Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz

Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz (1711-1794), Austrian state chancellor (1753-1792) and chief adviser on foreign affairs to the Habsburg sovereigns Maria Theresa and Joseph II. In 1748 Kaunitz represented Austria at the conclusion of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended the War of the Austrian Succession. As ambassador to France (1750-1753), he worked to free the Habsburg monarchy from its traditional alliance with Great Britain and the Netherlands, and to form a new coalition with France and Russia against Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia. This diplomatic revolution, accomplished in 1756, contributed to the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), and the Franco-Austrian connection remained important in European affairs until the French Revolution. He was created Prince von Kaunitz-Rietberg in 1764. Collaborating with Emperor Joseph II, Kaunitz acquired Galicia for Austria at the first partition of Poland (1772), and arranged for the transfer of Bukovina from Ottoman to Austrian rule in 1775.