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 and was the owner of an estate in Prussia. Mother Ekaterina Andreevna was the daughter of the Saratov governor. Sergei studied in Chisinau at a Russian gymnasium. In 1870 he graduated from 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 as an ordinary cashier at a ticket office, then, over time, began to rise higher and higher, and rose to the rank of manager of the southwestern railways. In this regard, he was given a luxurious mansion in a prestigious area of ​​Kyiv. But, after some time, Sergei Yulievich Witte realizes that he is too cramped in this field.
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 greeted him there with caution, but less than a year later he became Minister of Railways, and after another year, manager of the Ministry of Finance. It was he who was one of the first to spot 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 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, vodka could only be sold in state-owned wine shops. The wine monopoly brought in a million rubles a day, the country’s budget began to be built on getting the population drunk. At this time, Russia's external debt increases significantly, as the government constantly takes out foreign loans.
Witte's first priority was always railway construction. When he just started his activities, there were only 29,157 miles of railways, and when he retired, this figure was already 54,217 miles. And if at the beginning of its activity 70% of the railways belonged to private joint-stock companies, then by the end of its activity everything had 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 there is economic crisis, S.Yu. Witte is appointed responsible for the global economic downturn. And here the minister’s biography becomes bleak; he is accused of all sorts of mistakes: concluding unprofitable 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 they whispered to the tsar that Sergei Yulievich was ignoring the autocrat. And as a result of this, on August 16, 1903, Nicholas II deprived 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 plenipotentiary in negotiations with the Japanese. The negotiations are successful, and soon the war ends with the signing of peace, thanks to which Witte is given 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. IN this document it was said that from now on the population would receive political freedoms and the opportunity to elect an autocratic government. This document had a huge impact on state policy, but nothing could be undone, and Russia was entering a new stage of political development. On October 17, 1905, Witte was appointed chairman of the Council of Ministers. He had two main tasks: to suppress the revolution and carry out the necessary reforms. The most serious reform was the agrarian project, which provided for the possibility of peasants purchasing privately owned lands. But the landowners turned against Witt for this project, and he had to abandon the project and fire its author.
On April 23, 1906, a new version of the Basic State Laws was introduced. The opposition was outraged that the government had stolen power from the people. Indeed, autocratic power was preserved and 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 resigned along with his cabinet. It was the end of the count's six-month premiership, which had failed to reconcile political extremes. This is where Witte’s career ends, but his biography shows that for a long time he did not want to realize this 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 before his death, the count 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.
About it famous person Many books have been written, both by Russian and foreign authors. But even after one hundred and fifty years the characteristic government activities Sergei Yulievich Witte is controversial. The biography of the famous count suggests 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.

(06/29/1849 - 03/13/1915) - count, Russian statesman.

The life, political activity, and moral qualities of Sergei Yulievich Witte have always evoked contradictory, sometimes polar opposite, assessments and judgments. According to some recollections of his contemporaries, we have before us “ exceptionally gifted», « V high degree outstanding statesman», « surpassing in the variety of his talents, the vastness of his horizons, the ability to cope with the most difficult tasks, the brilliance and strength of his mind of all people of his time" According to others, this is “ a businessman completely inexperienced in the national economy», « suffered from amateurism and poor knowledge of Russian reality", a person with " average philistine level of development and naivety of many views", whose policies were distinguished by " helplessness, lack of system and... unprincipledness».

Characterizing Witte, some emphasized that he was “ European and liberal", others - that " Witte was never a liberal or a conservative, but sometimes he was deliberately reactionary" The following was even written about him: “ savage, provincial hero, impudent and libertine with a sunken nose».

So what kind of person was this - Sergei Yulievich Witte?

Education

He was born on June 17, 1849 in the Caucasus, in Tiflis, in the family of a provincial official. Witte's paternal ancestors were immigrants from Holland who moved to the Baltic states - in mid-19th V. 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 department of the governor of the Caucasus, former Saratov governor Andrei Mikhailovich Fadeev and Princess Elena Pavlovna Dolgorukaya. Witte himself very willingly emphasized his family ties with the Dolgoruky princes, but did not like to mention that he came from a family of little-known Russified Germans. " Actually my whole family, - he wrote in his “Memoirs”, - was a highly monarchical family - and this side 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 “ primary education, - recalled S. Yu. Witte, - my grandmother gave it to me... she taught me to read and write».

At the Tiflis gymnasium, where he was then 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 future statesman went to Odessa with the intention of entering the university. But his young age (the university accepted people no younger than seventeen years old), and on top of everything, the behavioral unit denied him access there... He had to go to school again - first in Odessa, then in Chisinau. And only after intensive studies 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 worked day and night, he recalled, and therefore, throughout my stay at the university, I was truly the best student in terms of knowledge».

This is how the first 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, the grandfather and father invested all their capital in the Chiatura mines company, which soon failed. 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 was able 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 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 have always been against all these trends, because according to my upbringing I was an extreme monarchist... and also a religious person“S. Yu. Witte subsequently 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 treasury. This innocent idea almost ended in disaster. This so-called mutual aid fund was closed as... dangerous institution, and all members of the committee, incl. Witte, found themselves under investigation. They were threatened with exile to Siberia. And only the scandal 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.

Carier start

After graduating from the university in 1870, Sergei Witte thought about a scientific career, about a professorship. However, relatives - 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 affair" In addition, his scientific career was hindered by his ardent passion for the actress Sokolova, after meeting whom Witte “didn’t want to write any more dissertations.”

Choosing a career as an official, he was assigned to the office of the Odessa governor, Count Kotzebue. And two years later, the first promotion - Witte was appointed head of the department. But suddenly all his plans changed.

Railway construction developed rapidly in Russia. This was a new and promising branch of the capitalist economy. Various private companies arose that invested in railway construction 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 A.P. 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 study the practical side of the enterprise, Witte sat in the station ticket office, acted as an assistant and station manager, controller, traffic auditor, and even served as 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, S. Yu. Witte’s career almost ended completely. At the end of 1875, a train crash occurred near Odessa, causing 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 was dragging on, Witte, while remaining in service, managed to distinguish himself in transporting troops to the theater of military operations (the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 was underway), which attracted the attention of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, by 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 appointment, he moved from the province 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 an extremely strong influence on Witte: it gave him management experience, 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 “railroad kings” - I. S. Bliokh, P. I. Gubonin, V. A. Kokorev, S. S. Polyakov, and knew closely 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 combined well with the abilities of a scientist-analyst. In 1883 S. Yu. Witte published "Principles of railway tariffs according to transportation of goods», brought him fame among specialists. This was, by the way, not the first and far from the last work that came out 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.

Active participation in political life During these years, Witte did not receive, although he collaborated with the Odessa Slavic Benevolent Society, was well acquainted with the famous Slavophile I. S. Aksakov and even published several articles in his newspaper “Rus”. The young entrepreneur preferred the “society of actresses” to serious politics. "... I knew all the more or less prominent actresses who were in Odessa", he later recalled.

Beginning of government activities

The murder of Alexander II by the Narodnaya Volya dramatically 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 letter 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 solemnly initiated into the squad and soon received his first task - to organize 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 just over a year, was liquidated. It must be said that Witte’s stay in this organization did not at all embellish his biography, although it gave him the opportunity to demonstrate his 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 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, chance helped.

On October 17, 1888, the Tsar's train crashed in Borki. The reason for this was a violation of basic train traffic rules: the heavy train 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, however, neither the emperor nor his family members 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 profitable place and the position of a successful businessman for the sake of the government career that beckoned him. Simultaneously with his appointment to the position of director of the department, he was promoted from titular to full state councilor (i.e., received the rank of general). It was a dizzying leap up the bureaucratic ladder. Witte is one of I. A. Vyshnegradsky’s closest collaborators.

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

Ministry of Finance

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 did not remain in this post for long. Also in 1892, I. A. Vyshnegradsky became seriously ill. In government circles, a behind-the-scenes struggle began for the influential post of Minister of Finance, 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 had no intention of leaving 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 Councilor. The career of 43-year-old Witte 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 (nee 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) at 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 woo her, convincing her to end the marriage and marry him. To get a divorce from her intractable husband, Witte had to pay compensation and even 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).

Witte brought a new marriage 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. Sergei Yulievich was even ready to “give up” his career. However, Alexander III, having delved into all the details, said that this 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 far from simple. 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 aroused open envy and hostility on the part of officials.

Along with this, Emperor Alexander III clearly favored him. "... He treated me especially favorably“,” wrote Witte, “ loved it very much», « believed me before last day own life" Alexander III was impressed by Witte's directness, his courage, independence of judgment, even the harshness of his expressions, and the complete absence of servility. And for Witte, Alexander III remained the ideal autocrat until the end of his life. " True Christian», « faithful son Orthodox Church », « simple, solid and fair man », « distinguished 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, industry was now subordinate to him, and he could put pressure on the decisions of the most important issues. And Sergei Yulievich really showed himself to be a sober, prudent, flexible politician. Yesterday's Pan-Slavist, Slavophile, convinced supporter of the original path of development of Russia in a short time turned into an industrializer of the European model and declared his readiness within short term bring Russia into the category of advanced industrial powers.

As Minister of Finance

By the beginning of the 20th century. Witte’s economic platform has acquired quite complete outlines: within about ten years, to catch up with the more industrially developed countries of Europe, to take a strong position in the markets of the East, to ensure accelerated industrial development Russia by attracting foreign capital, accumulating internal resources, customs protection of industry from competitors and encouraging exports. A special role in Witte's program was assigned to foreign capital; the Minister of Finance advocated their unlimited involvement in Russian industry and railways, calling them 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 gold currency circulation, providing the country with hard currency and an influx of foreign capital until the First World War. In addition, Witte sharply increased taxation, especially indirect, 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 even became interested in O. Bismarck himself. This extremely flattered the young minister’s vanity. "... Bismarck... turned on me Special attention , he later wrote, and several times through acquaintances he expressed the highest opinion of my personality».

During the economic boom of the 90s, the Witte system worked excellently: an unprecedented number of railways were built in the country; by 1900, Russia took first place in the world in oil production; Russian government bonds were highly rated 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 sharply 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, diverting public attention from socio-economic and cultural-political reforms.” " Not a single Russian statesman has been the subject of such varied and contradictory, but persistent 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 monarch. Landowners reproached him for seeking to ruin them in favor of the peasants, and radical parties for seeking to deceive the peasantry in favor of the landowners" They even accused him of being friends with A. Zhelyabov, of trying to lead to the decline Agriculture Russia to deliver benefits to Germany.

In reality, the entire policy of S. Yu. Witte was subordinated to a single goal: to implement industrialization, to achieve successful development of the Russian economy, without affecting political system without changing anything public administration. Witte was an ardent supporter of autocracy. He considered an unlimited monarchy " the best form of government"for Russia, and everything that they 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 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 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 set the goal of “ establish personal property in the village».

However, Witte’s longtime opponent V.K. Plehve, appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, stood in Witte’s way. The agrarian question turned out to be an arena of confrontation between two influential ministers. Witte never succeeded in realizing his ideas. However, it was S. Yu. Witte who initiated the government’s transition to bourgeois agrarian policy. As for P. A. Stolypin, Witte subsequently repeatedly emphasized that he “ robbed» him, used ideas of which he and Witte himself were a staunch supporter. That is why Sergei Yulievich could not remember P. A. Stolypin without a feeling of bitterness. "... Stolypin, he wrote, had an extremely superficial mind and an almost complete lack of state culture and education. By education and intelligence... Stolypin was a type of bayonet cadet».

Resignation

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

Witte's economic “system” was clearly 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 Witte’s side there was distrust and contempt, on Nicholas’s side - distrust and hatred. Witte crowded the restrained, outwardly correct and well-mannered tsar, constantly insulting him, without noticing it, with his harshness, impatience, self-confidence, and inability to hide his disrespect and contempt. And there was one more circumstance that turned simple dislike for Witte into hatred: after all, it was impossible to do without Witte. Always, when great intelligence and resourcefulness were really 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 numerous advantages of Alexander III, he always makes it clear that his son 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 weak-willedness" Here he adds “ self-loving character" and rare " rancor" In S. Yu. Witte’s “Memoirs,” the empress also received a lot of unflattering words. The author calls it " strange special" With " narrow and stubborn character», « with a dull 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 Feodorovna and the Tsar’s brother, Grand Duke Mikhail, clearly sympathized with him. In addition, just in case, Nicholas II himself wanted to have such an experienced, intelligent, energetic dignitary at hand.

New victories

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 lose the favor of 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, Socialist-Revolutionary E. S. Sozonov killed Witte’s longtime enemy, Minister of Internal Affairs Plehve. The disgraced dignitary made every effort to take the vacant seat, but failure awaited him here too. 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 attract attention, 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 even uses the events of “Bloody Sunday” to prove to the Tsar that he, Witte, could not do without him, 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 organize a meeting of ministers on “measures necessary to calm the country” and possible reforms. Sergei Yulievich clearly hoped that he would be able to transform this meeting into a government 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 again found himself out of work.

True, this time the fall did not last long. At the end of May 1905, at the next military meeting, the need for an early end to the war with Japan was finally clarified. Witte was entrusted with difficult peace negotiations, who repeatedly and very successfully acted as a diplomat (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 accepted Witte's appointment as Ambassador Extraordinary with great reluctance. Witte had long pushed the Tsar to begin peace negotiations with Japan in order to “ at least reassure Russia a little" In a letter to him dated February 28, 1905, he indicated: “ The continuation of the war is more than dangerous: the country, given the current state of mind, will not endure further casualties without terrible disasters...". He generally considered the war disastrous for the autocracy.

On August 23, 1905, the Portsmouth Peace was signed. It was a brilliant victory for Witte, confirming his outstanding diplomatic abilities. The talented diplomat managed to emerge from a hopelessly lost war with minimal losses, while achieving for Russia “ almost decent world" 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 was immediately mockingly nicknamed “Count of Polosakhalinsky,” thereby accusing him of ceding the southern part of Sakhalin to Japan).

Manifesto October 17, 1905

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” and convinces the Tsar that it is he, Witte, who 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 take a number of liberal steps in the constitutional direction.

Finally, after painful hesitation, the tsar signed the document drawn up by Witte, which went down in history as the Manifesto of October 17, 1905. On October 19, the tsar signed a decree on reforming the Council of Ministers, at the head of which Witte was placed. 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 government dealt with a wide variety of issues: it reorganized peasant land ownership, introduced a state of exception in different 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 was essentially the end of his career, although Witte did not move away from political activity. 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, first 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 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 mortally ill.

Death of the "Great Reformer"

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 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. 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 spoke with their memories.

After Witte's death, his political activities were assessed extremely controversially. Some sincerely believed that Witte had rendered his homeland " great service", others argued that " Count Witte did not live up to the expectations placed on him", What " he did not bring any real benefit to the country", and even, on the contrary, his activities " should rather be considered harmful».

The political activities of Sergei Yulievich Witte were indeed extremely contradictory. At times it combined the incompatible: the desire for unlimited attraction of foreign capital and the fight 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 zero, etc. But no matter how the results of Witte’s policy are assessed, one thing is certain: the meaning of his entire life, all his activities was service “ great Russia" And both his like-minded people and his opponents could not help but admit this.

Article: "History of Russia in portraits." In 2 vols. T.1. p.285-308

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 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 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 treasury. 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. Ambitious and power-hungry railway entrepreneur persistently and patiently began to prepare his native 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 without hesitation parted 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 with simultaneous promotion 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 ill will 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 place 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 Russia.” 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 be 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 short-term. 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 wealth 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 brilliantly defending 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 very quickly got involved in the work and a short time He studied the railway transport system well. 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 the main strategic route of Russia. 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 throughout 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. She became preparatory stage to 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 strengthening Japan on 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 powers State Duma and the Council of State, 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.

Witte's reforms of 1892-1903 were carried out in Russia with the aim of eliminating the lag between industry and Western countries. Scientists often call these reforms industrialization Tsarist Russia. Their specificity was that the reforms covered all the main spheres of the state’s life, allowing the economy to make a colossal leap. That is why today the term “golden decade” of Russian industry is used.

Witte's reforms are characterized by the following measures:

• Increased tax revenues. Tax revenues increased by about 50%, but we are not talking about direct taxes, but about indirect taxes. Indirect taxes are the imposition of additional taxes on the sale of goods and services, which fall on the seller and are paid to the state.
• Introduction of the wine monopoly in 1895. The sale of alcoholic beverages was declared a state monopoly, and this revenue item alone accounted for 28% of the budget of the Russian Empire. In money terms, this translates to approximately 500 million rubles per year.
• Gold backing of the Russian ruble. In 1897 S.Yu. Witte carried out a monetary reform, backing the ruble with gold. Banknotes were freely exchanged for gold bars, as a result of which the Russian economy and its currency became interesting for investment.
• Accelerated construction of railways. They built approximately 2.7 thousand km of railway per year. This may seem like an insignificant aspect of the reform, but at that time it was very important for the state. Suffice it to say that in the war with Japan one of the key factors Russia's defeat was due to insufficient railway equipment, which hampered the movement and movement of troops.
• Since 1899, restrictions on the import of foreign capital and the export of capital from Russia have been lifted.
• In 1891, customs tariffs on the import of products were increased. This was a forced step that helped support local producers. It was thanks to this that potential was created within the country.

Brief table of reforms

Table - Witte reforms: date, tasks, consequences

Reform	Year	Tasks	Consequences
"Wine" reform	1895	Creation of a state monopoly on the sale of all alcoholic products, including wine.	Increasing budget revenues to 500 million rubles per year. “Wine” money is approximately 28% of the budget.
Currency reform	1897	Introduction of the gold standard, backing the Russian ruble with gold	Inflation in the country has been reduced. International confidence in the ruble has been restored. Price stabilization. Conditions for foreign investment.
Protectionism	1891	Support for domestic producers by increasing customs duties on goods imported from abroad.	Industry growth. Economic recovery of the country.
Tax reform	1890	Increase in budget revenues.	Introduction of additional indirect taxes on sugar, kerosene, matches, tobacco. The “housing tax” was introduced for the first time. Taxes on government documents have been increased. Tax revenues increased by 42.7%.

Preparation of reforms

Until 1892, Sergei Yulievich Witte served as Minister of Railways. In 1892, he moved to the post of Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire. At that time, it was the Minister of Finance who determined the entire economic policy of the country. Witte adhered to the ideas of a comprehensive transformation of the country's economy. His opponent was Plehve, who promoted the classical path of development. Alexander 3, realizing that at the current stage the economy needs real reforms and transformations, sided with Witte, appointing him Minister of Finance, thereby completely entrusting this man with the formation of the country's economy.

The main goal of the economic reforms of the late 19th century was for Russia to catch up with Western countries within 10 years, and also to strengthen itself in the markets of the Near, Middle and Far East.

Currency reform and investment

Today people often talk about the phenomenal economic indicators achieved by Stalin’s five-year plans, but their essence was almost completely borrowed from Witte’s reforms. The only difference was that in the USSR new enterprises did not become private property. Sergei Yulievich envisioned industrializing the country in 10 years or five years. The finances of the Russian Empire at that time were in a deplorable state. The main problem was high inflation, which was generated by payments to landowners, as well as continuous wars.

To solve this problem, the Witte currency reform was carried out in 1897. The essence of this reform can be briefly described as follows: Russian ruble was now backed by gold, or a gold standard was introduced. Thanks to this, investor confidence in the Russian ruble has increased. The state issued only the amount of money that was actually backed by gold. The banknote could be exchanged for gold at any time.

The results of Witte's monetary reform appeared very quickly. Already in 1898, significant amounts of capital began to be invested in Russia. Moreover, this capital was mainly foreign. Largely thanks to this capital, large-scale construction of railways throughout the country became possible. The Trans-Siberian Railway and the Chinese-Eastern Railway were built precisely thanks to Witte’s reforms, and with foreign capital.

Inflow of foreign capital

One of the effects of Witte's monetary reform and his economic policies was the influx of foreign capital into Russia. The total amount of investment in Russian industry amounted to 2.3 billion rubles. The main countries that invested in the Russian economy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries:

• France – 732 million
• UK – 507 million
• Germany – 442 million
• Belgium – 382 million
• USA – 178 million

There were both positives and negatives about foreign capital. The industry, built with Western money, was completely controlled by foreign owners who were interested in profit, but not in any way in developing Russia. The state, of course, controlled these enterprises, but all operational decisions were made locally. A striking example of what this leads to is the Lena execution. Today this topic is being speculated on in order to blame Nicholas 2 for the harsh working conditions of the workers, but in fact the enterprise was completely controlled by English industrialists, and it was their actions that led to the rebellion and execution of people in Russia.

Evaluation of reforms

In Russian society, Witte's reforms were perceived negatively by all people. The main critic of the current economic policy was Nicholas 2, who called the Minister of Finance a “Republican.” The result was a paradoxical situation. Representatives of the autocracy did not like Witte, calling him a republican or a person who supported an anti-Russian position, and the revolutionaries did not like Witte because he supported the autocracy. Which of these people was right? It is impossible to answer this question unequivocally, but it was Sergei Yulievich’s reforms that strengthened the positions of industrialists and capitalists in Russia. And this, in turn, was one of the reasons for the collapse of the Russian Empire.

Nevertheless, thanks to the measures taken, Russia reached 5th place in the world in terms of total industrial production.

Results of economic policy S.Yu. Witte

• The number of industrial enterprises has increased significantly. Just across the country it was about 40%. For example, in the Donbass there were 2 metallurgical plants, and during the reform period 15 more were built. Of these 15, 13 plants were built by foreigners.
• Production increased: oil by 2.9 times, cast iron by 3.7 times, steam locomotives by 10 times, steel by 7.2 times.
• In terms of industrial growth rates, Russia has taken first place in the world.

The main emphasis was on the development of heavy industry by reducing the share of light industry. One of the problems was that the main industries were built in cities or within city limits. This created conditions under which the proletariat began to settle in industrial centers. The resettlement of people from the village to the city began, and it was these people who later played their role in the revolution.