THE FOREIGN OFFICE UNDER NICHOLAS II.
The present head of the Foreign Office is M. Sazonov. In the chair
occupied in former years by powerful personalities, such as were Count
Nesselrode and Prince Gortschakov, sits a small, meek, little creature,
with a figure and nose that remind one of Don Quixote as he is
represented in the drawings of Gustave Doré. His whole appearance is
insignificant, and suggests embarrassment, nervousness, insecurity as
regards his position, and uncertainty as to what he is to do or to say.
He always seems as if he wanted to ask everybody’s forgiveness for
wrongs done and duties neglected. In a word, he lends himself to
ridicule, and certainly does not suggest the idea of a Minister who
gives himself a true account of the importance or strength of the
position which he occupies.
M. Sazonov has been often laughed at, and rarely been taken seriously,
until quite recently, when his conduct has come out in a most unexpected
light, and he has shown, in the way in which he has handled the Near
Eastern question, true political and diplomatic genius. His anxiety as
to future complications in which Russia might get entangled has made him
show a quiet firmness which no one ever expected from him. It was said
once in St. Petersburg that our Foreign Minister feared the east wind,
because it might blow away his frail person. The words were cruel, and
of course were repeated everywhere, but they were not deserved. M.
Sazonov proved himself to be a very energetic little man, sure of
himself, and determined to enforce the policy to which he had made up
his mind. His nervousness served him well on this occasion, and his fear
of responsibility made him avoid all the opportunities, of which he had
but too many, of assuming any. He had a horror of war, and, considering
the many partisans that an aggressive policy has had in Russia lately,
it was a piece of good luck for the country that it did not find an echo
in the Foreign Office. Had M. Izvolsky been in possession of the chair,
it is more than likely that we would have been engaged already in a
conflict with Austria; under our actual Foreign Minister such an
eventuality is not to be dreaded. But he has common sense, and sees
clearly the situation in which Russia finds herself at the present day,
and the impossibility of being able to pursue an aggressive policy for
some time. As such he is the right man in the right place at the right
time.
M. Sazonov was appointed to his present post through the influence of M.
Stolypin, whose wife was his sister-in-law. Whilst Peter Arkadievitch
was alive his position was stronger than it is at present, when his
policy does not find itself in accord with the views of M. Kokovtsov.
But upon one point the two men are agreed, and that is on the necessity
of not giving way to the clamours of the press and of the enthusiastic
idiots who think it is Russia’s duty to waste her money and the blood of
her children in order to further the ambitions of King Ferdinand and the
other small potentates who rule in the Balkan Peninsula.
M. Sazonov has always been on good terms with the foreign diplomats
accredited to the Court of St. Petersburg. He does not believe in
quarrelling with anybody, and he always finds pleasant words to say even
to those with whom he does not agree. He nervously shakes hands with
all those whom he meets, and always accepts their invitations, and asks
them in return to sit at his hospitable board. He could not be
unpleasant, and he could not say a harsh word, even where deserved. He
rules the Foreign Office, not with an iron hand, but with a very soft
velvet glove, and is sometimes afraid of his own subordinates; does not
dare to contradict them if they show themselves arrogant, and rebukes
them only with apologetic expressions. He cannot scold, and he does not
know how to punish. But at the same time he has got passive firmness,
with which so many timid people are gifted, which makes them stick to
their decisions with a persistence that people with a firmer temperament
often do not succeed in displaying. When M. Sazonov last autumn went to
Paris and to Balmoral, people did not spare him their railleries upon
his return home. He was accused of having, like a meek lamb, acquiesced
in all the propositions which foreign Cabinets had made to him, and was
laughed at for the result of his journey, which he had pompously
announced would be peace, whilst war broke out almost upon the very day
when he reached St. Petersburg after his wanderings, compared by an
Opposition newspaper to those of the Wandering Jew. At one time the
general belief was that Russia, in spite of the opposition of the
Government, would be drawn into a war, and the wildest rumours
circulated everywhere in the country. It was said that a secret
mobilisation was taking place, and that troops were being sent to the
frontier. M. Sazonov, when questioned, declared that he knew nothing
about it, and adhered to his protestations that Russia did not want war,
and that all that the papers were saying was nothing but nonsense.
He has one great quality: people believe him. Perhaps because it is not
possible to imagine that this small, anxious, and fidgety little man can
do anything else but speak the truth. There is no guile in him, and he
has the frankness of a person who has never sinned, even in intention.
It is impossible not to think him honest, and it would be impossible for
him to act otherwise than as an honest man.
The fate of Russia is safe in his hands. Under his rule, Europe can
sleep quietly and not fear a complication coming from the Russian
Cabinet; it may remain convinced that whenever M. Sazonov can find a
loophole to escape from a perilous position he will do so. He may not be
a clever man; he certainly is not a brilliant one. Sometimes he appears
grotesque; he seems insignificant always. But he is earnest, sincere,
and will do his best to fight against those who would engage him or his
country in a policy of adventures.
Knowing the man, one cannot for one moment believe that those who
pretend that Russia is on the point of assuming a bellicose policy have
the slightest reason to say so. Russia, whilst M. Sazonov rules at the
Foreign Office, will always stick to the position of onlooker on all the
complications that shake the rest of Europe; she won’t engage in them.
Of course, things might change were he to retire and another person to
be appointed in his place, or if a new Prime Minister succeeded to M.
Kokovtsov. This last eventuality is the one to be dreaded, but even then
it is doubtful whether Russia would ever readily engage again in warlike
adventures. The severe defeat by the Japanese disgusted the whole
country, the Emperor more than anyone else. Russian foreign policy,
therefore, for some years at least, will be carried on on the principle
of allowing our neighbours to settle their disputes between themselves.
The understanding with England is based on this principle, and as for
the alliance with France, it will serve peace more than anything else,
because it will moderate the thirst for revenge on Germany which exists
there. Even the most adventurous of French Cabinets will not dare to
move when it knows that it cannot find support in St. Petersburg, and
certainly Ministers like M. Sazonov are the best men to prevent useless
complications. They talk common sense, and the motive that guides them
is love of peace.
It must not be supposed, however, that we have no turbulent elements in
our Foreign Office. Our present Ambassador in Paris is of that nature.
M. Izvolsky is one of those men whose presence alone seems to be the
signal for strife and complications out of which no exit can be found.
Wherever this brilliant diplomat has been, something has happened to
compromise his country and his chiefs. There are those who say that his
tenure as Ambassador at the Court of the Mikado was barren from the
point of view of utility, because he never even suspected the military
preparations of the Japanese, far less reported upon them.
M. Izvolsky made his career in part through his marriage with a charming
lady, the daughter of Count Toll, who for long years represented the
Russian Government at the Court of Copenhagen. Whilst there he, as well
as his family, had been intimately received by the King and Queen, and
had had plenty of opportunities to meet the late Emperor and his Consort
during their frequent stays in Denmark. The young Countess Toll had won
the favour of the Empress Marie Feodorovna, who continued to protect her
after she had married young M. Izvolsky.
As I think I have already related, the post of Copenhagen was always
very much sought after among our diplomats, owing to the opportunities
which it afforded them of seeing the Sovereigns otherwise than
formally, which was the case in St. Petersburg, and it was generally
considered to be a stepping-stone to higher dignities. When M. Izvolsky
was appointed to the head of the Foreign Office it was an open secret
that he owed it to the influence of the Empress Dowager; and it is
certain that she never wavered in the kind feelings with which she
followed the progress of his career. M. Izvolsky possesses to perfection
the art of making himself liked by those who can be useful to him.
Brilliant in conversation, gifted also with an easy pen, which allows
him to compose dispatches quickly and well, he is shallow and vain by
nature. He possesses the belief that he is a genius because he can talk.
He is not greatly liked among his colleagues, and especially those in
the Foreign Office in St. Petersburg, owing to his arrogant behaviour
and his disagreeable manners. The curt way in which he treats his
subordinates, and the deferential air with which he handles his
superiors have made him innumerable enemies. Considerable gossip has
arisen from time to time concerning his actions in regard to promotions
in the diplomatic staff during the time when these depended upon him. It
was said that rich people always had the preference, and that Madame
Izvolsky appeared with new jewels when a certain councillor was made an
ambassador. As the lady’s reputation had never been attacked, even by
the most ill-natured person, it was immediately thought and said that
the happy councillor had showed his gratitude to the husband by offering
a little present to his wife. Such things, of course, ought not to be
discussed in relation to a man in the position which M. Izvolsky
occupied, but they were very freely spoken of, as also was his
reputation in money matters.
Count Benckendorff, the Russian Ambassador in London, belongs also to
the number of happy people who owe the success of their career to a term
at Copenhagen. He had, however, more solid reasons than M. Izvolsky to
reach one of its most coveted posts. He was the son of a man who had
been one of the personal friends of the Emperor Nicholas II.; he had
married a Countess Schouvaloff; his brother was head of the Household of
the present Emperor; his family had always stood in close relations to
the Throne; his sister, the Princess Natzfeld Trachenberg, had been
Mistress of the Robes of the late Empress Frederick of Germany. He had
therefore every right to expect to become an ambassador, and his
appointment to London surprised no one, and was not even criticised by
his colleagues. He is a pleasant man, excessively well bred, with
irreproachable manners; looks rather like an Englishman. He speaks
English remarkably well, with almost no foreign accent. Not accounted a
genius, he has tact and the quality not to attempt to assume a part for
which he is not fitted. He will never try to pursue a personal line of
conduct in matters connected with politics, and will always faithfully
execute, without the least attempt to modify them, the orders he
receives. He is a _grand seigneur_, and as such is quite in his element
in London, where this quality is more appreciated than anywhere else,
and, moreover, he likes England and English life and English ways. It
would be a pity if private family matters, as gossip in St. Petersburg
hints, should oblige him to ask for his recall, and it would be
difficult to find a successor, although it is well known that M.
Izvolsky believes himself to be qualified for it.
Of our other ambassadors I have but very little to say. Those in Berlin,
Rome, and Madrid are what one calls in French, _des diplomates de
carrière_, who have risen step by step in the Service and won their
appointments by hard work. M. Kroupensky, who has recently succeeded to
Prince Dolgorouky in Rome, had been for some years Councillor of Embassy
in London, under Baron de Staal, and was extremely liked there, though
he did not go much into Society. He is a pleasant man, inoffensive, with
excellent manners, and knowing very well how to hold himself in Society,
and how to keep his place. He is a well-set-up figure in a drawing-room,
and almost as smart as his uniform is well embroidered. His nose is
long, his figure thin, his knowledge of French excellent, and of Italian
limited. His wife is Eastern by origin, and not perhaps an ideal
ambassadress, as experience of the world rather fails her; but she does
not attempt, unless absolutely necessary, to impose herself or her
manners anywhere, and remains content to be a good housekeeper and a
submissive consort to her amiable husband.
I have not seen much of M. Sverbeev, who replaced the late Count Osten
Sacken in Berlin, but I believe he is a clever though quiet man, and one
who enjoys the sympathies of all who have come in contact with him. His
predecessor was so popular at the Court of the Emperor William that he
will find it difficult to fight against the remembrance that he had left
behind him. I do not think that the Berlin Embassy, under the new
regime, will see the brilliance of former days, but very probably it
will become the scene of more formal gaieties. M. Sverbeev is a close
personal friend of M. Sazonov, whom he slightly resembles physically,
and, like his chief, he will always do the best he can to further the
cause of peace and to avoid even the semblance of a conflict.
As for Baron Budberg, who occupies the post of Madrid, he is little
known in Russia, having spent almost his whole life abroad. I have never
met him.