Pyotr Andreyevich Shuvalov
Encyclopedia
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...
n statesman and a counselor to 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...
Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
. Referring to his reactionary policies, his more liberal opponents sometimes called him Arakcheev II.
Biography
Pyotr Andreyevich came from the ShuvalovShuvalov
Shuvalov is a Russian noble family which, although documented since the 16th century, rose to distinction during the reign of Empress Elizabeth and was elevated to counts on 5 September 1746.-Members of Shuvalov noble family:The notable Shuvalovs include:...
family which has been prominent in the Russian culture and politics since the mid-18th century. His father, Count Andrew Shuvalov, was a prominent figure at the courts of Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
and Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
. His mother was Thekla Walentinowicz, Prince Zubov's widow and heiress. Count Paul Shuvalov was his brother. Rundāle Palace
Rundale Palace
Rundāle Palace is one of the two major baroque palaces built in the 18th century for the Dukes of Courland in what is now Latvia, the other being Jelgava Palace. It is situated at Pilsrundāle, 12 km west of Bauska. It was constructed in the 1730s to a design by Bartolomeo Rastrelli as a summer...
was notable family estate.
After graduating from the Corps of Pages, Pyotr Shuvalov rose through the ranks of Alexander II's retinue
Retinue
A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble or royal personage, a suite of "retainers".-Etymology:...
, making wing adjutant, major general
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
of the retinue and adjutant general
Adjutant general
An Adjutant General is a military chief administrative officer.-Imperial Russia:In Imperial Russia, the General-Adjutant was a Court officer, who was usually an army general. He served as a personal aide to the Tsar and hence was a member of the H. I. M. Retinue...
in short order. In 1857 he was put in charge of the Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
police and went to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
for training.
In 1860 Shuvalov was appointed director of the Department of General Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and in 1861 made Chief of Staff of the Special Corps of Gendarmes
Special Corps of Gendarmes
The Special Corps of Gendarmes was the uniformed security police of the Russian Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its main responsibilities were law enforcement and state security....
. He proposed that the Corps be abolished, which contributed to his reputation as a 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,...
and an Anglophile. His plan was rejected and he resigned in late 1861. He served elsewhere in the early 1860s and in 1864 was appointed governor-general
Governor-General
A Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
of the Baltic
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
region.
After Dmitry Karakozov
Dmitry Karakozov
Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov was the first Russian revolutionary to make an attempt on the life of a tsar.Karakozov was born in the family of a minor nobleman in Kostroma...
's unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Alexander II in April 1866, Shuvalov was made Chief of Gendarmes
Special Corps of Gendarmes
The Special Corps of Gendarmes was the uniformed security police of the Russian Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its main responsibilities were law enforcement and state security....
and Executive Head of the Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery
Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery
The Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery was a secret department set up in Imperial Russia, inherited from Tayny Prikaz, Privy Chancellery and Specialty Chancellery, effectively serving as the Imperial regime's secret police for much of its existence. The organization was...
, a ministerial position at the time. He formed a group of similarly minded moderate ministers (A. P. Bobrinsky
Bobrinsky
Counts Bobrinsky or Bobrinskoy are a Russian noble family descending from Catherine the Great's natural son by Count Grigory Orlov - Aleksey Grigorievich Bobrinsky .-The first count:...
, S. A. Greig, K. I. Pahlen, Dmitriy Tolstoy) and, with the help of the Tsar's confidant
Confidant
The confidant is a character in a story that the lead character confides in and trusts. Typically, these consist of the best friend, relative, doctor or boss.- Role :...
Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Aleksandr Baryatinskiy
Aleksandr Baryatinskiy
Aleksandr Ivanovich Baryatinsky , Russian General and Field Marshal , Prince, governor of the Caucasus.Baryatinsky entered the school of the ensigns of the Guard in his seventeenth year and, on November 8, 1833, received his commission of cornet in the Life Guards of the future Tsar Alexander II...
, pursued a policy of moderate reform. Politically, he was simultaneously opposed to the Slavophiles and the so-called Russian Party as well as to the more liberal reformers like Minister of War Dmitry Milyutin
Dmitry Milyutin
Count Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin was Minister of War and the last Field Marshal of Imperial Russia...
and Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia was the second son of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.During the reign of his brother Alexander II, Konstantin was an admiral of the Russian fleet and reformed the Russian Navy. He was also an instrumental figure in the emancipation of the serfs...
.
Shuvalov was in favor of developing local self-government but on the basis of strengthening the political position of the landed gentry
Gentry
Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past....
. In the long run, he envisioned a system of national representation with a constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
and a bicameral parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
modeled on the earlier aristocratic English model, but he speeled his parliamentary ideas only in 1881, when he was safely retired :
- an advisory assembly can bring no benefit whatsoever. One must openly introduce a constitutional system by establishing two houses and giving them a decisive voice. If this cannot be done immediately, one must, at least, erect a foundation upon which real representative government could eventually arise.
Shuvalov continued his predecessors' reforms, although more cautiously. He reorganized Zemstvo
Zemstvo
Zemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...
in 1870 and overhauled the military in 1874, reducing the length of service from 15 years to 6. At the same time, he strengthened the government's censorship system and limited Zemstvo's taxation powers . In 1872, he was promoted General of the Cavalry (1872, a rank equivalent to full General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
in other armies.
In 1873, Shuvalov was sent to 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...
on a mission to arrange a marriage between Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia and the Duke of Edinburgh
Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the third Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and reigned from 1893 to 1900. He was also a member of the British Royal Family, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha...
. The mission was a success and the two married in January 1874. Shuvalov was also supposed to reassure the British government that Alexander II had no plans to conquer the Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
n Khanate of Khiva
Khanate of Khiva
The Khanate of Khiva was the name of a Uzbek state that existed in the historical region of Khwarezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Persian occupation by Nadir Shah between 1740–1746. It was the patrilineal descendants of Shayban , the fifth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
. Although Khiva did fall to Russian troops in 1874, he was able to blame it on the generals' excess of zeal and it didn't damage Shuvalov's reputation in London .
Russian Council of Ministers
The Russian Council of Ministers is an executive governmental body that brings together the principal officers of the Executive Branch of the Russian government.- Committee of Ministers :...
approved the creation of an experimental commission with representation from Zemstvo
Zemstvo
Zemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...
, local gentry and cities. Although the commission was charged only with reviewing a single previously prepared bill on hiring agricultural laborers, the very notion was apparently deemed so radical that in November 1874 ,Shuvalov was sent into honorary exile as Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to 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...
. However, other, more mundane explanations for his downfall: boasting about his influence on the Tsar or making an incautious remark about his mistress Catherine Dolgorukov
Catherine Dolgorukov
Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova , also known as Catherine Dolgorukova, Catherine Dolgoruki, or Catherine Dolgorukaya, , was the daughter of Prince Michael Dolgorukov and Vera Vishnevskaya...
, have also been suggested.
Shuvalov played an important role in the negotiations between Russia and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
during and after the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878 and was instrumental in avoiding conflict between the two powers after the Treaty of San Stefano
Treaty of San Stefano
The Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78...
. With the conclusion of the Treaty of Berlin, 1878
Treaty of Berlin, 1878
The Treaty of Berlin was the final act of the Congress of Berlin , by which the United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Abdul Hamid II revised the Treaty of San Stefano signed on March 3 of the same year...
, Russian public opinion turned against him since he was seen as too conciliatory and too willing to yield to British and especially German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
demands. Although Alexander II at first resisted public pressure to fire Shuvalov, further deterioration of Russo-German relations in 1879 forced him into retirement.