Austrian state chancellor whose "Metternich system" held down revolution for thirty years until the Vienna rising of 1848 drove him out
Born the son of a diplomat into the Rhenish House of Metternich, he studied at Strasbourg and Mainz. He became Austrian foreign minister in 1809 and led the Austrian delegation at the Congress of Vienna that shaped post-Napoleonic Europe. As state chancellor from 1821 to 1848 he aligned Austria with Russia and Prussia in the "Metternich system" against revolution and nationalism, policed German universities and press through the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819, and at home relied on censorship and a spy network. In the Vienna rising of 13 March 1848 he resigned at Archduke Ludwig's demand and fled to London. After exile in London, Brighton and Brussels he returned to the Viennese court in 1851 to advise Franz Joseph, and died in 1859 at the age of 86.
Also known as: Prince Metternich · Klemens Wenzel von Metternich
Activities and affiliations
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1809–1848
Diplomacy and international organization
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1821–1848
Austria state institutionsMain
Government and administration
Career Timeline
- 1809–1848Foreign minister of Austria
- 1814–1815Head of the Austrian delegation at the Congress of Vienna
- 1821–1848State chancellor of Austria
- 1848–1851Exile in London and Brussels
Related historical events
- 1848.03–1849.07The German Revolution of 1848–1849Austrian chancellorSymbol of the Vormärz restoration order, he was driven from office by the Vienna rising of 13 March 1848 and fled to England.
- 1848.03–1849.10The Hungarian Revolution and War of IndependenceState chancellor of AustriaPresided over the reactionary order since the Congress of Vienna, but resigned in the Vienna rising of 13 March 1848 and fled to London.
- 1848–1849The Revolutions of 1848Austrian chancellorSymbol of the conservative order since 1815, he resigned and fled after the Vienna rising of March 1848.