Count, then Prince Wenzel Anton Dominik Kaunitz-Rietberg ( German: Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz , February 2, 1711 - June 27, 1794 ) - an Austrian statesman from the Kaunitz family , who was in charge of the external relations of the Holy Roman Empire from 1753 to 1792 years. The initiator of the Diplomatic Revolution . For the successful completion of the Seven Years War for Empress Maria Theresa in 1764, he was elevated to prince ( Fürst ).
| Wenzel Anton Kaunitz | |||||||
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| Predecessor | Johann Christoph von Bartenstein | ||||||
| Successor | Philip von Cobenzl | ||||||
| Birth | February 2, 1711 Vein | ||||||
| Death | June 27, 1794 (83 years old) Vein | ||||||
| Father | Maximilian Ulrich von Kaunitz | ||||||
| Mother | Maria Ernestina Francis Von Rietberg | ||||||
| Spouse | Maria Ernestina von Staremberg | ||||||
| Children | Ernst Christoph von Kaunitz-Rietberg Dominic Anton Andreas von Kaunitz-Rietberg-Questenberg Franz Wenzel von Kaunitz-Rietberg Joseph Clemens von Kaunitz-Rietberg Maria Antonia von Kaunitz-Rietberg | ||||||
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Biography
Wenceslas Kaunitz was born on February 2, 1711 in Vienna. He spent his childhood at Austerlitz Castle in Moravia . His mother was the daughter and heiress of the last Earl of Rietberg from the Frisian house of Kirksen . As the youngest son in a count family of 19 children, he was first intended for the clergy. However, of all his brothers, only one survived to adulthood, but he also died single. In view of this, it was Wenceslas who became the heir to everything that had been accumulated by many generations of his ancestors.
In 1742 he was sent to Turin with the order to tighten the Austrian defensive alliance with Sardinia and England against France and Spain. In 1744, he was appointed Minister at the court of the Governor General of the Austrian Netherlands, Duke Karl of Lorraine . In 1748, he attended the Peace Congress in Aachen , where he laid the foundation for his reputation as an outstanding diplomat.
Appointed after the Aachen Peace as state conference minister, he spoke out in a lengthy memo for an alliance between Austria and its long-standing enemy, France, which, however, the Empress Maria Theresa did not agree at that time. As ambassador to France (1750-53), he also did not achieve this goal. In 1753, he, as state chancellor, transferred control of foreign policy from Bartenstein . Only after that he in 1756 managed to carry out an alliance with France and an extensive coalition against Frederick the Great . The main goal of his policy was, with the assistance of France and Russia, to suppress the growing military power of Prussia. He did not succeed, but during the partition of Poland he delivered Austria to Galicia, and then increased the Austrian possessions by the annexation of Bukovina and the Inn district.
Kaunitz also had a great influence on domestic politics, and, as a supporter of the Enlightenment , he promoted reforms in various fields of public life, especially under Joseph II . Not sympathizing with the turn in Austrian politics that began with the accession to the throne of Emperor Franz II , he resigned in 1792 .
He was known as the patron saint of sciences and arts and himself possessed a significant art collection. He was married to the granddaughter of Field Marshal Staremberg , and his own granddaughter Maria Eleanor was the wife of Chancellor Metternich . His grandson Alois Wenceslas (1774-1848) had only female children. With the death of this grandson, the Kaunitz-Rietberg clan stopped.
Literature
Kaunitz, Wenzel-Anton-Dominic // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.