Pavel Milyukov
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Pavel Nikolayevich Milyukov (Cyrillic: Павел Николаевич Милюков) (15 January, 1859 - 31 March, 1943) was a prominent Russian liberal politician of pre-revolutionary years. His name is sometimes rendered in English as Paul Miliukov.
Pre-revolutionary career
Milyukov studied at the Moscow University, where he was influenced by the liberal ideas of Konstantin Kavelin and Boris Chicherin. He made a spectacular career as a historian, publishing the three-volume Outlines of Russian Culture over the years from 1896 to 1903. The last volume was actually finished in jail, where he spent six months for his political speech at a private event (1901).
Having lost his position at the University due to political issues, Milyukov travelled widely and visited the United States several times. He also contributed to the clandestine journal Liberation in 1902.
When the First Russian Revolution started three years later, he founded the Constitutional Democratic party, represented it in the State Duma, and drafted the Vyborg Manifesto, calling for political freedom, reforms and passive resistance to the governmental policy.
With the outbreak of the WWI, Milyukov swung to the right, promoting patriotic policies of national defense and campaigning for the formation of the Progressive Bloc of moderate leaders. Milyukov insisted that his younger son joined the army as a volunteer and he subsequently died in a battle. Milyukov is also was regarded as a staunch supporter of conquest of Istanbul. His opponents mockingly called him "Milyukov of Dardanelles. In 1916, however, he again moved to the left, sharply criticising the government for its inefficiency. On November, 1 1916 in a speech in the State Duma he commented on numerous governmental flaws with well-known question "What's that? Stupidity or treason?"..
February Revolution and its aftermath
During the February Revolution Milyukov hoped to retain the constitutional monarchy in Russia, but events developed too quickly for him to follow. In the first provisional government, led by his fellow kadet L'vov, Milyukov became Minister of Foreign Affairs. He staunchly opposed popular demands for peace at any cost and firmly clung to Russia's wartime alliances. As the Britannica 2004 put it, "he was too inflexible to succeed in practical politics". On April, 20 1917 the government sent a note to Britain and France (which became known as Milyukov's Note) proclaiming that Russia would fulfill its obligation towards the Allies and wage the war as long as it is necessary. Soldiers and citizens of Petrograd demanded for Milyukov's resignation, which followed on May, 2.
After the Bolshevik revolution Milyukov left St.Petersburg and advised various leaders of the White Movement. After the Russian Civil War he emigrated to France, where he remained active in politics and edited the Russian-language newspaper Latest News (1920 - 1940). While living abroad, Milyukov was the object of several assassination attempts, one of which claimed the life of his friend Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov, the father of famous novelist Vladimir Nabokov.
External links
- [Short online biography] (in Russian)
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