Sergei Witte | |
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Сергей Витте | |
![]() Witte in the early 1880s | |
1st Prime Minister of the Russian Empire | |
In office 6 November 1905 – 5 May 1906 | |
Monarch | Nicholas II |
Preceded by | New post (Himself as Chairman of the Committee of Ministers) |
Succeeded by | Ivan Goremykin |
Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Russian Empire | |
In office 29 August 1903 – 23 April 1906 | |
Monarch | Nicholas II |
Preceded by | Ivan Durnovo |
Succeeded by | Post abolished (Himself as Prime Minister) |
Minister of Finance | |
In office 30 August 1892 – 16 August 1903 | |
Monarchs | Alexander III Nicholas II |
Preceded by | Ivan Vyshnegradsky |
Succeeded by | Eduard Pleske |
Minister of Transport | |
In office February 1892 – August 1892 | |
Monarch | Alexander III |
Preceded by | Adolf Gibbenet |
Succeeded by | Apollon Krivoshein |
Personal details | |
Born | Sergei Yulyevich Witte 29 June 1849 Tiflis, Caucasus Viceroyalty, Russian Empire (now Tbilisi, Georgia) |
Died | 13 March 1915 Petrograd, Russian Empire | (aged 65)
Cause of death | Brain tumor |
Resting place | Alexander Nevsky Monastery, Saint Petersburg, Russia |
Nationality | Russian |
Alma mater | Novorossiysk University |
Signature | ![]() |
Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte (Russian: Сергей Юльевич Витте, romanized: Sergey Yulyevich Vitte, IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈjʉlʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈvʲitːɛ];[1] 29 June [O.S. 17 June] 1849 – 13 March [O.S. 28 February] 1915), also known as Sergius Witte, was a Russian statesman who served as the first prime minister of the Russian Empire, replacing the emperor as head of government. Neither liberal nor conservative, he attracted foreign capital to boost Russia's industrialization. Witte's strategy was to avoid the danger of wars.[2]
Witte served under the final two emperors of Russia, Alexander III (r. 1881–1894) and Nicholas II (r. 1894–1917).[3] During the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), he had risen to a position in which he controlled all the traffic passing to the front along the lines of the Odessa Railways. As finance minister from 1892- 1903, Witte presided over extensive industrialization and achieved government monopoly control over an expanded system of railroad lines.
Following months of civil unrest and outbreaks of violence in what became known as the 1905 Russian Revolution, Witte framed the 17th the October Manifesto and the accompanying government communication to establish constitutional government. However, he was not convinced it would solve Russia's problems with the Tsarist autocracy. On 20 October 1905 Witte was appointed as the first chairman of the Council of Ministers (effectively prime minister). Assisted by his Council, he designed Russia's first constitution. But within a few months Witte fell into disgrace as a reformer because of continuing court opposition to these changes. He resigned before the First Duma assembled on 10 May [O.S. 27 April] 1906. Witte was fully confident that he had resolved the main problem: providing political stability to the regime,[citation needed] but according to him, the "peasant problem" would further determine the character of the Duma's activity.[4]
He is widely considered to have been one of the key figures in Russian politics at the end of 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century.[5] Orlando Figes has described Witte as the 'great reforming finance minister of the 1890s',[6] 'one of Nicholas's most enlightened ministers',[7] and as the architect of Russia's new parliamentary order in 1905.[8]