Gorchakov, Aleksandr, Prince

Gorchakov, Aleksandr (Mikhailovich), Prince

(born June 4, 1798, Khaapsalu, Estonia, Russian Empire—died Feb. 27, 1883, Baden-Baden, Ger.) Russian politician and diplomat. A career diplomat, he became foreign minister in 1856, succeeding Karl, Count Nesselrode, and immediately began to establish cordial relations with France and Prussia. He was named imperial chancellor in 1866. He renounced the ban on Russian warships on the Black Sea (1870) and allied Russia with Germany and Austria-Hungary in the Three Emperors' League (1873). His influence waned when he was unable to maintain the League. At the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War, he did little to shape the Treaty of San Stefano, which punished the defeated Turks, or its replacement at the Congress of Berlin, a settlement that was far less favourable to Russia.