Sergei Iulevich Witte (Серге́й Ю́льевич Ви́тте) (June 29, 1849 – March 13, 1915), also known as Sergius Witte, served as Russian Director of Railway Affairs within the Finance Ministry from 1889 – 1891, Transportation Minister (1892), Finance Minister from 1892 to 1903, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers (1903 – 1905) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1905 – 1906). June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1903 has the latest occurring solstices and equinoxes for 400 years, because the Gregorian calendar hasnt had a leap year for seven years or a century leap year since 1600. ...

Witte was appointed by Tsar Alexander III to help Russia's struggling economy. Witte was very successful, and under his tenure as Finance Minister the nation saw unprecedented economic growth. Witte strongly encouraged foreign capital to invest in Russia, and to do so he put Russia on the gold standard in 1897. Witte encouraged the growth of Russian industry, and the industrial sector of the economy expanded rapidly, especially the metals, petroleum, and transportation sectors. To improve the economy and to attract foreign investors Witte also advocated curbing the powers of the Russian autocracy. Tsar (Bulgarian цар, Russian царь,  listen; often spelled Czar or Tzar and sometimes Csar or Zar in English), was the title used for the autocratic rulers of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires since 913, in Serbia in the middle of the 14th century, and in Russia from 1547 to... Painting of Tsar Alexander III (1886), by Ivan Kramskoi (1837-1887), original, 41 x 36 in. ... 1922 U.S. gold certificate The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of gold. ... 1897 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Hot metal work from a blacksmith In chemistry, a metal (Greek: Metallon) is an element that readily forms ions (cations) and has metallic bonds, and it is sometimes said that it is similar to a cation in a cloud of electrons. ... Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 Petroleum (from Latin petra – rock and oleum – oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish flammable liquid, which exists in the upper strata of some areas of the Earths crust. ...

Despite repeated attempts at reform including the calling of a conference on the needs of the rural industry Witte's failure was in the agrarian peasant sector of the economy. During his time in office the lot of the peasants slowly declined and unrest increased in the peasant population. In part because of this and because of the nobility's dislike of him and his opposition to war with Japan, Nicholas II replaced Witte as Finance Minister in 1903, giving him the relatively powerless position of Chairman of the Committee of Ministers. Tsar Nicholas II (18 May 1868 – 17 July 1918)1 was the last crowned Emperor of Russia. ...

Witte returned to the forefront in 1905, however, when he was called upon by the Tsar to negotiate an end to the Russo-Japanese War. Witte traveled to the United States, where the peace talks were being held, and negotiated brilliantly on Russia's behalf. Despite losing dramatically on the battlefield Russia lost very little in the final settlement. 1905 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) was a conflict that grew out of the rival imperialist ambitions of Imperial Russia and Japan in Manchuria and Korea. ...

After this success Witte was brought back into the governmental decision-making process to help deal with the civil unrest following the war and Bloody Sunday. Witte advocated for the creation of an elected parliament, the formation of a constitutional monarchy, and the establishment of a Bill of Rights. Many of his reforms were put into place, but they failed to end the unrest. This, and overwhelming victories by liberal political parties in Russia's first elected parliament, the State Duma, forced Witte to resign as Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister). For other incidents referred to by this name, see Bloody Sunday. ... The debating chamber or hemicycle of the European Parliament in Brussels. ... A constitutional monarchy is a form of government established under a constitutional system which acknowledges a hereditary or elected monarch as head of state. ... The State Duma (Russian: Государственная дума (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), common abbreviation: Госдума (Gosduma)) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (parliament), the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. ...

Witte returned just prior to the outbreak of World War I to urge that Russia stay out of the conflict. His warning that Europe faced calamity if Russia became involved went unheeded, and he died shortly thereafter.

References

• The Memoirs of Count Witte, edited by Sydney Harcave

Ivan Nikolayevich Durnovo (1834 - 1903) was a Russian political figure. ... The Prime Minister of Russia is the current Head of Government of the Russian Federation. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 1906 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Ivan Goremykin Ivan Logginovich Goremykin (Russian: Ива́н Логгинович Горемы́кин) (November 8, 1839 - December 24, 1917) was a Russian politician. ...