Who is witte

He held liberal views and hoped to use his power to create a more democratic system of government. Sviatopolk-Mirsky believed that Russia should grant the same rights enjoyed in more advanced countries in Europe. He recommended that the government strive to create a "stable and conservative element" among the workers by improving factory conditions and encouraging workers to buy their own homes.

The Nicholas II was pleased with his performance and was brought into the government to help solve the industrial unrest that had followed Bloody Sunday. Witte pointed out: "With many nationalities, many languages and a nation largely illiterate, the marvel is that the country can be held together even by autocracy.

Remember one thing: if the tsar's government falls, you will see absolute chaos in Russia, and it will be many a long year before you see another government able to control the mixture that makes up the Russian nation. Emile J. Dillon , a journalist working for the Daily Telegraph , agreed with Witte's analysis: "Witte And a glance at the mere mechanical juxtaposition - it could not be called union - of elements so conflicting among themselves as were the ethnic, social and religious sections and divisions of the tsar's subjects would have brought home this obvious truth to the mind of any unbiased and observant student of politics.

In October, , the railwaymen went on strike which paralyzed the whole Russian railway network. This developed into a general strike. Leon Trotsky later recalled: "After 10th October , the strike, now with political slogans, spread from Moscow throughout the country.

No such general strike had ever been seen anywhere before. In many towns there were clashes with the troops. Witte saw only two options open to the Trar; "either he must put himself at the head of the popular movement for freedom by making concessions to it, or he must institute a military dictatorship and suppress by naked force for the whole of the opposition".

However, he pointed out that any policy of repression would result in "mass bloodshed". His advice was that the Tsar should offer a programme of political reform. Nicholas wrote in his diary: "Through all these horrible days, I constantly met Witte.

We very often met in the early morning to part only in the evening when night fell. There were only two ways open; to find an energetic soldier and crush the rebellion by sheer force. That would mean rivers of blood, and in the end we would be where had started. The other way out would be to give to the people their civil rights, freedom of speech and press, also to have laws conformed by a State Duma - that of course would be a constitution.

Witte defends this very energetically. Grand Duke Nikolai Romanov , the second cousin of the Tsar, was an important figure in the military. He was highly critical of the way the Tsar dealt with these incidents and favoured the kind of reforms favoured by Sergei Witte: "The government if there is one continues to remain in complete inactivity On 22nd October, , Sergei Witte sent a message to the Tsar: "The present movement for freedom is not of new birth.

Its roots are imbedded in centuries of Russian history. Freedom must become the slogan of the government. No other possibility for the salvation of the state exists. The march of historical progress cannot be halted. The idea of civil liberty will triumph if not through reform then by the path of revolution.

The government must be ready to proceed along constitutional lines. The government must sincerely and openly strive for the well-being of the state and not endeavour to protect this or that type of government. There is no alternative. The government must either place itself at the head of the movement which has gripped the country or it must relinquish it to the elementary forces to tear it to pieces. Later that month, Leon Trotsky and other Mensheviks established the St. Petersburg Soviet.

On 26th October the first meeting of the Soviet took place in the Technological Institute. It was attended by only forty delegates as most factories in the city had time to elect the representatives. It published a statement that claimed: "In the next few days decisive events will take place in Russia, which will determine for many years the fate of the working class in Russia.

We must be fully prepared to cope with these events united through our common Soviet. Over the next few weeks over 50 of these soviets were formed all over Russia and these events became known as the Revolution. Witte continued to advise the Tsar to make concessions. The Tsar refused and instead ordered him to assume the role of a military dictator. The Grand Duke drew his pistol and threatened to shoot himself on the spot if the Tsar did not endorse Witte's plan. On 30th October, the Tsar reluctantly agreed to publish details of the proposed reforms that became known as the October Manifesto.

This granted freedom of conscience, speech, meeting and association. He also promised that in future people would not be imprisoned without trial. Finally it announced that no law would become operative without the approval of the State Duma.

It has been pointed out that "Witte sold the new policy with all the forcefulness at his command". He also appealed to the owners of the newspapers in Russia to "help me to calm opinions". These proposals were rejected by the St. Petersburg Soviet : "We are given a constitution, but absolutism remains The struggling revolutionary proletariat cannot lay down its weapons until the political rights of the Russian people are established on a firm foundation, until a democratic republic is established, the best road for the further progress to Socialism.

However, Sergei Witte refused to meet him. Instead he sent him a message threatening to arrest him if he did not leave the country. He was willing to offer a deal that involved Gapon to come out openly in support of Witte and condemn all further insurrectionary activity against the regime.

In return, he was given a promise that after the crisis was over, Gapon would be allowed back into Russia and he could continue with his trade union activities. The Tsar decided to take action against the revolutionaries. Trotsky later explained that: "On the evening of 3rd December the St Petersburg Soviet was surrounded by troops. All the exists and entrances were closed. Trotsky was exiled to Siberia and deprived of all civil rights. Trotsky explained that he had learnt an important political lesson, "the strike of the workers had for the first time brought Tsarism to its knees.

Georgi Gapon kept his side of the bargain. Whenever possible he gave press interviews praising Sergei Witte and calling for moderation. Gapon's biographer, Walter Sablinsky , has pointed out: "This, of course, earned him vehement denunciations from the revolutionaries Suddenly the revolutionary hero had become an ardent defender of the tsarist government.

The first meeting of the Duma took place in May A British journalist, Maurice Baring , described the members taking their seats on the first day: "Peasants in their long black coats, some of them wearing military medals You see dignified old men in frock coats, aggressively democratic-looking men with long hair There is a Polish member who is dressed in light-blue tights, a short Eton jacket and Hessian boots There are some socialists who wear no collars and there is, of course, every kind of headdress you can conceive.

Several changes in the composition of the Duma had been changed since the publication of the October Manifesto. Nicholas II had also created a State Council, an upper chamber, of which he would nominate half its members. He also retained for himself the right to declare war, to control the Orthodox Church and to dissolve the Duma. The Tsar also had the power to appoint and dismiss ministers. At their first meeting, members of the Duma put forward a series of demands including the release of political prisoners, trade union rights and land reform.

The Tsar rejected all these proposals and dissolved the Duma. Stolypin was the former governor of Saratov and his draconian measures in suppressing the peasants in made him notorious. At first he refused the post but the Tsar insisted: "Let us make the sign of the Cross over ourselves and let us ask the Lord to help us both in this difficult, perhaps historic moment.

Sergei Witte was now ostracized from the Russian establishment. In January a bomb was found planted in his home. The investigator Pavel Alexandrovich Alexandrov proved that the Okhrana, the tsarist secret police, had been involved. Witte continued in Russian politics as a member of the State Council but had little power and used his time to write his memoirs. Elections for the Second Duma took place in Peter Stolypin , used his powers to exclude large numbers from voting.

This reduced the influence of the left but when the Second Duma convened in February, , it still included a large number of reformers. He blamed Lenin and his fellow-Bolsheviks for this action because of the revolutionary speeches that they had been making in exile.

Members of the moderate Constitutional Democrat Party Kadets were especially angry about this decision. The leaders, including Prince Georgi Lvov and Pavel Milyukov , travelled to Vyborg, a Finnish resort town, in protest of the government. Milyukov drafted the Vyborg Manifesto. In the manifesto, Milyukov called for passive resistance, non-payment of taxes and draft avoidance.

Stolypin took revenge on the rebels and "more than leading Kadets were brought to trial and suspended from their part in the Vyborg Manifesto. Stolypin's repressive methods created a great deal of conflict. Lionel Kochan , the author of Russia in Revolution , pointed out: "Between November and June , from the ministry of the interior alone, persons were killed and wounded. Altogether, up to the end of October , 3, government officials of all ranks, from governor-generals to village gendarmes, had been killed or wounded.

The revolutionaries were now determined to assassinate Stolypin and there were several attempts on his life. Nicholas II was with him at the time: "During the second interval we had just left the box, as it was so hot, when we heard two sounds as if something had been dropped. I thought an opera glass might have fallen on somebody's head and ran back into the box to look. Go to On this day.

Previous day Next day. Go to Foreigners in Russia. Count Sergei Witte was a highly influential Russian policy-maker. He was a witness of the abolition of serfdom and the first Russian revolution.

As a member of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire, he was a devoted adherer of the absolute monarchy. Witte was as a man with a wide range of vision and outstanding moral qualities. Sergei Witte was born into the family of a provincial civil servant in Tiflis now Tbilisi, Georgia on 29 June Originally a Lutheran, he later turned to Orthodox Christianity and served as head of the government property department.

His grandmother was Princess Helene Dolgoruki. He received a common education for a child of the nobility of the time. He entered a Tiflis gymnasium. But he took more interest in music, fencing and riding than in studying. Due to his misappropriate behavior and lack of diligence in his studies Witte was forced to reenter a gymnasium in another city. He finished his gymnasium in Chisinau and received his school certificate with positive grades.

In Witte entered the physics and mathematical faculty of Novorossiysk University in Odessa. As a student, Witte took little interest in politics.

Due to my education I remained devoted to the monarchy. The future Chairman of the Council of Ministers finished university in After graduating he had to choose between the career of a scientist or that of a civil servant. The last variant prevailed due to material reasons.

But suddenly his plans changed. At the time the Russian Empire was developing a fast railway system. Witte got into this endeavor by accepting a position at a private railway enterprise.

He spent the greater part of the s and s in this occupation, particularly in the administration and management of various railroad lines. As a candidate of mathematical sciences he began as a cashier in a ticket office, then gradually worked his way up, studying the business in the smallest details. He fulfilled the duties of controller, assistant machinist, assistant station-master and then station—master. His career developed rather smoothly but for one episode. In , not far from Odessa, a railway crash occurred causing the death of a number of people.

Witte was in charge of that part of the railway line. But he redeemed himself during the Russian—Turkish War by arranging the troops shift properly and skillfully. Through his work in private railway enterprises Witte gained an invaluable experience in management. He had a pragmatic approach towards all business problems. By the mids Sergei Witte was well known among the railway community due to his achievements as well as the articles he published about the railway. In he was appointed to head the South Western System.

A successful career brought him financial stability. As head of the railway system, he earned above 50 thousand rubles a year; a much greater sum of money than a minister earned at that time. Witte did not take any interest in the political life of the country. Witte was deeply concerned by the tragedy. He suggested fighting terrorists with their methods, killing them the way they killed others. He became a member of the newly established Holy Drygina Brigade — a secret community fighting terrorists.

Later Witte remembered this moment in his biography with embarrassment. But Witte was not satisfied with his position as a successful railway businessman. His active and ambitious nature desired further achievements.

He started carefully and consistently preparing his shift to governmental structures. Witte was successful in achieving his goal thanks to his acquaintances and a lucky coincidence of circumstances. He was noticed by the Finance Minister Ivan Vishnegradsky, who took great interest in his works. Alexander III was a witness to the discussion and soon after the crash promoted Witte to head of the newly established railway department in the finance ministry.

In he became the Head of the Railway Ministry. In Witte became the Minister of Finance. The future Prime Minister of the Russian Empire was never scrupulous about the methods he used in achieving his goals. Sergei Witte was one of the instigators of these rumors. After being appointed Finance Minister Sergei Witte became one of the most influential figures in the Imperial political arena.

He was very successful as a Minister. He implemented a number of reforms that helped stabilize the financial sector and turn the economy toward a more capitalistic way of development.

He was an active supporter of industrialization, declaring that he was capable of driving the Empire to an elite club of highly developed industrial countries. Witte was a definite supporter of capital inflow and goods export. He called for protectionist measures towards national production. Witte considered that the country should be economically more active in the world market, especially in the Far East. He thought that the development of the country should go in a different direction than other countries.

But the benefits of capitalism were obvious to him.