Alexander Izvolsky

Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky Александр Петрович Извольский
Izvolsky in 1894
Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire
In office 11 May 1906 – 11 October 1910
Preceded by	Vladimir Lambsdorff
Succeeded by	Sergey Sazonov
Ambassador of the Russian Empire to France
In office 1910 – 3 March 1917
Preceded by	Aleksandr Nelidov
Succeeded by	Vasily Maklakov
Ambassador of the Russian Empire to Denmark
In office 24 October 1902 – 20 April 1906
Preceded by	Alexander von Benckendorff
Succeeded by	Ivan Kudashev
Ambassador of the Russian Empire to Japan
In office 18 November 1899 – 12 October 1902
Preceded by	Roman Rozen
Succeeded by	Roman Rozen
Personal details
Born	18 March [O.S. 6 March] 1856 Moscow, Moscow Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	16 August 1919(1919-08-16) (aged 63) Biarritz, France
Nationality	Russian
Alma mater	Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum
Occupation	Diplomat, Foreign Minister
Awards	see awards

Count Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky or Iswolsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Изво́льский, 18 March [O.S. 6 March] 1856, Moscow – 16 August 1919, Paris) was a Russian diplomat remembered as a major architect of Russia's alliance with Great Britain during the years leading to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.^[1] As Foreign Minister, he assented to Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 in exchange for Austrian support for the opening of the Turkish Straits to Russian warships. In the resultant Bosnian Crisis of 1908–1909 the Powers did not accept the opening of the Straits. Izvolsky, publicly humiliated and destroyed by the debacle, resigned as Foreign Minister^[2] in 1910.