Christian Georgievich Rakovsky is a prominent 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 city of Kotel in the territory of modern Bulgaria in 1873. At that time it was the Ottoman Empire.
He was the grandson of the famous revolutionary George Rakovsky, who became one of the leaders of the national liberation movement for the independence of Bulgaria from Turkey.
The grandson was distinguished by the same radical ideas. He was twice expelled from the gymnasium for illegal calls for a change of power and the distribution of prohibited literature.
In 1887 he changed the name Kristia 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 with Russian revolutionaries. In particular, with members of the Social Democratic Party, for example, with George Plekhanov.
He actively participated in the activities of the socialists. Continued it in Berlin, where he entered medical school. Due to the connection with the revolutionaries, he could not finish it.
Revolutionary activity
In 1897, Christian Georgievich Rakovsky moved to Russia, marrying Elizabeth Ryabova. The wife dies in childbirth after 5 years.
After the split, the RSDLP, together with Gorky, remained the main connecting link between the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. He coordinated the activities of Marxist circles in St. Petersburg, but in 1902 he left for France.
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 revived Socialist Party of Romania 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 because of the charge of working for the enemy, that is, the Germans. He was also accused of public defeatism. It is still believed that there is good reason to claim 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), conducted campaigning in Petrograd and Odessa.
Engaged in diplomatic work. In 1918, he led the delegation, which was supposed to hold talks with the Ukrainian Central Rada. Arriving in Kursk, they learned about Skoropadsky’s coup, a truce with the Germans, who continued the offensive.
At the suggestion of the government, Skoropadsky came to Kiev to continue interaction with representatives of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. At the same time, he secretly met with the deputies of the Rada to legalize the Communist Party in Ukraine.
In September, he left for Germany as a diplomat. 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 heads 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 at 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 national politics. As a result, the future generalissimo accused him of separatism and confederalism. A month later, he was fired, having appointed ambassador to England.
As a result of the conflict with the Communist leaders in 1927, Rakovsky was expelled from the party, sent to exile for 4 years in Kustanai, and then for another four years in Barnaul.
He was reinstated in the CPSU, but in 1936 he was again expelled. It is known that he was arrested by a special message from Yezhov, addressed personally to Stalin.
After several months of interrogation, he confessed to participating in anti-government conspiracies and intelligence work in England and Japan. Got 20 years in prison.
In the fall of 1941, he was shot among other political prisoners in the Oryol prison in the Medvedevsky forest.
In 1988, Rakovsky was rehabilitated posthumously, reinstated in the party.