Ignatiev, Nikolai Pavlovich, Count definition of Ignatiev, Nikolai Pavlovich, Count in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Ignatiev, Nikolai Pavlovich, Count (nyĭkəlī` päv`ləvĭch ĭgnä`tyəf), 1832–1908, Russian diplomat. He was sent to China as an envoy in 1859. There he played the Chinese against the British and French and secured the Ussuri region for Russia through the Treaty of Beijing (1860). As ambassador to Constantinople (1864–1877), he promoted nationalist and Pan-Slav (see Pan-Slavism Pan-Slavism, theory and movement intended to promote the political or cultural unity of all Slavs . Advocated by various individuals from the 17th cent., it developed as an intellectual and cultural movement in the 19th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. ) aspirations in the Balkans and helped instigate the anti-Turkish rebellion in Bulgaria. His diplomacy led to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, at the close of which he negotiated the Treaty of San Stefano San Stefano, Treaty of (săn stĕf`ənō)
..... Click the link for more information. , which greatly expanded Russian influence in the Balkans. Shortly afterward, his influence waned and he retired. He served briefly as minister of the interior (1881–82).