Radovitz, Joseph Maria von

Joseph Maria Ernst Christian Wilhelm von Radowitz ( German: Joseph Maria Ernst Christian Wilhelm von Radowitz ; February 6, 1797 , Blankenburg - December 25, 1853 , Berlin ) - Prussian general and statesman.

Joseph Maria von Radovitz
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Prussia 1850
Predecessor	Alexander von Shleinits
Successor	Otto Theodore Manteuffel
Birth
Death
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His father, originally from Hungary, was a Catholic, his mother a Protestant. Until the age of 14 he was brought up in a Protestant spirit, but then his father managed to instill in him a passionate love for Catholicism, which had a great influence on all his subsequent activities.

Having been educated in Paris, Radovitz entered the Westphalian artillery as an officer. In the battle of Leipzig, he was wounded and captured. After the fall of the Kingdom of Westphalia, Radovitz joined the Hessian elector, participated in the proceeds against France, and later was a teacher in the cadet corps.

In 1823 he switched to Prussian service and was appointed teacher to Prince Albrecht. At that time he wrote his first works: “Handbuch für die Anwendung der reinen Mathematik” (B., 1827), “Ueber die Theorie der Zuverlässigkeit der Beobachtungen und Versuche und der von derselben abhängigen Bestimmung des Mittels ausgegeben B. Zahlen” , 1827), “Der Kriegschauplatz in der Türkei” (B., 1829). The marriage with Countess von Bos gave him access to the Prussian aristocratic society. In the 30s he took a lively part in the conservative newspaper Polit. Wochenblat. "

Clericalism and conservatism of Radovits contributed to his rapprochement with the Crown Prince (later King Frederick Wilhelm IV ), who turned into an intimate friendship. At the end of the 30s, Radovitz was appointed Prussian military commissioner at the Frankfurt Union Diet, then envoy to the courts of Baden, Darmstadt and Nassausk. In 1847, he drafted a reform of the German Union and was sent to Vienna as an extraordinary commissioner, but his plans were not realized due to the sluggishness of Metternich and the revolutionary movements of 1848. In his works “Deutschland und Friedrich-Wilhelm IV” (Hamburg, 1848 ) and “Gespräche aus der Gegenwart über Staat und Kirche” (Stuttg., 1846) Radowitz was the spokesman for the direction that was held until 1848 by Friedrich-Wilhelm IV.

In the Frankfurt National Assembly, Radowitz, who left Prussian service, was the leader of the extreme right. At the end of April 1849, he was summoned to Berlin and took part in the development of a draft of a new allied system of Germany. An attempt to form a union with small states under the Prussian protectorate found in Radovitsa a fervent advocate and defender in front of the Prussian chambers in the Erfurt Parliament (February - March 1850).

During the conflict of Prussia with Austria and the German states supporting it, Radovitz assumed the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs (September 27, 1850) and insisted on decisive measures; when his proposals were not accepted by the king, he resigned (November 2).

In the then published Neue Gespräche aus der Gegenwart, he is no longer a defender of the estate monarchy, but a constitutionalist; his attitude towards Protestantism is becoming much milder; the idea of ​​the unification of Germany under Prussian hegemony, he is still devoted. In 1852 he again entered the military service, but already in 1853 he died.

Works other than those mentioned above are Die Theorie des Ricochets (Archiv für Artillerie und Ingenieurei, 1835), Ikonographie der Heiligen (Berl., 1834), Die Span. Successionsfrage ”(Frankfurt, 1839),“ Wer erbt in Schleswig ”(Karlsruhe, 1846) and others. Complete collection of his op. ("Gesammelte Schriften") came out in 1852-53. Wed Frensdorff, "Joseph von R." (Lp., 1850); Fischer, "R., seine polit. Anschauungen und deren Einfluss auf Friedrich-Wilhelm IV ”(“ Histor. Taschenbuch ”, Lp., 1874).

His son Joseph Maria von Radovitz, Jr. (1839-1912) is a German diplomat.