Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER 111. A NATIONAL MINISTER IN RUSSIA. Prince Gortchakofs Predecessors : Panine, Bestonjef, Nessclrode—Secular Traditions and fundamental Principles of Russian Foreign Policy until the Retirement of Count Nesselrode—New Style of Politics inangurated by Prince Gortchakof—His personal Popularity—His Endeavour to promote it—His Hatred of the Germans and his French Sympathies —The Emperor Napoleon III. prepares the War in Italy—Unity of the two Cabinets of Paris and St. Petersburg on the Questions of Montenegro, Sorvia, and the Principalities of the Danube (1856-59)— Italian Complications: Services rendered to France by Russia during the War in Italy (1859)—Annexation of Savoy and Rupture of the Anglo-French entente (1860)—Profits derived by Bussia from this new Situation—Circular of the 20th May, 1860, on the Subject of the Chris- tians in the East—Isolation of France—Interview of the Sovereigns of the North at Warsaw and Embarrassment of the French Diplomatists (1860)—Russia becomes more friendly but at the same time more exacting—Marked Ability shewn by Prince Gortchakof during this early Period of his Ministership—Ho takes Advantage of the French Alliance witheut compromising the Conservative Principles of his Government. During the period of immense development which followed the impulse given by Peter the Great to the Russian empire, we meet with more than one Minister of Foreign Affairs whose name is worthy of a place in history. For instance, Count Panine could have been a man of no ordinary stamp to conceive the idea of an " armed neutrality at sea," and get it acceptedby various States, at a time when Russia barely held a second or third-rate place among the maritime powers. If in this daring undertaking, as well as in his more interesting attempts to lim...