Shuvalov, Piotr Andreyevich, Count

Shuvalov, Piotr Andreyevich, Count pyô´tər əndrā´əvĭch sho͞ovä´ləf [key], 1827–89, Russian administrator and diplomat. An adviser to Czar Alexander II, he opposed the czar's reforms and headed (1866–73) the notorious third section, or political police, of the imperial chancellery. He also served as envoy (1873), then ambassador (1874–79), to Great Britain. In 1878, at the end of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), he negotiated to secure a treaty that would please Great Britain more than the Treaty of San Stefano, which had greatly enhanced Russian influence in SE Europe. His willingness to accommodate Great Britain led to the Congress of Berlin, which abrogated the territorial gains of the Treaty of San Stefano. The new territorial arrangements were unpopular in Russia, and Shuvalov was recalled.

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