Sergey Sazonov

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Sergei Dmitryevich Sazonov GCB (Russian: Сергей Дмитриевич Сазонов; 10 August 1860 in Ryazan Governorate  – 11 December 1927) was a Russian statesman and diplomat who served as Foreign Minister from November 1910 to July 1916. The degree of his involvement in the events leading up to the outbreak of World War I is a matter of keen debate, with some historians putting the blame for an early and provocative mobilization squarely on Sazonov's shoulders, and others maintaining that his chief preoccupation was "to reduce the temperature of international relations, especially in the Balkans".[1]

Early career

Of lesser noble background, Sazonov was the brother-in-law of Prime Minister

St. Petersburg and appointed Assistant Foreign Minister. Before long he replaced Alexander Izvolsky
as Foreign Minister and followed a policy along the lines laid down by Stolypin.

Foreign Minister

Potsdam Agreement

Just before he was officially appointed foreign minister, Sazonov attended a meeting between

Wilhelm II of Germany in Potsdam on 4–6 November 1910. This move was intended to chastise the British for their perceived betrayal of Russia's interests during the Bosnian Crisis. Indeed, Britain's Foreign Secretary Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon was seriously alarmed by this token of a "German-Russian Détente".[2]

The two monarchs discussed the ambitious German project of the

Baghdad Railway, widely expected to give Berlin considerable geopolitical clout in the Fertile Crescent. Against the background of the Persian Constitutional Revolution, Russia was anxious to control the prospective railway branch from Tehran to Khanaqin, on the Turco-Persian frontier, financed by Russian and German capital; and Germany to link this branch to the Baghdad Railway. The two powers settled their differences in the Potsdam Agreement, signed on 19 August 1911, Germany giving Russia a free hand in Northern Iran and Russia in turn recognizing Germany's rights on the Baghdad Railway.[3] Sazonov was sick during that time, his office was led by Anatoly Neratov
during his absence. However, as Sazonov hoped, the first railway connecting Persia to Europe would provide Russia with a lever of influence over its southern neighbour.

Notwithstanding the promising beginning, the Russian-German relations disintegrated in 1913, when the Kaiser sent

Bosphorus", a vital trade artery which accounted for two fifths of Russia's exports.[4]

Alliance with Japan

Despite his fixation on Russian-German affairs, Sazonov was also mindful of Russian interests in the

Russian-Japanese defensive alliance (3 July 1916) aimed at securing the interests of both powers in China
.

World War I

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Sazonov

In the run-up to a major military conflict in Europe, another concern of the Russian minister was to isolate

Habsburgs. Since Sazonov was moderate in his Balkan politics, his ministry "came under frequent nationalist fire for failing to conform to a rigid pan-Slav line".[5]

While the extremist agents like

Great War
.

Serbia was largely viewed as being within Russia's sphere of influence and there was significant support from the political class and the broader population for the Serbian cause. That caused Russia to defend Serbia against Austria-Hungary after the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Sazonov warned Austria-Hungary in 1914 that Russia, "would respond militarily to any action against the client state."[6]

As World War I unwound, Sazonov worked to prevent Romania from joining the Central Powers and wrested in March 1915 an acquiescence from Russia's allies to the post-war occupation of the Bosphorus, Constantinople, and the European side of the Dardanelles. On 1 October 1914 Sazonov gave a written guarantee to Romania that, if the country sided with the Entente, it would be enlarged at the expense of the Austro-Hungarian dominions in Transylvania, Bukovina, and the Banat. In general, "his calm and courteous manner did much to maintain fruitful Allied relations".[1]

He accepted a request from the professor Tomáš Masaryk[7] for Russian army soldiers to not shoot on Czech refugees in October 1914.

Sazonov was viewed favourably in London, but the Germanophile

Alexandra fiercely urged his dismissal, which did materialize on 10 July 1916[9]
and only after the minister had aired a proposal to grant autonomy to Poland.

Later life

The grave of Sergey Sazonov

Early in 1917, Sazonov was appointed ambassador to Great Britain, but found it necessary to remain in Russia, where he witnessed the February Revolution.

He was opposed to

Nice where he is buried[citation needed
].

Popular culture depictions

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sergey Sazonov.
Wikisource has original works by or about:
Sergey Sazonov
  1. ^
    ISBN 0-415-14179-6
    . Page 259.
  2. ISBN 1-85043-371-2
    . Pages 90-92.
  3. Morgan Shuster. "The Strangling of Persia: A Story of European Diplomacy and Oriental Intrigue"
    . Chapter X. The Potsdam Agreement and the secret understanding between Russia and Germany.
  4. ISBN 0-415-10444-0
    . page 210.
  5. ISBN 0-415-11926-X
    . Page 122.
  6. ^ Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 (2012) p 481.
  7. ISBN 978-80-87173-47-3
    , pages 8 – 18
  8. ^ Ferro, Marc. Nicholas II: Last of the Tsars. Oxford University Press US, 1993. Page 234.
  9. ^ FAZ 25.11.1916 Russlands Ministerpräsident zurückgetreten
  10. ISBN 9780974493442
    .

Further reading

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Alexander Izvolski
Foreign Minister of Russia

September 1910 – 10 July 1916 (O.S.) 		Succeeded by
Boris Stürmer
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