N.V. Charykov’s activities on reforming the ministry of foreign affairs of Russia

The problem of reforming the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire in the beginning of XX century was widely highlighted in historical literature. However, the role of N.V. Charykov is covered very briefly. Since he was the chairman of the council on the reform of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it seemed necessary to explore his ideas and role in this transformative direction. He became the head of the council on the reform of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after he had an appointment to a deputy minister of Foreign Affairs. It happened after A.P. Izvolsky (N.V. Charykov’s friend and classmate at Imperial Alexander Lyceum) had become a foreign minister. N.V. Charykov denotes that A.P. Izvolsky invited him to become the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs. All the legal affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were transferred under authority of N.V. Charykov by A.P. Izvolsky. N.V. Charykov took up his post as the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and was the head of the council on the reform of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, implemented thoughtful and meticulous work. He could establish coordination among the actions of all the departments from which the reform was dependent on. Furthermore, he believed in the necessity of changing the structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, linking it to the need to increase funding. Besides, he stood out for maintaining diplomatic correspondence in Russian instead of French. The important point was a democratization of the diplomatic exam on the one hand and an increase of the level of educational requirements for candidates on the other.