Metternich

Name: Prince Klemens von Metternich

Nickname/Alias: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Fursrt von Metternich-Winneburg-Beilstein

Achievements: Hosted the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15

Born: May 15, 1773; Coblenz, Archbishopric of Trier, Austria

Died: June 11, 1859; Vienna, Austria (Aged 86)

Field & Discipline: Government & Politics; Statesman

Language: German; French; English

Father: Franz Georg Karl, Graf von Metternich-Winneburg

Mother: Countess Maria Beatrice von Kagenegg

Siblings: Pauline; Joseph

Spouse: 1) Eleonore von Kaunitz; 2) Antoinette von Leykam; 3) Melanie

Zichy-Ferraris

Children: By Eleonore: Marie;  Francis;  Clement; Victor; Clementine;  Leontine; Hermine.  By Antoinette: Richard.  By Melanie: Melanie; Clement;  Paul; Lothar.  By Katharine Bagration (mistress): Clementine Bagration (illegitimate)

Education: John Frederick Simon; Strasbourg University, France; Mainz University, Germany

Life & Times:

Still only 17, Metternich was made Ceremonial Marshal to the Catholic Bench

of the College of the Counts of Westphalia, and was introduced to the Emperor's young heir, the [Prime Minister to] Franz Josef*, who was five years Metternich's senior.  Emperor Leopold died suddenly in March, 1792. Franz, just 24, acceded to the throne, and within weeks the French declared war on Austria. 

When he was 21, Metternich was sent on a special diplomatic mission to London, where he met the King, the Prince of Wales, Prime Minister[met] Pitt*,  statesman [met] Burke*, Parliamentarian Charles James Fox, and playwright [met] Sheridan*. 

In 1801, at the age of 28, Metternich was appointed Austrian minister to the Saxon court at Dresden.  Two years later, he was moved to Berlin, again as Austrian minister, but here he failed to achieve his mission, which was to persuade Frederick William III of Prussia to join Austria in the war of 1805 against France (the Austro-Russian forces were defeated by France.)

In 1806, Metternich was sent to Paris as Austrian Minister to France, where he gained a reputation as a socialite and womanizer. He frequented [affair with sister of] Napoleon's* sister, Caroline Murat, and other women of Parisian society. He also successfully picked the brains of French foreign minister [knew] Talleyrand* and the Russian envoy.  In 1809, he was named minister of foreign affairs. 

Initially, Metternich had supported a national German uprising against Napoleon, but

began to change his mind, and by the end of the first decade of the 19^th century, had developed a firm dislike for all popular movements, sharing the Emperor's view that they were a menace to the multinational Habsburg state. 

When Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812, Metternich obtained independent status for the Austrian forces, which, under Prince Karl Schwarzenberg, accompanied the French Army.  When disaster befell Napoleon in January, 1813, despite the armistice concluded by Schwarzenberg with the Russians, Metternich was undecided about Austria's future alliances, and remained neutral while Austria secretly rearmed. When, later in 1813, Saxony returned to the French side and Napoleon triumphed over the Russians and Prussians at Bautzen,  Metternich proved himself a powerful mediator, arranging an armistice between France, Russia, and Prussia. 

After the Treaty of Reichenbach, signed in June, 1813, between Austria, Prussia, and Russia, Metternich threatened to take Austria into the war against France if Napoleon rejected his peace terms.  A meeting between the Napoleon and Metternich in Dresden failed to bring agreement, and in August, Austria declared war on France. 

One month later, Metternich's superb negotiating talents gained for Austria political and military superiority through the Teplitz Treaties -- a triple alliance between Russia, Austria and Prussia.  To show his appreciation Francis I bestowed on Metternich the hereditary title of prince.

After Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo and abdication in 1814, Metternich played a dominant role in the subsequent international negotiations for peace.  The first Treaty of Paris (May, 1814) was followed by the Congress of Vienna (September, 1814 to June,1815), which was the climax of Metternich's work of reconstruction.

From 1815, Metternich was the most active representative of reaction, working to repress all popular and constitutional revolutions.  He hoped that a system of congresses, at which the great powers would work in unison, would maintain order and peace in Europe.  At the congresses of Aix-la-Chapelle (1818), of Troppau (1820), of Laibach (1821), and of Verona (1822), his international reputation was at its peak.

But Metternich's grand scheme began to fall apart, beginning when Great Britain dropped the policy of intervention against revolutions in other countries. British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh had prepared the way at Troppau, and George Canning, his successor, brought Metternich's influence on Western Europe to an end by insisting on the right of self-determination for the South American colonists in revolt against Spain and for the Greek insurgents against Turkey.

But in July, 1830, Revolution in France, followed by insurrections in Belgium, Poland, and Germany convinced the eastern powers (Austria, Prussia, and Russia) that they should stand together.

Metternich's power in Austria began to wane from 1826.  Five years earlier, he had been appointed Austrian state chancellor, but his influence was decisively restricted by the appointment of Franz Anton, Graf von Kolowrat, as minister of state and head of the Cabinet conferences. 

When the feebleminded Ferdinand became emperor in 1835, Metternich's influence became less political.  In 1842, he introduced the music of [promoted music of] Donizetti* to the emperor, who immediately invited the composer to be his Kapellmeister. 

As nationalist ideologies won ground during the 1840’s, Metternich became a hated symbol of repression and reaction.  In March, 1848, he was forced to resign, the first victim of the Austrian revolution.  He went into exile in England, but returned to Vienna in 1851, where he retired to his castle of Johannesberg on the Rhine until his death in 1859.

Extra Connections: Met [met] Beethoven*. 

Released [freed] Kossuth* from gaol.

He helped Empress [aided escape of] Eugenie* escape France to exile

He outlawed [outlawed] Mazzini*

He was painted by [painted by] Sir Thomas Lawrence*

He commissioned music from [commissioned] Rossini*

He employed [employed] Friedrich von Schlegel*

His wife supported [wife supported] Wagner*

He blocked the diplomatic career of writer [blocked career of]Stendhal* (aka Henri Beyle)

Assessment: Metternich's achievements were transitory, triumphs of expediency, rather than principle.

Oneliner: Prince Metternich, international 19^th-century mover and shaker

Bibliography:

• Chambers Biographical Dictionary.
• Encyclopedia Britannica.
• Palmer, Alan, Metternich, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1972.