# Mikhail Tereshchenko — Ten Days That Shook the World character guide

> Mikhail Tereshchenko in Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Terestchenko, Mr. Terestchenko

**First appearance:** 0011-i-background

## Snapshot

Foreign Minister of the Provisional Government whom Miliukov accuses of being too timid to speak his mind or even think in terms of Russia's greatness.

## Who they are

Tereshchenko represents the fading authority of the Provisional Government's diplomatic wing, a man Miliukov contemptuously dismisses as afraid to speak the thought in his mind. His reluctance to match Miliukov's imperial rhetoric reveals the government's drift, unable to articulate a vision that could compete with the Bolsheviks' simple promises. His weakness underscores how the old diplomatic establishment was being swept aside by forces it could neither understand nor control.

## In the story

### [III: On the Eve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/iii-on-the-eve)

Assailed from the Left in the Council of the Republic; offers to resign after Skobelev's protest.

### [Terestchenko’s Speech (Resumé)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/8-terestchenko-s-speech-resum)

Delivers a speech defending the Provisional Government's foreign policy, emphasizing alliance with the Allies, secrecy, and opposition to a separate peace.

### [Miliukov's Speech (Resumé)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/12-miliukov-s-speech-resum)

Miliukov contemptuously accuses Tereshchenko of being afraid to speak his mind or think in terms of Russia's greatness.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/characters/terestchenko
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/characters