Kálnoky von Köröspatak, Gusztav Siegmund, Graf (count)

▪ Austro-Hungarian statesman

born Dec. 29, 1832, Lettowitz, Moravia [now Letovice, Czech Republic]

died Feb. 13, 1898, Prödlitz [now Brodek]

      Austro-Hungarian statesman who was minister of foreign affairs from 1881 to 1895.

      At first a professional soldier, Kálnoky entered the Austrian diplomatic service in 1854 without giving up his connection with the army, in which he attained the rank of general in 1879. After holding diplomatic posts in London, Rome, and Copenhagen, he became ambassador to Russia in 1880 and the next year returned to Vienna as foreign minister.

      Kálnoky's policy was generally conservative and fairly successful. He renewed Austria's alliance with Germany and cooperated with Otto von Bismarck (Bismarck, Otto von) in securing Italy's adherence to the Triple Alliance (1882). His secret treaties with Serbia (1881) and Romania (1883) were designed to diminish Russian power in the Balkans, as were his dealings with Bulgaria. Not wishing to worsen the problem of minorities within the empire, he rejected an offer by King Milan of Serbia to sell that country to Austria-Hungary. Though always wary of Russia, Kálnoky nonetheless tried to improve Austro-Russian relations.

      Kálnoky caused friction with Italy by stating in a speech (1891) that the question of the temporal power of the papacy was still unsettled. He wanted to use the Vatican to disrupt the Franco-Russian alliance (1893). Hungarian dislike of Kálnoky's views favouring papal authority was chiefly responsible for his resignation as foreign minister.

Additional Reading

Éva H. Balázs, Hungary and the Habsburgs, 1765–1800: An Experiment in Enlightened Absolutism (1997).

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