Everything about Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz totally explained
Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz (
February 2,
1711 –
June 27,
1794) was an
Austrian
statesman.
Kaunitz was born in
Vienna to an old
Bohemian noble family settled in
Moravia. It was intended that Kaunitz should become a clergyman when he was a boy, but he soon decided otherwise and studied law instead. During his career, he was Austria's ambassador in
Turin (1741), then minister in the
Austrian Netherlands during the absence of its ruler Prince
Charles of Lorraine, October 1744 to June 1746; he was virtually the head of government after the death of the governor, Archduchess Maria-Anna, sister of
Maria Theresa in December 1744. The following the French advance forced his retreat with the governmewnt of the Austrian Netherlands, first to
Anvers, then to
Aachen, where Kaunitz represented Austria at the
Congress of Aachen at the close of the
War of the Austrian Succession (1748) and was ambassador at Versailles 1750-53, where he cooperated in laying the groundwork for the future Bourbon-Habsburg alliance.
Kaunitz's most important and extremely influential office was that of the chancellor of state and minister of foreign affairs, which he held 1753-92 and where he'd
Maria Theresa's full trust. Thanks in large part to him, Habsburg Austria entered a treaty (1756) with her old enemy
France (and later
Russia and
Sweden) against the
Kingdom of Prussia to win back
Silesia, which Austria lost to Prussia during the
Silesian Wars.
Kaunitz founded the Austrian Council of State, the
Staatsrat, 1761, oversawing the reorganization of the army under
Daun and worked towards the goal of subjecting the church to the state. He followed the thoughts of the
Age of Enlightenment and among his aims was also the better education of the commoners.
From 1764 Kaunitz was styled
Reichsfürst von Kaunitz-Rietberg (Imperial Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg), his father having been Maximilian Ulrich von Kaunitz, and his mother having been Marie Ernestine von Ostfriesland-Rietberg.
Although
Joseph II generally shared such ideas, his reforms moved too fast and too thoroughly for Kaunitz. whose influence grew less during Joseph's reign (1765–90), and even less when Joseph's brother
Leopold II reigned; he resigned his office at the accession of
Francis II. Kaunitz died in Vienna.
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