Izvolsky, Aleksandr, Count

Izvolsky, Aleksandr (Petrovich), Count

(born March 18, 1856, Moscow, Russia—died Aug. 16, 1919, Paris, France) Russian diplomat. He became minister of foreign affairs in 1906. In 1908 he secured Austria's support for the right of Russian warships to use the Dardanelles strait in return for his reluctant support of Austria's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While Austria succeeded in its annexation (see Bosnian crisis), Russia failed to gain access to the Dardanelles; Izvolsky's responsibility for Russia's diplomatic defeat increased tensions with Austria-Hungary prior to World War I. Dismissed in 1910, he served as ambassador to France until 1917.