Witte Sergey Yulievich

Biography of Sergei Yulievich Witte - early years.
Sergei Yulievich was born in Tiflis on June 17, 1849. Father Julius Fedorovich belonged to the Pskov-Livonian knighthood, was the owner of an estate in Prussia. Mother Ekaterina Andreevna was the daughter of the Saratov governor. Sergei studied in Chisinau at the Russian gymnasium. In 1870 he graduated from the Novorossiysk University and became a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences. The Witte family was sorely short of money, so they had to give up their scientific career and start working on the Odessa railway. He started out as an ordinary cashier at the ticket office, then, over time, he began to rise higher and higher, and rose to the rank of manager of the southwestern railways. In this regard, he was given a chic mansion in a prestigious area of ​​Kyiv. But, after some time, Sergei Yulievich Witte understands that in this field he is too crowded.
At this time, his book National Economy and Friedrich List was published. A few months after the publication of the book, he becomes a statesman, he is elevated to the rank of state councilor at the department of railway affairs. They met him there warily, but less than a year later, he became the Minister of Railways, and after another year, the manager of the Ministry of Finance. It was he who was one of the first to see the talented scientist D. I. Mendeleev and offered him a job in his department. After some time, Sergei Yulievich introduces the gold standard, which is the free exchange of the ruble for gold. And this is despite the fact that almost all of Russia was against this reform. Thanks to this decision, the ruble becomes one of the most stable currencies in the world. Also, Witte introduces a monopoly on the trade in alcoholic beverages. From now on, it was possible to sell vodka only in state-owned wine shops. The wine monopoly brought in a million rubles a day, the country's budget began to be based on soldering the population. At this time, Russia's external debt increases greatly, as the government constantly takes foreign loans.
In the first place for Witte has always been railway construction. When he first started his activity, there were only 29,157 versts of railways, and when he retired, this figure was already 54,217 versts. And if by the beginning of its activity 70% of the railways belonged to private joint-stock companies, then by its completion everything changed, and 70% of the roads were already the property of the treasury.
Biography of Sergei Yulievich Witte - mature years.
At the beginning of the 20th century, an economic crisis occurs, S. Yu. Witte is appointed responsible for the global economic downturn. And here the minister's biography becomes gloomy, he is accused of all sorts of mistakes: in concluding bad loans, paying too much attention to trade, selling out Russia. Witte had a difficult relationship with Nicholas II due to the fact that the tsar was a very young heir. From all sides the tsar was whispered that Sergei Yulievich was ignoring the autocrat. And as a result of this, on August 16, 1903, Nicholas II deprives Witte of the post of Minister of Finance. But the former minister never ceases to dream of returning to power, and after Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, Witte was appointed authorized in negotiations with the Japanese. Negotiations are successful, soon the war ends with the signing of peace, thanks to which Witte is granted the title of count.
Returning to his homeland, the count develops new reforms, and on October 17, Nicholas II, after much deliberation, signs the manifesto. This document stated that from now on the population receives political freedoms and the opportunity to elect autocratic power. This document had a huge impact on the policy of the state, but nothing could be canceled, and Russia was entering a new stage of political development. October 17, 1905 Witte is appointed chairman of the Council of Ministers. He had two main tasks: to crush the revolution and to carry out the necessary reforms. The most serious reform was the agrarian project, which provided for the possibility of the peasants buying out privately owned lands. But for this project, the landowners took up arms on Witte, and he had to abandon the project and fire its author.
On April 23, 1906, a new edition of the Fundamental State Laws was introduced. The opposition was outraged that the government had stolen power from the people. Indeed, the autocratic power was preserved, the privileges of the ruling elite were protected. The state, as before, prevailed over society as a whole and over each individual individually. After the publication of these laws, Witte, together with his cabinet, resigned. This was the end of the six-month premiership of the count, who was never able to reconcile political extremes. This is where Witte's career ends, but his biography suggests that he did not want to realize this for a long time and tried to return to power.
Witte died on February 25, 1915 at his home on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt. All his papers and office were immediately sealed. The police wanted to find his memoirs, which would say how Witte managed to keep the entire ruling elite in constant tension. But the count before his death took all precautions: he kept all his manuscripts in the safe of a foreign bank. For the first time, Witte's memoirs will be published only after the revolution of 1921-1923. They are considered the most popular historical source, reprinted more than once. The most interesting thing is that Witte's memoirs, published in three volumes, do not give a normal idea of ​​either him or the government officials with whom the count had to work.
Many books have been written about this famous person, both by Russian and foreign authors. But even after one hundred and fifty years, the characterization of the state activity of Sergei Yulievich Witte is controversial. The biography of the famous count says that he was a unique person who did immeasurably much for our country.

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© Biography of Sergei Yulievich Witte. Biography of the Minister of Finance, statesman Witte. Biography of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire Witte.

Witte Sergei Yulievich (1849-1915). Count, Russian statesman. He began his career as the head of the traffic service of the Odessa branch of the South-Western Railways. In 1879 he worked in St. Petersburg as the head of the exploitation department on the board of the South-Western Railways. In 1888 he was appointed director of the department of railway affairs and chairman of the tariff committee, and in 1892 he became the manager of the Ministry of Railways. At the end of the same year, Witte was appointed to the post of Minister of Finance, which he held for 11 years. In this post, he made the famous reform - the transition to gold circulation. Witte's undoubted merit is the monetary reform he carried out in 1897, which strengthened a stable gold currency in Russia before the war of 1914, replacing the former paper one, and created the prerequisites for the import of foreign capital into Russia. In 1903, he assumed the duties of chairman of the committee of ministers. The last position was actually an honorary resignation, since the committee had no significance before the 1905 revolution. This shift from the post of all-powerful master of finances to the post of powerless chairman of the committee took place under the pressure of the noble-landlord elements of the government (mainly Plehve), dissatisfied with Witte's patronizing attitude and his flirting with moderate liberals. During the events of January 9, Witte disclaimed any responsibility for the actions of the government. In the summer of 1905, Nicholas sent Witte to Portsmouth to conclude a peace treaty with Japan. For the successful execution of this order, Witte was elevated to the rank of count. In the days of the October strike, when the policy of an agreement with the bourgeoisie prevailed, Witte turned out to be the most suitable person for the post of prime minister. The October 17 Manifesto is the brainchild of Witte. After the defeat of the revolution, when the autocracy felt solid ground beneath it, Witte again left the stage. Witte's last disgrace lasted until his death (1915). All 1000 biographies alphabetically:

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Among the major statesmen of Russia, it is difficult to find a personality as outstanding, bright, as ambiguous, contradictory as S. Yu. Witte was. This man was destined to experience a dizzying rise - to rise from a third-rate clerical official to the most influential minister; in the critical years for the fate of Russia - to be chairman of the Committee of Ministers, and then to become the head of the government besieged by the revolution.

He had a chance to shine brightly 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, 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 activity, moral qualities of Sergei Yulievich Witte always caused contradictory, sometimes polar opposite assessments and judgments. According to some memoirs of his contemporaries, we have before us "an exceptionally gifted", "a highly outstanding statesman", "surpassing the diversity of his talents, the vastness of his outlook, the ability to cope with the most difficult tasks with the brilliance and strength of his mind of all his contemporary people." According to others, this is "a businessman who is completely inexperienced in the national economy", "who suffered from amateurism and poor knowledge of Russian reality", a person with an "average philistine level of development and the naivety of many views", whose policy was distinguished by "helplessness, lack of system and ... unscrupulousness".

Describing Witte, some emphasized that he was "a European and a liberal", others - that "Witte was never a liberal or a conservative, but sometimes he was deliberately a reactionary." It was even written about him like this: "a savage, a provincial hero, an insolent and a debauchee with a failed nose."

So what kind of person was this - 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 - immigrants from Holland who moved to the Baltic States - in the middle of the 19th century. received hereditary nobility. On the mother's side, his family tree was conducted from 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 department of the Viceroy of the Caucasus, in the past Saratov Governor Andrei Mikhailovich Fadeev and Princess Elena Pavlovna Dolgoruky. Witte himself very willingly emphasized his family ties with the princes Dolgoruky, but did not like to mention that he came from a family of little-known Russified Germans. “In general, my whole family,” he wrote in his “Memoirs,” “was a highly monarchical family, and this side of my character was inherited by me.”

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 "primary education," S. Yu. Witte recalled, "was given to me by my grandmother ... she taught me to read and write."

In the Tiflis gymnasium, where he was then sent, Sergei studied "very poorly", preferring to study music, fencing, horseback riding. As a result, at the age of sixteen, he received a matriculation certificate with mediocre marks in the sciences and a unit in behavior. Despite this, the future statesman went to Odessa with the intention of entering the university. But his young age (people under the age of seventeen were admitted to the university), and to everything - a unit in behavior blocked his access there ... I had to go back to the gymnasium - first in Odessa, then in Chisinau. And only after intensive studies Witte passed the exams successfully and received a decent matriculation certificate.

In 1866, Sergei Witte entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Novorossiysk University in Odessa. "... I studied both day and night," he recalled, "and therefore, all the time I was at the university, I really was the best student in terms of knowledge."

Thus passed the first year of student life. In the spring, having gone on vacation, on the way home, Witte received news of the death of his father (shortly before that, he had lost his grandfather, A. M. Fadeev). It turned out that the family was left without a livelihood: shortly before his death, his grandfather and father invested all their capital in the Chiatura mines company, which soon collapsed. Thus, Sergei inherited only his father's debts and was forced to take on part of the care of his mother and little sisters. He managed to continue his studies only thanks to a scholarship paid by the Caucasian governorship.

As a student, S. Yu. Witte had little interest in social problems. He did not care about political radicalism or the philosophy of atheistic materialism, which excited the minds of the youth of the 70s. Witte was not one of those whose idols were Pisarev, Dobrolyubov, Tolstoy, Chernyshevsky, Mikhailovsky. "... I have always been against all these tendencies, because in my upbringing I was an extreme monarchist ... as well as a religious person," S. Yu. Witte later wrote. His spiritual world took shape under the influence of his relatives, especially his uncle - Rostislav Andreevich Fadeev, a general, a participant in the conquest of the Caucasus, a talented military publicist, known for his Slavophile, pan-Slavist views.

Despite his monarchical convictions, Witte was elected by the students to the committee in charge of the student fund. This innocent undertaking almost ended in failure. This so-called mutual benefit fund was closed as. dangerous institution, and all members of the committee, including Witte, were under investigation. They were threatened with exile in Siberia. And only the scandal that happened to the prosecutor who was 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 the university in 1870, Sergei Witte thought about a scientific career, about a professorial department. However, relatives - mother and uncle - "looked very askance at my desire to be a professor," S. Yu. Witte recalled. "Their main argument was that ... this was not a noble affair." In addition, an ardent passion for the actress Sokolova prevented her scientific career, after meeting whom Witte "did not want to write dissertations anymore."

Having chosen the career of an official, he was assigned to the office of the Odessa governor, Count Kotzebue. And two years later, the first promotion - Witte was appointed clerk. But suddenly all his plans changed.

Railway construction developed rapidly in Russia. It was a new and promising branch of the capitalist economy. Various private companies arose, which invested in railway construction sums that exceeded investments in large-scale industry. The atmosphere of excitement around 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 a purely commercial field of railway business.

In an effort to thoroughly study the practical side of the enterprise, Witte sat at the station ticket offices, acted as an assistant and head of the station, controller, traffic inspector, even visited the role of a freight service clerk and assistant driver. Six months later, he was appointed head of the traffic office of the Odessa Railway, which soon passed into the hands of a private company.

However, after a promising start, the career of S. Yu. Witte almost ended completely. At the end of 1875, a train crash occurred near Odessa, resulting in many 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 the service, managed to distinguish himself in transporting troops to the theater of operations (the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 was underway), which attracted the attention of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, at whose command the prison for the accused was replaced by a two-week guardhouse.

In 1877, S. Yu. Witte became the head of the movement of the Odessa railway, and after the end of the war - the head of the operational department of the South-Western Railways. Having received this appointment, he moved from the provinces to St. Petersburg, where he took part in the work of the commission of Count E. T. Baranov (for the study of the railway business).

Service in private railway companies had an extremely strong influence on Witte: it gave management experience, taught him a prudent, businesslike approach, a sense of market conditions, 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, knew the future Minister of Finance I. A. Vyshnegradsky closely. Already in these years, the versatility of Witte's energetic nature manifested itself: 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 carriage of goods", which brought him fame among specialists. By the way, this was not the first and far from the last work that came out from under 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 Charitable Society, was well acquainted with the famous Slavophile I. S. Aksakov, and even published several articles in his newspaper Rus. The young businessman preferred the "society of actresses" to serious politics. "... I knew all the more or less prominent actresses who were in Odessa," he later recalled.

The assassination of Alexander II by Narodnaya Volya dramatically changed S. Yu. Witte's attitude to politics. After March 1, he actively joined the big political game. Upon learning of the death of the emperor, Witte wrote a letter to his uncle R. A. Fadeev, in which he presented the idea of ​​​​creating a noble conspiratorial organization to protect the new sovereign and fight the revolutionaries with 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 "Holy Squad" in St. Petersburg. In mid-March 1881, S. Yu. Witte was solemnly initiated into the squad and soon received the first task - to organize an attempt on the life of the famous populist revolutionary L. N. Hartmann in Paris. Fortunately, the "Holy Squad" soon compromised itself with inept espionage and provocateur activities and, having existed for just over a year, was liquidated. It must be said that Witte's stay in this organization did not at all decorate his biography, although it made it possible to demonstrate ardent loyal feelings. After the death of R. A. Fadeev in the second half of the 1980s, S. Yu. Witte moved away from the people of his circle and moved closer to the Pobedonostsev-Katkov group that controlled the 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 stubbornly and patiently began to prepare his further advancement. This was greatly facilitated by the fact that the authority of S. Yu. Witte as a theorist and practitioner of the railway industry attracted the attention of the Minister of Finance, I. A. Vyshnegradsky. And besides, the case helped.

On October 17, 1888, the royal train crashed in Borki. The reason for this was a violation of elementary rules for the movement of trains: the heavy train of the royal train with two freight locomotives was exceeding the established speed. S. Yu. Witte had previously warned the Minister of Railways about the possible consequences. With his usual 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 unlawful speed. After the crash in Borki (from which, however, neither the emperor nor members of his family suffered), Alexander III remembered this warning and expressed a desire that S. Yu. Witte be appointed to the newly approved post of director of the department of railway affairs in the Ministry of Finance.

And although this meant a three-fold reduction in salary, Sergei Yulievich did not hesitate to part with a lucrative place and the position of a successful businessman for the sake of a state career that beckoned him. Simultaneously with his appointment to the post of director of the department, he was promoted from titular immediately to actual state councilors (that is, he received the rank of general). It was a dizzying leap up the bureaucratic ladder. Witte is among the closest collaborators of I. A. Vyshnegradsky.

The department entrusted to Witte immediately becomes exemplary. The new director manages to prove in practice the constructiveness of his ideas on the state regulation of railway tariffs, to show the breadth of interests, remarkable administrator talent, strength of mind and character.

In February 1892, having successfully used the conflict between two departments - transport and finance, S. Yu. Witte sought to be appointed to the post of manager of the Ministry of Railways. However, he did not stay in this post for long. In the same 1892, I. A. Vyshnegradsky fell seriously ill. A behind-the-scenes struggle for the influential post of Minister of Finance began in circles around the government, in which Witte took an active part. Not too 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 (who was not at all going to leave his post), in August 1892 Witte achieved the position of manager Ministry of Finance. And on January 1, 1893, Alexander III appointed him Minister of Finance with simultaneous promotion to Privy Councillors. The 43-year-old Witte's career has reached its shining peak.

True, the path to this peak was noticeably 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 (nee Ivanenko) - the daughter of the Chernigov marshal of the nobility. She was married, but was not happily married. Witte met her back in Odessa and, having fallen in love, achieved a divorce.

S. Yu. Witte and N. A. Spiridonova got married (probably in 1878). However, they did not live long. In the autumn of 1890 Witte's wife died suddenly.

About a year after her death, Sergei Yulievich met a lady in the theater (also married), who made an indelible impression on him. Slender, with gray-green sad eyes, a mysterious smile, a charming voice, she seemed to him the embodiment of charm. Acquainted with the lady, Witte began to seek her favor, urging her to dissolve the marriage and marry him. In order to get a divorce from her intractable husband, Witte had to pay compensation and even resort to administrative threats.

In 1892, he nevertheless married his beloved woman and adopted her child (he had no children of his own).

A new marriage brought Witte family happiness, but put him in an extremely 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. Sergey Yulievich was even ready to "put an end" to his career. However, Alexander III, having delved into all the details, said that this marriage only increases his respect for Witte. Nevertheless, Matilda Witte was not accepted either at court or in high society.

It should be noted that the relationship between Witte himself and the high society was far from simple. Great-society Petersburg looked askance at the "provincial upstart". Witte's sharpness, angularity, non-aristocratic manners, southern accent, poor French pronunciation jarred on him. Sergei Yulievich for a long time became a favorite character in the capital's jokes. His rapid advance caused undisguised envy and ill will on the part of officials.

Along with this, Emperor Alexander III clearly favored him. "... He treated me especially favorably," Witte wrote, "he loved me very much," "trusted me until the last day of his life." Alexander III was impressed by Witte's directness, his courage, independence of judgment, even the harshness of his expressions, the complete absence of subservience. And for Witte, Alexander III remained until the end of his life the ideal of an autocrat. “A true Christian”, “a faithful son of the Orthodox Church”, “a simple, firm and honest person”, “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 solution of the most important issues. And Sergei Yulievich really showed himself to be a sober, prudent, flexible politician. Yesterday's pan-Slavist, Slavophile, a staunch supporter of Russia's original development path, in a short time turned into a European-style industrializer and declared his readiness to bring Russia into the ranks of advanced industrial powers in a short time.

By the beginning of the XX century. Witte's economic platform took on a completely finished shape: within about ten years to catch up with the more industrialized countries of Europe, take a strong position in the markets of the East, ensure the accelerated industrial development of Russia by attracting foreign capital, accumulating domestic resources, customs protection of industry from competitors and encouraging 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 the railway business, calling it a cure for poverty. He considered the second most important mechanism to be unlimited government intervention.

And it was not a simple declaration. In 1894-1895. S.Yu. Witte achieved the stabilization of the ruble, and in 1897 did what his predecessors had failed to do: he introduced gold money circulation, providing the country with a hard currency and an influx of foreign capital until the First World War. In addition, Witte sharply increased taxation, especially indirect taxation, 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 even O. Bismarck himself became interested in S. Yu. Witte. This was extremely flattering to the vanity of the young minister. "... Bismarck... drew special attention to me," he later wrote, "and several times, through acquaintances, expressed the highest opinion of my personality."

In the conditions of the economic recovery of the 90s, the Witte system worked excellently: an unprecedented number of railways were laid in the country; by 1900, Russia came out on top in the world in oil production; bonds of Russian state loans were highly quoted abroad. The authority of S. Yu. Witte grew immeasurably. The Russian finance minister became a popular figure among Western businessmen and attracted favorable attention from the foreign press. The domestic press sharply criticized Witte. Former associates accused him of planting "state socialism", adherents of the reforms of the 60s criticized him for using state intervention, Russian liberals perceived Witte's program as "a grand diversion of the autocracy", diverting public attention from socio-economic and cultural-political reforms. one statesman of Russia was not the subject of such diverse and contradictory, but stubborn and passionate attacks, as my ... husband, - Matilda Witte later wrote. - At court, he was accused of republicanism, in radical circles he was credited with a desire to curtail the rights of the people in favor of The landowners reproached him for trying to ruin them in favor of the peasants, and the radical parties - for trying to deceive the peasantry in favor of the landlords. He was even accused of being friends with A. Zhelyabov, in an attempt to lead to the decline of Russian agriculture in order to deliver benefits to Germany.

In reality, the entire policy of S. Yu. Witte was subordinated to a single goal: to carry out industrialization, to 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 the 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 possible to expand the purchasing power of the domestic market only through the capitalization of the peasant economy, 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 transition of the government to a bourgeois agrarian policy. In 1899, with his participation, the government developed and adopted laws on the abolition of mutual responsibility in the peasant community. In 1902, Witte achieved the creation of a special commission on the peasant question ("Special Conference on the Needs of the Agricultural Industry"), which aimed to "establish personal property in the countryside."

However, Witte got in the way of his longtime opponent V. K. Plehve, who was appointed Minister of the Interior. The agrarian question turned out to be an arena of confrontation between two influential ministers. Witte did not succeed in realizing his ideas. However, it was S. Yu. Witte who initiated the transition of the government to a bourgeois agrarian policy. As for P. A. Stolypin, Witte subsequently repeatedly emphasized that he “robbed” him, used the ideas of which he himself, Witte, was a staunch supporter. That is why Sergei Yulievich could not remember P. A. Stolypin without a feeling of anger. "... Stolypin," he wrote, "possessed an extremely superficial mind and an almost complete lack of state culture and education. By education and intelligence ... Stolypin was a type of bayonet-junker."

Events at the beginning of the 20th century called into question all the grandiose undertakings of Witte. The world economic crisis sharply slowed down the development of industry in Russia, the influx of foreign capital was reduced, and the budgetary balance was disturbed. Economic expansion in the East aggravated Russian-English contradictions and brought the war with Japan closer.

Witte's economic "system" was clearly shaken. This made it possible for his opponents (Plehve, Bezobrazov, and others) to gradually push the Minister of Finance out of power. Nicholas II willingly supported the campaign against Witte. It should be noted that between S. Yu. Witte and Nicholas II, who ascended the Russian throne in 1894, rather complicated relations were established: Witte showed distrust and contempt, while Nicholas showed distrust and hatred. Witte pushed the restrained, outwardly correct and well-educated tsar with himself, constantly insulted him, without noticing it, with his harshness, impatience, self-confidence, inability to hide his disrespect and contempt. And there was another circumstance that turned a simple dislike for Witte into hatred: after all, it was impossible to do without Witte. Whenever a really great mind and resourcefulness were required, Nicholas II, albeit with gnashing of teeth, turned to him.

For his part, Witte gives in his "Memoirs" a very sharp and bold characterization of Nikolai. Enumerating the numerous virtues of Alexander III, he constantly makes it clear that his son in no way possessed them. About the sovereign himself, he writes: "... Emperor Nicholas II ... was a kind person, far from stupid, but shallow, weak-willed ... His main qualities are courtesy when he wanted it ... cunning and complete spinelessness and helplessness." Here he also adds a "proud character" and a rare "vindictiveness". In "Memoirs" by S.Yu. Witte, the empress also got a lot of unflattering words. The author calls her "a strange person" with a "narrow and stubborn character", "with a stupid egoistic character and a narrow outlook."

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 "honorary resignation", since the new post was disproportionately less influential. At the same time, Nicholas II was not going to completely remove Witte, because the Empress-mother Maria Feodorovna and the tsar's brother, Grand Duke Michael, clearly sympathized with him. In addition, just in case, Nicholas II himself wanted to have such an experienced, intelligent, energetic dignitary at hand.

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 sought to ensure that he did not completely lose the favor of the tsar, more often to attract "the highest attention", strengthened and established ties in government circles. Preparations for a war with Japan made it possible to start an active struggle for a return to power. However, Witte's hopes that with the outbreak of war, Nicholas II would call him, did not come true.

In the summer of 1904, the Socialist-Revolutionary E.S. Sozonov killed Witte's longtime opponent, Minister of the Interior Plehve. The disgraced dignitary made every effort to take the vacant seat, but here, too, failure 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 Minister of the Interior.

Trying to attract attention, Witte takes an active part in meetings with the king on the issue of attracting elected representatives from the population to participate in legislation, trying to expand the competence of the Committee of Ministers. He even uses the events of Bloody Sunday to prove to the tsar that he, Witte, cannot do without him, that if the Committee of Ministers under his chairmanship were endowed with real power, then such a turn of events would be impossible.

Finally, on January 17, 1905, Nicholas II, despite all his hostility, nevertheless turns to Witte and instructs him to organize a ministerial conference on "measures necessary to calm the country" and possible reforms. Sergei Yulievich clearly counted on the fact that he would be able to transform this conference into a government of the "Western European model" and become its head. However, in April of the same year, a new royal disfavor followed: Nicholas II closed the meeting. Witte was again out of work.

True, this time the opal did not last long. At the end of May 1905, at the next military conference, the need for an early end to the war with Japan was finally clarified. Witte was instructed to conduct difficult peace negotiations, who repeatedly and very successfully acted as a diplomat (he negotiated with China on the construction of the CER, with Japan on a joint protectorate over Korea, with Korea on Russian military instruction and Russian financial management, with Germany - on the conclusion of a trade agreement, etc.), while showing remarkable abilities.

Nicholas II was reluctant to appoint Witte as Ambassador Extraordinary. Witte had been pushing the tsar for a long time to start peace talks with Japan in order "at least to appease Russia a little." In a letter to that dated February 28, 1905, he pointed out: "The continuation of the war is more than dangerous: the country, in the current state of mind, will not endure further sacrifices without terrible catastrophes ...". He generally considered the war disastrous for the autocracy.

On August 23, 1905, the Peace of Portsmouth was signed. It was a brilliant victory for Witte, confirming his outstanding diplomatic skills. The talented diplomat managed to get out of a hopelessly lost war with minimal losses, while achieving "an almost decent peace" for Russia. Despite his reluctance, the tsar appreciated Witte's merits: for the Peace of Portsmouth, he was awarded the title of count (by the way, Witte would immediately be mockingly nicknamed "Count of Polusakhalinsky", thereby accusing Japan of ceding the southern part of Sakhalin).

Returning to St. Petersburg, Witte plunged headlong into politics: he took part in the "Special Meeting" of Selsky, where projects for further state reforms were developed. As the revolutionary events intensified, Witte increasingly insistently shows the need for a "strong government", convinces the tsar that it is he, Witte, who can play the role of "the savior of Russia." In early October, he addresses the tsar with a note in which he sets out a whole program of liberal reforms. In the critical days for the autocracy, Witte inspires Nicholas II that he had no other choice but to either establish a dictatorship in Russia, or - Witte's premiership and take a number of liberal steps in the constitutional direction.

Finally, after painful hesitation, the tsar signs the document drawn up by Witte, which went down in history as the October 17 Manifesto. 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. In 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 skillful peacemaker. Under the chairmanship of Witte, the government dealt with a wide variety of issues: it reorganized peasant land ownership, introduced an exceptional position in various regions, resorted to the use of courts-martial, the death penalty and other repressions, led preparations for the convocation of the Duma, drafted the Basic Laws, implemented the freedoms proclaimed on October 17 .

However, the Council of Ministers headed by S. Yu. Witte did not become like a European cabinet, and Sergei Yulievich himself served as chairman for only six months. Increasingly intensified conflict with the king 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 was essentially the end of his career, although Witte did not retire from political activity. He was still a member of the State Council, and often spoke in print.

It should be noted that Sergei Yulievich expected a new appointment and tried to bring it closer, waged a fierce struggle, first against Stolypin, who took the post of chairman of the Council of Ministers, then against V.N. active political activity... He did not lose hope until the last day of his life and was even ready to resort to the help of Rasputin.

At the beginning of the First World War, predicting that it would end in collapse for the autocracy, S. Yu. Witte declared his readiness to take on a peacekeeping mission and try to enter into negotiations with the Germans. But he was already terminally ill.

S. Yu. Witte died on February 28, 1915, a little short of 65 years old. He was buried modestly, "in the third category." There were no official ceremonies. Moreover, the office of the deceased was sealed, papers were confiscated, and a thorough search was made at the villa in Biarritz.

Witte's death caused quite a wide resonance in Russian society. Newspapers were full of headlines like: "In memory of a great man", "Great reformer", "Giant of thought" ... Many of those who knew Sergei Yulievich closely came up with reminiscences.

After Witte's death, his political activity was assessed extremely controversially. Some sincerely believed that Witte had rendered a “great service” to the motherland, others argued that “Count Witte far from justified the hopes placed on him”, that “he did not bring any real benefit to the country”, and even, on the contrary, his activities " should rather be considered harmful."

The political activity of Sergei Yulievich Witte was indeed extremely controversial. Sometimes it combined the incompatible: the desire for unlimited attraction of foreign capital and the struggle against the international political consequences of this attraction; commitment to unlimited autocracy and understanding of the need for reforms that undermined its traditional foundations; The October 17 Manifesto and subsequent measures that reduced it to almost nothing, etc. But no matter how the results of Witte's policy are assessed, one thing is certain: the meaning of his whole life, all his activities was the service of "great Russia". And this could not but be recognized by both his associates and opponents.

WITTE Sergei Yulievich, Count (1905), Russian statesman, honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1893), active privy councilor (1899). Nobleman. He graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Novorossiysk University in Odessa (1870) with a Ph.D. in mathematics. Having abandoned his teaching career, in 1870 he entered the state-owned Odessa Railway (since 1877 the railway began to operate), which in 1878 became part of the South-Western Railways Joint Stock Company (since 1886 Witte was its manager). He deserved the highest gratitude for the fact that he contributed to the organization of the rapid transfer of troops and cargo to the theater of operations during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-78. He initiated the scientific development of railway tariffs, Witte's book "Principles of Railway Tariffs for the Transportation of Goods" (1883) made him an authority in this area. Participated in the work of the Special High Commission for the Study of Railway Affairs in Russia, one of the main drafters of the General Charter of Russian Railways (adopted in 1885). On the initiative of the Minister of Finance, I. A. Vyshnegradsky (who patronized Witte), in 1889 he was appointed director of the Department of Railway Affairs and chairman of the Tariff Committee of the Ministry of Finance.

Even in his youth, Witte's uncle, the Slavophile publicist R. A. Fadeev, influenced the formation of Witte's political views. Witte's public position for quite a long time was characterized by pronounced conservatism. After the assassination of Emperor Alexander II by members of the Narodnaya Volya organization, Witte acted as one of the initiators of the creation of the Holy Squad (1881) - a monarchist conspiratorial organization that, in the fight against revolutionaries, was to adopt their own terrorist methods (Witte himself actively participated in its took no action). Witte emphasized that "if there were no unlimited autocracy, there would be no Russian great empire." In a note to Emperor Nicholas II, filed in connection with the project of introducing zemstvos in the western provinces (1899), Witte argued that the zemstvos could lead to a constitution that in Russia "with its multilingualism and diversity of tribes ... is inapplicable without the decomposition of the state regime." Witte's economic views evolved from Slavophile ideas about Russia's special path to the recognition in the late 1880s of the inevitability of the capitalist development of the country, following the example of the industrial West. Witte became a follower of the German economist F. List, whose theory he promoted in the book National Economy and Friedrich List (1889); believed that for the successful development of the national economy, it is necessary to take into account national characteristics, and then he saw the advantage of Russia in a strong autocratic power capable of carrying out fundamental changes in the interests of the entire population.

From February 1892, Witte was the manager of the Ministry of Railways. Minister of Finance . Strengthening the positions of the Ministry of Finance, Witte attracted to work in it prominent specialists and entrepreneurs - P. L. Bark, V. N. Kokovtsov, D. I. Mendeleev, A. I. Putilov, I. P. Shipov. As minister, Witte enjoyed the full support of Alexander III and Nicholas II in the early years of his reign. The priority task was the development of domestic industry. Pursuing a policy of protectionism, he provided profitable government orders and benefits to individual enterprises and entire industries (chemical, machine-building, metallurgical, etc.). He paid special attention to attracting foreign capital into the industry (he called them "a medicine against poverty"). Participated in the development of the customs tariff of 1891, which was prohibitive for the import of foreign goods and caused a customs war with Germany. He secured for the Ministry of Finance the right, in agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to increase the rates of customs tariffs for countries that prevented the export of Russian goods (1893). In 1894, he concluded a compromise Russian-German trade agreement and similar bilateral agreements with Austria-Hungary and France. To increase the number of specialists in the national economy, at the request of Witte, the Kiev, Warsaw (both in 1898) and St. commercial schools). Using the Accounting and Loan Bank of Persia and the Russian-Chinese Bank (established on Witte's initiative in 1894 and 1895, respectively), which were under state control, Witte sought to provide Russian goods with access to Asian markets. Together with Minister of Foreign Affairs V.N. Lamzdorf, he advocated the gradual establishment of economic control over Manchuria, in connection with this he entered into a confrontation with a group of influential courtiers and statesmen who insisted on political expansion in northeastern China and Korea (A.M. Bezobrazov, V. K. Pleve and others).

One of Witte's main activities was the development of railways (becoming Minister of Finance, Witte retained influence on the Ministry of Railways), which Witte considered as the circulatory system of the national economy. He continued the policy of expanding the public sector (during Witte's tenure as Minister of Finance, the treasury bought over 15,000 km of railway lines, and built about 27,000 km). Witte considered the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway to be “a task of paramount importance” (his predecessors N. Kh. Bunge and I. A. Vyshnegradsky called it ruinous for the treasury). He pointed out the great importance of such a road for the development of Siberia and hoped to use it to direct world transit trade instead of the Suez Canal through Russia. Despite significantly exceeding the original budget, Witte ensured that this grandiose construction was financed and completed on a tight schedule. In 1896, by bribing the Chinese statesman Li Hongzhang, Witte secured a lucrative concession for the Russian Empire to build the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) through northeastern China.

Achieving his goals and arguing with opponents, Witte used various means, including funding for individual journalists or press organs (Witte's position was defended by the newspapers Birzhevye Vedomosti, Russkiye Vedomosti, etc., as well as a number of foreign periodicals).

Witte's policy aimed at reforming the financial system, which by the beginning of the 1890s was characterized by an excess of money supply, the instability of the credit ruble and its weak convertibility, was also subordinated to the tasks of industrial development and railway construction. Under the leadership of Witte, the Ministry of Finance in 1895-97 carried out the introduction of gold monometallism, which completed one of the most important monetary reforms in the history of Russia (its preparation was begun by Witte's predecessors). Witte increased taxes, mainly indirect ones, in 1895-1902 he introduced a wine monopoly, the income from which became one of the most important items in the state budget. Witte also made investments in the railway industry largely through government loans placed on foreign markets among small and medium-sized investors (contemporaries said that Russian railways were built with the money of German cooks). The overall balance of the state budget during Witte's tenure as finance minister increased by 114.5%.

Starting state activity, Witte in the field of social relations considered it necessary to preserve the community and class isolation of the peasants, but in the mid-1890s he came to the conclusion that in order to create a capacious internal market, it was necessary to equalize the rights of the peasants with the rest of the population and provide them with the opportunity to free leaving the community. In 1902-05, he defended these ideas as chairman of the Special Conference on the Needs of the Agricultural Industry. With the support of Witte, a law was drafted on the abolition of mutual responsibility in a rural community (adopted in 1903). In A Note on Peasant Affairs (published in 1905), Witte emphasized that the community was "an insurmountable obstacle to the improvement of agricultural culture," that it had already ceased to restrain property stratification among the peasants. At the same time, Witte opposed the violent destruction of the community. He also believed that the transition to private land ownership would take a long time. The proposals outlined by the Special Conference were subsequently used, among other measures, in carrying out the Stolypin agrarian reform.

Witte's opponents accused him of pursuing an anti-noble policy, indulging in the development of industry to the detriment of agriculture, "fabricating factory owners" unable to exist without state assistance, and increasing foreign debt. Gradually, Witte ceased to enjoy the support of Emperor Nicholas II, which led to his resignation from the post of Minister of Finance and his appointment to the less influential post of Chairman of the Committee of Ministers (1903). Member of the State Council (1903).

Under the influence of Russia's defeats in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 and the outbreak of the Revolution of 1905-07, Witte advocated the speedy conclusion of a peace treaty with Japan. Emperor Nicholas II appointed Witte head of the Russian delegation for peace talks with Japan. Witte concluded the Peace of Portsmouth in 1905, for his mission he received the title of count, and from his opponents - the nickname "Count Polusakhalinsky" (peace conditions provided for the transfer of the southern part of Sakhalin Island to Japan).

The revolutionary events of 1905 contributed to a change in Witte's political views. During the October general political strike of 1905, he presented a note to the emperor, in which he stated that "state power must be ready to enter the constitutional path." Witte began to insist on the immediate granting of civil liberties to the population, the convening of a legislative popular representation and the creation of a united government. Under his leadership, the Manifesto was prepared on October 17, 1905.

Simultaneously with the publication of the manifesto, Witte was appointed chairman of the reformed Council of Ministers. Trying to create a "cabinet of public confidence", he proposed that the leaders of the liberal opposition (A.I. Guchkov, P.N. Milyukov, M.A. Stakhovich, E.N. Trubetskoy, etc.) enter the government, but they put forward a demand convocation of the Constituent Assembly and a number of other unacceptable conditions for the authorities. Then Witte formed a "business cabinet" of officials. Being at the head of the united government, he came under fire from both the right (considered him a hidden "accomplice of the revolution") and the left (condemned him for his "protective" policy). Since the concessions of the state to society did not stop anti-government demonstrations, Witte approved the dispatch of punitive detachments to suppress the December armed uprisings of 1905. In April 1906, he entered into a foreign loan of 2.25 billion francs (called the "loan for the suppression of the revolution" in the leftist press). Witte supported the transformation of the State Council into the upper legislative chamber (February 1906), which was supposed to serve as a counterbalance to the State Duma, while preparing the Fundamental State Laws of 1906, he defended the restriction of the rights of the Duma. Faced with the fact that, following the results of the elections to the Duma, its majority was made up of left-wing deputies, and not counting on constructive work with them, Witte resigned on the eve of the start of the meetings of the State Duma. In 1907, the leaders of the Union of the Russian People staged a failed attempt on his life. In 1911-1915, Witte was chairman of the Finance Committee.

The author of the memoirs bequeathed to publish them after his death (he kept the manuscript abroad). They were first published in 1922 in Germany in the edition of I.V. Gessen, republished in Moscow in 1960, in the original version of Witte's note were published in St. Petersburg in 2003. They present a detailed picture of Russian political life and characteristics of major statesmen of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A number of events, as well as the position of some of Witte's political opponents, are distorted by him.

He was awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (1906), St. Vladimir 1st degree (1913), the French Order of the Legion of Honor (1894), etc.

Cit.: Lecture notes on the national and state economy. 2nd ed. SPb., 1912.

Lit .: Tarle E. V. Graf S. Yu. Witte. Experience characterizing foreign policy. L., ; Mehlinger H. D., Thompson J. M. Count Witte and the Tsarist government in the 1905 revolution. Bloomington, 1972; Laue T. H. S. Witte and the industrialization of Russia. N.Y., 1974; Ignatiev A. V. S. Yu. Witte - diplomat. M., 1989; Ananyich B.V., Ganelin R.Sh. S. Yu. Witte is a memoirist. SPb., 1994; they are. S. Yu. Witte and his time. SPb., 1999; Korelin A.P., Stepanov S.A.S. Yu. Witte - financier, politician, diplomat. M., 1998; S. Yu. Witte - statesman, reformer, economist: In part 2 M., 1999.

Witte Sergei Yulievich (1849-1915), Count (1905), Russian statesman.

Born June 29, 1849 in Tiflis (now Tbilisi). The father of the future reformer was a major official who served in the Caucasian governorship. Witte was educated at home. He externally passed the exams at the gymnasium and entered in 1866 at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Novorossiysk University in Odessa. Graduating from the university, he defended his dissertation in higher mathematics.

In 1877, he received the position of head of operation in the Office of the state-owned Odessa Railway, in 1880 he took the same post in the management of the joint-stock company South-Western Railways.

On August 30, 1892, the tsar appointed Witte the manager of the Ministry of Finance. He had two main tasks: to find additional funds for the state and to carry out a monetary reform. Thanks to large foreign loans, in just two or three years, Witte achieved that Russian industry began to bring tangible income to the state. He increased taxes and adopted a protective customs tariff in relation to domestic producers, under which it became profitable to purchase not foreign, but Russian goods.

In 1893, Witte was awarded the title of honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

In 1894, a state monopoly on the sale of alcohol was introduced, and the income from the sale of vodka and wine now went entirely to the state treasury. "Drunken" money at that time accounted for about a quarter of all state revenues. Witte also managed to carry out the monetary reform that his predecessors had been preparing for many years. Now Russian paper money could freely buy gold. Foreign bankers and entrepreneurs began to willingly invest in Russian industry, which contributed to its growth.

In October 1898, Witte turned to Nicholas II with a note in which he persuaded him to release the peasants from the guardianship of the community, to make a “person” out of the peasant. Later, these principles formed the basis of P. A. Stolypin's agrarian reform. In 1903 Witte became chairman of the Committee of Ministers.

After the unsuccessful Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), the emperor instructed Witte to lead the Russian delegation in negotiations with Japan in Portsmouth (USA). Witte managed to moderate Japanese demands. As a result, the Russian Empire recognized Korea as a sphere of Japanese interests, Japan received the southern part of Sakhalin Island. On August 23, 1905, the Peace of Portsmouth was signed on these terms. On September 15, Witte returned to Russia.

In the same year, the emperor elevated him to the dignity of a count (evil tongues immediately called the newly-made Count Witte-Polu-Sakhalin).

Nicholas II instructed Witte to prepare a draft Manifesto on granting political freedoms to the population. On October 17, the tsar signed it.

In 1905, Witte was the first in the history of Russia to take the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

In April 1906, he resigned due to disagreements in the government and began writing memoirs. A huge three-volume work saw the light first in Berlin (1921-1923), and then in the USSR (1960).