Nikolai Nikolaevich Pokrovsky () (27 January 1865 – 12 December 1930) was a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

politician and the last

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

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 ...

Life

Pokrovsky was born in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. He attended the

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

s of the

Imperial Moscow University Imperial Moscow University () was one of the oldest universities of the Russian Empire, established in 1755. It was the first of the twelve imperial universities of the Russian Empire. Its legacy is continued as Lomonosov Moscow State Universit ...

and St Petersburg University. In 1889, he began his career at the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

. In 1902-1903, Pokrovsky was a deputy chairman (chairman from 1904) of the Department of

Taxation A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal person, legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to Pigouvian tax, regulate and reduce nega ...

of the Ministry of Finance. In 1906, he was appointed deputy finance minister and mainly oversaw taxation affairs. In 1914-1916, Pokrovsky was a member of the State Council (retaining his post of the deputy finance minister until July 1914). From January to November 1916, Pokrovsky held the post of state inspector.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

On 30 November 1916 (N.S) he was appointed minister of foreign affairs. He succeeded

Boris Stürmer Baron Boris Vladimirovich Shturmer (; – ) was a Russian lawyer, a Master of Ceremonies at the Russian Court, and a district governor. He became a member of the Russian Assembly and served as prime minister in 1916. A confidant of the Empres ...

, in favour of a peace treaty with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and took over the office from Stürmer's deputy Anatoly Neratov. Some of the English newspapers regarded his nomination as a sign of final suppression of Germanophilic agitation in Russia; a defeat for

Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin ( – ) was a Russian mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final ye ...

and his friends. On his first speech in the Duma on 2 December Pokrovsky announced in the

Imperial Duma The State Duma, also known as the Imperial Duma, was the lower house of the legislature in the Russian Empire, while the upper house was the State Council. It held its meetings in the Tauride Palace in Saint Petersburg. It convened four times be ...

that the Constantinople Agreement of 1915 with Great Britain and France (later signed by

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, as well) had finally established Russia’s right on the straits and

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. On 12 December the German Chancellor,

Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg Theobald Theodor Friedrich Alfred von Bethmann Hollweg (29 November 1856 – 1 January 1921) was a German politician who was chancellor of the German Empire, imperial chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917. He oversaw the German entry ...

, in a speech in the Reichstag, offered to open negotiations with the Entente in a neutral country. On 15 December Pokrovsky said that Russia would never sign a peace treaty with the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

, which caused a storm of applause in the Duma.On 20 December, before the Entente had replied to Bethmann Hollweg's suggestion for negotiations,

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

asked each of the powers to formulate its own peace conditions. On 25 December the tsar rejected Wilson's note. The Central Powers replied on 26 December by virtually repeating their earlier offer. The Allies condemned the first German offer in a note to the USA on 30 December. Pokrovsky favored the attraction of the American financial capital into the Russian economy. With the support of the Ministry of Finance, he proposed to send a special commission on economic and financial affairs to the United States. In January 1917, Pokrovsky prepared a document, in which he defended the idea of establishing close ties with the US in light of this country’s potentially decisive role in ending the war. In his note to the tsar from 21 February Pokrovsky expressed his confidence in victory over Germany and inquired about a possibility to prepare an expeditionary force for deployment in Constantinople by October 1917. During a session of the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

on 25 February 1917, Pokrovsky proposed the resignation of the whole government. He was sent to negotiate this matter with the Duma and

Progressive Bloc The Progressive Bloc () is an electoral alliance in the Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. I ...

. On 26 February Pokrovsky reported about his negotiations with the Bloc (led by Vasili Maklakov) at the session of the Council of Ministers in the

Mariinsky Palace Mariinsky Palace (), also known as Marie Palace, was the last neoclassical Imperial residence to be constructed in Saint Petersburg. It was built between 1839 and 1844, designed by the court architect Andrei Stackenschneider. It houses the c ...

. The Bloc spoke for the resignation of the government. After the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

, Pokrovsky headed the Russo-American Committee on Assistance to the Economic Rapprochement between Russia and the US. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, Pokrovsky emigrated from Russia and taught at the

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) (, VDU) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known as the University of Lithuania, but ...

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, where he died in 1930.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokrovsky, Nikolai 1865 births 1930 deaths Politicians from Saint Petersburg People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd Nobility from the Russian Empire Foreign ministers of the Russian Empire Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Moscow State University alumni Saint Petersburg State University alumni Academic staff of Vytautas Magnus University Privy Councillor (Russian Empire) People of the February Revolution