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Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (, (ドイツ語:Wenzel Anton Fürst von Kaunitz-Rietberg)) (2 February 1711 – 27 June 1794) was a diplomat and statesman of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1764 he was made a prince of the Holy Roman Empire as ''Reichfürst von Kaunitz-Rietberg'' and in 1776 prince of the Kingdom of Bohemia. ==Early life== Kaunitz was born in Vienna, one of 19 children of Maxmilian Ulrich, third count of Kaunitz, and Marie Ernestine née von Ostfriesland-Rietberg, an heiress. The Kaunitz family was an old Bohemian noble family descending from the Duchy of Troppau, settled in Slavkov (''Austerlitz'') Castle, Moravia. As the second son, it was at first intended that he should become a clergyman, and at thirteen he held a canonry at Münster.〔 With the death of his elder brother, he decided on a secular career, and studied law and diplomacy in Vienna, Leipzig and Leyden. He became a chamberlain of the emperor Charles VI, and continued his education by traveling for some years in Germany, Italy, France, and England.〔 In 1735, he was appointed aulic councillor of the empire ((ドイツ語:Reichshofrath)). At the German Diet of Ratisbon in 1739 he was one of the imperial commissaries. In March 1741, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Florence, Rome, and Turin, and in August 1742 was appointed Austrian ambassador at Turin. In October 1744, he became minister in the Austrian Netherlands. Its ruler, Prince Charles of Lorraine, was commanding the Austrian army in Bohemia against the King of Prussia, and after the December 1744 death of the governor, Archduchess Maria-Anna, who was Charles of Lorraine's wife and sister of Maria Theresa, Kaunitz was virtually the head of government.〔William J. McGill (1968), 'The roots of policy: Kaunitz in Italy and the Netherlands, 1742–1746', in: ''Central European History'', 1:2, pp. 131–149.〕 In 1746 he was forced to leave Brussels after it was besieged by French forces and move with the government of the Austrian Netherlands, first to Antwerp, then to Aachen. His request to be recalled from his difficult situation was heeded in June 1746. In 1748, he represented Holy Roman Empire at the Congress of Aachen at the close of the War of the Austrian Succession. Extremely displeased with the provisions that deprived Austria of the provinces of Silesia and Glatz and guaranteed them to Frederick II of Prussia, he reluctantly signed the resulting Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle on 23 October 1748.〔 In 1749 Maria Theresa appealed to all her counsellors for advice as to the policy Austria ought to pursue in view of the changed conditions produced by the rise of Prussia. The great majority of them, including her husband Francis I, were of opinion that the old alliance with the sea powers, England and Holland, should be maintained. Kaunitz had long been a strong opponent of the Anglo-Austrian Alliance, which had existed since 1731, and gave it as his opinion that Frederick was now the “most wicked and dangerous enemy of Austria,” that it was hopeless to expect the support of Protestant nations against him, and that the only way of recovering Silesia was by an alliance with Russia and France. The empress eagerly accepted views which were already her own, and entrusted the adviser with the execution of his own plans. Thus Kaunitz was ambassador at Versailles 1750–53, where he cooperated in laying the groundwork for the future Bourbon-Habsburg alliance. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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