Editing Gorchakov (section)

== Alexander Gorchakov ==
{{main|Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov}}
Prince '''Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov''' (1798–1883) served as [[Chancellor of the Russian Empire]] (in office from 1867) during the reign of Emperor [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] ({{reign | 1855 | 1881}}). He was educated at the [[Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum]], where he had the poet [[Alexander Pushkin]] as a school-fellow.<ref name="EB1911"/> In 1820–22 he accompanied [[Foreign Minister of Russia|Foreign Minister]] [[Karl Nesselrode]] to the [[Holy Alliance]] congresses at [[Troppau]], [[Ljubljana|Laibach]], and [[Vienna]].{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Gorchakov was appointed Foreign Minister in April 1856 soon after the end of the [[Crimean War]] of 1853 to 1856; he represented the [[Russian Empire]] at the [[Treaty of Paris (1856)|Paris Congress of 1856]]. His main objective was to restore Russia's international prestige after the bitter defeat. At first he steered the country towards an alliance with [[Napoleon III]] of France, but rebuffed by the latter's support of the [[January Uprising]] in Poland, joined his archrival [[Otto von Bismarck]] in setting up the [[League of the Three Emperors]] in 1873. Following France's defeat in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 1870–1871, Gorchakov succeeded in his long-term goal or revising the key clauses of the Paris Treaty, especially those containing Russia's interests in the [[Black Sea]].{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

The aged chancellor was so disgusted by the modification of the [[Treaty of San Stefano]] at the [[Berlin Congress]] of 1878 that in 1882 he laid down all his offices and settled into retirement. He died some months later.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}