Metternich

Metternich (Clemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar von Metternich; 1773–1859), Austrian diplomat. After a diplomatic career in Saxony, Prussia, and France he became Austrian foreign minister (1809–48). He gradually dissociated Austria from France and organized an alliance of Austria, Russia, and Prussia against Napoleon. However, at the Congress of Vienna (1814–15) he reestablished a system of power whereby Russia and Prussia were balanced by the combined power of Austria, France, and England. Appointed state chancellor in 1821, his authority declined after 1826, and he was overthrown in 1848. The period 1815–48 is often called the Age of Metternich.

See also: Austria; Vienna, Congress of.