The Diplomatists of Europe

by M. Capefigue

The ambassador had recourse to the pleasing species of politics which reaches the secrets of the cabinet—through the heart. His fascinating manners had gained him the good-will of Napoleon, who took pleasure in distinguishing him in the crowd of foreign ministers, and liked to converse with him, though with an occasional observation that he was very young to be the representative of one of the oldest courts of Europe. "At the battle of Austerlitz you were scarcely older than I am now!" was one day the reply of the ambassador. The Emperor was never hasty in his language to Metternich, for he considered him as the means by which an idea of the French system could be conveyed into Austria; and more than once the subject of their debate was the question of the balance of power in Europe, which assumed in the mind of Napoleon such gigantic proportions. Metternich's scheme was to represent the alliance between France and Austria as indispensable; and he spoke of the treaty of 1736, concluded under the influence of the Duc de Choiseul, as the basis of all political grandeur in Europe. The conference of Erfurt was, however, a source of constant uneasiness to him, and Napoleon had just departed for the meeting which was to reconcile the two empires of the North and the South. Promises had been exchanged between the emperors, and in these plans the sacrifice of Austria was determined upon. They were not ignorant of this at Vienna: had, then, all the efforts of Metternich in Paris been in vain? The Spanish war had just broken out, and another sovereign had been hurled from his throne. Was not this a fresh warning to the House of Austria? The alarms it inspired were confessed at the court of London, and England fed their fears in order to induce them to take a vigorous part in the war; for which purpose a report was circulated of a projected change of succession in the Austrian dynasty, favoured by Napoleon.

The peace of Presburg, by placing every where in the Germanic Confederation French principles, and almost French administration, had excited strong dissatisfaction, and the general detestation had been increased by large military contributions, and numerous vexatious oppressions indulged in by the generals and their subordinates. In every direction burst forth the anti-Gallic spirit in favour of the liberty of Germany, especially among the nobility and the secret associations, which had become formidable as early as 1808. The liberal impulse against Napoleon had been awakened in Europe, and it was not one of the least influential causes of his downfall. England encouraged these views; subsidies were promised to a government deeply involved in debt; the resistance of the Peninsula was pointed out to Austria, and the difficulties thereby opposed to the military power of Napoleon, especially after the capitulation of Baylen. Why should they not take advantage of this opportunity to burst through the conditions imposed by the treaty of Presburg? England engaged to subsidise the Austrian army, if, uniting their efforts to the common cause, they would seize that moment for declaring against France; and she also promised a simultaneous diversion in Holland and Spain. These warlike propositions soon found friends among the German nobility, and Count Stadion entered completely into the English views. The levies were immense, for the fate of the empire was at stake.

At this period the business of the young ambassador was to mask by flattering promises the military preparations that were making in Austria. His papers were full of protestations of confidence: and how could he act otherwise? Is it not the duty of a diplomatist to soften the course of events, and to moderate the first bursts of anger and vengeance of one nation against another? Austria did not wish to engage in war until Napoleon should be completely absorbed in his Spanish expedition. But as soon as the Emperor and the Old Guard had left Paris, to raise the puppet throne of Joseph at Madrid, she no longer dissembled her warlike preparations; hostilities were commenced against Bavaria, the close ally of Napoleon, and the Austrian standard was unfurled at Ulm. Napoleon, informed of this unexpected movement, made but one step back to Paris. Metternich was still there.

The ambassador was now placed in a very delicate position, for the Austrian war had really been a surprise. Napoleon thought himself the dupe of Metternich, and he commanded Fouché, the Minister of Police, to cause him to be seized, and marched from one military station to another, until he reached the frontier. The order was harsh, brutal, and contrary to all diplomatic usages. Is not an ambassador bound to obey the instructions of his government, and to serve its interests? and is it not his duty to conceal every thing that may injure his court? Fouché, with his usual regard to his own interest, and who considered what the future might bring forth, executed the orders of Napoleon with delicacy and politeness. He went to the ambassador's house, told him the occasion of his visit, and expressed the most lively regret for it. A degree of dissatisfaction had already begun to arise in the mind of this minister, who looked forward to the time when the insatiable ambition of Napoleon must have a limit, and he and Metternich expressed to each other, in mutual confidence, their feelings on the miseries of war and the rapacious spirit of Napoleon; and Fouché, whose disposition was generally communicative and incautious, went so far as to give utterance to most singular opinions concerning the probable downfall, or even death, of his master. In order as far as possible to soften the rigorous orders he had received, a single captain of gendarmerie, chosen by Marshal Moncey, accompanied the travelling-carriage of the ambassador to the frontier. Prince Metternich takes pleasure in relating the curious occurrences of this journey, which, like that of the aide-de-camp Czernicheff in 1812, was not devoid of peril.

Then the earth was shaken! The Austrian army, under the Archduke Charles, fought valiantly for the defence of their country and their sovereign, and the battle of Essling menaced the fortunes of Napoleon. The disastrous event of this day was never fully published in France; but elsewhere it was perfectly known. Preussisch-Eylau, the capitulation of Baylen, and the battle of Essling on the Danube, appear to me to be the three culminating points, which first taught the world that the armies of Napoleon were no longer invincible: these battles had a great moral influence upon the affairs of Europe, and Wagram was necessary to restore the powerful effect of the Emperor's name; the field of battle on this occasion was doubtful, but nothing could be more decisive than the result; great discouragement was manifested in the councils of Vienna, and the party in favour of peace carried the day.

Victory had then decided between France and Austria, proving the star of Napoleon to be utterly irresistible. The two parties which divided the court of Vienna now became more marked, the opinion in favour of peace, represented by Count Bubna, prevailed in the Emperor's council, and Count Stadion, who had hitherto had the direction of affairs under the influence of the English system, was obliged to retire from the cabinet. The ministry for foreign affairs having thus become vacant, Francis II. thought to conciliate France by the appointment of Metternich, who had displayed great abilities during his embassy to that country. The count, having been reconciled with Napoleon, had since then carefully maintained a middle course between peace and war, and he had also begun to adopt in politics the attitude of armed neutrality, which, ever since 1813, has been the characteristic of Austrian policy. This was a period of deep humiliation for the old imperial crown. The Moniteur had announced that the House of Lorraine had ceased to reign; the Austrian monarchy had been vanquished in the struggle, its armies had experienced terrible reverses; but there still remained to the Emperor Francis the devoted affection of his people, and the indignation they felt at the prospect of French domination.

Count Metternich was sent as minister plenipotentiary to Napoleon, together with Count Bubna, and interviews took place for the purpose of treating of peace. The victor was excessively irritated at the vigorous conduct of Austria, and never were conferences attended with more violence or more fiery disputes; so that Metternich was obliged to apply all the powers of his mind towards inspiring the haughty conqueror with more moderate sentiments. If Napoleon bore in mind his silent and skilful conduct in 1809, he knew, that by favouring his elevation at the court of the Emperor of Austria, he should secure to himself an ally and a representative of his system. These motives, joined to dark hints of assassination, and to the uneasiness caused by the religious brotherhoods among the people, which were already beginning to stir for independence, all contributed to hasten the conclusion of the treaty of Vienna. Is it necessary to remind the reader that the French every where made use of their victories with the inflexible right of the conqueror?

On the occasion of this treaty, Count Metternich received the title of Chancellor of the State, with the direction of foreign affairs,—an office of immense responsibility under existing circumstances. The population was exhausted by the war; the treasury without resources, having been completely drained by the contributions levied by the French; and the monarchy was deprived of all influence in Germany, the treaty of Vienna having robbed it of the last remains of importance towards the south; so that, as I have elsewhere[3] remarked, beside her was the Confederation of the Rhine, that is to say, Napoleon; in front the Helvetic Confederation, again Napoleon; to the south the kingdom of Italy, still Napoleon. There remained but a choice of two plans to Austria, either again to try the chance of war, or to appease the Emperor of the French by the most profound submission to all his wishes. Such was the idea of Metternich, when he suggested the marriage of the archduchess, when, as it was said by the implacable Lady Castlereagh, it was necessary to deliver up a daughter of the house of Austria to satisfy the Minotaur.

If the French emperor were to choose a wife among the grand-duchesses of the house of Romanoff, the plan proposed at Erfurt would be quickly accomplished, that is to say, the formation of two great empires, around which there would be a number of small intermediate kingdoms, in some degree dependent upon them; and, to avoid this peril, Metternich hastened the marriage between Napoleon and Maria Louisa: by this means the house of Austria would secure a real protector in the French emperor, and the suit of a brilliant adventurer, at the feet of the daughter of a royal line, might be advantageous to the future prospects of the German crown. It is allowable in politics to calculate to what extent human passions may affect the course of affairs, and therefore the new chancellor of the state, when negotiating the union of the archduchess with Napoleon, looked forward, by means of a family arrangement, to recovering the position of which Austria had been deprived by the fortune of war. The marriage of the archduchess was arranged and concluded entirely by Metternich.

Still, however, he carefully pursued the course towards which there appeared at that time to be a general bent in Europe. In the beginning of the year 1811, certain symptoms appeared to indicate to the court of Vienna that a rupture was about to take place between France and Russia, and these suspicions were changed ere long into certainty: M. Otto, the French ambassador at Vienna, opened his mind completely to Metternich, and, acting on the principle of the late alliance, he proposed they should form a kind of league of offence and defence in the war Napoleon was about to commence against Russia. The French emperor only required a detached corps of 40,000 Austrian auxiliaries as an active force, who were to attack the eastern extremity of Gallicia, at the same time that the French army should proceed to the Vistula. This treaty farther stipulated that the Austrian possessions in Poland should remain untouched, and certain territorial cessions in favour of Austria were agreed upon, in the event of the war against Russia proving successful; thus Metternich began to reap the advantages of the French alliance.