Kaunitz, Wenzel Anton von

Kaunitz, Wenzel Anton von

▪ chancellor of Austria
in full  Wenzel Anton, Prince (Fürst) von Kaunitz-Rietberg 
born Feb. 2, 1711, Vienna, Austria
died June 27, 1794, Vienna
 Austrian state chancellor during the eventful decades from the Seven Years' War (1756–63) to the beginning of the coalition wars against revolutionary France (1792). Kaunitz was responsible for the foreign policy of the Habsburg monarchy, and he served as principal adviser on foreign affairs to the empress Maria Theresa and to her successors.

      Destined for the church, Kaunitz studied law instead. After a tour of Europe he entered the Austrian foreign service in 1740, advancing to minister to the Sardinian court in 1742. In Turin, Italy, he learned diplomacy from the unscrupulous king of Sardinia, Charles Emmanuel III. He rapidly became known to Empress Maria Theresa, who sent him to the Netherlands as chief minister to Charles of Lorraine and her sister Maria Anna. Kaunitz governed these northern provinces virtually unaided but, nevertheless, proved unable to defend them against France.

      A lifelong enemy of Prussia, Kaunitz represented Austria at the Aachen (now in Germany) peace congress in 1748, where he began to formulate the policy that was to reverse Europe's traditional alliance system a few years later. He wished to break Austria's alliances with England and the United Provinces, which were friendly toward Prussia, and bring France and Russia into the Habsburg orbit, an ambition he failed to realize as ambassador to Paris (from 1750). In 1753, however, he was made head of the Austrian State Chancery, and his efforts were rewarded in 1756, when Austria and France signed the defensive treaty of Versailles. Russia acceded the next year. This reversal of alliances was his greatest diplomatic coup, resulting in the isolation of Prussia on the Continent. The allies proved unable to subdue Frederick the Great during the ensuing Seven Years' War, however, and Kaunitz finally negotiated the peace of Paris in 1763. In 1764 he was created Fürst von Kaunitz-Rietberg.

      After the death of Maria Theresa's husband, the Holy Roman emperor Francis I, Kaunitz' influence increased. He participated in the first partition of Poland (1772) and worked toward a détente with Prussia. Nevertheless, Austria once again became involved in a war with that state over the Bavarian succession (1778–79). Having extended his influence to domestic affairs, he organized the state council to run the country (1760) and favoured reorganizing and centralizing the administration of many of the Habsburg domains.

      Kaunitz' relations with Maria Theresa's co-regent and successor, her son Joseph, were much less cordial, and he often served as mediator between the Empress and her more active and aggressive son. With the son's accession as Joseph II (1780), the foreign minister's powers were cut drastically, and the vain, eccentric Kaunitz was increasingly pushed into the background.

      The French Revolution terminated the system of alliances for which Kaunitz had stood. The new emperor Leopold II drew closer to Prussia again (Reichenbach convention of 1790), and the aged minister resigned under the emperor Francis II on Aug. 19, 1792.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz — Rietberg Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz Le comte Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz Rietberg, né à Vienne le 2 février 1711 et mort dans cette même ville le 27 juin 1794, est un diplomate et homme politique des Pays Bas autrichiens …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz-Rittberg — Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz Rietberg Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz Le comte Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz Rietberg, né à Vienne le 2 février 1711 et mort dans cette même ville le 27 juin 1794, est un diplomate et homme politique des Pays Bas autrichiens …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Wenzel anton von kaunitz-rietberg — Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz Le comte Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz Rietberg, né à Vienne le 2 février 1711 et mort dans cette même ville le 27 juin 1794, est un diplomate et homme politique des Pays Bas autrichiens …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz-Rietberg — Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz Le comte, puis prince (1764) Wenzel Anton de Kaunitz Rietberg, né à Vienne le 2 février 1711 et mort dans cette même ville le 27 juin 1794, est un diplomate et homme politique autrichien …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Wenzel Anton Kaunitz — Wenzel Anton Graf von Kaunitz Rietberg Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz (* 2. Februar 1711 in Wien; † 27. Juni 1794 in Mariahilf bei Wien), seit 1764 Reichsfürst von Kaunitz Rietberg, war österreichischer Staatsmann des …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg — Portrait by Jean Étienne Liotard, wearing the chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece State Chancellor of the Habsburg Monarchy …   Wikipedia

  • Wenzel Anton Kaunitz —     Wenzel Anton Kaunitz     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Wenzel Anton Kaunitz     An Austrian prince and statesman, born at Vienna 2 February, 1711; died there 27 June, 1794. His parents had destined him for the Church, and the age of thirteen… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz — Graf Kaunitz Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz (* 2. Februar 1711 in Wien; † 27. Juni 1794 in Mariahilf bei Wien), seit 1764 Reichsfürst von Kaunitz Rietberg, war österreichischer Staatsmann des …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz — Wenzel Anton Graf [German title|Graf)] Kaunitz ( cs. Václav Antonín hrabě Kounic Rietberg) (February 2, 1711 ndash; June 27, 1794) was an Austrian statesman.Kaunitz was born in Vienna to an old Bohemian noble family settled in Moravia. It was… …   Wikipedia

  • Clemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich — Klemens Wenzel (oder Clemens Wenceslaus) Nepomuk Lothar Graf (seit 1813 Fürst) von Metternich Winneburg zu Beilstein (* 15. Mai 1773 in Koblenz; † 11. Juni 1859 in Wien), Graf von Königswart, seit 1818 Herzog von Portella, war ein Staatsmann im… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”