Делатност првог руског конзула у Србији Герасима Вашћенка 1838-1843. године
Activity оf тhe First Russian Consul иn Serbia Gerasim Vaschenko 1838–1843

Summary/Abstract: Gerasim Vasilevich Vaschenko, born in 1790, was the first Russian consul in Serbia. Like the majority of Russian diplomats in the Ottoman Empire, he began with his service in the Russian legation in Constantinople. As a dragoman (interpreter), he was perfecting his French and Turkish, and gaining practical knowledge necessary for diplomatic work. At the time of the Greek uprising, he was secretary to the commission for sheltering Greek refugees in Odessa (1821–1826), member of the Russian delegation in negotiations with the Turks in Akerman (May–October 1826), and member of the Russian mission in Wallachia and Moldova (1828–1830). He was the first Russian consul in the territory of present-day Bulgaria in Sliven (1830–1833). He also served as a consul in Orșova, Wallachia, from 1837 to 1838. Vaschenko’s consulship in Serbia (1838–1843) may be tentatively divided into three phases. In the first phase (1838–1839), he worked on suppressing British influence in Serbia, supporting the opposition in its struggle against Prince Miloš. A change in the course of Russian foreign policy at the time of the second Egyptian crisis of 1840/41 resulted in Vaschenko’s active support of Prince Mihailo’s Government in 1841/42. The Russian influence in Serbia diminished significantly with the outbreak of Vučić’s riot in 1842 and the banishment of Prince Mihailo. Vaschenko’s consulship did not help improve relations between the Russian Empire and the Principality of Serbia. This was due not only to differing state interests, but also to Vaschenko’s traits – his presumptuous behaviour and aderisive attitude which was off-putting rather than appealing.

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