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Zusatztext Lee Farrow has provided a great service to students of diplomacy and Russian-American relations with her study of the Catacazy Affair. Her extensive research and detailed retelling of what appears on the surface to be a minor episode reveals a fascinating story of intrigue that had a significant impact on relations between the United States and Russia. Farrow's ability to disentangle the complicated details of this episode results in a compelling and enjoyable book to read. Highly recommended! Informationen zum Autor Lee A. Farrow is Distinguished Teaching Professor of History at Auburn University-Montgomery, USA. She is the author of Seward's Folly: A New Look at the Alaska Purchase (2016), Alexis in America: A Russian Grand Duke's Tour, 1871-1872 (2014) and Between Clan and Crown: The Struggle to Define Noble Property Rights in Imperial Russia (2005). Vorwort An exploration of the scandal surrounding Constantin Catacazy’s appointment as Russian Ambassador to the United States, as well as its causes and consequences for diplomacy. Zusammenfassung Constantin Catacazy whipped up scandal in Washington after his appointment there as Russian Ambassador in 1869, ignoring diplomatic protocol and defying social mores. By 1871, President Grant and his Cabinet requested that he be recalled. But the timing of this request overlapped with the visit of the tsar’s son to the USA - a celebrated diplomatic event symbolising the friendship and good will between the two nations. Consequently, Catacazy was allowed to travel with the tsar’s son, but only as a persona non grata. This tense resolution led many to worry about the future of the Russian-American friendship.With a keen sense of the human interest, Lee A. Farrow demonstrates that this affair was one of the earliest significant complications in the relationship between Russia and the USA. Using a lively micro-historical approach and fresh materials such as the letters of Catacazy and of Secretary of State Hamilton Fish from archives in the USA, UK and Russia, Farrow explores 19th-century politics and diplomacy, and the pre-suffrage power of women in the political arena through an investigation of the Washington wives’ reactions to the controversial figure of Olga Catacazy. The result is a cutting-edge analysis of this pivotal episode in modern history. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of IllustrationsIntroduction1. ‘Objectionable and Obnoxious’: Constantin Catacazy’s Early Life and Career2. ‘Fictitious Pretentions’: The Perkins Claims3. ‘The Intermeddling of the Russian Minister’: The Alabama Claims4. ‘Falsehood, Intrigue and Hostility’: Catacazy’s Breaches of Protocol5. ‘She Had a Story and a Past’: Olga Catacazy and the Washington Wives6. ‘A Thorough Mischief Maker’: The Recall of Catacazy7. ‘He … Smirked Too Much to be Dignified’: The Last Years of Constantin Catacazy8. Conclusion: The Significance of the Catacazy AffairBibliographyIndex...
