Wenzel Anton Kaunitz

Wenzel Anton, Earl and then Prince of Rittberg-Kaunitz (1711-1794) was a noble from Bohemia. Impregnated of the culture of the Enlightenment, a devoted civil servant, he always had the full confidence and support from Empress Maria-Theresa. After a diplomatic career, he became Chancellor of Austria in 1753, till 1792. A partisan of alliance shifts, he worked out the closer ties with France that led to the Seven Years War, but also managed to renew with Frederick II of Prussia in time to be part of the first partition of Poland.