Aleksey Borisovich, Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky

Aleksey Borisovich, Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky (born Dec. 30 [Dec. 18, Old Style], 1824, Voronezh province, Russia—died Aug. 30 [Aug. 18], 1896, Shepetovka, Russia) was a diplomat and statesman who, while serving as Russia’s foreign minister (1895–96), brought northern Manchuria into Russia’s sphere of influence.

Having begun his diplomatic career in 1844, Lobanov held posts in Berlin and Paris before becoming Russia’s minister in Constantinople in 1859. He retired in 1863 but resumed his career in 1878, serving as ambassador at Constantinople (1878–79), London (1879–82), Vienna (1882–94), and Berlin (1894–95) and becoming one of Russia’s most influential diplomats in Europe.

On March 10 (Feb. 26, Old Style), 1895, Lobanov was appointed foreign minister. During his tenure he firmly supported the Franco-Russian alliance that had been concluded in 1894, sought friendly relations with Germany and Austria-Hungary, and also settled a long-standing dispute with Bulgaria that had begun in 1886 when Russia refused to recognize Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg as prince of Bulgaria.

Lobanov directed most of his attention, however, to East Asia, where Japan had recently won a war against China (1894–95); as a result China had been compelled to cede Formosa, the Pescadores Islands, and the Liaotung (south Manchurian) Peninsula to Japan (Treaty of Shimonoseki; April 17, 1895). Although Lobanov was personally willing to let this settlement remain in effect, provided that Russia was compensated with a port in Korea, he was opposed by the powerful minister of finance Sergey Witte and overruled by Emperor Nicholas II (reigned 1894–1917). Consequently, Lobanov enlisted the diplomatic aid of France and Germany, and in April 1895 the three countries forced Japan to withdraw its claim to the Liaotung Peninsula. Lobanov then concluded a secret agreement with China (June 3, 1896) whereby Russia promised to protect China from foreign aggression in exchange for the right to build the Chinese Eastern railroad, which would extend the Trans-Siberian Railway line across northern Manchuria to Vladivostok on Russia’s east coast and effectively place the railroad’s territory under Russian control.

A few months later Lobanov died while traveling from Kiev to meet the German emperor William II in Silesia.