“Embassy without Government”: The Council of Ambassadors and the Persistence of Tsarist Diplomacy after the Russian Revolution

Abstract

ABSTRACT This analysis addresses the Council of Ambassadors, a much-neglected body that was composed of Russia’s pre-Revolutionary diplomats following the October Revolution of 1917. Centred in Paris, at the heart of the Russian émigré community, the Council of Ambassadors attempted to assert its authority as the rightful representatives of Russia and engaged with foreign governments. It also took steps to block the recognition of the Bolshevik regime and enlist support for the Whites in the Russian Civil War. Although ultimately unsuccessful, the Council of Ambassadors did continue as the representative of Russia at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and until the Soviets were officially recognised by other Powers in the early 1920s. The study of the Council of Ambassadors raises important questions about the fate of a diplomatic corps following a revolution, and how personal identity within the émigrés tied to their former status. It also sheds light on how other Powers chose to deal with the representatives of a Russia that had been overthrown.