Christian Georgievich Rakovsky - a major Soviet statesman and politician. He was a diplomat, participated in the revolutionary movement in France, Russia, Germany, the Balkans and Ukraine. This article will focus on the most important stages of his biography.
Childhood and youth
Christian Georgievich Rakovsky was born in the town of Kotel on the territory of present-day Bulgaria in 1873. At that time it was the Ottoman Empire.
He was the grandson of the famous revolutionary Georgy Rakovsky, who became one of the leaders of the national liberation movement for the independence of Bulgaria from Turkey.
The grandson had the same radical ideas. He was twice expelled from the gymnasium for illegal calls for a change of power and distribution of prohibited literature.
In 1887 he changed the name Kristya Stanchev, received at birth, to a more harmonious one. Since then, he called himself Christian Georgievich Rakovsky.
In 1890 he emigrated to Switzerland. He studied at the medical faculty of the University of Geneva, where he met Russian revolutionaries. ATin particular, with members of the Social Democratic Party, for example, with Georgy Plekhanov.
Actively participated in the activities of the socialists. He continued it in Berlin, where he entered medical school. Due to his connection with the revolutionaries, he could not finish it.
Revolutionary activity
In 1897, Christian Georgievich Rakovsky moved to Russia, married Elizaveta Ryabova. Wife dies in childbirth 5 years later.
After the split, the RSDLP, together with Gorky, remained the main link between the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. He coordinated the activities of Marxist circles in St. Petersburg, but left for France in 1902.
Rakovsky takes an active part in organizing the revolutionary movement in Europe. His main efforts during this period were aimed at creating a socialist uprising in the Balkans, primarily in Romania and Bulgaria.
The Socialist Party of Romania, revived by him in 1910, became the basis of the Balkan Federation. It included supporters of socialism from several neighboring powers.
During the First World War, he was arrested in 1916 due to charges of working for the enemy, that is, the Germans. He was also accused of public defeatism. Until now, it is believed that there are fairly good reasons to assert that Rakovsky was indeed an Austro-Bulgarian agent.
Return to Russia
In 1917 he went to Russia after his release from prison. Officially became a member of the RSDLP (b), led the campaignwork in Petrograd and Odessa.
Engaged in diplomatic work. In 1918 he headed a delegation that was supposed to negotiate with the Ukrainian Central Rada. Arriving in Kursk, they learned about Skoropadsky's coup, a truce with the Germans, who continued their offensive.
At the suggestion of Skoropadsky's government, he came to Kyiv to continue interaction with representatives of the Ukrainian People's Republic. At the same time, he secretly met with the suspended deputies of the Rada in order to legalize the Communist Party in Ukraine.
In September he left as a diplomat for Germany. Soon he was expelled from the country.
Work in Ukraine
In January 1919, Rakovsky became the first chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR, in parallel he headed the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the republic. The Bolsheviks hoped that he would be able to prevent a government crisis.
He worked in these posts until 1923, becoming one of the organizers of Soviet power in this region. In fact, all this time he was the supreme political leader of the republic.
In 1923, he criticized Stalin because of his approaches to issues of national politics. As a result, the future generalissimo accused him of separatism and confederalism. A month later he was dismissed and appointed ambassador to England.
As a result of a conflict with communist leaders in 1927, Rakovsky was expelled from the party, sent to exile in Kustanai for 4 years, and then to Barnaul for another four years.
He was reinstated in the CPSU, but in1936 is expelled again. It is known that he was arrested on Yezhov's special message addressed personally to Stalin.
After several months of interrogation, he confessed to participating in anti-government conspiracies and working for intelligence in England and Japan. Received 20 years in prison.
In the autumn of 1941, he was shot along with other political prisoners of the Oryol prison in the Medvedev forest.
In 1988, Rakovsky was rehabilitated posthumously, reinstated in the party.
