Polish statesman
Count
Agenor Maria Adam Gołuchowski
(25 March 1849 – 28 March 1921) was a Polish
statesman
who inherited much of his father's wealth. Between 1895 and 1906 he served as the
Minister of Foreign Affairs
of
Austria-Hungary
. He was responsible for a period of
detente
in Austrian relations with
Imperial Russia
, harmed due to the Austrian and Russian struggle for control of the
Bosporus
. From 1907 he headed the Polish Group in the
Herrenhaus
, the upper chamber of the Austrian parliament.
Early life
[
edit
]
He was a son of Count
Agenor Gołuchowski
, who descended from an old and noble
Polish
family, was governor of
Galicia
. His brother,
Adam Gołuchowski
, was also an MP and Marshal of
Galicia
.
[1]
Entering the diplomatic service, the son was in 1872 appointed
attache
to the Austrian embassy in Berlin, where he became secretary of legation, and thence he was transferred to Paris. After rising to the rank of counsellor of legation, he was in 1887 made minister at
Bucharest
, where he remained until 1893.
Career
[
edit
]
Gołuchowski at his desk, 1901.
Portrait of Gołuchowski, by
Kazimierz Pochwalski
.
In these positions he acquired a great reputation as a firm and skilful diplomatist, and on the retirement of
Count Kalnoky
in May 1895 was chosen to succeed him as Austro-Hungarian minister for foreign affairs. The appointment of a Pole caused some surprise in view of the importance of Austrian relations with Russia (then rather strained) and Germany, but the choice was justified by events. In his speech of that year to the delegations he declared the maintenance of the
Triple Alliance
, and in particular the closest intimacy with Germany, to be the keystone of Austrian policy; at the same time he dwelt on the traditional friendship between Austria and
Great Britain
and expressed his desire for a good understanding with all the powers. In pursuance of this policy he effected an understanding with Russia, by which neither power was to exert any separate influence in the
Balkan
peninsula, and thus removed a long-standing cause of friction.
This understanding was formally ratified during a visit to
Saint Petersburg
, on which he accompanied the emperor in April 1897. He took the lead in establishing the European concert during the
Armenian massacres of 1896
, and again resisted isolated action on the part of any of the great powers during the
Cretan
troubles and the
Greco-Turkish War
. In November 1897, when the Austro-Hungarian flag was insulted at
Mersina
, he threatened to bombard the town if instant reparation were not made, and by his firm attitude greatly enhanced Austrian prestige in the East. In his speech to the delegations in 1898 he dwelt on the necessity of expanding Austria's
mercantile marine
, and of raising the fleet to a strength which, while not vying with the fleets of the great naval powers, would ensure respect for the Austrian flag wherever her interests needed protection. He also hinted at the necessity for European combination to resist American competition.
The understanding with Russia in the matter of the Balkan states temporarily endangered friendly relations with Italy, who thought her interests threatened, until Gołuchowski guaranteed in 1898 the existing order. He further encouraged a good understanding with Italy by personal conferences with the Italian foreign minister,
Tommaso Tittoni
, in 1904 and 1905.
Count
Lamsdorff
visited
Vienna
in December 1902, when arrangements were made for concerted action in imposing on the
sultan
reforms in the government of
Macedonia
. Further steps were taken (the
Murzsteg reforms
) after Gołuchowski's interview with the
tsar
at
Murzsteg
in 1903, and two civil agents representing the countries were appointed for two years to ensure the execution of the promised reforms. This period was extended in 1905, when Gołuchowski was the chief mover in forcing the
Porte
, by an international naval demonstration at
Mitylene
, to accept financial control by the powers in Macedonia. At the
Algeciras Conference
assembled to settle the
First Moroccan Crisis
, Austria supported the German position, and after the close of the conferences the emperor
Wilhelm II of Germany
telegraphed to Gołuchowski: "You have proved yourself a brilliant second on the duelling ground and you may feel certain of like services from me in similar circumstances". This pledge was redeemed in 1908, when Germany's support of Austria in the Balkan crisis proved conclusive.
By the
Hungarians
, however, Gołuchowski was hated; he was suspected of having inspired the emperor's opposition to the use of
Magyar
in the Hungarian army, and was made responsible for the slight offered to the Magyar deputation by
Franz Joseph I of Austria
in September 1905. So long as he remained in office there was no hope of arriving at a settlement of a matter which threatened the disruption of the
Dual Monarchy
, and on the 11 October 1906 he was forced to resign.
From 1895, he was also a conservative member of the
Herrenhaus
(House of Lords) of the
Imperial Parliament
in Vienna, and from 1907 was chairman of the influential “Poland Block,” the group of Polish members.
[
citation needed
]
Once
Congress Poland
had been conquered in the
First World War
, he supported the ‘Austrian solution', that is joining
Congress Poland
to Austria, thus marinating the ‘dual’ (Austria and Hungary) monarchy, as opposed to the ‘tripartite’ solution of uniting Congress Poland with Austrian
Galicia
as a third constituent part of a Triple Monarchy (Austria, Hungary, and Poland).
[5]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Gołuchowski was married to Princess Anna Napoleona Karolina Alexandrine Murat (1863?1940), a daughter of
Joachim, 4th Prince Murat
and the former Malcy Louise Caroline Berthier de Wagram and younger sister of
Joachim, 5th Prince Murat
. Princess Anna was a granddaughter of
Lucien, 3rd Prince Murat
, himself the second son of Gen.
Joachim Murat
, who married
Napoleon
's sister,
Caroline Bonaparte
, and was made
King of Naples
.
[6]
They were the parents of:
- Agenor Maria Gołuchowski (1886?1956), who married
Countess
Matylda Baworow-Bawarowska, a daughter of
Count
Rudolf Bawarow-Bawarowski.
[7]
- Wojciech Maria Agenor Gołuchowski (1888?1960), who married
Countess
Sophie Marie Czesława Baworow-Baworowska, a daughter of
Count
Michael Viktor Anton Baworow-Baworowska.
[8]
[9]
- Karol Gołuchowski
He died in Lwow on 29 March 1921.
[10]
Honours
[
edit
]
He received the following orders and decorations:
[11]
[12]
Austria-Hungary
:
Tuscan Grand Ducal Family
:
Grand Cross of St. Joseph
Sovereign Military Order of Malta
: Knight of Honour and Devotion,
1871
; Bailiff Grand Cross,
1896
Russian Empire
:
Kingdom of Prussia
:
United Kingdom
: Honorary Grand Cross of the
Royal Victorian Order
,
9 October 1903
[15]
Kingdom of Italy
:
Knight of the Annunciation
, with Collar,
7 November 1897
[16]
Spain
: Grand Cross of the
Order of Charles III
, with Collar,
19 October 1906
[17]
Kingdom of Bavaria
:
Knight of St. Hubert
,
1897
Kingdom of Saxony
:
Knight of the Rue Crown
,
1897
Wurttemberg
:
Grand Cross of the Wurttemberg Crown
,
1900
Holy See
:
Grand Cross of St. Gregory the Great
,
1894
Ottoman Empire
:
Order of Osmanieh
, 1st Class in Diamonds,
1902
Persian Empire
: Order of the August Portrait, in Diamonds
Sweden-Norway
:
Knight of the Seraphim
,
25 February 1904
[18]
Qing dynasty
:
Order of the Double Dragon
, Class I Grade III,
1902
; with Pearls,
1905
Kingdom of Portugal
:
Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword
,
1897
Belgium
: Grand Cordon of the
Order of Leopold
,
1903
Kingdom of Greece
:
Grand Cross of the Redeemer
,
1902
Kingdom of Romania
:
Kingdom of Serbia
:
Grand Cross of the White Eagle
Empire of Japan
:
Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun
,
1896
;
with Paulownia Flowers
,
1898
Siam
:
Grand Band of the White Elephant
,
1897
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
:
Grand Cross of the White Falcon
,
1901
Mecklenburg
:
Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown
Ethiopian Empire
:
Grand Cross of the Star of Ethiopia
Parmese Ducal Family
:
Grand Cross of the Constantinian Order of St. George
Principality of Montenegro
: Grand Cross of the
Order of Prince Danilo I
Principality of Bulgaria
:
Grand Cross of St. Alexander
,
1897
France
:
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
"Agenor, Count Gołuchowski | Austrian statesman"
.
www.britannica.com
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
. Retrieved
20 March
2020
.
- ^
Heinz Lemke:
Allianz und Rivalitat. Die Mittelmachte und Polen im Ersten Weltkrieg
. Verlag Bohlau, Wien/Koln/Graz 1977,
ISBN
3-205-00527-9
, S. 232-233 und 239
- ^
Godsey, William D.; Godsey Jr, William D. (1999).
Aristocratic Redoubt: The Austro-Hungarian Foreign Office on the Eve of the First World War
.
Purdue University Press
. p. 181.
ISBN
978-1-55753-140-7
. Retrieved
20 March
2020
.
- ^
R?kowski, Grzegorz (2005).
Przewodnik krajoznawczo-historyczny po Ukrainie Zachodniej: Podole
(in Polish). Oficyna Wydawnicza "Rewasz". p. 231.
ISBN
978-83-89188-46-5
. Retrieved
20 March
2020
.
- ^
"Wojciech Maria Agenor Gołuchowski"
.
www.biogramy.pl
(in Polish)
. Retrieved
20 March
2020
.
- ^
"Gołuchowski Wojciech Maria Agenor"
.
bs.sejm.gov.pl
. Retrieved
20 March
2020
.
- ^
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922).
"Goluchowski, Agenor, Count"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 31 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. p. 297.
- ^
"Gemeinsame (Reichs-) Ministerien, Heer, Kriegsmarine und Gemeinsamer Oberster Rechnungshof"
,
Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Osterreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie
, 1906, p. 247
, retrieved
14 April
2021
- ^
Jerzy Sewer Dunin-Borkowski (1908),
Almanach Bł?kitny
, Warsaw, pp. 373, 376?377
{{
citation
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
Koniglich Preussische Ordensliste
(in German), vol. 1, Berlin: Gedruckt in der Reichsdruckerei, 1886, p.
832
– via hathitrust.org
- ^
"Schwarzer Adler-orden"
,
Koniglich Preussische Ordensliste (supp.)
(in German), vol. 1, Berlin: Gedruckt in der Reichsdruckerei, 1895, p.
5
– via hathitrust.org
- ^
The London Gazette
, issue 27604, p. 6148
- ^
Italia : Ministero dell'interno (1898).
Calendario generale del Regno d'Italia
. Unione tipografico-editrice. p.
54
.
- ^
"Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III"
.
Guia Oficial de Espana
(in Spanish). 1907. p. 150
. Retrieved
20 July
2020
.
- ^
Sveriges statskalender
(in Swedish), 1905, p. 441
, retrieved
2020-07-20
– via runeberg.org
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