Publicity is not characteristic of serious politics. Most of the “rulers of the masses” had so-called “gray cardinals”. It was they who made fateful decisions, while remaining in the shadows.
Father Joseph
The expression itself " eminence grise» appeared in France XVII century. Since childhood, we have all been familiar with the image of the Duke of Richelieu - the “red cardinal”. In the works of Dumas, he appears as a cunning and treacherous person, but in reality Richelieu was a talented politician and patriot of France. But even he could not fight alone against the powerful Spanish clique under French court. His faithful assistant and participant in all the intrigues was a man named Francois Leclerc du Tremblay. He once dreamed of military career, but suddenly changed his views and became a monk of the Capuchin order under the name Joseph. Because of his nondescript brown vestments, he was nicknamed “gray,” but was respectfully called “Eminence,” just like his high-ranking patron, although Father Joseph became a cardinal only before his death, in 1638. “Two men are the epitome of French politics early XVII century: one, Richelieu, was its architect, and the other, Father Joseph, was its core,” wrote the French historian Pierre Benois about him. Father Joseph was feared and hated by his contemporaries, and modern historians have not yet decided whether he was a genius or a villain. During Thirty Years' War he raised taxes significantly, forcing many French people into extreme poverty. But Father Joseph himself led an ascetic lifestyle: he ate bread and water, walked and even died in complete poverty. He did international politics Louis XIII, flooded Europe and the East with his spies, intrigued against England and France, fought with Protestants. On the other hand, he is called a heartless person and even a sadist. He believed that the end justifies any means. A stern ascetic, a sincere patriot, a devoted friend, a religious fanatic, an unprincipled politician, an insidious intriguer - all this is one person who still remains a mystery to us, the “gray eminence” of the Duke of Richelieu.
Adolf Fredrik Munch
The “gray cardinals” helped their patrons not only in war, but also in love. The Swedish king Gustav III did not get along with his wife Sophia Magdalena, as they said, because of the sovereign’s unconventional preferences. But, nevertheless, the queen had to give birth to an heir to the throne. For help, Gustav III turned to his chamber-page named Adolf Frederic Munch. According to one version, the young man managed to reconcile the king and queen, and Sophia Magdalena conceived a legitimate heir. According to another, the king, having suffered a fiasco, sent the handsome Munch to the queen, who managed to seduce Sophia (then he was the father of the heir, the future Gustav IV). One way or another, Munch was generously rewarded by both the king and the queen, receiving the title of baron and the post of intendant of the royal palace. Munch later took a place in the Swedish knightly order– The Order of the Seraphim, which in terms of prestige can only be compared with the legendary round table King Arthur By that time, Munch was already wearing count's title. Rumor has it that the former page received these favors not for his advice at all, but for sharing a bed with King Gustav. Gustav III listened to Munch in both love and war. During the conflict with Russia, the king, on the advice of Munch, launched the production of counterfeit Russian coins (and the counterfeit was of high quality, only the crowns above the heads of the coat of arms were different). Having won a victory on the economic front, Gustav III launched military operations, but after several victories he decided not to continue the war.
Li Lianying (1848–1911)
The East is a delicate matter and incomprehensible to the European mind, and the “gray cardinals” there are corresponding. The most influential people at the Chinese court have long been eunuchs. But not all (there could have been more than 30 thousand of them in the emperor’s service), but the main ones, those serving imperial family and to the most beloved concubines of the Son of Heaven. One of the many eunuchs at court was Li Lianying. According to legend, he was only a shoemaker's apprentice, but, having heard what influence a eunuch could achieve, he castrated himself and, having received medical treatment, went to take up the imperial service. At court, the young servant Li Lianying met with the fifth (lowest) rank concubine Lan Ke. She was in disgrace - the emperor visited her only once and found her neither attractive nor interesting. So the girl would have had to live out her life in the far corner of the garden, serving other concubines, if not for the help of the eunuchs. Having bet on the young beauty, Li Lianying hired her teachers, she studied music, drawing, and love skills. In return, the eunuch received a significant portion of her allowance. In her next meeting with the emperor, Lan Ke was able to please him, and soon gave birth to the only male heir. After this, the concubine received the name Cixi - Merciful and Sender of Happiness. In the future, this cruel and ambitious woman will become the last ruler of a dying empire. La Lianying also went upstairs with her patroness. He took the title "Lord of the Nine Thousand Years" - only one rank below the imperial one. He was the only one who could sit with the empress, and even on her throne. Together with Cixi, they squandered the state treasury and made bribery a legal practice. In the struggle for power, neither the eunuch nor his mistress disdained to use the most vile methods. Li Lianying did not survive his mistress for long. According to one version, he was poisoned, it is not known by whom: too many hated and feared this man.
Joseph Foucher
Some shadowy intriguers manage to serve not just one ruler, but several. The French politician Joseph Fouché was particularly unprincipled in this matter. He received excellent spiritual education and formally he was a monk, which did not stop him from mocking Catholic Church and emphasize your atheism in every possible way. French Revolution Fouché met with joy - it opened up many new opportunities for him. He joined the Jacobin party and actively supported their policy of terror. Fouché advocated execution Louis XVI, during the uprising in Lyon, it was on Fouché’s orders that hundreds of people were shot. But as soon as the popularity of such methods began to decline, Fouche went over to the moderate wing and began to condemn terror. He even participated in the overthrow and execution of his former ally Robespierre. In August 1799, Fouché was appointed minister of police. Here his penchant for intrigue was fully manifested: he collected incriminating materials on powerful of the world This, he created an extensive spy network, a whole staff of provocateurs and “officers of the law”, who, in fact, were hired killers. At this time, Napoleon's star was rising in France. Fouché bet on the ambitious Corsican and did not lose. After coup d'etat Fouché retains his post, but does not enjoy the trust of the emperor. And not in vain: already in 1809, anticipating the fall of Napoleon, Fouche negotiates with the royalists, republicans and the British, waiting for who will offer him more. After the restoration of the Bourbons, among their most devoted supporters is, of course, police chief Joseph Fouche. But Napoleon, who returned from exile, was greeted by Fouche as a liberator, and the emperor again appointed him to the same post. After Waterloo, Fouché contributed to the second restoration, and as gratitude, Louis XVIII again appointed him minister of police. Thus, Fouche managed to retain his post and his head under five governments in the most unstable times for France. Even more surprisingly, Fouche ended his days in his own bed, in self-imposed exile in Austria, surrounded by his family, to whom he left 14 million francs.
Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann
Our country was also not spared from the intrigues of the “gray cardinals”. Under Peter I, many bright politicians appeared in Russia, the so-called “chicks of Petrov’s nest,” Menshikov alone was worth it. But some preferred to remain in the shadows and help those in power with their advice. One of these shadow figures was Count Heinrich Osterman, who in Rus' was simply dubbed Andrei Ivanovich. The future associate of Peter was born in Westphalia, in the family of a pastor, and studied at the University of Jena. But the young man got involved in a duel and had to flee from punishment to distant Russia. Osterman quickly learned Russian and ended up serving in the embassy department - the prototype of the modern Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There he was noticed by Peter I, who needed talented diplomats. Osterman participated in the imprisonment Peace of Nystadt with Sweden, profitable trade agreement with Persia, alliance with Austria. Success on diplomatic field brought Andrei Ivanovich the baronial title. It was on his advice that Peter I transformed the outdated embassy order into the Collegium of Foreign Affairs. According to Osterman’s instructions, a “table of ranks” is drawn up - a document that finally brought order to the tangled system of the Russian bureaucracy. Like many of his “gray” colleagues, Osterman was resourceful. After the death of Peter the Great, he supported Catherine I and was appointed vice-chancellor and member of the Supreme Court. Privy Council. Under Anna Ioannovna he received the title of count. Anna Leopoldovna made him admiral general. And only Elizabeth dared to get rid of the powerful intriguer, and then at the last moment she replaced the execution with lifelong exile.
Mikhail Suslov
Mikhail Suslov’s path to Brezhnev’s “gray cardinals” lay from the very bottom. Mikhail Andreevich was born in poor peasant family, after the revolution he became a Komsomol member, already in 1921 he joined the Bolshevik Party. Received economic Education and even taught at Moscow State University. His career takes a huge leap in post-war years. Under Stalin, Suslov was responsible for the ideological sphere. He fought against “rootless cosmopolitanism,” edited the newspaper Pravda, and was a member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. Publicist Zhores Medvedev even calls Suslov the “secret General Secretary” and believes that it was him that Stalin wanted to see as his successor. During Khrushchev's times, Suslov was also responsible for ideological issues. It was on his initiative that troops were sent into rebellious Hungary. In 1962, Suslov was awarded the title of Hero Socialist Labor. But he responded to this with black ingratitude, arranging for the removal of Khrushchev from the post of First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1964. Under Brezhnev, Suslov still remained in the shadows, although his role increased. He was now responsible for culture, education, censorship and, of course, as before, for the ideological sphere. Suslov was known as a conservative and dogmatist; persecution of the intelligentsia, arrests of dissidents, and exile of Solzhenitsyn and Sakharov are associated with his name. The most public act in Suslov’s biography was, perhaps, his funeral. They were shown on television, and the whole country was plunged into three days of mourning. Suslov died at 79, a few months before Brezhnev, without seeing the collapse of the idea for which he had fought, albeit in a very peculiar way, all his life.
Edward Mandel House
In 1876, Edward House and his friend Oliver Morton became involved in the presidential election campaign. Morton's father was a senator, and the young men were able to get “behind the scenes” political life countries. That's when Edward realized important thing. “Only two or three in the Senate and two or three in the House of Representatives, along with the president, really rule the country. All the rest are just figureheads... so I did not strive for official positions and did not try to speak,” he would write later. Having received an inheritance, Edward happily went into business, but for him it was just a game. Only politics really occupied him. In 1892, he takes, at first glance, a reckless step: in the gubernatorial elections in deeply Republican Texas, he supports the Democratic candidate James Hogg. House behind the scenes manages Hogg's election campaign, and his candidate wins. Over the next 10 years, House served as an adviser to four governors without holding any official position. But only in 1912, during the next presidential election, he entered the world political arena. House helps Woodrow Wilson come to power, who responds to his “gray eminence” with gratitude and friendship. Wilson's further policy was determined by US financial circles, and above all by House, who called himself “the power behind the throne.” Thanks to House's policies, the United States began to actively intervene in European events. The League of Nations was practically his brainchild, as were many of the decisions of the Paris Conference that concluded the First World War. One of House’s projects, fortunately, was not implemented: he believed that the rest of the world would live more peacefully if in Russia’s place there were not one state, but four. At the end of his life, House left big politics and took up literary creativity
The phrase “gray eminence” is a mystery to many people who have not encountered this term. What does it mean? A high-ranking Catholic clergyman who wears all grey? But the “princes of the church” wear red vestments... This means that a literal interpretation of the term is unacceptable here. So who is this then?
Understand this issue, find out the meaning of these words and get to know concrete examples from world history and Everyday life This article will help the reader.
How did the expression come about?
The phrase's roots go back to medieval France, in those days when religion and politics were still siblings, not stepsisters. One of the most famous characters in 17th-century France is Armand Jean du Plessis, better known as Cardinal Richelieu. According to historians, this figure actually led the external and internal politics the French crown and had a colossal influence on the king. For the scarlet colors of the vestments assigned to a clergyman of his rank, one of Richelieu’s nicknames was the “Red Cardinal”.
But very few people know who directed Richelieu himself. This person is known under the name Francois Leclerc du Tremblay. This is a man of noble blood who chose for himself the path of a monk of the Capuchin Order, forever donning a gray cassock and taking the monastic name Father Joseph. It was he who led the “Office of Richelieu,” an organization that kept all of France in fear. It was this man who carried out the most subtle and dark assignments for his patron, while taking care of end result, and not about ways to achieve it. Father Joseph is the “gray cardinal”, or “gray reverence”. He was so called for the color of his Capuchin attire and his outstanding ability to conduct the political process without attracting attention to himself. The paradox is that du Tremblay became a real cardinal of the Catholic Church only in the year of his death.
“The Gray Cardinal” in the paintings of artists
The painting by French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme shows Father Joseph, dressed in modest gray, calmly descending the palace stairs, immersed in reading. The reaction of the courtiers to his presence is surprising. Absolutely everything, even the most wealthy people, bowed their heads in unison before the monk and tore their hats off their heads. The monk did not honor the people bowing before him with even a fleeting glance, without paying any attention to their respect. So great was the importance of the “gray eminence” at the French court.
Another canvas depicting Father Joseph is by Charles Delo and is called “Richelieu and His Cats.” In addition to the red cardinal and his favorites, in a dark corner, behind a table littered with papers, you can make out a man in a gray robe with a surprisingly concentrated and intelligent face. This is how the artist depicted the “gray eminence”.
What does "gray cardinal" mean?
Many years have passed since the life of Father Joseph, but this expression has gained such popularity that it is still used today. The cassock has been replaced by a business suit, religion has ceased to play one of the main roles in politics, but “gray cardinals” still exist.
Who is called the “gray eminence”? This is an influential person more intelligence, as a rule, from the category of high-ranking politicians. The “gray cardinal” is a strategist who prefers to solve his problems not directly, but with the help of other people, while remaining in the shadows, without going on stage. This is a master puppeteer who skillfully pulls the strings of his puppets, forcing them to do his will.
A “gray cardinal” is a person who masterfully masters a number of skills, such as compromising evidence, PR, black PR, brute force influence through third parties, financial influence, and so on.
Examples from history
"Grey cardinal" is an expression widely used during the period of the new and modern history. Let's look at a few examples.
Adolf Frederic Munch, Swedish political figure XVIII century, used unconditional trust King Gustav III. On his wise advice, the Swedish monarch, in confrontation with Russian Empire launched the production of counterfeit Russian coins High Quality. Economic superiority allowed the Swedes to begin military operations, which at that time brought positive results.
Who was called the “gray eminence” in China? Son of shoemaker Li Lianying. But how did a simple poor man manage to become a “gray eminence”? Having heard that eunuchs - castrated men - had the greatest influence at the emperor's court, the young man performed the operation on himself. In the service of the emperor, a young servant entered into a conspiracy with one of his rejected concubines, eventually making her his beloved wife and last empress China.
Joseph Fouché, the French minister of police at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, was a classic “gray eminence.” Collecting incriminating evidence on each significant figure, Fouche achieved enormous influence while remaining in the shadows. Unique ability This man's ability was the ability to change patrons with such ease and naturalness, as some people take off and put on gloves. Five times he managed to survive the transfer of power from the royalists to Napoleon and all five times remained in his high position, and, moreover, one of the ruler’s favorites.
"Grey cardinals" of the Kremlin
In the modern history of Russia there are also figures who received such a nickname. So, who were called the “gray cardinals” of the Kremlin?
In the first years of the third millennium, such a nickname was attached to Alexander Stalyevich Voloshin, who headed the Administration of the President of Russia. In the photo taken on December 31, 1999, Voloshin is symbolically captured behind the backs of two leaders - Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin.
In the second decade of the 21st century, Vladislav Surkov began to be called this expression. The “gray cardinal” of the Kremlin, holding the position of assistant to the President, plays vital role in the country's political processes. Extensive experience in media mass media and in the field of public relations allows this person to subtly sense the mood of people and skillfully manage it.
Expression in music and films
The album of the domestic rock band “Prince” contains a song with the same name. The first quatrain perfectly reveals the whole essence of “ shadow ruler».
Secret power is the business of the smart,
And in any game you need to be able to
Get to the point, quietly and silently,
Subdue and take possession.
In the cult series " Secret materials“The role of “shadow power” is not just one person, but an entire secret government, the existence of which is unknown ordinary people.
And in board games
There are several board games that use the expression "eminence grise". For example, in the game of the same name from Russian authors Alexander Nevsky and Oleg Sidorenko, the player will have to feel himself in this difficult role. In the card game, you need to draw cards from the deck of the inhabitants of the palace: jester, general, seer, bard, alchemist, assassin, judge, king and queen. With their help it is necessary to recruit at the court political influence. The winner of the game is the one who has the most “weight” at the end of the game.
Another mention occurs in another board game- Runebound. One of the skills in this game is called “Eminence Gray” and allows you to remove any enemy combat token, significantly weakening him with such an action.
Origin of the phraseological unit “gray cardinal”
The expression “gray cardinal” appeared in France in the 17th century during the reign of King Louis XIII the Just (1601 - 1643).
Having become king of France and Navarre at the age of eight, Louis needed guardianship and mentors to accept right decisions in state matters. Such a mentor and advisor for Louis was Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke de Richelieu or, as is more common, Cardinal Richelieu (1585 -1642), who became the head of the royal council in 1624. In fact, power was in the hands of Richelieu, by the way, nicknamed the “red cardinal” because of the red cap that he was obliged to wear according to etiquette. Louis XIII was mainly interested in balls, ballet, performances, hunting, and love affairs, and in politics and state affairs he was doing part of it.
In turn, Cardinal Richelieu had his faithful adviser, a monk of the Capuchin Order, a certain Father Joseph, or in the world Francois Leclerc du Tremblay (1577 - 1638), who was actually nicknamed the “gray cardinal.”
Father Joseph - "Grey Cardinal"
Born into a noble family, François initially chose the path of a military man, but in 1599 he dramatically changed his life and joined the Capuchin Order, where he proved himself to be an excellent speaker and preacher, which contributed to his fame, and after the death of Henry IV, to his growing influence at the French court. Soon Father Joseph was noticed by Richelieu and gradually became his “right hand,” his closest assistant and comrade-in-arms. Having become the head of the chancellery of Richelieu in 1624 (not the highest position), Father Joseph, together with four brothers in the order, began to carry out especially important and secret tasks of his benefactor. He achieved the result without particularly worrying about the choice of means, but always with imagination and invention; Richelieu himself could envy his ability to conduct intrigue.
Father Joseph was an excellent politician, a skillful and flexible diplomat, and possessed a resourceful mind and excellent intuition. Undoubtedly, he enjoyed the full confidence of the cardinal, and therefore had great influence on Richelieu, advising and directing his patron in one or another political direction, and could implement some decisions beneficial for himself and the Capuchin Order at the highest state level, which he did with success.
As for ideology, it was higher than that of Richelieu himself and was imbued with the spirit of Catholicism and the fight against the Protestant faith, widespread at that time in France, Spain and especially in England, where he surpassed even Richelieu and was considered enemy number one. With all this, he was immensely devoted to his benefactor.
Many considered Father Joseph to be Richelieu's successor. By the way, Richelieu himself for a long time tried to knock out a cardinal's cap for him, but the Roman Curia did its best to prevent this, considering Father Joseph to be their rival and adversary in some way. He nevertheless became a cardinal shortly before his death, never having survived Richelieu, who was very worried about the death of his faithful ally and a friend. His historical phrase is known:
"I have lost my support, I have lost my consolation, my the only help and support, the most trusted person.”
This man was given the nickname “gray cardinal” because of his gray cloak, which he always wore. Well, his position in society became a characteristic of this nickname.
The life of Father Joseph, by nature secretive, inconspicuous and unsociable, was shrouded in mystery and has many blind spots. Despite this, everyone knew perfectly well who Father Joseph was and were afraid of him.
The famous German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795 - 1886) discovered in Paris national library many acts and documents drawn up directly under the supervision of Father Joseph.
The English writer and philosopher Aldous Leonard Huxley (1894 - 1963) described the life of Father Joseph in his book “The Gray Eminence: A Study of Religion and Politics.”
The expression “gray cardinal” was popularized by A. Dumas’s novel “The Three Musketeers,” where there is only one phrase, but it is very accurate for the time described in the novel:
“This threat completely intimidated the owner. After the king and the cardinal, the name of M. de Treville was perhaps most often mentioned not only by the military, but also by the townspeople. There was also, it is true, Father Joseph, but his name was pronounced only in a whisper: so great was the fear of "Gray Eminence", friend of Cardinal Richelieu."
In the novel “Twenty Years Later” A. Dumas also only slightly mentioned Father Joseph:
“The commandant of the Bastille at that time was Monsieur du Tremblay, the brother of Richelieu’s formidable favorite, the famous Capuchin Joseph, nicknamed “ eminence grise».
The meaning of the phraseological unit “gray cardinal”
Thanks to the nickname of Father Joseph, the expression “gray eminence” or “gray cardinal” began to be used in the sense of some inconspicuous person who, remaining in the shadows, like a skilled puppeteer, controls important and significant matters. But the “gray cardinal”, who does not occupy such a high position or has no official status at all, simply needs his own “red cardinal”, who has official power in his hands. It is through him that the “gray cardinal,” being behind the scenes and being a kind of conductor, in one way or another directs the “red cardinal” along the path that is beneficial to him or the interests of both cardinals, more often than not, coincide.
By the way, the “red cardinal” himself very often needs “ right hand», confidant, « gray cardinal"(call it what you want), which he needs for not the most plausible matters, when it is not possible to go directly and honestly and requires not entirely legal actions that must remain secret. That’s when the “gray cardinals” come into play, inconspicuous, smart, resourceful schemers with excellent intuition and flexible business. And sometimes in these relationships it is not clear who is manipulating whom, who is leading whom, and who actually has real power in their hands.
The main components of the phraseological unit “gray cardinal” are the possession of significant power and the absence of a high official position of leadership. And among the qualities of the “gray eminence” one can single out mystery, secrecy, inconspicuousness, the presence of intelligence and intuition. IN modern times The expression “gray cardinal” is used mainly in politics and business, although now the boundaries of these concepts are so mixed that sometimes it is not clear which of them is which, a politician in business or a businessman in politics.
Both in Russian and foreign history There are many examples of the existence of “gray generals,” some of whom stood out and were truly powerful.
Publicity is not characteristic of serious politics. Most of the “rulers of the masses” had so-called “gray cardinals”. It was they who made fateful decisions, while remaining in the shadows.
1
Father Joseph
The expression “gray cardinal” itself appeared in France in the 17th century. Since childhood, we have all been familiar with the image of the Duke of Richelieu - the “red cardinal”. In the works of Dumas, he appears as a cunning and treacherous person, but in reality Richelieu was a talented politician and patriot of France. But even he could not fight alone against the powerful Spanish clique at the French court. His faithful assistant and participant in all the intrigues was a man named Francois Leclerc du Tremblay. He once dreamed of a military career, but suddenly changed his views and became a monk of the Capuchin Order under the name Joseph. Because of his nondescript brown vestments, he was nicknamed “gray,” but was respectfully called “Eminence,” just like his high-ranking patron, although Father Joseph became a cardinal only before his death, in 1638.
“Two people are the embodiment of French politics at the beginning of the 17th century: one, Richelieu, was its architect, and the other, Father Joseph, its core,” wrote the French historian Pierre Benoit about him.
Father Joseph was feared and hated by his contemporaries, and modern historians have not yet decided whether he was a genius or a villain. During the Thirty Years' War, he raised taxes significantly, forcing many French people into extreme poverty. But Father Joseph himself led an ascetic lifestyle: he ate bread and water, walked and even died in complete poverty. He ruled the international policy of Louis XIII, flooded Europe and the East with his spies, intrigued against England and France, and fought against Protestants. On the other hand, he is called a heartless person and even a sadist. He believed that the end justifies any means. A stern ascetic, a sincere patriot, a devoted friend, a religious fanatic, an unprincipled politician, an insidious intriguer - all this is one person who still remains a mystery to us, the “gray eminence” of the Duke of Richelieu.
2
Adolf Fredrik Munch
The “gray cardinals” helped their patrons not only in war, but also in love. The Swedish king Gustav III did not get along with his wife Sophia Magdalena, as they said, because of the sovereign’s unconventional preferences. But, nevertheless, the queen had to give birth to an heir to the throne. For help, Gustav III turned to his chamber-page named Adolf Frederic Munch.
According to one version, the young man managed to reconcile the king and queen, and Sophia Magdalena conceived a legitimate heir. According to another, the king, having suffered a fiasco, sent the handsome Munch to the queen, who managed to seduce Sophia (then he was the father of the heir, the future Gustav IV). One way or another, Munch was generously rewarded by both the king and the queen, receiving the title of baron and the post of intendant of the royal palace.
Munch later took a place in the Swedish order of knighthood - the Order of the Seraphim, which in terms of prestige can only be compared with the legendary Round Table of King Arthur. By that time, Munch already bore the title of count. Rumor has it that the former page received these favors not for his advice at all, but for sharing a bed with King Gustav.
Gustav III listened to Munch in both love and war. During the conflict with Russia, the king, on the advice of Munch, launched the production of counterfeit Russian coins (and the counterfeit was of high quality, only the crowns above the heads of the coat of arms were different). Having won a victory on the economic front, Gustav III launched military operations, but after several victories he decided not to continue the war.
3
Li Lianying (1848–1911)
The East is a delicate matter and incomprehensible to the European mind, and the “gray cardinals” there are corresponding. The most influential people at the Chinese court have long been eunuchs. But not all (there could be more than 30 thousand of them in the emperor’s service), but the main ones, serving the imperial family and the most beloved concubines of the Son of Heaven.
One of the many eunuchs at court was Li Lianying. According to legend, he was only a shoemaker's apprentice, but, having heard what influence a eunuch could achieve, he castrated himself and, having received medical treatment, went to take up the imperial service.
At court, the young servant Li Lianying met with the fifth (lowest) rank concubine Lan Ke. She was in disgrace - the emperor visited her only once and found her neither attractive nor interesting. So the girl would have had to live out her life in the far corner of the garden, serving other concubines, if not for the help of the eunuchs. Having bet on the young beauty, Li Lianying hired her teachers, she studied music, drawing, and love skills. In return, the eunuch received a significant portion of her allowance. In her next meeting with the emperor, Lan Ke was able to please him, and soon gave birth to the only male heir. After this, the concubine received the name Cixi - Merciful and Sender of Happiness. In the future, this cruel and ambitious woman will become the last ruler of a dying empire.
La Lianying also went upstairs with her patroness. He took the title "Lord of the Nine Thousand Years" - only one rank below the imperial one. He was the only one who could sit with the empress, and even on her throne. Together with Cixi, they squandered the state treasury and made bribery a legal practice. In the struggle for power, neither the eunuch nor his mistress disdained to use the most vile methods.
Li Lianying did not survive his mistress for long. According to one version, he was poisoned, it is not known by whom: too many hated and feared this man.
4
Joseph Foucher
Some shadowy intriguers manage to serve not just one ruler, but several. The French politician Joseph Fouché was particularly unprincipled in this matter.
He received an excellent spiritual education and was formally a monk, which did not stop him from mocking the Catholic Church and emphasizing his atheism in every possible way.
Fouché greeted the French Revolution with joy - it opened up many new opportunities for him. He joined the Jacobin party and actively supported their policy of terror. Fouché advocated the execution of Louis XVI; during the uprising in Lyon, it was on Fouché’s orders that hundreds of people were shot.
But as soon as the popularity of such methods began to decline, Fouche went over to the moderate wing and began to condemn terror. He even participated in the overthrow and execution of his former ally Robespierre.
In August 1799, Fouché was appointed minister of police. Here his penchant for intrigue manifested itself in full: he collected compromising materials on the powerful, created an extensive spy network, a whole staff of provocateurs and “servants of the law”, who, in fact, were hired killers.
At this time, Napoleon's star was rising in France. Fouché bet on the ambitious Corsican and did not lose. After the coup d'état, Fouché retains his post, but does not enjoy the trust of the emperor. And not in vain: already in 1809, anticipating the fall of Napoleon, Fouche negotiates with the royalists, republicans and the British, waiting for who will offer him more.
After the restoration of the Bourbons, among their most devoted supporters is, of course, police chief Joseph Fouche. But Napoleon, who returned from exile, was greeted by Fouche as a liberator, and the emperor again appointed him to the same post. After Waterloo, Fouché contributed to the second restoration, and as gratitude, Louis XVIII again appointed him minister of police. Thus, Fouche managed to retain his post and his head under five governments in the most unstable times for France. Even more surprisingly, Fouche ended his days in his own bed, in self-imposed exile in Austria, surrounded by his family, to whom he left 14 million francs.
5
Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann
Our country was also not spared from the intrigues of the “gray cardinals”. Under Peter I, many bright politicians appeared in Russia, the so-called “chicks of Petrov’s nest,” Menshikov alone was worth it. But some preferred to remain in the shadows and help those in power with their advice. One of these shadow figures was Count Heinrich Osterman, who in Rus' was simply dubbed Andrei Ivanovich.
The future associate of Peter was born in Westphalia, in the family of a pastor, and studied at the University of Jena. But the young man got involved in a duel and had to flee from punishment to distant Russia.
Osterman quickly learned Russian and ended up serving in the embassy department - the prototype of the modern Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There he was noticed by Peter I, who needed talented diplomats. Osterman participated in the conclusion of the Peace of Nystadt with Sweden, a profitable trade agreement with Persia, and an alliance with Austria. Successes in the diplomatic field brought Andrei Ivanovich the baronial title. It was on his advice that Peter I transformed the outdated embassy order into the Collegium of Foreign Affairs. According to Osterman’s instructions, a “table of ranks” is drawn up - a document that finally brought order to the tangled system of the Russian bureaucracy.
Like many of his “gray” colleagues, Osterman was resourceful. After the death of Peter the Great, he supported Catherine I and was appointed vice-chancellor and member of the Supreme Privy Council. Under Anna Ioannovna he received the title of count. Anna Leopoldovna made him admiral general. And only Elizabeth dared to get rid of the powerful intriguer, and then at the last moment she replaced the execution with lifelong exile.
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Mikhail Suslov
Mikhail Suslov’s path to Brezhnev’s “gray cardinals” lay from the very bottom. Mikhail Andreevich was born into a poor peasant family, after the revolution he became a Komsomol member, and already in 1921 he joined the Bolshevik Party. He received an economic education and even taught at Moscow State University.
His career made a huge leap in the post-war years. Under Stalin, Suslov was responsible for the ideological sphere. He fought against “rootless cosmopolitanism,” edited the newspaper Pravda, and was a member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. Publicist Zhores Medvedev even calls Suslov the “secret General Secretary” and believes that it was him that Stalin wanted to see as his successor.
During Khrushchev's times, Suslov was also responsible for ideological issues. It was on his initiative that troops were sent into rebellious Hungary. In 1962, Suslov was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. But he responded to this with black ingratitude, arranging for the removal of Khrushchev from the post of First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1964.
Under Brezhnev, Suslov still remained in the shadows, although his role increased. He was now responsible for culture, education, censorship and, of course, as before, for the ideological sphere. Suslov was known as a conservative and dogmatist; persecution of the intelligentsia, arrests of dissidents, and exile of Solzhenitsyn and Sakharov are associated with his name.
The most public act in Suslov’s biography was, perhaps, his funeral. They were shown on television, and the whole country was plunged into three days of mourning. Suslov died at 79, a few months before Brezhnev, without seeing the collapse of the idea for which he had fought, albeit in a very peculiar way, all his life.
Edward Mandel House
In 1876, Edward House and his friend Oliver Morton became involved in the presidential election campaign. Morton's father was a senator, and the young men were able to get behind the scenes of the country's political life. It was then that Edward realized an important thing. “Only two or three in the Senate and two or three in the House of Representatives, along with the president, really rule the country. All the rest are just figureheads... so I did not strive for official positions and did not try to speak,” he would write later.
Having received an inheritance, Edward happily went into business, but for him it was just a game. Only politics really occupied him. In 1892, he takes, at first glance, a reckless step: in the gubernatorial elections in deeply Republican Texas, he supports the Democratic candidate James Hogg. House behind the scenes manages Hogg's election campaign, and his candidate wins.
Over the next 10 years, House served as an adviser to four governors without holding any official position. But only in 1912, during the next presidential election, he entered the world political arena. House helps Woodrow Wilson come to power, who responds to his “gray eminence” with gratitude and friendship. Wilson's further policy was determined by US financial circles, and above all by House, who called himself “the power behind the throne.”
Thanks to House's policies, the United States began to actively intervene in European events. The League of Nations was practically his brainchild, as were many of the decisions of the Paris Conference that ended World War I. One of House’s projects, fortunately, was not implemented: he believed that the rest of the world would live more peacefully if in Russia’s place there were not one state, but four.
At the end of his life, House left big politics and took up literary creativity.
Vera Potopaeva