Litvinov Maxim Maksimovich, people's commissar: biography, awards, photo

Litvinov was a People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the USSR in 1930-1939. During this period the Soviet Union achieved the final recognition of the world community.

early years

The future People's Commissar Maksim Maksimovich Litvinov was born July 17, 1876 in a Jewish family. Education boy was in the real school Bialystok. Then followed five years of service in the army. Litvinov was born to the 17th Caucasian infantry regiment stationed in Baku.

In 1898, demobilization followed. At the same time Litvinov Maxim Maximovich joined the RSDLP. Moving to Kiev, he became a member of the local party committee. An important part of Litvinov's work was the arrangement of an illegal printing house, in which propaganda materials were printed. Leaflets and brochures were intended for local workers and peasants.

Arrest and flight from Russia

In 1901, the tsarist secret police tracked down the Kiev socialists engaged in printing illegal materials. Arrests followed. Litvinov Maxim Maximovich was in prison. But in the following year, in 1902, he, along with 10 other comrades-in-arms, fled from prison. Once free, the revolutionary emigrated to far Switzerland, which by that time had become a home for many party leaders. There Litvinov took up the habitual business. He became one of the key distributors of the newspaper Iskra to Russia.

In 1903, the famous II Congress of the RSDLP took place, at which the party split into two factions - Bolshevik and Menshevik. Litvinov Maxim Maximovitch joined Lenin and his supporters. At the same time, he maintained friendly and comradely relations with some Mensheviks, including Vera Zasulich, Lev Trotsky, Yulia Martov, and so on.

The First Revolution

Soon the long-awaited Russian revolution began. In 1905, the Bolsheviks, through their foreign money, organized the supply of weapons to proletarian organizations that opposed the authorities in Russia. This work was led, among other things, by Maxim Maksimovich Litvinov. A brief biography of the party functionary at that time was an example of a man who dealt a lot with various administrative matters.

Rich experience allowed Litvinov in the future to find himself in the most privileged elite, who ruled the Soviet state as a "collective power." The dispatch of weapons in Russia was a risky operation. Two ships, for equipping which Litvinov was responsible, eventually ran aground, and did not reach the ports.

In Great Britain

As a party organizer, Litvinov worked extensively with Kamo. This Bolshevik during the first Russian revolution was also responsible for the supply of weapons. When the popular uprising came to naught, Kamo began to deal with his usual illegal business. He replenished the cashier's office by plundering state institutions. So in 1907 the Tiflis expropriation was organized. Koba, the future Stalin, took part in it.

Litvinov, like other party comrades, used money looted in Russian banks. In 1908 he was arrested in France. The reason for the detention were stolen bills, which the Bolshevik tried to exchange. France sent Litvinov to Britain. The next ten years, until the next revolution, Litvinov lived in London.

The beginning of diplomatic activity

After the Bolsheviks came to power, the world community reacted ambiguously to the new Russian government. Britain refused to recognize the Soviet regime. However, this did not prevent countries from contacting through informal representatives. In London, Maxim Maksimovich Litvinov became such an authorized representative. The commissar, who was the head of the Soviet foreign policy department in the 1930s, began his diplomatic career just then.

Litvinov's choice was logical. He lived for many years in London, he knew the English language and local realities. The British government did not contact him directly through state institutions, but put a special official to a newcomer from Russia. Since in Europe the war still continued between the Entente countries and Germany, the authorities needed to know what was happening in Petrograd and Moscow.

The Lockhart Affair

Communicating with Prime Minister Arthur Balfour through an attached person, Maxim Maksimovich Litvinov informed him about the decisions of Lenin and the party. The diplomat was in limbo because the new Soviet power promised the population a fast peace, which meant signing a separate treaty with the Germans. But at first the relation in London to the Bolshevik was quite benevolent.

In January 1918 the United Kingdom sent its new representative to Russia. It was Robert Lockhart. Litvinov, meeting with him in London, gave him a cover note in the name of Trotsky, in which he spoke positively about this messenger. A few months later, the Briton was arrested and deported for espionage. His case, together with the attempt on Lenin, was the reason for the beginning of the Red Terror. The British government arrested Litvinov in response to the arrest of her ambassador. He spent 10 days in prison, after which he was safely exchanged for Lockhart.

In the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs

Returning to Russia, Maksim Maksimovich Litvinov began to work directly in the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. His chief for a long time was the head of this department, George Chicherin. The ambassador participated in numerous negotiations with the Entente countries. He tried to establish relations with these countries after the Soviet government signed a separate Brest peace with Kaiser Germany. Early withdrawal from the war, contrary to allied obligations, for a long time spoiled the reputation of the Bolsheviks in the eyes of the Western capitalist countries.

In 1920, Lenin appointed a new Soviet plenipotentiary representative in Estonia. They became Maxim Maksimovich Litvinov. The biography of this man was full of all kinds of business trips. The Baltic countries after the Civil War in Russia achieved independence. Now Litvinov needed to build an absolutely new relationship with one of them, without regard for the imperial past.

Deputy Chicherina

At the beginning of the existence of Soviet diplomacy in its ranks there were few such personnel as Maxim Maksimovich Litvinov. A revolutionary, a diplomat, a man of broad knowledge - he was an "old" Bolshevik and enjoyed considerable confidence in the leadership of the country. Therefore, it is not surprising that in 1921 he was appointed Deputy People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs.

Litvinov had a difficult relationship with his boss, Chicherin. Both of them were members of the Politburo and at meetings of the highest Soviet leadership they often criticized each other's decisions. Each functionary wrote accusatory blasphemous notes on his opponent.

Recognition of the legitimacy of the USSR

In 1922, Western countries together with the RSFSR held the Genoa Conference, at which the process of recognition and integration of the Soviet government into international politics began. One of the members of the delegation from Moscow was Maxim Maksimovich Litvinov. A brief biography of this man is an example of an exemplary Soviet diplomat of the period 20-30-ies.

After the conference in Genoa, the Deputy People's Commissar was made chairman of the Moscow conference devoted to disarmament after the onset of peace, attended by representatives of neighboring countries - Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Litvinov, who had become more experienced in this matter, also began to work in the League of Nations. When the USSR was finally recognized by the world community, Litvinov began to head the international commission on disarmament from this Soviet side in this important body, the predecessor of the United Nations.

Stalin People's Commissar

In 1930, Chicherin was dismissed from the post of head of the foreign policy department of the USSR. This position was taken by his deputy Maxim Maksimovich Litvinov. The People's Commissar of the Stalin era tried to pursue a policy of detente in relations with Western countries. This he did exactly, until Stalin decided that it was time to go for rapprochement with Hitler.

Stalin in the early 30's really needed a kindly diplomat, like Maksim Maksimovich Litvinov. The photo of the People's Commissar constantly got into the western newspapers during his frequent trips abroad. He regularly traveled to the United States, seeking Washington's recognition of the legitimacy of the USSR. Finally, in 1933, thanks to the efforts of the People's Commissar, official Soviet-American relations were established.

Writer and publicist

What else did Maxim Maksimovich Litvinov do as head of diplomacy? Books written by the People's Commissar in large numbers in the 1930s indicate that he was an experienced theoretician. He became the author of numerous brochures and articles.

Litvinov not only wrote himself, but also sanctioned some resonant publications. In 1931, when the Japanese attacked China, the People's Commissar "spent" an anti-militaristic poem by Demian Bedny in Izvestiya. This initiative was not liked by Stalin, who at that time did not yet know how to take advantage of the current situation in the Far East. After this episode, the Politburo condemned the decision that Maksim Maksimovich Litvinov arbitrarily accepted. The works signed by his name after that incident were already published only after looking back on the leader's opinion.

Dismissal

The war was approaching, and meanwhile Stalin organized mass purges in the highest state leadership. Almost all people's commissars were somehow arrested and shot. Litvinov was lucky - he stayed alive, only losing his post. In 1939, he had a conflict with Vyacheslav Molotov, the chairman of the government and Stalin's right hand. When the latter sacked Litvinov, Molotov was in his place, who soon signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany.

During the Great Patriotic War, Maksim Maksimovich Litvinov was ambassador to the United States and Cuba. The People's Commissariat and its diplomats interacted with the American side when it joined the war against Germany. Some researchers note that it was the armed conflict that began with Hitler that saved Litvinov from being arrested and executed. The NKVD was also engaged in his case, but it was never brought to an end.

Litvinov and terror

Did Maksim Maksimovich Litvinov himself have anything to do with Stalin's terror? The "family" of the Bolsheviks split in the 1920s, and the future People's Commissar then supported Stalin, and so he was able to climb the career ladder.

And, for example, when in 1934 Stalin forbade the release of the scientist Peter Kapitsa, who came from the UK, Litvinov wrote letters to Cambridge, justifying the decision of his leadership. The People's Commissar was a diligent performer of the will of the leader in accordance with his position and powers.

The diplomat ceased to be active in 1946, when he was retired. Lived in Moscow. Litvinov Maxim Maximovich, whose awards included the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, was a pensioner of all-Union significance. He died on December 31, 1951 from a heart attack.