GIERS, NICHOLAS KARLOVICH DE (18 ) Russian statesman of Swedish extraction, was born on May 21, 182o. He was educated at the lyceum of Tsarskoye Selo, near St. Petersburg (Leningrad). At 18 he entered the service of the Eastern department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and spent more than 20 years in subordinate posts, chiefly in south-eastern Europe, until he became minister plenipotentiary in Persia in 1863. Here he remained for six years, and, after serving as a minister in Switzerland and Sweden, he was appointed in director of the Eastern department and assistant minister for foreign affairs under Prince Gorchakov, whose niece he had married. The Herzegovinian insurrection had broken out, and he could perceive from secret official papers that the incident had far-reaching ramifications. While the Austrian officials in Dal matia were almost openly assisting the insurgents, Russian volun teers were flocking to Serbia with the connivance of the Russian and Austrian Governments, and General Ignatiev, as ambassador in Constantinople, was urging his Government to take advantage of Turkey's weakness and bring about a radical solution of the Eastern question. Gorchakov did not want a radical solution in volving a great European war, but he did nothing to stem the current of popular excitement. Alexander II., personally averse from war, was not insensible to the patriotic enthusiasm, and remained undecided. Giers gauged the situation accurately. As an official and a man of non-Russian extraction he had to be reticent, but in private he condemned severely the ignorance and reckless ness of those around him. The event justified his sombre pre visions. The so-called patriots wished to defy Europe in order to maintain intact the Treaty of San Stefano, and again Giers found himself in an unpopular minority. His influence was thrown into the scale of peace. His views, supported by Count Shuvalov, finally prevailed, and the European congress assembled at Berlin. He was not present at the congress, and escaped the blame for the concessions which Russia made to Great Britain and Austria. From that time he was practically minister of foreign affairs, for Prince Gorchakov was in weak health, and lived mostly abroad.
On the death of Alexander II. in 1881 it was generally expected that Giers would be dismissed, as deficient in Russian nationalist feeling, for Alexander III. had strong anti-German Slavophil tendencies. In reality the young tsar was fully determined not to let his hand be forced by men less cautious than himself. He wanted a minister of foreign affairs who would allow him to con trol the main lines, and occasionally the details, of the national policy. Giers was, therefore, appointed minister of foreign affairs on the retirement of Prince Gorchakov in 1882 ; he held office until 1894. In accordance with Alexander III.'s wish, M. de Giers followed systematically a pacific policy. Accepting the Triple Alliance as a fait accompli, he sought to establish more friendly relations with the cabinets of Berlin, Vienna and Rome. To the advances of the French Government he at first turned a deaf ear, but when the rapprochement between the two countries was effected with little or no co-operation on his part, he utilized it for restraining France and promoting Russian interests. He died on Jan. 26, 1895, soon after the accession of Nicholas II.