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Historical assessment of Klemens von Metternich
Prince Klemens von Metternich (full name (ドイツ語:Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein), anglicised as Clement Wenceslas Lothar von Metternich-Winneburg-Beilstein; 15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859) was a German-born Austrian politician and statesman and one of the most important diplomats of his era, serving as the Foreign Minister of the Holy Roman Empire and its successor state, the Austrian Empire, from 1809 until the liberal revolutions of 1848 forced his resignation.
==Criticism==
Particularly in the 19th century, Metternich was heavily criticised as the man who prevented Austria and the rest of central Europe from "developing along 'normal' liberal and constitutional lines".〔 If Metternich had not stood in the way of (in their view) progress, Austria might have reformed, dealt with the problems of nationality better, and the First World War may never have happened.〔 Instead, Metternich fought bitterly against the forces of liberalism and nationalism, but achieved only a temporary reprieve. Indeed, Robin Okey, a critic of Metternich, suggests that the social conservatism Metternich advocated may have actually been counter-productive when it came to keeping a lid on nationalist sentiment 〔 Moreover, in pursuit of this unachievable goal, Metternich was happy to sacrifice freedom of speech: heavy censorship was just one of many repressive instruments of state available to him that also including a large spy network. Though he did not introduce the bodies, he gave them their "demoralising aspect of permanence" during his long tenure as chancellor. He also opposed electoral reform, heavily criticising the British Reform Bill introduced in 1830. A more enlightened chancellor would have realised he was involved in a battle with "the prevailing mood of his age".〔 Instead of his zero tolerance approach, critics maintain that would have done better to have turned the current in a favourable direction; for example, the Austrian historian Viktor Bibl described Metternich as "the demon of Austria" for letting Prussia and not Austria unify Germany through his determination that Germany should not unify at all. Likewise, Metternich has been accused of excessive vanity to the point of complacency, and therefore someone ill-suited to the evolution of constitutional principles.〔
This view presupposes that Metternich had the ability to favourably shape Europe, but chose not to. More modern critiques, such as that included in the work of A. J. P. Taylor, have questioned just how much influence Metternich really had.〔 Okey noted that even in the realm of foreign affairs Metternich "had only his own persuasiveness to rely on", and this degraded over time.〔 On this reading, he stuck doggedly to a set of "cumbersome" conservative principles that he was forced to articulate in long and detailed memoranda: a "smokescreen" that hid Austria's true weakness. When it came to choosing a set of sound principles, wrote Taylor, "most men could do better while shaving".〔 The result was that Metternich was no captivating diplomatic force: Taylor described him as "the most boring man in European history"; Metternich himself boasted he could "bore men to death".〔 This view also highlights Metternich's abject failure to live up to his hype as the "coachman of Europe": Austria did not defeat Napoleon; Austria did not dictate the peace of Vienna; Austria could not stop France invading Spain, Britain settling the borders of Belgium or Russia deciding the fate of Turkey in 1833.〔 Not only were his failures limited to foreign affairs, critics argue: at home he was equally powerless, failing to push through even his own proposals for administrative reform.〔 On this basis it is argued that Metternich was essentially irrelevant both home and abroad.
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