Not long after his accession to office, Gorchakov issued a circular to the foreign powers in which he announced that Russia proposed, for internal reasons, to keep herself as free as possible from complications abroad, and he added the now-historic phrase,
La Russie ne boude pas; elle se recueille ('Russia is not sulking, she is composing herself'). During the
January Uprising in
Congress Poland, Gorchakov rebuffed the suggestions of Britain,
Austria and France for assuaging the severities employed in quelling it, and he was especially acrid in his replies to
Earl Russell's despatches. The
Prussian support was assured by the
Alvensleben Convention. In July 1863 Gorchakov was appointed
Chancellor of the Russian Empire, expressly in reward for his bold diplomatic attitude towards an indignant Europe. The appointment was hailed with enthusiasm in Russia. A rapprochement now began between the courts of Russia and Prussia, and in 1863, Gorchakov smoothed the way for the
occupation of Schleswig-Holstein by German troops. That seemed equally favourable to Austria and Prussia, but it was the latter power that gained all the substantial advantages. When
conflict arose between Austria and Prussia in 1866, Russia remained neutral and permitted Prussia to reap the benefits arising from the conflict and establish its supremacy in Germany. In 1867 Russia and the United States concluded the
sale of Alaska, a process which had begun as early as 1854 during the Crimean War. Gorchakov was not against the sale but always advocated for careful and secret negotiations and saw the eventuality of the sale but not the immediate necessity. When the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 broke out, Russia argued for the neutrality of
Austria-Hungary. An attempt was made to form an anti-Prussian coalition, but it failed because of the cordial understanding between the German and the Russian chancellors. In return for Russia's service in preventing Austro-Hungarian support being given to France, Gorchakov looked to Bismarck for diplomatic support on the
Eastern Question, and he received an instalment of the expected support when he successfully denounced the
Black Sea clauses of the Treaty of Paris (
Treaty of London (1871)). That was justly regarded by him as an important service to his country and one of the triumphs of his career, and he hoped to obtain further successes with the assistance of
Germany. However, the cordial relations between the cabinets of Saint Petersburg and Berlin did not last much longer. 's
doodle representing Alexander Gorchakov In 1875, Bismarck was suspected of having designs to again attack France, and Gorchakov let him know in a way that was not meant to be offensive, but roused Bismarck's indignation, that Russia would oppose any such scheme. The tension thus produced between the two statesmen was increased by the political complications of 1875–1878 in
Southeastern Europe, which began with the
Herzegovian insurrection and culminated at the
Congress of Berlin. Gorchakov hoped to use the complications of the situation in such a way as to recover, without war, the portion of
Bessarabia ceded by the Treaty of Paris, but he soon lost control of events, and the
Slavophile agitation produced the
Russo-Turkish War (1877-78). The
Peace of San Stefano, drafted by Gorchakov,
Aleksandr Nelidov, and
Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev, redrew Ottoman boundaries to further Russia's economic and strategic plans. A key goal was control of the port city of
Batumi on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, in addition to several strategic points in the Caucasus. Most importantly,
Bulgaria was greatly enlarged to serve as the dominant power in the Balkans and be under Russian control. Britain,
France, Germany and Austria-Hungary objected and radically reduced Russia's gains at the
Congress of Berlin (13 June to 13 July 1878). Gorchakov was honored as first plenipotentiary, but he left to the second plenipotentiary, Count
Pyotr Andreyevich Shuvalov, not only the task of defending Russian interests but also the responsibility and odium for the concessions which Russia had to make to Britain and Austria-Hungary. He had the satisfaction of seeing the lost portion of Bessarabia restored to Russia but at the cost of greater sacrifices than he anticipated. On the whole Russia was humiliated again. Gorchakov considered the treaty the greatest failure of his official career. He continued to hold the post of foreign minister but lived chiefly abroad, with
Dmitry Milyutin taking responsibility for foreign affairs. ==Later life==