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Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
Author : A. Shchelkunov
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary 1st Class, Candidate of Science (Philosophy)
RESTORING THE DEEDS of historical person-
alities on the basis of a vast body of archival materi-
als is like rebuilding churches and monasteries ruined
by alien ideas and base passions.
The vast space of Russia's history, likewise, is filled
with a huge number of unique personalities forgot-
ten and pushed into oblivion for different reasons or
deliberately misinterpreted in academic writings and
fiction.
The whirlpool of events turned one's life into a
spring current on the surface of which only mud, foam and debris can be seen. The fog of ma-
licious inventions and ideological biases is dissipating to reveal the true features of the person
whose deeds and intentions were dedicated to the sole aim of serving the country's national in-
terests. In the last few decades, the pantheon of Russian culture has been expanded with the
glorious names of outstanding people who by practical deeds and creative endeavor enriched
Russian and world civilization. The present and future generations can be proud of the lives and
feats of those who can serve an example of selfless service to the people.
This article is based on a wide circle of sources kept in the Archives of Foreign Policy of the
Russian Empire, the State Archives of the Russian Federation, including reminiscences, official
documents, reports and personal letters of Count Nikolai Ignatiev, memoirs of his contempo-
raries, a vast body of what has been written about him in Russia and Bulgaria and in the Internet.
Among them, Alexander Bashmakov's publications contain a wealth of interesting materials
about the central figure.
It was Bashmakov who introduced the concept of "Ignatiev's school of diplomacy." Count Ig-
natiev demonstrated a creative approach to "the sovereign's cause" yet at the height of his
strength and talent he was deprived of any role of significance in state affairs. Count Ignatiev
was obviously no longer needed.
Count Ignatiev was removed not because the czar and his retinue did not like him but through
the efforts of the world "shadow government" that identified the count as its main and incor-
ruptible opponent. It was with good reason that the Persian envoy in Constantinople told Count
Ignatiev that no army could have achieved what he had achieved by his diplomatic art.
Alexander Bashmakov offered the following remarkable observation: "Count Ignatiev was
painfully aware that his powerful abilities were cut off from serving Russia at the time when they
were especially needed."
It is a true and profound observation not limited to the life story of Nikolai Ignatiev. Today, this
The Diplomacy of Count Ignatiev and the Turbulent World of
Our Days