Everything about Andrei Osterman totally explained
Count
Andrei Ivanovich Osterman (
June 9,
1686 -
May 31,
1747) was a
German-born
Russian statesman who came to prominence under Tsar
Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great) and served until the accession of the
Tsesarevna Elizabeth. His foreign policy was based upon the
Austrian alliance.
General Admiral (
1740; dismissed
1741).
Early career
Born at
Bochum in
Westphalia, of middle-class parents, his original name was
Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann. Osterman became secretary to Vice-Admiral
Cornelis Kruse, who had a standing commission from
Peter the Great to pick up promising young men, and soon thereafter entered the
tsar's service. The young man's knowledge of the principal European languages made him the right hand of Vice-Chancellor
Shafirov, whom he materially assisted during the troublesome negotiations which terminated in the peace of the Pruth (1711). Osterman, together with General Bruce, represented Russia at the
Åland peace congress of
1718. Shrewdly guessing that
Sweden was at exhaustion point, and that
Heinrich von Görtz, the Swedish plenipotentiary, was acting
ultra vires, he advised Peter to put additional pressure on Sweden to force a peace.
Diplomacy
In
1721 Osterman concluded the
Peace of Nystad with
Sweden, and was created a baron for his services. In 1723 he was made vice-president of the ministry of foreign affairs for bringing about a very advantageous commercial treaty with
Persia. Peter also constantly consulted him in domestic affairs, and he introduced many administrative novelties, for example "the
Table of Ranks," and the reconstruction of the College of Foreign Affairs on more modern lines.
During the reign of
Catherine I of Russia (1725-1727) Osterman's authority still further increased. The conduct of foreign affairs was left entirely in his hands, and he held also the posts of minister of commerce and postmaster-general. On the accession of
Peter II of Russia Osterman was appointed governor to the young emperor, and on his death (1730) he refused to participate in the attempt of
Demetrius Galitzne and the
Dolgorukovs to convert Russia into a limited
constitutional monarchy. He held aloof till the empress Anne was firmly established on the throne as
autocrat. Then he got his reward. His unique knowledge of foreign affairs made him indispensable to the empress and her counsellors, and even as to home affairs his advice was almost invariably followed. It was at his suggestion that the cabinet system was introduced into Russia.
All the useful reforms introduced between 1730 and 1740 are to be attributed to his initiative. He improved the state of trade, lowered taxation, encouraged industry and promoted education, ameliorated the judicature and materially raised the credit of Russia. As foreign minister he was cautious and circumspect, but when war was necessary he prosecuted it vigorously and left nothing to chance. The successful conclusions of the War of the
Polish Succession (1733-1735) and of the war with
Turkey (1736-39) were entirely due to his diplomacy.
Vice-chancellor of all Russia
During the brief regency of
Anna Leopoldovna (October 1740-December 1741) Osterman stood at the height of his power, and the French ambassador,
Marquis de La Chetardie, reported to his court that "it isn't too much to say that he's tsar of all Russia" Osterman's foreign policy was based upon the Austrian alliance. He had, therefore, guaranteed the Pragmatic Sanction with the deliberate intention of defending it. Hence the determination of France to remove him at any cost. Russia, as the natural ally of
Austria, was very obnoxious to
France; indeed it was only the accident of the Russian alliance which, in
1741, seemed to stand between
Maria Theresa of Austria and absolute ruin. The most obvious method of rendering the Russian alliance unserviceable to the queen of
Hungary was by implicating Russia in hostilities with her ancient rival,
Sweden, and this was brought about, by French influence and French money, when in August 1741 the Swedish government, on the most frivolous pretexts, declared war against Russia. The dispositions previously made by Osterman enabled him, however, to counter the blow, and all danger from Sweden was over when, early in September,
Field-Marshal Lacy routed the Swedish general von Wrangel under the walls of the frontier-fortress of
Villmanstrand, which was carried by assault.
Downfall
It now became evident to La Chetardie that only a revolution would overthrow Osterman, and this he proposed to promote by elevating to the throne the tsesarevna Elizabeth, who hated the vice-chancellor because, though he owed everything to her father, he'd systematically neglected her. Osterman was therefore the first and the most illustrious victim of the coup d'etat of
December 6,
1741. Accused, among other things, of contributing to the elevation of the empress Anne by his cabals and of suppressing a supposed will of Catherine I made in favour of her daughter
Elizabeth of Russia, he threw himself on the clemency of the new empress. He was condemned first to be broken on the wheel and then beheaded; but, reprieved on the scaffold, his sentence was commuted to lifelong banishment, with his whole family, to
Berezov in Siberia, where he died six years later, in
1747.
Osterman's children returned to the court during the reign of
Catherine the Great. His elder son, count
Feodor Andreevich (1723-1804), was the
senator and governor of
Moscow (1773). Another son,
Ivan Andreevich (1725-1811), was the Russian ambassador in
Stockholm and then, for 16 years, the
Chancellor of the
Russian Empire (1781-97). After his death the Osterman titles and estates passed to his nephew,
Alexander Ivanovich Tolstoy, chancellor of the Russian military orders.
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