Paul Demetrius Graf von Kotzebue (, tr. ; 10 August 1801 – 19 April 1884) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

statesman and general who was in the service of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. One of 18 children of the famous German dramatist

August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (, ; – ) was a German playwright, who had also worked as a Russian diplomat. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a ...

, P. D. Kotzebue was most notable for his military career, especially during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

as he gained a reputation as a capable and orderly commander. However, Kotzebue was criticised by Russian historians for being highly

Germanophile A Germanophile, Teutonophile, or Teutophile is a person who is fond of Culture of Germany, German culture, Germans, German people and Germany in general, or who exhibits German patriotism in spite of not being either an ethnic German or a German ...

and had an certain level of condescension toward the Russians since he was German. In additions to his achievements, he was elevated to

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

in 1874. He was Governor-General of Novorossiysk-Bessarabia and commander of the

Odessa Military District The Odessa Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military administrative division of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This district consisted of Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldavia and five Oblasts of Ukraine, Ukrainian oblasts of Odesa ...

from 1862 to 1874, and also Governor-General of Warsaw and commander of the Warsaw Military District from 1874 to 1880. During that period, Austrian observers perceived a buildup of fortresses in

Russian Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish people, Polish State (polity), state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of ...

, and cavalry maneuvers near the border with

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

prompted a verbal response from Prussian authorities. In August 1879, the

czar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

arrived in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

to witness military maneuvers himself.

References

1801 births 1884 deaths Military personnel from Berlin Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire Imperial Russian Army generals Russian military personnel of the Crimean War Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Namestniks of the Kingdom of Poland Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree Governors-general of Novorossiya Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia Immigrants to the Russian Empire {{Russia-politician-stub