CC BY
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УДК 94(47)"20":327.82
A.M. Iordanskaya
Aspects of the everyday life of the diplomatic corps in Russia in the second half of the XIX - at the beginning of the XX centuries
Аспекты повседневной жизни иностранного дипломатического
корпуса в России во второй половине XIX - начале XX в.
The paper explores the influence of the condition of foreign diplomatic service on everyday life of foreign diplomats in Russia in the second half of the XIX - at the beginning of the XX centuries. It is shown that profession of a diplomat determinates idle, gossipy way of life, makes it a necessary part of the diplomat’s profession.
В статье рассматривается влияние условий заграничной дипломатической службы на повседневную жизнь иностранных дипломатов в России во второй половине XIX - начале XX в. Показано, что профессия дипломата предопределяла светский образ жизни дипломата, делая его необходимой составляющей профессии дипломата.
Key words: diplomats, everyday life, the diplomatic corps, diplomacy, everyday life history, foreign policy.
Ключевые слова: дипломаты, повседневная жизнь, дипломатический корпус, дипломатия, история повседневности, внешняя политика.
Despite general importance, issues of the everyday life and daily practice of social and professional groups, in particular - the diplomatic corps, stay understudied in modern historiography. Solely some aspects of diplomat’s abnormal everyday life during wartime are already studied [5]. Only official and public side of diplomat’s activity is known in historical studies, while aspects of the everyday life stay in the background. As a proxy between the sending state and the host country, the diplomat has a direct impact on the development of relations between countries. Under the influence of his subjective perception and personality traits was determined the kind of the reports drawn up to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, formed the analytical and evaluative judgments on key issues of international policy. In light of this, the study of aspects of the everyday life of diplomats, ordinary embassy employees as well as heads of mission, is very significant.
First of all, it should be noted that the foreign diplomatic service determinates flexible working hours, which made it possible for diplomats to spend the remaining time in its sole discretion. Usually diplomat's informal discussions were held in the framework of the sport and entertainment of Saint Petersburg.
The most popular sport clubs were «Imperial St.Petersburg yacht-club», «Murino-golf» and «Krestovsky Lawn Tennis». Imperial
© Iordanskaya A.M., 2015
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St.Petersburg yacht-club - one of the most famous and elite yacht-club in Russia, was very popular among diplomats [1, p. 1-38; 2, p. 1-47; 3, p. 1-44]. The number of its full-fledged members was limited by 125 people [18, p. 5; 19, p. 55; 20, p. 6]. Ambassadorship, designating the high status of its owner, made it possible for diplomats to enjoy a number of privileges for admission to the club. According to the Club’s regulations, chief of a mission (ambassador, envoy and head of mission) taken without ballot [17, p. 10, 12-13; 18, p. 58; 19, p. 58; 20, p. 8-9]. This rule does not apply both to the acting chief of the mission (charge d'affaires) and ordinary embassy’s staff: they could become members of the club only through the ballot [18, p. 59]. For getting club access they had to provide the Committee with a written recommendation of its ambassador, envoy and chief of a mission [19, p. 64; 20, p. 14]. Chief of a mission, as a rule, provided patronage to their staff, which greatly simplifies the admission for a young diplomat to the club members [9. D. 269. L. 1]. Privacy and exclusivity of the club, close friendly relations among its members, made its membership honorary and prestigious among members of the diplomatic corps.
«Krestovsky Lawn Tennis» was the most numerous tennis club in the country, while "Murino Golf" club at different times consisted of 16 to 29 people. It included members of the British and American embassies, their families, members of the English colony [22. D. 1. L. 1-29]. The only representative of the Russian side was the Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich - the honorary chairman of the club since its foundation.
«St.Petersburg English society» was popular among foreign diplomats too - one of the largest social clubs of the capital: its membership for over 50 years ranged from 350 to 450 people [13, p. 1-60; 14, p. 1-46]. Only in 1915, in wartime, the number of its members was only 139 [15, p. 1-58]. According to the Club’s regulations chief offices get free admission [4, p. 83]. Foreign diplomats were actively enjoying preferential membership and visited the club [13, p. 1-60; 14, p. 1-46; 15, p. 1-58; 4, p. 83], which gave them the opportunity to meet with representatives of political and public circles of Russia in an informal setting.
At the same time, compulsory publicity of a diplomat’s life causing the desire for private and privacy where is possible. This was reflected in the formation of clubs and social organizations, consisting mostly of diplomats, generally - representing one country. Thus, in contrast to the «russified» «St.Petersburg English society» «New English club» was opened, created for «the convenience British colony in St.Petersburg» [21, p. 1]. Members of the club were subjects only of Great Britain and the United States, businessmen, staff members of the British Embassy [4, p. 102]. Club members organized different sports activities and games, performed charity events and organized dinner parties and banquets on the occasion of national holidays and the arrival of England officials, delegations and public figures [22. D. 14. L. 1-12; D. 5. L. 1-8; D. 3. L. 1-15].
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Many diplomats have been regular visitors to the noble salons of Countess Kleinmichel, the general's wife Bogdanovich, Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna and others [12. D. 237. L. 11 ob., 51 ob.; D. 235. L. 68 ob., 126; 6, p. 183; 7, p. 68; 16, p. 262, 265]. Their mistresses were women who had not only extensive contacts in the public and court circles, but also a great influence on the formation of a secular public opinion [11, p. 5-7, 10-11]. The popularity of these fine ladies attracted in their salons people of different social status and political orientation. For foreign diplomats this meant the opportunity of an acquaintance with the Russian public representatives, communication with whom would be impossible in a different situation because of their official status and other difficulties.
Due to frequent changes of residence and visits to various countries, many diplomats collected works of art, antiques, numismatics in their free time [8. D. 99. L. 1-2; 10. D. 34. L. 6-7]. This was encouraged by the privileges of a diplomatic service: diplomatic baggage wasn’t inspected at the borders and exempted from duties. Many diplomats were found of hunting and fishing. Numerically insignificant hunting clubs were consisted of representatives of the Russian elite and the highest court officials [23, p. 73-76; 24, p. 170, 173, 175].
As a result, everyday life of the diplomats, as lobbyists and representatives of the interests of foreign powers, was subordinated to the reasons of the service. If the protocol meetings and official visits were official duties and were more a manifestation of politeness, then the informal visits, participation in entertainment activities, communication within the elite clubs and societies, whose composition regardless of the specificity was identical, served as a means to enhance communication and trust with representatives of the elite, aristocratic, court and government circles.
That communication in backstage, court circles, behind-the-scenes conversations between government officials and diplomats allowed to access the information of a personal property, which is invaluable in the diplomatic sphere. As intermediary power between the sending country and the host country, diplomats used the possibility of formation of information channels and channels of influence through informal visits and social events, which allowed not only to predict the reaction of the public opinion on different events, but also have a significant impact on its formation. Accordingly, the diplomatic profession is not only justified idle, gossipy way of life, but also makes it a necessary part of the diplomatic service.
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