Guchkov verbal portrait. Who was Mr. Guchkov

GUCHKOV, ALEXANDER IVANOVICH(1862–1936), Russian statesman. Born on October 14 (26), 1862 in Moscow into an old merchant family. Graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University; continued his education abroad; attended lectures on history and philosophy at the Universities of Berlin, Vienna and Heidelberg. Initially he planned to devote his life to a scientific career, but then abandoned this intention. In 1885–1886 he served in the Life Guards. In 1886 he was elected an honorary justice of the peace in Moscow. In 1892–1893 he organized assistance to the famine-stricken in the Lukoyanovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod province; awarded the Order of St. Anne, 3rd degree. In 1893 he became a member of the Moscow City Council. In 1896–1897 he was a comrade (deputy) of the Moscow mayor. In 1897 he was elected as a member (deputy) of the Moscow City Duma.

He had a penchant for risk. In 1895, at the height of anti-Armenian hysteria in Turkey, he visited the territories of the Ottoman Empire populated by Armenians. In December 1897 he went to Manchuria and enlisted in the Cossack hundred guarding the Chinese Eastern Railway; in February 1899 he was transferred to the reserve for a duel and returned to Moscow. In the same year he went to South Africa, where he volunteered in the Boer War on the side of the Boers; was wounded in the leg and captured by the British. In 1900 he was in China during the Boxer Rebellion against foreign domination that broke out there. In 1903 he went to Macedonia to support local rebels in their fight against Turkish oppression. After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, he went to the front as a representative of the Moscow City Duma and assistant to the chief commissioner of the Red Cross Society in March 1904; with extreme energy he was engaged in organizing the sanitary service; at the end of 1904 he became the chief commissioner of the Red Cross Society. After the defeat of the Russian army near Mukden in February 1905, in a situation of general panic and chaos, he refused to abandon the unevacuated wounded and handed over the hospital to the Japanese in accordance with international rules; a month later he was released by the Japanese command and returned to Moscow, where he was given a triumphant welcome.

During the First Russian Revolution of 1905–1907, he took a moderate liberal position, advocating a constitutional monarchy and the preservation of the territorial unity of the Russian Empire; conducted a polemic with P.N. Milyukov on the issue of autonomy for Poland. Welcomed the Manifesto of October 17, 1905; became one of the founders of the Union of October 17 (Octobrist Party); participated in the development of its program documents. In 1906 he headed the "Union". He condemned the anti-government actions of the revolutionaries, spoke out for the application of harsh measures against them, demanding the introduction of military courts.

He was defeated in the elections to the 1st and 2nd State Dumas. In May 1907, with the support of P.A. Stolypin, he was elected to the State Council. In the summer of 1907, he received an offer from him to take the post of Minister of Trade and Industry, but he put forward conditions that were unacceptable to the government. In October 1907 he became a deputy of the 3rd State Duma, heading the Octobrist faction and the commission on state defense. Actively supported the policies of P.A. Stolypin. In November 1908 he openly demanded to cut the budget of the Grand Dukes, causing sharp discontent with Nicholas II. In March 1910 he was elected Chairman of the Duma, but in March 1911 he resigned in protest against the government's implementation of the law on zemstvos in the western provinces, bypassing the Duma. In January 1912, he was one of the first to publicly condemn the sinister role of G.E. Rasputin at court; by this time he was finally convinced of the political doom of the Romanov dynasty. In the fall of 1912 he failed in the elections to the 4th State Duma. In November 1913, at a meeting of Octobrists in St. Petersburg, he declared the impossibility of reforming the regime and the imminence of a revolutionary explosion.

With the outbreak of the First World War, he went to the front as a special representative of the Red Cross Society; was involved in organizing hospitals and providing them with everything they needed. In July 1915 he became chairman of the Central Military-Industrial Committee. In September he was elected to the State Council from the commercial and industrial curia. He took an active part in the activities of the Duma Progressive Bloc, which united nationalists, Octobrists, Cadets, progressives and centrists. Together with N.V. Nekrasov and M.I. Tereshchenko, he developed plans for a palace coup and the creation of a “responsible ministry.”

During the days of the February Revolution, on behalf of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, on March 2 (15), 1917, together with V.V. Shulgin, he went to Pskov to Nicholas II to negotiate his abdication in favor of his son Alexei; the emperor, however, proclaimed his brother Michael as successor. Upon returning to Petrograd on March 3 (16), together with P.N. Milyukov, he tried to persuade Grand Duke Mikhail to accept the throne, but failed.

In the first composition of the Provisional Government he took the post of Minister of War and Navy. He purged the high command. He implemented a number of measures to democratize the army (abolition of titles, permission for military personnel to be members of political associations, abolition of national, religious and class restrictions on promotion to officers, introduction of an eight-hour working day at military factories). At the same time, he tried to prevent the creation of elected soldiers' committees in military units that controlled the decisions of commanders, thereby undermining the principle of unity of command, but was soon forced to sanction their existence. Being a supporter of war to the bitter end, he made significant efforts to maintain discipline in the army and mobilize the military industry. In March, he appointed a “strong personality” - General L.G. Kornilov, as commander of the troops of the Petrograd Military District, who began to form special units to fight the revolution (detachments of “people's freedom”). In April, he proposed that the government resort to tough measures and liquidate the Soviets, but was supported only by Foreign Minister P. N. Milyukov. Realizing the impossibility of preventing the collapse of the armed forces, on April 30 (May 13) he resigned and returned to the post of chairman of the Central Military-Industrial Committee.

In May 1917 he headed the Society for the Economic Revival of Russia, created to support moderate candidates in the elections to the Constituent Assembly and to combat the influence of socialists at the front. In the summer, together with M.V. Rodzianko, he founded the Liberal Republican Party, which he intended to make “the party of order.” Actively supported L.G. Kornilov, who became the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, in his plans to establish a military dictatorship. On August 14 (27), he spoke at the State Conference in Moscow condemning the economic chaos in the country and the impotence of state power.

During the Kornilov mutiny he was at the headquarters of the 12th Army; after the defeat of the rebellion on August 31 (September 13), 1917, he was arrested, but a few days later he was released by order of A.F. Kerensky. After living for some time in Petrograd, at the end of September he left for Moscow, and then to Kislovodsk.

The October Revolution was met with hostility. In December 1917, he was one of the first to provide significant financial assistance to the Volunteer Army that was being formed on the Don; campaigned among officers, urging them to join the ranks of volunteers. He was constantly under threat of arrest by the Bolshevik authorities; in the spring of 1918 he went underground, and in June he fled from Kislovodsk. Hid in Essentuki; in August he made his way to Yekaterinodar, occupied by the whites.

In the spring of 1919, on behalf of A.I. Denikin, he went to Europe as a diplomatic representative of the White movement. During his mission (1919–1920), he negotiated with the governments of France, Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Turkey, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, achieving significant assistance with weapons, ammunition and food. After the defeat of A.I. Denikin and P.N. Wrangel, he remained in the West. Lived in Paris; from 1921 he was a member of the leadership of the Foreign Red Cross. He did not belong to any emigrant group, but participated in many all-Russian political events. He was considered by the monarchist wing of the emigration as one of the main culprits for the fall of the Romanovs; in 1921 in Berlin he was even beaten by the extremist Taborisky. By the end of the 20s, he withdrew from public political activity. Shortly before his death, he began to write memoirs that remained unfinished. He died in Paris on February 14, 1936 and was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery.

Ivan Krivushin

Guchkov's ancestors - convinced Old Believers - suffered greatly for their faith, which Alexander Ivanovich never forgot, and therefore always helped the Old Believers. Moreover, he himself was a “co-religionist” (a form of Old Belief with which the Russian Orthodox Church got along quite well). However, his father already successfully fit into the autocratic-Orthodox reality. And with his merchant acumen he amassed a lot of capital.

Finally, he became a member of the Provisional Government, receiving the portfolios of military and naval ministers.

However, the son seems to have inherited from his father not only capital, but also an adventurous spirit. The father kidnapped his French wife and took her to Russia. And Guchkov himself, although he graduated from the purely peaceful Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University, became famous for his military exploits, dangerous adventures and duels.

In 1895, during the Armenian pogroms, he went to the Ottoman Empire, where he helped the victims, although it was far from safe. The next year he reached Tibet and even spoke with the Dalai Lama. Then he entered the service as an officer of the Cossack hundred - to guard the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER). Then, together with his brother, he traveled through China, Mongolia and Central Asia. It was also a risky business: there were quite a few warlike nomads there at that time.

In 1899 he took part in the Anglo-Boer War on the side of the Boers.

He was seriously wounded in the thigh (and then limped for the rest of his life) and was captured. But when he got stronger, he was released by the gentlemen on his word of honor: no longer to fight on the side of the Boers. During the Russo-Japanese War he became one of the leaders of the Red Cross in the Manchurian Army. And again he was captured. But already voluntarily. When the Russians retreated from Mukden, he did not want to leave the wounded who did not have time to evacuate: he considered it important to hand them over to the Japanese in accordance with international standards. They, appreciating Guchkov’s courage, quickly released him. Returned to Moscow as a national hero.

Many accused Alexander Ivanovich of adventurism and a craving for thrills, but no one could deny this man courage. A listing of all the adventures of Guchkov, and what is told above is not all, and even the stories of his numerous duels - all this requires a different format. Perhaps an adventure novel.

However, Guchkov remained in Russian history primarily as a major politician.

Although here with a very ambiguous image. Not only differences in views affected, but also the character of Guchkov, who often went ahead. He even challenged the leader of the cadets to a duel, however, after five days of negotiations through seconds, they somehow came to an agreement.

After the Manifesto of October 17, 1905, Alexander Guchkov became the leader: “We, constitutionalists, do not see in the establishment of a constitutional monarchy any diminishment of royal power; on the contrary, in the updated state forms we see the introduction of this power to a new splendor, the revelation of a glorious future."

However, unlike the liberal Miliukov, the conservative Guchkov filled the term “constitutional monarchy” with much different content. For example, he fundamentally opposed general and direct elections, believing that the majority of the Russian population was not ready for them.

Relations with I were at first friendly and then hostile. There were rumors that Guchkov had the imprudence to tell someone about confidential moments of his conversations with the emperor. Rumors got into the press, which the tsar could not forgive Guchkov, but how accurate this information is is not very clear.

Alexander Ivanovich himself stubbornly denied these rumors and believed that his break with the sovereign was caused by other reasons.

Perhaps his tough and caustic attitude influenced him: “You all know,” he said in the Duma, “what a difficult drama Russia is going through. At the center of this drama is a mysterious tragicomic figure, as if from the other world.” Perhaps the harsh criticism of the tsarist officials responsible for the state of the Russian army had an impact. And here there was a duel. Guchkov openly called the then Minister of War (Sukhomlinov) a German agent.

Finally, a number of sources call him one of those who prepared the palace coup: they wanted to push aside the imperial couple and transfer power under the regency. Guchkov was even under surveillance. In secret police reports, he went by the nickname Sanitarny among the spies - a memory of Manchuria.

Guchkov (together with Shulgin) accepted the abdication of the Tsar personally. And it is possible that at that moment I felt considerable satisfaction. But then, after the Grand Duke declared that he would wear the crown if only the democratically elected Constituent Assembly wanted it, Guchkov experienced not just disappointment, but real shock. It turned out that history had completely different plans than he did. This happens to politicians. And often.

Agreeing to the post of Minister of War, Guchkov had no idea what he would have to face.

He did not participate in the negotiations with the Petrograd Soviet, he led them, and upon learning the results of the agreement, he attacked the cadet, accusing him of criminal compliance. Guchkov believed that it was necessary to talk to the Soviets extremely harshly, otherwise they would inevitably sit on the neck. Here, to the delight of the future Minister of War, was added the famous one, who was destroying the army, replacing unity of command with the power of elected soldiers' committees.

Each of them was right in their own way. Miliukov believed that in the chaos that was happening around, the agreement was a successful result. There was hope to lead the revolutionary flow into an orderly channel.

Therefore, it took Miliukov a long time to persuade Guchkov to give it a try. He reluctantly agreed, but from that moment on the optimist became a pessimist. He explained his state at that time in his memoirs as follows: “The provisional government hung in the air, above was emptiness, below was an abyss. It gave the impression of some kind of impostor.”

For a few months, the logic worked, albeit poorly, but the country temporarily entered some kind of framework. And in military terms, Guchkov turned out to be right. He accepted some changes, therefore he abolished national, religious and class restrictions on the promotion to officers, but he did not imagine the army without unity of command. Having become convinced that he could not eliminate anarchy in the army, he resigned. As the French Ambassador Paleologue noted, “Guchkov’s resignation marks nothing more or less than bankruptcy



4th Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Empire
Date of birth:
Place of birth:	Moscow, Russian Empire
Date of death:
Place of death:	Paris, France

Education:	Moscow University
Type of activity:	Entrepreneur
Religion:	Edinoverie
Awards and prizes	Badge of the Order of St. George, 3rd class

Travel, participation in wars

In the III State Duma

Minister of War

Emigrant

Notes

(October 14, 1862, Moscow - February 14, 1936, Paris) - Russian politician, leader of the Union of October 17 party. Chairman of the III State Duma (1910-1911). Military and Naval Minister of the Provisional Government of Russia (1917), Duma deputy (1907-1912), member of the State Council (1907 and 1915-1917).

The organizer of a conspiracy to carry out a palace coup.

In his political activities he had a penchant for using behind-the-scenes techniques.

He was an excellent orator, who, according to his contemporaries, was not inferior in his eloquence to the “Moscow Demosthenes” Plevako.

Family

Coming from a Moscow merchant family.

Great-grandfather - Fyodor Alekseevich, from the peasants of the Maloyaroslavets district of the Kaluga province. He worked in Moscow at a weaving and spinning factory, having saved money, he was able to free himself and his family. In 1789 he founded his own weaving enterprise. For his adherence to the Old Believers, he was exiled to Petrozavodsk, where he died in old age.
Grandfather - Efim Fedorovich, successor of Fedor Alekseevich as the owner of the enterprise, where he founded a school for orphans. He was elected mayor of Moscow. Together with his brother Ivan and his children, under the threat of reprisals from the authorities, in 1853 he converted to Edinoverie - a direction in Orthodoxy that preserved the old rituals, but recognized the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church).
Father - Ivan Efimovich (1833-1904), co-owner of the Guchkov Efim Sons trading house, honorary justice of the peace.
Mother - Coralie Petrovna, nee Vaquier, French.
Brother - Nikolai Ivanovich (1860-1935) - mayor of Moscow (1905-1912), actual state councilor.
Brother - Fyodor Ivanovich (1860-1913) - one of the founders of the "Union of October 17th", the de facto head of the newspaper "Voice of Moscow".
Brother - Konstantin Ivanovich (1866-1934).
Wife - Maria Ilyinichna, née Zilotti (1871-1938).
Son - Leo (1905-1916).
Daughter - Vera Alexandrovna (Vera Trail; 1906-1987). In her first marriage, she was married to the leader of the “Eurasian” movement P. P. Suvchinsky. In the second - behind the Scottish communist Robert Traill. Collaborated with Soviet intelligence services.

Education and military service

He graduated from high school (1881), the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University (1886), studied history, state and international law, political economy, financial law and labor legislation at the Universities of Berlin, Vienna and Heidelberg.

He served as a volunteer in the 1st Life Grenadier Regiment of Ekaterinoslav, and was enlisted in the reserves with the rank of ensign.

Municipal activist and entrepreneur

Since 1886 - honorary justice of the peace in Moscow. In 1892-1893 he participated in helping the famine-stricken in the Lukoyanovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod province.

Since 1893 - member of the Moscow City Council. With his participation, the construction of the Mytishchi water pipeline was completed and the first stage of sewerage was carried out. In 1896-1897 - comrade (deputy) of the Moscow mayor. From 1897 - a member of the Moscow City Duma, was a member of the railway, water supply and sewerage commissions, as well as the commissions on gas lighting, on insurance of hired labor, on the development of the issue of charity for street and homeless children.

From 1901 he was director, then manager of the Moscow Accounting Bank. He was the chairman of the supervisory committee of the Rossiya insurance company. He was a wealthy man, but was not actively involved in entrepreneurial activities (he was sometimes called a “non-trading merchant”).

Travel, participation in wars

Repeatedly participated in life-threatening events outside of Russia. While still a high school student, he wanted to run to the Russian-Turkish War for the liberation of Bulgaria.

In 1895, together with his brother Fedor, he traveled through the territories of the Ottoman Empire populated by Armenians, where anti-Armenian protests were then taking place. He collected materials that were then used in compiling a collection on the situation of Armenians in Turkey. In 1898 he left for the Far East, where he entered the service as a security officer on the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER), and in 1899 he was fired for insulting the engineer (but even before his dismissal he resigned). After that, he and his brother Fedor made a risky journey to European Russia through China, Mongolia and Central Asia.

In 1899, as a volunteer (together with his brother F.I. Guchkov), he went to the Transvaal, where he participated in the Anglo-Boer War on the side of the Boers, was wounded and captured. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, during heavy battles he was distinguished by his resourcefulness and outward calm, despite the danger.

In 1903 he traveled to Macedonia in order to participate in the uprising of the local population against the Ottoman Empire. In 1904-1905, during the Russo-Japanese War, he was assistant to the chief commissioner of the Red Cross under the Manchurian Army, commissioner of the city of Moscow and the Committee of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. In the spring of 1905, he was captured by the Japanese because he did not want to leave Mukden with the retreating Russian troops and leave the wounded in the hospital. He was soon released by the Japanese and returned to Russia. According to Count S. Yu. Witte, who was critical of him, Guchkov is a lover of strong sensations and a brave man.

Politician

In 1905, after returning to Russia, he actively participated in zemstvo and city congresses and adhered to liberal-conservative views. He advocated the convening of a Zemsky Sobor so that the emperor would present a reform program at it. Constitutional monarchist, supported the manifesto of October 17, 1905:

In October 1905, S. Yu. Witte offered him the post of Minister of Trade and Industry, but Guchkov, like other public figures, refused to join the government, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of which was headed by the staunch conservative P. N. Durnovo.

In the fall of 1905, he became one of the founders of the liberal-conservative party “Union of October 17,” which A. I. Guchkov headed as chairman of the Central Committee on October 29, 1906. He was defeated in the elections to the State Duma of the 1st and 2nd convocations, and in 1907 he was elected a member of the State Duma advice from Moscow.

He was a supporter of the government of P. A. Stolypin, whom he considered a strong state leader capable of carrying out reforms and maintaining order. He advocated a decisive fight against the revolution, including with the help of military courts. He supported the dissolution of the Second State Duma and the change in the electoral law on June 3, 1907. In the same year, he refused to join Stolypin’s government, but continued to support him.

In the III State Duma

In 1907-1912 - member of the Third State Duma from Moscow. According to the new electoral law, the Octobrist party led by him achieved impressive success in the elections to the 3rd State Duma (154 deputy mandates out of 442). On the eve of the elections, its recognized leader stated:

He was the leader of the parliamentary faction of the October 17 Union party and actively contributed to the Duma’s approval of the Stolypin agrarian reform. According to the Octobrist N.V. Savich:

He was the chairman of the commission on state defense - in this capacity he established connections with many representatives of the generals, including A. A. Polivanov, V. I. Gurko. He paid significant attention to the modernization of the Russian army; in 1908 he sharply criticized the activities of representatives of the House of Romanov in the army, calling on them to resign. This circumstance worsened Guchkov's relations with the court. There is information that Guchkov also divulged the circumstances of a private conversation with the tsar, after which Nicholas II completely refused to trust him.

Together with V.K. Anrep, he obtained from P.A. Stolypin permission for female students admitted to universities to complete their studies (the ministry believed that women were enrolled in higher educational institutions illegally and were subject to expulsion).

In 1910-1911 he was Chairman of the State Duma, but on March 15, 1911 he refused this title, not wanting to support the position of the Stolypin government in connection with the adoption of a bill on the introduction of zemstvo institutions in the western provinces (then Stolypin violated the “spirit” of the Basic Laws by initiating temporary dissolution (March 12-15, 1911) of the Duma in order to carry out the decision he needed by decree of the emperor).

After the assassination of the head of government in Kyiv, on September 5, 1911, Guchkov spoke in the Duma with the rationale for his faction’s request regarding the assassination attempt on the prime minister and drew attention to the situation in the country:

From 1912 to February 1917

There is information that Guchkov was personally involved in distributing four or five letters (possibly forged) that fell into his hands through Iliodor - one from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the rest from the Grand Duchesses to G.E. Rasputin. The correspondence was multiplied on a hectograph and distributed in the form of copies as propaganda material against the tsar. The Tsar, having sorted it out, instructed Minister of War Sukhomlinov (who met with Guchkov on the affairs of the Duma Defense Commission) to tell Guchkov that he was a scoundrel. After this incident, Guchkov hated the Tsar and his Minister of War.

In 1912, Guchkov made a speech that contained extremely harsh attacks on G. E. Rasputin (after which Guchkov became a personal enemy of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna):

At the end of 1912, he was not elected to the IV State Duma, but quickly evolved to an alliance with the Constitutional Democratic Party on an opposition basis.

During the First World War he was a special representative of the Red Cross at the front. In 1915-1917 - Chairman of the Central Military-Industrial Committee. He became a member of the Special Meeting to discuss and consolidate measures for the defense of the state, in which he headed the Commission for the revision of standards for sanitary and medical supply of the army.

In September 1915, he was elected for the second time to the State Council for Trade and Industry Curia.

Participated in the activities of the Progressive Bloc.

In the last months of the existence of the monarchy, he was the author and organizer of a palace coup with the goal, using connections with high-ranking generals (Alekseev M.V., Ruzsky N.V., etc.), to force Nicholas II to abdicate the throne (the abdication of the latter in favor of the heir-crown Alexei under the regency of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich). Actually, in the first days of March 1917, his plan was carried out, the main characters were G. himself, generals Alekseev and Ruzsky, through their joint efforts the reign of Nicholas II was ended, and at the same time the monarchy was buried.

Duelist

He fought duels several times and earned a reputation as a bully.

In 1899 he challenged an engineer who worked on the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway to a duel. After the latter refused to accept the challenge, he was hit in the face.
In 1908, he challenged the leader of the Cadet Party P.N. Milyukov to a duel, who declared in the Duma that Guchkov “was telling a lie” on one of the issues discussed. Miliukov accepted the challenge; Five-day negotiations between the seconds ended with the reconciliation of the parties.
In 1909, Guchkov dueled with State Duma member Count A.A. Uvarov, who, as one newspaper publication claimed, in a conversation with Stolypin called Guchkov a “politician.” In response, Guchkov wrote him an insulting letter, provoking a challenge to a duel and at the same time refusing reconciliation. The duel ended with Uvarov being harmed and shooting into the air.
In 1912 he fought a duel with Lieutenant Colonel S.N. Myasoedov, whom he accused of participating in the creation of a political investigation system in the army. Myasoedov shot first and missed; Guchkov immediately afterwards fired into the air. After the duel, Myasoedov was forced to leave the army. in 1915 he was found guilty of high treason and executed (according to the opinion of most modern historians, including K.F. Shatsillo, the “Case of Lieutenant Colonel Myasoedov” in 1915 was fabricated and an innocent person was executed).

Minister of War

During the February Revolution, he was chairman of the Military Commission of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, then became commissioner of the Provisional Committee for the Ministry of War. On the morning of February 28, 1917, Guchkov had a telephone conversation with General Zankevich:

On March 2, 1917, together with V.V. Shulgin, he accepted the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne in Pskov. He spoke out in support of preserving the monarchy, supporting P.N. Milyukov on this issue, but remained in the minority among the country's new leaders.

In March - May 1917 he was Minister of War and Navy in the first composition of the Provisional Government, a supporter of continuing the war. On his initiative, a large-scale purge of the command staff took place, during which both incapable generals and military leaders who were demanding of their subordinates were dismissed. I tried to promote relatively young, energetic generals to command posts. Initiated the abolition of national, religious, class and political restrictions on the promotion to officers. Legalized some provisions of “Order No. 1” adopted by the Petrograd Council of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, which undermined discipline in the army - on the abolition of the titles of officers (instead, the form of address “Mr. Colonel (General, etc.)” was introduced), on the renaming of “lower ranks” into “soldiers” and the obligations of officers to address them as “you”, about allowing military personnel to participate in political organizations. He opposed the activities of soldiers’ committees in the army, but was forced to agree to their legitimation.

In April 1917, due to the inability to resist the anarchy and disintegration of the army, he decided to resign; officially left the Provisional Government in May, together with P. N. Milyukov. Guchkov’s activities as minister disappointed many of his contemporaries, who saw him as a strong personality and hoped that he would be able to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army.

After his resignation from the post of minister, he again headed the Central Military-Industrial Committee. The French Ambassador to Russia Maurice Paleologue wrote that

Later he was an active supporter of the speech of General L.G. Kornilov, after his defeat he was briefly arrested and soon released. Donated 10 thousand rubles to General M.V. Alekseev for the formation of the Alekseev organization, campaigned to join its ranks.

Activities during the Civil War

He lived in Kislovodsk and was forced to hide from the Bolshevik authorities in Essentuki under the guise of a Protestant pastor. Then he got to Ekaterinodar to the location of the Volunteer Army, organized the work of military-industrial committees, and advised A.I. Denikin on political issues.

Emigrant

In 1919, Denikin sent Guchkov as his representative to Europe to communicate with the leaders of the Entente countries. As a representative of the white movement, he was received by French President Raymond Poincaré and British Secretary of War Winston Churchill. Participated in organizing the supply of British weapons and equipment for the Russian North-Western Army of General N. N. Yudenich.

In London, Guchkov asked Churchill to help create a union of white and independent Baltic states to occupy Petrograd. But all British aid went to Estonia. Then Alexander Ivanovich, at his own expense, found and chartered several ships, which were later intercepted by the Estonian authorities. After this event, Guchkov sent a letter of protest to Churchill:

In 1921-1923 was the chairman of the Russian Parliamentary Committee, advocated an active struggle against the Bolshevik regime. Worked in the leadership of the Foreign Red Cross. He was sharply criticized by the far-right part of the emigration, whose representatives accused him of treason against the emperor and the collapse of the army. In 1921, he was beaten in Berlin by the monarchist S.V. Taboritsky (according to other sources, the attacker was P.N. Shabelsky-Bork, who also later became involved in the murder of the famous figure of the Kadet Party V.D. Nabokov).

Guchkov’s activities attracted the close attention of the Foreign Department of the OGPU, which recruited Guchkov’s daughter Vera Alexandrovna. Knowing the entire elite of the white emigration, she did this under the influence of her lover Konstantin Rodzevich, associated with the OGPU. Alexander Ivanovich learned about his daughter’s pro-Soviet sympathies in 1932, when she joined the French Communist Party.

In 1935, Guchkov became seriously ill. Doctors made a diagnosis of intestinal cancer and hid it from their patient. Being sick, Guchkov worked and believed in his recovery.

On February 14, 1936, Alexander Ivanovich died. On February 17, a funeral liturgy took place, where the entire elite of the white emigration gathered. By Guchkov’s will, his body was cremated, and the urn with his ashes was walled up in the wall of the columbarium at the Parisian Père Lachaise cemetery.

Notes

Melgunov, S. P. March days of 1917 / S. P. Melgunov; foreword by Yu. N. Emelyanov. - M.: Iris-press, 2008. - 688 pp. + incl. 8 p. - (White Russia). ISBN 978-5-8112-2933-8, page 478
Prince A.D. Golitsyn Memories. - Moscow: Russian Way, 2008. - P. 229
Varlamov A. Iliodor. Historical sketch
Platonov O. A. Attempt on the Russian kingdom. - Moscow: Algorithm, 2004. - P. 299

He maintained business relations with General P. N. Wrangel, with whom he was in friendly correspondence. On the initiative of Guchkov, an Information Bureau was formed at the Russian Economic Bulletin in Paris to collect information about the economic situation in the USSR. He corresponded with many foreign political figures
After A. Hitler came to power in Germany, he predicted an imminent new war, in which the main opponents would be the USSR and Germany.

Proceedings

Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov tells..: Memoirs of the Chairman of the State Duma and the Minister of War of the Provisional Government. M., 1993 // Questions of History No. 7-12, 1991.



4th Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Empire
Date of birth:
Place of birth:	Moscow, Russian Empire
Date of death:
Place of death:	Paris, France

Education:	Moscow University
Type of activity:	Entrepreneur
Religion:	Edinoverie
Awards and prizes	Badge of the Order of St. George, 3rd class

Travel, participation in wars

In the III State Duma

Minister of War

Emigrant

Notes

The organizer of a conspiracy to carry out a palace coup.

In his political activities he had a penchant for using behind-the-scenes techniques.

He was an excellent orator, who, according to his contemporaries, was not inferior in his eloquence to the “Moscow Demosthenes” Plevako.

Family

Coming from a Moscow merchant family.

Great-grandfather - Fyodor Alekseevich, from the peasants of the Maloyaroslavets district of the Kaluga province. He worked in Moscow at a weaving and spinning factory, having saved money, he was able to free himself and his family. In 1789 he founded his own weaving enterprise. For his adherence to the Old Believers, he was exiled to Petrozavodsk, where he died in old age.
Grandfather - Efim Fedorovich, successor of Fedor Alekseevich as the owner of the enterprise, where he founded a school for orphans. He was elected mayor of Moscow. Together with his brother Ivan and his children, under the threat of reprisals from the authorities, in 1853 he converted to Edinoverie - a direction in Orthodoxy that preserved the old rituals, but recognized the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church).
Father - Ivan Efimovich (1833-1904), co-owner of the Guchkov Efim Sons trading house, honorary justice of the peace.
Mother - Coralie Petrovna, nee Vaquier, French.
Brother - Nikolai Ivanovich (1860-1935) - mayor of Moscow (1905-1912), actual state councilor.
Brother - Fyodor Ivanovich (1860-1913) - one of the founders of the "Union of October 17th", the de facto head of the newspaper "Voice of Moscow".
Brother - Konstantin Ivanovich (1866-1934).
Wife - Maria Ilyinichna, née Zilotti (1871-1938).
Son - Leo (1905-1916).
Daughter - Vera Alexandrovna (Vera Trail; 1906-1987). In her first marriage, she was married to the leader of the “Eurasian” movement P. P. Suvchinsky. In the second - behind the Scottish communist Robert Traill. Collaborated with Soviet intelligence services.

Education and military service

He served as a volunteer in the 1st Life Grenadier Regiment of Ekaterinoslav, and was enlisted in the reserves with the rank of ensign.

Municipal activist and entrepreneur

Since 1886 - honorary justice of the peace in Moscow. In 1892-1893 he participated in helping the famine-stricken in the Lukoyanovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod province.

Travel, participation in wars

Repeatedly participated in life-threatening events outside of Russia. While still a high school student, he wanted to run to the Russian-Turkish War for the liberation of Bulgaria.

Politician

In the III State Duma

He was the leader of the parliamentary faction of the October 17 Union party and actively contributed to the Duma’s approval of the Stolypin agrarian reform. According to the Octobrist N.V. Savich:

From 1912 to February 1917

In 1912, Guchkov made a speech that contained extremely harsh attacks on G. E. Rasputin (after which Guchkov became a personal enemy of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna):

At the end of 1912, he was not elected to the IV State Duma, but quickly evolved to an alliance with the Constitutional Democratic Party on an opposition basis.

In September 1915, he was elected for the second time to the State Council for Trade and Industry Curia.

Participated in the activities of the Progressive Bloc.

Duelist

He fought duels several times and earned a reputation as a bully.

In 1899 he challenged an engineer who worked on the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway to a duel. After the latter refused to accept the challenge, he was hit in the face.
In 1908, he challenged the leader of the Cadet Party P.N. Milyukov to a duel, who declared in the Duma that Guchkov “was telling a lie” on one of the issues discussed. Miliukov accepted the challenge; Five-day negotiations between the seconds ended with the reconciliation of the parties.
In 1909, Guchkov dueled with State Duma member Count A.A. Uvarov, who, as one newspaper publication claimed, in a conversation with Stolypin called Guchkov a “politician.” In response, Guchkov wrote him an insulting letter, provoking a challenge to a duel and at the same time refusing reconciliation. The duel ended with Uvarov being harmed and shooting into the air.
In 1912 he fought a duel with Lieutenant Colonel S.N. Myasoedov, whom he accused of participating in the creation of a political investigation system in the army. Myasoedov shot first and missed; Guchkov immediately afterwards fired into the air. After the duel, Myasoedov was forced to leave the army. in 1915 he was found guilty of high treason and executed (according to the opinion of most modern historians, including K.F. Shatsillo, the “Case of Lieutenant Colonel Myasoedov” in 1915 was fabricated and an innocent person was executed).

Minister of War

After his resignation from the post of minister, he again headed the Central Military-Industrial Committee. The French Ambassador to Russia Maurice Paleologue wrote that

Activities during the Civil War

Emigrant

In 1935, Guchkov became seriously ill. Doctors made a diagnosis of intestinal cancer and hid it from their patient. Being sick, Guchkov worked and believed in his recovery.

Notes

Melgunov, S. P. March days of 1917 / S. P. Melgunov; foreword by Yu. N. Emelyanov. - M.: Iris-press, 2008. - 688 pp. + incl. 8 p. - (White Russia). ISBN 978-5-8112-2933-8, page 478
Prince A.D. Golitsyn Memories. - Moscow: Russian Way, 2008. - P. 229
Varlamov A. Iliodor. Historical sketch
Platonov O. A. Attempt on the Russian kingdom. - Moscow: Algorithm, 2004. - P. 299

He maintained business relations with General P. N. Wrangel, with whom he was in friendly correspondence. On the initiative of Guchkov, an Information Bureau was formed at the Russian Economic Bulletin in Paris to collect information about the economic situation in the USSR. He corresponded with many foreign political figures
After A. Hitler came to power in Germany, he predicted an imminent new war, in which the main opponents would be the USSR and Germany.

Proceedings

Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov tells..: Memoirs of the Chairman of the State Duma and the Minister of War of the Provisional Government. M., 1993 // Questions of History No. 7-12, 1991.