Felix von Schwarzenberg

Felix Prince de Schwarzenberg (October 2nd 1800 with Český Krumlov, Bohemia - April 5th 1852 with Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian statesman which restored the empire of the Habsbourg like European power after the revolution of 1848.

Nephew of the prince Karl Philipp zu Schwarzenberg, ordering Austrian armies in the last phases of the Napoleonean wars, Schwarzenberg enters the diplomatic corps, where it becomes one protected from the prince Klemens von Metternich and is useful in several Austrian embassies.

He is also the brother-in-law of the Prince de Windischgrätz.

At the time of the revolution of 1848, it helps Joseph Radetzky to beat the rebellious forces in Italy. For its role as a close adviser of Radetzky, as well as thanks to its position of brother-in-law of the marshal Windischgrätz, who repressed the revolution in Prague and Vienna, Schwarzenberg is named Foreign Minister and minister-president of Austria in November 1848.

At this station, which it occupies until its untimely death in 1852, its first mission is to ensure the replacement of the emperor Ferdinand by François-Joseph. At the same time as the new emperor, Schwarzenberg asks for the assistance of a Russian army to overcome the Hungarian revolt, and to try to thwart the attempts of the Prussia to dominate the Germany: the tsar Nicolas Ier of Russia brings to him the assistance of his best general, Ivan Paskevich, with the head of an army of 150.000 men.

He restores the order in Austria by promulgating the constitution of 1849 (which is unaware of completely the Hungarian constitution of 1848, qu ' he judges illegitimate), applied in all the Empire of Austria and in the lombard-Venetian Royaume, which transforms the empire of the Habsbourg into a unit and centralized state, and imposes the backing of Olmütz on Prussia, forcing Prussia to give up, for the moment, his project to unify Germany with his profit, and to approve a reform of the old Germanic confederation.

More realistic than Metternich, it abolishes the privileges inside, prohibited the customs duties even of the Empire of Austria and thus ensures the economic unit of the country. A Parliament is also established, but does not have any real capacity, and is elected by the restricted vote. If it is reformed, the mode is however Absolutiste, hyper-centralized (all the officials are appointed with Vienna), the press and muzzled, and the army plays a paramount role. One speaks then about " System Bach " .

Schwarzenberg is regarded in Europe as a qualified statesman, although little trusts him (his own report/ratio, after the Russian intervention in Hungary, affirming that the Austria “would shock the world by the depth of its ingratitude”, can have played a part in this direction), and his early death is generally regarded by the historians as a serious loss for Austria, none of its successors having his stature or its competence.

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