue of attracting elected representatives from the population to participate in legislation, and tries to expand the competence of the Committee of Ministers. He also uses the events of “Bloody Sunday” to provide evidence to the Tsar that without him, Witte, he would not have been able to get by, that if the Committee of Ministers under his chairmanship had been endowed with real power, then such a turn of events would have been impossible.
Finally, on January 17, 1905, Nicholas II, despite all his hostility, nevertheless turns to Witte and instructs him to create a meeting of ministers on “measures necessary to calm the country” and possible reforms. Sergei Yulievich obviously hoped that he would be able to transform this meeting into a leadership of the “Western European model” and become its head. However, in April of the same year, new royal disfavor followed: Nicholas II closed the meeting. Witte found himself out of work again.
True, this time the fall lasted only for a short time. At the end of May 1905, at the next military meeting, the need for an early end to the war with Japan became irrevocably clear. Witte, who had repeatedly and extremely successfully acted as a diplomat, was entrusted with conducting difficult peace negotiations (negotiated with China on the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway, with Japan - on a joint protectorate over Korea, with Korea - on Russian military instruction and Russian financial management, with Germany - on concluding a trade agreement, etc.), while showing remarkable abilities.
Nicholas II was extremely reluctant to send Witte as Ambassador Extraordinary. Witte had been pushing the Tsar for a long time to initiate peace negotiations with Japan, so that “even though the cat cried, he could calm Russia down.” In a letter to him dated February 28, 1905, he indicated: “The continuation of the war is more than dangerous: the state, given the current state of mind, will not endure further casualties without terrible catastrophes...”. He generally considered the war disastrous for the autocracy.
On August 23, 1905, the Portsmouth Peace was signed. This was Witte's brilliant Victoria, confirming his outstanding diplomatic abilities. The talented diplomat managed to emerge from a hopelessly lost war with minimal losses, while achieving “quite a decent peace” for Russia. Despite his close reluctance, the tsar appreciated Witte’s merits: for the Peace of Portsmouth he was awarded the title of count (it is appropriate to say that Witte was immediately mockingly nicknamed “Count of Polosakhalinsky,” thereby accusing him of ceding the southern part of Sakhalin to Japan).
Returning to St. Petersburg, Witte plunged headlong into politics: he took part in Selsky’s “Special Meeting,” where projects for further government reforms were developed. As the revolutionary events intensify, Witte more and more persistently demonstrates the need for a “strong government”, convincing the Tsar that he, Witte, can play the role of the “savior of Russia”. At the beginning of October, he addresses the Tsar with a note in which he sets out a whole program of liberal reforms. In critical days for the autocracy, Witte inspired Nicholas II that he had no choice but to either establish a dictatorship in Russia, or Witte’s premiership and make a system of liberal steps in the constitutional direction.
Finally, after painful hesitation, the tsar signed the protocol drawn up by Witte, the one that went down in history as the Manifesto of October 17. On October 19, the tsar signed a decree on reforming the Council of Ministers, headed by Witte. In his career, Sergei Yulievich reached the top. During the critical days of the revolution, he became the head of the Russian government.
In this post, Witte demonstrated amazing flexibility and ability to maneuver, acting in the emergency conditions of the revolution either as a firm, ruthless guardian or as a skilled peacemaker. Under the chairmanship of Witte, the leadership dealt with a wide variety of issues: reorganized peasant land ownership, introduced a state of exception in various regions, resorted to the use of military courts, the death penalty and other repressions, prepared for the convening of the Duma, drafted the Basic Laws, and implemented the freedoms proclaimed on October 17 .
However, the Council of Ministers headed by S. Yu. Witte never became similar to the European cabinet, and Sergei Yulievich himself served as chairman for only six months. The increasingly intensifying conflict with the tsar forced him to resign. This happened at the end of April 1906. S. Yu. Witte was in full confidence that he had fulfilled his main task - to ensure the political stability of the regime. The resignation essentially marked the end of his career, although Witte did not retire from political activities. He was still a member of the State Council and often appeared in print.
It should be noted that Sergei Yulievich was expecting a new appointment and tried to bring it closer; he waged a fierce struggle, initially against Stolypin, who took the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers, then against V.N. Kokovtsov." Witte hoped that the departure of his influential opponents from the state stage would allow him to return to active political activity.He did not lose hope until the last day of his life and, moreover, was ready to resort to the help of Rasputin.
At the beginning of the first important war, predicting that it would end in collapse for the autocracy, S. Yu. Witte declared his readiness to take over the peacekeeping mission and try to enter into negotiations with the Germans. But he was already mortally ill.
S. Yu. Witte died on February 28, 1915, just shy of 65 years old. He was buried modestly, “in the third category.” There were no official ceremonies. Moreover, the deceased’s work office was sealed, papers were confiscated, and a thorough search was carried out at the villa in Biarritz.
Witte's death caused quite a wide resonance in Russian society. The newspapers were full of headlines like: “In Memory of a Great Man”, “Great Reformer”, “Giant of Thought”... Many of those who knew Sergei Yulievich came forward with their memoirs.
After Witte's death, his political activities were assessed as controversial as hell. Some wholeheartedly believed that Witte had rendered a “great service” to his homeland, others argued that “Count Witte did not live up to the hopes placed on him”, that “he did not bring any real benefit to the country”, and moreover, on the contrary, his occupation “should rather be considered harmful.”
The political affairs of Sergei Yulievich Witte were indeed very contradictory. At times it combined the incompatible: the attraction to the unlimited attraction of foreign capital and the struggle against the international political consequences of this attraction; commitment to unlimited autocracy and comprehension of the need for reforms that undermined its traditional foundations; The Manifesto of October 17 and subsequent measures that reduced it in practice to zero, etc. But no matter how the results of Witte’s policy are assessed, one thing is clear: the meaning of his entire life, all his activities was to serve “great Russia.” And both his like-minded people and his opponents could not help but admit this.
(1849-1915) Russian statesman
Count Sergei Yulievich Witte left a noticeable mark on the history of the Russian state. His activities coincided precisely with the period when capitalist relations began to take shape in Russia. Sergei Witte found himself in the right place, since his character successfully combined the qualities of a major industrial organizer, the acumen of an entrepreneur and the resourcefulness of an experienced courtier.
Sergei Yulievich Witte was born in Tiflis into the family of a major government official. His father was the director of the state property department. Mother came from the family of the famous general and writer Alexander Fadeev.
It seemed that the family’s prosperity and connections opened up brilliant prospects for Sergei and his brother. But in 1857, his father unexpectedly dies, and almost the entire family fortune goes to pay off his numerous debts. The family was rescued by the governor in the Caucasus, who provided Witte’s sons with a scholarship to study at Novorossiysk University.
Sergei Witte graduates from the Physics and Mathematics Department of the Faculty of Science. After a brilliant defense of his master's thesis, he was offered to stay to prepare for a professorship. But, according to the family, the nobleman should not have pursued a scientific career, so Sergei chooses a different path.
He becomes the secretary of the Odessa governor Count Kotzebue. Witte uses his stay in the office to establish the necessary connections and within a few months becomes a confidant of the Minister of Railways, Count V. Bobrinsky.
Sergei Witte quickly got involved in the work and in a short time he thoroughly studied the railway transport operating system. For six months he worked at different stations as an assistant and station manager, controller and traffic controller. It was at this time that he collected material for his first works on organizing the work of railways. One of the first, Sergei Witte realized that railway tariffs are a very convenient tool for making a profit and stimulating the development of railway transport.
The executive and neat young man was noticed by his superiors, and about a year later he was appointed head of the Odessa Railway.
Taking office, Witte had to mobilize all his abilities and knowledge. Just a few months after his appointment, the Russian-Turkish War began, and the Odessa Railway became Russia's main strategic route. The young official was able to develop a transportation organization system in which military cargo was delivered with virtually no delays.
After the end of the war, Sergei Witte moved to Kyiv and became the head of the service for the operation of all southwestern roads of Russia. Now he has the opportunity to implement his accumulated experience. Witte reforms the transportation payment system, develops a procedure for providing loans for the transportation of especially important cargo and a unified tariff schedule for all types of transportation. His innovations made it possible to transform the southwestern roads from a loss-making to a profitable enterprise.
Sergei Witte begins to be invited to various private companies for consultations, many companies offer him highly paid positions. But he rejects all offers because he does not want to leave the public service, realizing that only here he can fully implement his developments.
Subsequently, he was even proud of the fact that he became the first and only manager of the largest road in Russia, although he was not a communications engineer by training.
In Kyiv, Sergei Witte makes connections among the local aristocracy. At the same time, he is groping for ways to move to St. Petersburg. His marriage played a decisive role in his further career advancement. In 1878, Sergei Witte met the wife of one of the Kyiv rich men, N. Spiridonova. She was much younger than her husband and became interested in Witte.
After Spiridonova's divorce, Witte could not stay in Kyiv due to his ambiguous position. He mobilizes all his connections and seeks a transfer to St. Petersburg, where he holds the position of assistant to the chairman of the railway commission in the Ministry of Railways.
Sergei Yulievich Witte is developing a unified charter for all Russian railways. But the main area of his activity is the organization of the movement of all royal trains across Russia. He accompanies Alexander III on his trips, and once he managed to quickly eliminate the consequences of a royal train crash. In gratitude, the emperor appoints Witte director of the department of railway affairs in the Ministry of Finance, practically, Sergei Witte becomes the Minister of Railways of Russia. Then he had just turned forty years old.
He takes up residence in a state-owned mansion and begins an extensive program of reorganizing railroad transportation. Two years later, Alexander III appointed him Minister of Finance of Russia. Witte spent eleven years in this post and during this time introduced many initiatives into practice. He managed to reform the procedure for paying for transportation and systematize taxation.
In 1884, Sergei Yulievich Witte sought to introduce a wine monopoly, which significantly increased budget revenues. It became a preparatory stage for the monetary reform of 1897. Witte introduces gold coins into circulation and seeks to stabilize the exchange rate of the Russian ruble.
At the same time, his diplomatic abilities also manifest themselves. In 1886, he developed the terms of the Russian-Chinese agreement on the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway.
Realizing that the development of capitalism in Russia is impossible without the introduction of land ownership, Sergei Witte is thinking through land reform. But his idea of free land ownership is met with stiff resistance. Pyotr Stolypin managed to implement certain provisions of this reform only a few years later.
In 1889, Witte's first wife died, and soon he married M. Lisanevich. But this marriage was regarded as a challenge to society, since Witte’s wife was divorced, and in addition also Jewish. However, Alexander III spoke out in defense of Sergei Witte: he not only did not accept his resignation, but also publicly expressed his confidence in him. Soon Witte had a daughter, who became his only heir.
Using the trust of the emperor, Sergei Yulievich Witte continues the planned reforms. But the unexpected death of Alexander III disrupts his plans, although Nicholas II, who ascended the throne, also initially supported Witte. True, in 1903 he was nevertheless fired from the post of Minister of Finance. This was due to the fact that Witte, a cautious and far-sighted politician, understood the danger of Japan strengthening in the Far East and sought an agreement that would prevent war. But this line ran counter to the plans of the king’s inner circle. Nevertheless, he is appointed chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, he remains a member of the State Council and carries out the most important orders of the emperor. At the end of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Sergei Witte is sent to America, where he seeks to conclude the Portsmouth Peace Treaty with Japan. Russia recognized Korea as Japan's sphere of influence, lost the Liaodong Peninsula with Port Arthur and Dalny, and was forced to give up half of Sakhalin Island. Witte, elevated to the dignity of count for signing the treaty, began to be called Count Polosakhalinsky behind his back.
The finest hour in the career of Sergei Yulievich Witte comes after the events of 1905. He becomes one of the drafters of the manifesto of October 17. Nicholas II appoints him chairman of the Russian Council of Ministers. In his new position, Witte proved himself to be a resourceful politician who managed to come to an agreement with both the right and the left.
In 1906, he sought a loan in France. The funds received under this agreement made it possible to stabilize the financial situation of Russia after the war and the first Russian revolution. But according to his convictions, Witte remained an ardent monarchist, so he could not understand the need to reform the political system in Russia.
Since mid-1906, Sergei Yulievich Witte has opposed the emerging expansion of the powers of the State Duma and the State Council, which led to his resignation.
He switches to consulting work and is engaged in journalism. Witte purchases a villa in Biarritz, where he works on his books and memoirs. There he dies in the spring of 1915.
Sergei Yulievich Witte was born on June 17, 1849 into a family of Russified Germans. His youth was spent in Tiflis. Witte graduated from Novorossiysk University in 1870, becoming a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences. But due to a lack of funds, he chose to work on the Odessa railway over a scientific career. Starting from lower positions, he soon rose to the position of manager of the Southwestern Railways. Having proven himself excellent in his further career, in 1892 he took the high post of Minister of Finance.
The industrialization of the country, conceived by Finance Minister Witte, required serious financial investments, and a generous source of budget replenishment was found. In 1894, a state wine monopoly was introduced. Taxes have also increased. In 1897, during the monetary reform of S. Yu. Witte, a gold standard was introduced, which allowed the free exchange of rubles for gold. Witte's financial reform stimulated the influx of foreign capital into the Russian economy. Now it was possible to export gold rubles from the country, which made Russia more attractive for investment by foreign companies. The domestic manufacturer was protected from fierce competition by the customs tariff. Witte's economic policy led to the stabilization of the ruble, making it one of the most stable world currencies.
It is worth noting that Witte had considerable influence on domestic policy. Witte's domestic policy was aimed at strengthening the autocracy and was quite conservative. Foreign policy focused on countering the rise of Japanese influence in the Far East. For the conclusion of the Portsmouth Peace with Japan in 1905, Witte received the title of count from Nicholas 2.
A brief biography of S. Yu. Witte would not be complete without mentioning his difficult relationship with Emperor Nicholas 2, who ascended the throne after Alexander 3, who favored his Minister of Finance. He was not popular in high society either. The hostility especially intensified after Witte’s second marriage to Matilda Lisanevich, which was preceded by a loud scandal. However, it was in this marriage that Witte found personal happiness.
27. Features of the political system of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Politics in labor, national, agrarian issues.
28. The first Russian revolution of 1905-1907: causes, nature, stages, meanings.
Causes:
Unresolved agrarian question
The contradiction between labor and capital, the worsening situation of workers
Lack of political freedoms
Crisis of the system of relations between the center and the province, national regions
Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War
Character:
The first Russian revolution was bourgeois-democratic. The composition of the participants is nationwide.
Goals of the revolution:
Overthrow of the autocracy
Convening of the Constituent Assembly
Establishment of a democratic system
Elimination of landownership, distribution of land to peasants
Introduction of freedom of speech, assembly, parties
Elimination of estates
Reducing the working day to 8 hours
Achieving equal rights for the peoples of Russia
Stage 1 events:
“Bloody Sunday” January 9, 1905. Workers peacefully marching to the Tsar with a petition in St. Petersburg, compiled under the leadership of G. Gapon, were shot.
Revolutionary protests - workers' strike in Ivanovo-Voznesensk. The emergence of the Council of Authorized Deputies - a new body of workers' power. May 1905
Uprising on the battleship "Prince Potemkin - Tauride", June 1905
Congresses of zemstvo representatives, peasant congress, political demands, May-June 1905.
Decree of Nicholas II on the establishment of the State Duma (“Bulyginskaya” after the Minister of Internal Affairs).
The nineteenth century gave Russia many talented statesmen. One of them was Sergei Witte, a statesman who worked under Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II. Witte managed to serve as Minister of Railways and Minister of Finance, and chaired the Council of Ministers. But most clearly, his contemporaries and descendants remembered the reforms he carried out, which actually brought Russia to a new level of development.
Let us briefly consider exactly what changes Witte initiated during his active work.
Activities as Minister of Finance
Between 1892 and 1903, Witte passed several bills that strengthened the country's economic potential.
- In 1890, the minister established several additional indirect taxes. Without increasing direct monetary collections from individuals, Witte forced traders to pay taxes on sugar, tobacco, kerosene and a number of other goods. In addition, it was now necessary to pay large fees when processing documents in the state. authorities
- In 1891, the policy of so-called “protectionism” began. Duties on the import of foreign goods were increased, as a result of which domestic producers felt more confident. This strengthened the Russian economy.
- In 1895, the state declared itself a monopolist in the sphere of trade in alcoholic products. All funds from the sale of alcohol went directly to the treasury - and this brought the budget almost 30% of additional profit.
- And finally, in 1897, it was completed, during which the paper currency of the empire received solid gold backing. As a result, the ruble became one of the most durable international currencies, the level of domestic inflation decreased, and the flow of foreign investment into Russian enterprises increased.
These reforms are considered Witte's main achievements, but he is remembered not only for them. Before taking the post of Minister of Finance, Witte was in charge of the country's transport communications. In his new position, he continued to pay attention, in particular, to the development of railways. Under him, over 2.5 thousand kilometers of railway were built per year. This contributed to the improvement of transport links throughout the country. The construction of railways spurred the growth of trade; the established communication was very useful to Russia during the First World War and subsequent wars.
A brilliant statesman, an innovator of his time, caring for the industrialization of the economy and the development of railways. The name of Sergei Yulievich Witte went down in history thanks to the reforms and construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The personality of the Minister of Finance caused controversial opinions and statements, but his contribution to the development of the country is obvious.
Childhood and youth
The minister's biography begins in the Caucasus, in Tiflis, on June 17 (June 29, new style) 1849. A boy was born into a poor family of provincial nobles. Sergei Yulievich's father, a native of the Baltic Germans, received a noble title in the middle of the 19th century. But on the mother’s side, the family tree went back to the famous princes Dolgoruky, of which Witte was very proud.
The family raised five children - three sons and two daughters. The future minister spent his childhood with his maternal grandfather, A. M. Fadeev. The grandmother taught her beloved grandson the basics of literacy, giving the boy a primary education. Having entered the Tiflis gymnasium, the student was not distinguished by brilliant behavior and passion for the exact sciences. The high school student preferred fencing, music and horse riding lessons.
Despite the weak marks in the certificate, Sergei Yulievich went to Odessa to enter the university. However, the initial attempt was unsuccessful, and the unlucky high school student had to return to the gymnasium. After diligent studies, Witte managed to enter the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Novorossiysk University in 1866.
Career
After receiving his diploma, the graduate planned to remain at the department and engage in scientific work. However, the young man’s mother and uncle spoke out against this choice, considering that scientific work was an unworthy occupation for a nobleman. According to relatives, Witte was supposed to enter the public service.
The construction of railways developed rapidly in Russia. Private firms invested considerable capital in the development of the industry. The promising field also attracted the young Witte. At the suggestion of Count A.P. Bobrinsky, Sergei Yulievich was hired as a specialist in the operation of railways in the management of the Odessa Railway.
The career of a talented manager hung by a thread after the Taligul disaster that occurred in 1875, which claimed the lives of passengers. Witte and the road manager were sentenced to 4 months in prison. However, Witte’s merits, noted by Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, saved the man from imprisonment. The punishment was replaced by two weeks in the guardhouse, where Witte spent only nights, continuing to work in the department during the day.
The career of the ambitious employee was on the rise. Witte is appointed to the position of head of the operation service in the administration of the Society of South-Western Railways.
In the late 1980s, a railway manager meets the Emperor. And in 1889, Witte, at the request of the head of state, took the post of head of the newly formed Department of Railway Affairs under the Ministry of Finance.
In the civil service, despite the contradictory attitude of the court and other government officials towards his own person and the policies pursued, he quickly became the Minister of Railways. After productive work, in 1892, he was appointed to the post of Minister of Finance.
Occupying a high position, Witte continues to promote railways and buys lines into state ownership. One of Witte's achievements is speeding up the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Sergei Yulievich is the author of the monetary reform of 1897. The country received hard currency backed by gold, which strengthened Russia's position at the global level and attracted investors.
Documentary film about Sergei Witte from the series "Historical Chronicles with Nikolai Svanidze"An important contribution to the economy was made by the introduction of a state wine monopoly, which ensured the flow of funds into the budget. The merits of the talented minister do not end there. Witte worked on labor legislation. With his participation, restrictions on working hours were introduced. He considered it necessary to reform the peasant community as a relic of the past.
Sergei Yulievich advocated that educated people with an inquisitive, sharp mind get into the government. The minister achieved the right to select employees based on merit, and not on the presence of noble titles. Witte was a supporter of the bourgeoisie; the minister’s quotation that the majority of our nobles are a bunch of degenerates seeking their own benefit at the expense of the people’s funds became an aphorism.
With the emperor coming to power, Witte's opponents launched a provocative campaign. The new head of state did not like the minister, since the charismatic Sergei Yulievich overshadowed the figure of the autocrat. At the same time, Nikolai could not do without him, which irritated him even more. However, Witte reciprocated the emperor's feelings. For the minister, Alexander III remained the ideal of autocracy.
In 1903, Sergei Yulievich assumed the honorary, but actually nominal position of Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers. In his new post, Witte no longer decided anything. In 1906 he finally resigned of his own free will.
Personal life
Sergei Yulievich married twice. Both times it was for love, and both times married women became chosen ones. The future minister met his first wife Nadezhda Andreevna Spiridonova in Odessa. Having learned that his beloved was already tied by marriage, he personally sought a divorce.
The couple got married in the Vladimir Church, but the happiness did not last long. Witte's wife was often sick and spent most of her time living at resorts. In 1890, the woman died of a broken heart.
A year later, the minister met a new lady of his heart - Maria Ivanovna Lisanevich, nee Matilda Isaakovna Nurok. According to surviving photos and reviews from contemporaries, Witte’s beloved had an attractive appearance, which she successfully used.
The woman was legally married, and her intractable husband refused to give a divorce. Witte, risking his career, was forced to pay compensation and take advantage of his position.
The divorce scandal and marriage to a Jewish woman jeopardized Sergei Yulievich’s success in the service, but the feelings turned out to be so strong that the man was ready to risk everything. Alexander III, who favored Witte, took his side and provided protection to the newlywed.
However, despite her efforts, the woman was not accepted in high society, where she, like her husband, was treated with contempt. Having no children of his own, Witte adopted the girls of both wives from previous marriages.
Death
The former minister-reformer died in 1915. The cause of death was meningitis. According to the memoirs of the French Ambassador in St. Petersburg, J.-M. Paleologue, Nikolai was relieved to learn about the death of the former minister.
Shortly before his death, Sergei Yulievich was working on a book of personal memoirs. “Memoirs” was published in the early 1920s in Berlin, and a little later in the RSFSR.
In the modern world, Witte’s contribution to the development of the Russian economy, as well as his extraordinary personality, have become the subject of assessment by historians. Documentary films have been made about the statesman, which, like his contemporaries, view Sergei Yulievich in an ambiguous way.
- Having started work as an operations specialist, Witte, wanting to learn the intricacies of management and organization, completed an internship in various positions. The young manager sat in the ticket office and worked as a station supervisor for freight and passenger services.
- When leaving the post of railway manager and entering a government position, Witte lost a significant amount of his salary. Instead of 40 thousand a year, the newly appointed minister began to receive only 8 thousand. The Emperor paid Sergei Yulievich another 8 thousand from his personal money as compensation.
- Modern and familiar iron cup holders, still used in carriages, were introduced into use during the period of Witte's work.
Quotes
The idea of justice is embedded in the human soul, which does not put up with inequality - with the misfortune of some for the benefit of others - no matter what the reasons for this happening.
The feeling of “I” - the feeling of egoism in a good and bad sense - is one of the most powerful feelings in a person.
Under the influence of cowardice, no quality of a person increases as much as stupidity.
The majority of our nobles are a bunch of degenerates who, apart from their personal interests and satisfaction of personal lusts, do not recognize anything, and therefore direct all their efforts to obtain certain favors at the expense of people's money, collected from the impoverished Russian people for the state good.. .
It was not our culture, not our bureaucratic church, not our wealth and prosperity that the world bowed to. He bowed to our strength.
