Charles Whitworth: Diplomat in the Age of Peter the Great by Janet M. s> Hartley (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 339 peasant 'strongmen'who in monasteriesand villageschallenged the authority of the church hierarchy. In fact, several of these articles confirm the sheer undergovernment which afflicted the vast and underpopulated Russian nation, now and for many years. In a section on arts and sciences, Lindsey Hughes comments perceptively on the relationship between Russian and Western culture, Eve Levin deals with Western medicine in Russia, though one should perhaps stressthat nowhere in Europe in the seventeenthcentury did state-funded Western medical care extend to the non-governmental population, or even to the governmentalpopulation. Finally, Nancy Shields Kollman discusses in a somewhat pedestrian manner the psychology of Muscovite society, Daniel Kaiser deals with the emergence of individualism from the consciousness of death as a collective experience, reflected in the increasinglydetailed epitaphscarved on gravestones,which began to give the rank,occupation and length of life of the dead. FinallyPaul Bushkovitchsums up the nature, extent, cost and qualityof the changeswhich servedto prepare the way for Peter'snew policies. All told this is a very valuable addition to the literature in English on Russian seventeenth-centuryhistory, and the footnotes provide a very useful and up-to-date guide to archivaland published sources. London ISABELDE MADARIAGA Hartley,Janet M. Charles Whitworth: Diplomat intheAgeofPeter theGreat. Ashgate, Aldershot and Burlington, VT, 2002. XVi + 242 PP. Illustration.Maps. Notes. Appendix. Bibliography.Index. /46.oo. CEHARLES WHITWORTH (I675-I725), one of the most significantBritish diplomats in the first quarter of the eighteenth century, has long been neglected by historians.Janet Hartley's excellent biography of him has now filled that void. Her book is not a tedious recitationof diplomaticnegotiationsbut is an in-depth study of a shrewd diplomat who was often frustratedand irritated by unpleasantconditionsin countrieshe visitedand who sent home to government officials and personal acquaintances perceptive comments, usually critical,on the politics and personagesof his time. Whitworth, the son of a country gentleman, was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, CambridgeUniversity.His family'smodest financial position forced him to seek employment with the British government. After a shorttime as a clerkat the Board of Trade, he entered the diplomatic service.Taking advantageof the patronage of a relative, George Stepney, he went as Stepney'ssecretaryon a mission to Brandenburg-Prussia and Vienna. In 1702 he was sent on his firstindependent mission to the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire at Ratisbon. By I704, having gained experiencewith the intricaciesof centralEuropean politics,Whitworthwas chosen by his governmentto go to the Russia of Peter I; he servedthere from I705to 1712. Hartley, by her choice of the book's subtitle and her decision to devote three of nine chaptersto his years in Russia, 340 SEER, 84, 2, 2006 emphasizes that this was the pivotal assignmentof his long diplomatic career. He emerged as the foremost Britishexpert on Russia. In Russia the complex intermingling of trade and politics tested his skill at protecting British commercial interests and at assessing the possibility of expandingBritishmilitaryand politicalroles on the continent.The convoluted negotiations involved in two major wars, the War of the Spanish Succession and the great Northern War, engaged the diplomatsof most major European countries. Although Whitworth's activities failed to influence British efforts in the Spanish War, the Northern War would engage his attention for many years, even after he permanently left Russia. His role at Peter'scourt spannedthe transitionfrom that of an agent primarily concerned with trade to that of a permanent residentambassadorresponsible for protecting all aspects of British interests. This change is illustrated by his part in pacifying the Tsar's anger over the arrestin London in I708 of the Russian ambassador;Peter would not be satisfiedwith anything less than a response deliveredby an ambassadorextraordinary. Whitworth astutely observed Russia's growing military strength and increasing political importance. He recognized that Russia was no longer a peripheralcountrythat could be slightedor ignored by the Westernstates.He warned his governmentthat Peter'sRussiawas changing the balance of power in the north, and new ways of dealing with Peter and the new Russian empire must be developed. This theme of Russia as a potential threat to the stability of Europe was constantlyrepeated by Whitworthfor the rest of his career. Upon his return to England in I712, Whitworth renewed his...