Alexander Gorchakov (1798-1883) was the chief of the Russian foreign policy department during the reign of Alexander II, a Chancellor of the Russian Empire (1867), His Serene Highness (1871).
In 1856-1882, Gorchakov was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, during which time he was engaged in the change of the international situation and the correction of the dispiriting state of Russia in the global context after the Crimean War of 1853-1856. Gorchakov's primary goals were to change the conditions of the Peace of Paris and the issue of the neutral status of the Black Sea. To that end, he settled for rapprochement with France and Prussia, and by 1871, he had achieved the abolition of the Black Sea neutral status. He participated in the establishment of the Union of Three Emperors (1873): Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary.
The culmination of Gorchakov's diplomatic career was the Berlin Congress of 1878, which at the insistence of Western powers revised the terms of the San Stefano Peace Treaty that completed the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Russia was forced to accept most of the claims of Austria-Hungary and Britain, related primarily to Bulgaria and Transcaucasia. After the Berlin Congress, Gorchakov retained the honorary title of the Chancellor of State and became its last holder.
The postage stamp provides a portrait of Alexander Gorchakov.
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114 × 162 mm |