Étienne-François de Choiseul

Étienne-François de Choiseul, Duke of Amboise

Étienne-François de Choiseul, Madame de Brionne and Abbé Barthélemy

The exit of the Duc de Choiseul in St. Peter's Square in Rome (1754), by Giovanni Paolo Pannini

Étienne-François de Choiseul (born June 28, 1719 in Nancy , Duchy of Lorraine , today France ; † May 8, 1785 in Paris ) was Marquis de Removille , Seigneur de Chanteloup , Marquis de Stainville (since 1770), Duc de Choiseul- Stainville and Peer of France (since 1758) as well as Duke of Choiseul, and Duke of Amboise and Peer of France (since 1764) and a leading French statesman during the Ancien Régime .

Life

Choiseul was the eldest son of François Joseph II. De Choiseul, marquis de Stainville (1700–1770) and carried in his earlier years the courtesy title Comte de Stainville (Count of Stainville). His brothers included the Prince Archbishop of Cambrai Léopold-Charles de Choiseul-Stainville and the Marshal of France Jacques Philippe de Choiseul-Stainville . He joined the army and served in Bohemia and Italy during the War of the Austrian Succession in 1741 , where he distinguished himself at the Battle of Coni in 1744. From 1745 to 1748 he was with the army in the Netherlands and took part in the battle of Mons , Charleroi and Maastricht . He was appointed lieutenant general and in 1750 married Louise Horine, daughter of the banker Louis François Crozat (1691–1750), Marquis de Chatel, who brought a great fortune to the marriage.

Choiseul won the favor of Madame de Pompadour by procuring her some letters that Louis XV. had written to his cousin Madame de Choiseul. After a short time as governor of Vosges, he was appointed ambassador to Rome in 1753 , where he was entrusted with the negotiations concerning the unrest in connection with the bull Unigenitus Dei filius . He fulfilled his obligation with skill, and in 1757 his patroness arranged for his transfer to Vienna , where he was instructed to cement the new alliance between France and Austria . His success in Vienna gave him the opportunity for a further career: Choiseul replaced Abbé François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis as Foreign Minister (1758–1761 / 1766–1770) and therefore steered French foreign policy during the Seven Years' War .

At that time he was promoted to Duc d'Amboise . Although his cousin César Gabriel de Choiseul-Praslin held the office of Foreign Minister from 1761 to 1766 , Choiseul continued to dominate French politics until 1770. For example, he served as Minister of War (1761–1770) and Minister of the Navy (1761–1766) at the same time. . In 1766 he and his cousin exchanged the Ministry of the Navy for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As the originator of the “ family pact ”, he tried to make amends for the devastating results of the alliance with Austria through an alliance with the Bourbon House in Spain ; but his measure came too late. His energetic policies in other areas of the state, however, were not in vain. After he came to power in the midst of a phase of demoralization caused by the defeats of Rossbach and Krefeld, he reformed the armed forces with courage and energy. Even if he came too late to prevent the loss of Canada and India , he developed the French colonies in the Antilles - including the “Pearl of the Caribbean” Saint Domingue - and brought Corsica and Lorraine under the French crown. His domestic politics generally satisfied the philosophes . He allowed the publication of the Encyclopédie and brought about the exile of the Jesuits .

Choiseul's fall was caused by his actions against the Jesuits and by his support for their opponents, La Chalotais and the provincial parliaments. After Madame Pompadour's death in 1764, his enemies, led by Madame Dubarry and the Chancellor Maupeou , became too strong for him and in 1770 he was forced to retire to his country estate in Chanteloup . The intrigues against him, however, had increased his already great popularity, and during his retirement, which lasted until 1774, he lived in the greatest luxury and was visited by many famous people. To his great disappointment, Louis XVI set him . did not return to his former office, even if the king allowed him to return to Paris in 1774. There he died in 1785 with a mountain of debts, which his widow conscientiously paid off.

From 1762 to 1771 he was Colonel général des Cent-Suisses et Grisons

meaning

Choiseul worked with skill and diligence, and although he lacked tenacity, he showed foresight and liberality in his administration. Horace Walpole gave a vivid description of Choiseul's character in his memoir . He accused him of having started the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1768 in order to get revenge on Tsarina Catherine II . Of his foreign policy he said “ he would project and determine the ruin of a country, but could not meditate a little mischief or a narrow benefit. ”Elsewhere he wrote,“ He dissipated the nation's wealth and his own; but did not repair the latter by plunder of the former ”, and in relation to Choiseul's personal life he claimed“ gallantry without delicacy was his constant pursuit ”. Choiseul's widow, a woman “ in whom industrious malice could not find an imperfection ”, lived in retirement until her death on December 3, 1808.

additional

The Choiseul Sound in the Falkland Islands is named after him.

literature

• Lucien Bély: Les Relations internationales en Europe (XVIIe- | XVIIIe. Éditions PUF, 1992.
• Johann Hartwig Ernst, Count von Bernstorff: Correspondance entre le comte Johan Hartvig Ernst Bernstorff et le duc de Choiseul, 1758-1766 . 1871.
• Louis Blart: Les Rapports de la France et de l'Espagne après le pacte de famille jusqu'à la fin du ministère du duc de Choiseul . Paris, Félix Alcan, 1915.
• Pierre Étienne Bourgeois de Boyne: Journal inédit 1765-1766: Suivi du Mémoire draw par le duc de Choiseul au roi Louis XV (1765) . Édition Honoré Champion, 2008.
• Alfred Bourguet: Études sur la politique étrangère de duc de Choiseul . réédition Broché 2009.
• Michel Antoine Louis XV (Fayard 1989);
• Alfred Bourguet: Le Duc de Choiseul et l'Alliance espagnole . Broché, 2011.
• Annie Brierre: Le Duc de Choiseul. La France sous Louis XV . Albatros, Paris, 1986 .
• Pierre-Étienne Bourgeois de Boynes: Journal inédit 1765-1766, suivi du mémoire remis au Roi par le duc de Choiseul 1765 , éd. de Marion F. Godfroy (Honoré Champion, Paris, 2008 );
• Guy Chaussinand-Nogaret: Choiseul (1719-1785). Naissance de la gauche . Perrin, coll. "Histoire", Paris, 1998 ISBN 2-262-01278-4 .
• Étienne François, duc de Choiseul Recueil d'estampes gravées d'après les tableaux du cabinet de Monseigneur le duc de Choiseul: (François Basan; Pre-1801 Imprint Collection (Library of Congress));
• Étienne François, duc de Choiseul, Lettre du Duc de Choiseul à Monsieur de Montmorin . 1791.
• Jean de Choiseul: Les Choiseul et l'histoire , éd. du papyrus, 1988 ;
• André Corvisier: L'Armée française de la fin du XVIIe au ministère de Choiseul. Le soldat .Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1964
• Laurence Cossé: La Femme du premier ministre , roman sur Louise-Honorine de Choiseul (éd. Gallimard, 1998) ;.
• Jacques Cuvillier et Daniel Roche: Famille et patrimoine de la haute noblesse française au XVIIIe: le cas des Phélypeaux, Gouffier, Choiseul [Broché] 2005);
• Eugene Theodore Daubigny: Choiseul et la France d'outre-mer après le traité de Paris . de Broché - 9 avril 2009.
• Jonathan R. Dull: La Guerre de Sept Ans: Histoire navale, politique et diplomatique . [Broché] 2009.
• François-Xavier de Feller: le duc de Choiseul . In: Dictionnaire historique; ou, Histoire abrégée des hommes qui se sont fait un nom . Liège, Riger, 1791. P116-117.
• J.-P. Ferrier: Le duc de Choiseul, Voltaire et la création de Versoix-la-Ville (1922, (21994));
• Charles Auguste Désiré Filon: L'Ambassade de Choiseul a Vienne en 1757 et 1758 d'après des documents inédits : mémoire lu à l'Académie des sciences morales et politiques dans les séances du 27 janvier et du 3 février 1872
• Frédéric II, roi de Prusse: Œuvres posthumes de , volume 6 (extraits), p. 113-127 books.google.2011);
• A. Gabeau: Le mobilier d'un château à la fin du XVIIIème siècle, Chanteloup et La galerie de tableaux du duc de Choiseul . réunions des Sociétés des Beaux-Arts des départements, 1898 et 1904.
• Charles Henri, baron de Greichen: Souvenirs . Imprimerie générale de Charles Lahure 2011.
• Alphonse Jobez: La France Sous Louis XV (1715-1774: Madame de Pompadour de 1763 Au 15 avril 1764. Ministre Du Duc de Choiseul, de 1764 Au 24 December 1770. Madame Du B. Broché 2010.
• Jacques Levron: Choiseul. Un skeptique au pouvoir . Coll. Présence de l'Histoire, Paris, Librairie académique Perrin, 1976, 334 p.
• Gaston Maugras: La Duchesse de Choiseul et le patriarche de Ferney . Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1889.
• Gaston Maugras: Le duc et la duchesse de Choiseul: leur vie intime, leurs amis et leur temps . Plon, 1904;
• Gaston Maugras: La disgrace du duc et de la duchesse de Choiseul, la vie à Chanteloup, le retour à Paris, la mort . Plon 1903.
• Arnaud de Maurepas, Antoine Boulant: Les Ministres et les ministères du siècle des Lumières (1715–1789). Étude et dictionnaire . 9 "Volume 19. Kindle edition 2011.
• Véronique Moreau Chanteloup: a moment de grâce du duc de Choiseul . Paris: Somogy, 2007.
• Gabriel Monod Avant-propos . In: Alfred Bourguet Études sur la politique étrangère de duc de Choiseul (réédition Broché 2009);
• Lucien Mouillard: Les Régiments sous Louis XV . Lucien Mouillard Paris, J. Dumaine, Libraire-Éditeur, 1882 Format: 120 pages ,.
• Jehanne d'Orliac: La duchesse de Choiseul . Tours, Arrault & cie, 1947.
• Duc de Praslin: Les Choiseul et l'histoire . Éditions du Papyrus, 1988.
• Gilles Poissonier: Histoire des Choiseul . Le Pythagore éditions, 1996.
• Célestin Port: Le train de maison du duc de Choiseul . 1763-1766. 1900.
• Roger H. Soltau: The Duke De Choiseul . Broché - 4 June 2009.
• Nasser Suleiman Gabryel Le duc de Choiseul et la politique méditerranéenne 1758-1770 un essai de comparatisme . Bulletin du GEMESS Groupement euro-méditerranéen de recherche en sciences sociales 1,8 Casablanca 1997.
• Nasser Suleiman Gabryel: le récit national de Jules Michelet: le duc de Choiseul et "la pensée fixe": archéologie du discours sur la pensée unique . Revue de l'institut euro-méditerranéen des sciences sociales 10-21 Casablanca 2000.
• Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, prince de Bénévent: Mémoires du prince de Talleyrand , publiés avec une préface et des notes par le duc de Broglie (1891);
• Pierre Thibaudault: Échec de la démesure en Guyane: autour de l'expédition de Kourou: une tentative européenne de réforme des conceptions coloniales sous Choiseul . Saint-Maixent-l'École 1995.
• Henri Verdier: Le Duc de Choiseul / Politique et Plaisirs (Broché - 6 août 1969);
• Willy Marcus: The Jansenist dispute and its settlement by Choiseul . Broché, 2010.
• Willy Marcus: Choiseul and Voltaire . 1910.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ pastellists.com (PDF)

predecessor	Office	successor
François Joachim de Pierre, Cardinal de Bernis César Gabriel de Choiseul, Duke of Praslin	Foreign Minister of France December 3, 1758-13. October 1761 April 10, 1766-24. December 1770	César Gabriel de Choiseul, Duke of Praslin Louis Phélypeaux, Count of Saint-Florentin
Louis Charles Auguste Fouquet, Duke of Belle-Isle	Minister of War of France January 27, 1761–24. December 1770	Louis François de Monteynard