George Buchanan (diplomat)
Encyclopedia
Sir George William Buchanan GCB
GCMG
GCVO
PC
(1854 – 1924) was a British
diplomat. Born in Copenhagen
, Denmark
, he was the son of British Ambassador Sir Andrew Buchanan, Bt.
.
In 1908 he was appointed as minister in The Hague
, The Netherlands
. In 1910 Buchanan was appointed as the British Ambassador in Russia
. He kept abreast of the political developments in Russia and met some of the leading liberal
reformists in the country. It has been suggested that this was secretly encouraged by the then Liberal
government in London
.
Buchanan was the ambassador at the time of the Russian Revolution
in 1917. He had developed a strong bond with the Tsar, Nicholas II
, and attempted to convince the Tsar that granting some constitutional reform would stave-off revolution. Unfortunately Nicholas's opinion of him was poisoned by the Tsarina's views. Knowing that there were plots to stage a palace coup to replace him, Sir George formally requested an audience of the Tsar in the troubled early days of 1917. At his last meeting with Nicholas he pleaded with him in 'undiplomatic' language: "I can but plead as my excuse the fact that I have throughout been inspired by my feelings of devotion for Your Majesty and the Empress. If I were to see a friend walking through a wood on a dark night along a path which I knew ended in a precipice, would it not be my duty, sir, to warn him of his danger? And is it not equally my duty to warn Your Majesty of the abyss that lies ahead of you? You have, sir, come to the parting of the ways, and you have now to choose between two paths. The one will lead you to victory and a glorious peace - the other to revolution and disaster. Let me implore Your Majesty to choose the former."( Jan 12, 1917- page 49, Vol.II autobiography)
Although the Tsar was touched by the Ambassador's devotion, he allowed his wife's malevolent attitudes to overbear the sensible advice he had been given. After the collapse of the Autocracy (see Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia
), he developed close relations with the liberal Provisional Government led by Alexander Kerensky
that formed after the February Revolution
. However, after the events of the October Revolution
and the Bolsheviks ascendency to power he was widely criticised for the failure to ensure that Tsar
Nicholas II
and his family were evacuated from Russia before their execution by the Bolsheviks at Ekaterinburg in 1918. It is now known that this was not his fault but that of the Tsar's first cousin, King George V of Great Britain who, fearful of revolutionary trends in Britain and the stability of his own throne, persuaded the Lloyd George
government to rescind the offer they had made to provide sanctuary for the Imperial Family.
Sir George, disappointed that the fledgling democracy offered by the Provisional Government was strangled by the Bolshevik coup in October, finished his distinguished career as ambassador to the Holy See
from 1919-21.
Sir George's autobiography, My Mission to Russia and Other Diplomatic Memories, was published in 1923. It is believed that he had to leave out some of what he knew under threat of losing his pension. He died in 1924.
His daughter Meriel Buchanan wrote several perceptive books about the revolution, which she witnessed, and key figures she had personally known. Meriel married Major Harold Knowling in May 1925 and died on 6 February 1959.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
GCMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
GCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
PC
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
(1854 – 1924) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
diplomat. Born in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, he was the son of British Ambassador Sir Andrew Buchanan, Bt.
Sir Andrew Buchanan, 1st Baronet
Sir Andrew Buchanan, 1st Baronet, GCB was a British diplomat and baronet.-Family:Buchanan was the only son of James Buchanan of Blairvadoch, Ardinconnal, Dumbartonshire, and Janet, eldest daughter of James Sinclair, 12th Earl of Caithness.He married first, 4 April 1839, Frances Katharine, daughter...
.
In 1908 he was appointed as minister in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, The Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. In 1910 Buchanan was appointed as the British Ambassador in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. He kept abreast of the political developments in Russia and met some of the leading liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
reformists in the country. It has been suggested that this was secretly encouraged by the then Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
government in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Buchanan was the ambassador at the time of the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
in 1917. He had developed a strong bond with the Tsar, Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
, and attempted to convince the Tsar that granting some constitutional reform would stave-off revolution. Unfortunately Nicholas's opinion of him was poisoned by the Tsarina's views. Knowing that there were plots to stage a palace coup to replace him, Sir George formally requested an audience of the Tsar in the troubled early days of 1917. At his last meeting with Nicholas he pleaded with him in 'undiplomatic' language: "I can but plead as my excuse the fact that I have throughout been inspired by my feelings of devotion for Your Majesty and the Empress. If I were to see a friend walking through a wood on a dark night along a path which I knew ended in a precipice, would it not be my duty, sir, to warn him of his danger? And is it not equally my duty to warn Your Majesty of the abyss that lies ahead of you? You have, sir, come to the parting of the ways, and you have now to choose between two paths. The one will lead you to victory and a glorious peace - the other to revolution and disaster. Let me implore Your Majesty to choose the former."( Jan 12, 1917- page 49, Vol.II autobiography)
Although the Tsar was touched by the Ambassador's devotion, he allowed his wife's malevolent attitudes to overbear the sensible advice he had been given. After the collapse of the Autocracy (see Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia was the youngest son of Emperor Alexander III of Russia.At the time of his birth, his paternal grandfather was still the reigning Emperor of All the Russias. Michael was fourth-in-line to the throne following his father and elder brothers Nicholas and...
), he developed close relations with the liberal Provisional Government led by Alexander Kerensky
Alexander Kerensky
Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets following the October Revolution...
that formed after the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
. However, after the events of the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
and the Bolsheviks ascendency to power he was widely criticised for the failure to ensure that Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
and his family were evacuated from Russia before their execution by the Bolsheviks at Ekaterinburg in 1918. It is now known that this was not his fault but that of the Tsar's first cousin, King George V of Great Britain who, fearful of revolutionary trends in Britain and the stability of his own throne, persuaded the Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
government to rescind the offer they had made to provide sanctuary for the Imperial Family.
Sir George, disappointed that the fledgling democracy offered by the Provisional Government was strangled by the Bolshevik coup in October, finished his distinguished career as ambassador to the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
from 1919-21.
Sir George's autobiography, My Mission to Russia and Other Diplomatic Memories, was published in 1923. It is believed that he had to leave out some of what he knew under threat of losing his pension. He died in 1924.
His daughter Meriel Buchanan wrote several perceptive books about the revolution, which she witnessed, and key figures she had personally known. Meriel married Major Harold Knowling in May 1925 and died on 6 February 1959.
- Victorian Gallery, Cassell 1956.
- Queen Victoria's Relations, Cassell, 1954.
- Dissolution of an Empire, John Murray, 1932
- Petrograd, City of Trouble, 1918
- Recollections of Imperial Russia, 1923
- Ambassador's Daughter, 1958
See also
- Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-GothaPrincess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-GothaPrincess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , was the third child and second daughter of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia...
- Alexander PalaceAlexander PalaceThe Alexander Palace is a former imperial residence at Tsarskoye Selo, on a plateau around 30 minutes by train from St Petersburg. It is known as the favourite residence of the last Russian Emperor, Nicholas II, and his family and their initial place of imprisonment after the revolution that...
- Nicholas II of RussiaNicholas II of RussiaNicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...