page_title: Sergei Witte
section_title: Political career
hierarchical_section_title: Sergei Witte / Political career
caption_attribution_description: English: Vitte M.I. (Lisanevitsch). 1905 Русский: графиня М.И.Витте (Лисаневич) - жена С.Ю.Витте
context_page_description: Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte, also known as Sergius Witte, was a Russian statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of the Russian Empire. He is widely considered to have been one of the key figures in Russian politics at the end of 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century. He was made a count because of his service to the government in negotiations over the end of the Russo-Japanese War.
  Witte was neither a liberal nor a conservative. He attracted foreign capital to boost Russia's industrialization. He served under the last two emperors of Russia, Alexander III and Nicholas II. During the Russo-Turkish War, he had risen to a position in which he controlled all the traffic passing to the front along the lines of the Odessa Railways. As Minister of Finance, Witte presided over extensive industrialization and achieved monopoly control by the government over an expanded system of railroad lines.
  Following months of civil unrest and outbreaks of violence, in what was known as the 1905 Russian Revolution, he framed the October Manifesto of 1905, and the accompanying government communication to establish constitutional government.
caption: Mathilda Witte, picture by Karl Bulla
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