Count Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky or Iswolsky (Russian: Александр Петрович Извольский, 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 the British Empire during the years leading to the outbreak of the First World War.
Having graduated from the Alexander Lyceum with honours, Izvolsky married Countess von Toll, from a family with far-reaching connections at court, and joined the Foreign Office, where he was patronized by Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky. Following stints as Russia's ambassador in Vatican, Belgrade, Munich, Tokyo (from 1899), and Copenhagen (from 1903), he served as Imperial Foreign Minister between April 1906 and November 1910 and then as Russian ambassador to France.
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In the wake of the disastrous Russian-Japanese War and the Russian Revolution of 1905, Izvolsky was determined to give Russia a decade of peace. He believed that it was Russia's interest to disengage from the conundrum of European politics and to concentrate on internal reforms. A constitutional monarchist, he undertook the reform and modernization of the Foreign Office.
In the realm of more practical politics, Izvolsky advocated a gradual rapprochement with Russia's traditional foes - Great Britain and Japan. He had to face vigorous opposition from several directions, notably from the public opinion and the hard-liners in the military, who demanded a revanchist war against Japan and military advance into Afghanistan. His allies in the government included Pyotr Stolypin and Vladimir Kokovtsov.
Having been approached by King Edward VII during the Russo-Japanese War with a proposal of alliance, he made it a primary aim of his policy when he became Foreign Minister, feeling that Russia, weakened by the war with Japan, needed another ally besides France; this resulted in the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907.
Another primary objective was to realize Russia's long-standing goal of opening (i.e., permitting free transit, without prior conditions; and in exclusive right to Russia) the Bosporus and the Dardanelles (known jointly as the "Straits") to Russian warships, giving Russia free passage to the Mediterranean and making it possible to use the Black Sea Fleet not just in the coastal defense of her Black Sea territory; but also in support of her global interests in self defense; and in the defense of her allies. To this end Izvolsky met with the Austrian Foreign Minister, Baron (later Count) Alois Lexa von Aehrenthal, at the Moravian castle of Buchlov on September 15, 1908, and there agreed to support Austria's (proported future) annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in exchange for Austria's assent to the opening of the Straits to Russia; and to support such an opening, at any subsequent diplomatic conference.
After their meeting, Izvolsky's understanding was that these alterations of the terms of the Treaty of Berlin would only be the terms and conditions that they each (by their prior agreement) had privately made to support each other at a future conference of the powers that had signed the Berlin treaty. He was shocked and felt personally betrayed when Austria, almost immediately after their meeting, announced its annexation of Bosnia on October 6. Izvolsky, rebuffed by France and Britain in his attempt to gain support for a "Conference", at which he hoped to initiate talks about the opening of the Straits, tried unsuccessfully to have a meeting called to deal with Austria's fait accompli. Forced by German mediation (he was personally under threat to have his private discussions with Von Aehrenthall revealed) to acquiesce in the annexation and reviled by Russian pan-Slavists for "betraying" the Serbs (who felt Bosnia should be theirs), the embittered Izvolsky was eventually dismissed from office.
Upon becoming ambassador in Paris in 1910, Izvolsky devoted his energies to strengthening Russia's bonds with France and Britain and encouraging Russian rearmament. When World War I broke out, he is reputed to have remarked, "C'est ma guerre!" ("This is my war!").
After the February Revolution Izvolsky resigned but remained in Paris, where he was succeeded by Vasily Maklakov. He advocated the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and wrote a book of memoirs before his sudden death in August 1919. His daughter Hélène Iswolsky subsequently was received into the Russian Catholic Church and became a prominent scholar, first in France and later in the United States.
| Preceded by Vladimir Lambsdorff |
Foreign Minister of Russia 1906–1910 |
Succeeded by Sergei Sazonov |