Aleksandr Bezobrazov (businessman)
Aleksandr Mikhailovich Bezobrazov | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 9 October 1931 | (aged 76)
Nationality | Russian |
Aleksandr Mikhailovich Bezobrazov (Russian: Александр Михайлович Безобразов (1855-1931) was a businessman and political adventurer from the Russian Empire who exerted a major influence on the foreign policies of the Russian Empire in the years prior to the Russo-Japanese War.
Early life
Aleksandr Mikhailovich was born into an old Russian Bezobrazov noble family, as the eldest son of Mikhail Alexandrovich Bezobrazov (1815-1879) and his wife, Countess Olga von Nostitz-Jänkendorf (1828-1894).
Career
He joined the Imperial Russian Army, attaining the rank of captain in the Horse Guards. After the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, he became a member of a secret counter-revolutionary organization known as the “Holy Militia”.[1]
In 1896, Bezobrazov submitted a petition to the throne, in which he predicted the inevitability of war with the Empire of Japan and urging an aggressive policy against Japan in Korea and Manchuria. His proposal involved the establishment of a commercial enterprise reminiscent of the British East India Company, which would provide the government with tangible financial benefits while setting the stage for the peaceful conquest of the region. Although the proposal met with sympathy at Court, Bezobrazov was initially thwarted by Finance Minister Sergei Witte, who suspected Bezobrazov’s political intentions.[1]
However, in 1896,
After the signing of the
From May 1903, Bezobrazov’s influence continued to increase, as the Tsar, after appointing Alekseyev as viceroy of the Far East, instructed him to discuss economic policy with Bezobrazov rather than Witte. Bezobrazov also returned to Manchuria to organize the Russian Timber Producing Association of the Far East. This Association was merged with Witte’s Manchurian Mining Association in August 1903. However, the actual outbreak of conflict between Japan and Russia in February 1904 caused the collapse of Bezobrazov’s enterprises, which were already financially overextended. He fled his creditors to Switzerland, but returned to Russia in late 1904. He left Russia again after the October Revolution and died in exile in Paris in 1931.[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-8108-4927-5.
- ^ Yul Brynner's grandfather.