Nicholas Revertera-Salandra

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Nikolaus Revertera-Salandra , until 1918 Nikolaus Count Revertera von Salandra (born February 13, 1866 in Saint Petersburg , † May 22, 1951 in Migliarino near Pisa ) was an Austro-Hungarian diplomat before and during the First World War , who was emperor during the peace explorations Charles I played an important role.

Life

The Catholic Revertera-Salandra family, considered conservative , originally from Catalonia , immigrated to Austria from the Neapolitan Salandra in 1771 .

Nikolaus was born as the son of Count Friedrich Revertera von Salandra (1827-1904), the ambassador at the time in Saint Petersburg . He also began a diplomatic career and in 1891 married Olympia Aldobrandini- Borghese (1869–1928). The couple acquired Helfenberg Castle in Upper Austria in 1894 , which is still owned by the family today. Their son Peter Revertera-Salandra played an important role in the later Austrian corporate state . Nikolaus Revertera was a member of the state parliament in Linz for the party of large landowners and became a close confidante and advisor to the later Emperor Karl I.

Peace explorations in the First World War

Revertera-Salandra was exempted from diplomatic service as an imperial and royal legation counselor, but was reactivated during the First World War at Karl's request and sent to the embassy in Bern . On August 7, 8 and 22, 1917 and on February 1, 1918, Revertera was entrusted by Foreign Minister Ottokar Czernin with exploratory talks in Friborg, Switzerland . Revertera's negotiating partner on the Entente side was Count Abel Armand, major in the intelligence department of the French General Staff. Armand made unrealistic concessions, such as the annexation of Bavaria , Silesia and Poland to the Habsburg monarchy , in order to win Austria over to a separate peace. The state structure was to bear the name “Confédération Danubienne” under the Habsburg scepter.

Revertera, however, had no mandate to negotiate a separate peace, as the French side was trying to achieve. He saw an opportunity to make an honorable peace due to the French minimum demands, the restoration of Belgium and the exchange of Alsace-Lorraine for valuable colonial compensation, but on the one hand the German resistance would have been too great, on the other hand it was not at all clear whether Armand had the power to speak for the entire French government. Since the Reich leadership in Berlin was not prepared to make any concessions, Armand never received an answer to his suggestions.

Revertera had already organized the "passage" of Sixtus Ferdinand von Bourbon-Parma , Emperor Charles' brother-in-law through Switzerland, for negotiations to Austria. After the " Sixtus Affair " became known, he had to leave Switzerland.

After the end of the Habsburg Empire, Revertera resigned from civil service and followed Karl into exile. There Karl awarded him the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1919 .

literature

  • Friedrich Engel-Janosi: The peace efforts of Emperor Charles with special consideration of the discussions of Count Revertera with Comte Armand . In: Comité International des Sciences Historiques (ed.): XIIe Congrès International des Sciences Historiques . Rapports IV, Vienna 1965, pp. 279–296.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harry Slapnicka : Upper Austria, the political leadership. 1861 to 1918 . Oberösterreichischer Landesverlag, Linz 1983, ISBN 3-85214-381-0 , p. 23.
  2. ^ Richard Fester: The policy of Emperor Charles and the turning point of the world war . Verlag Lehmann, 1925, p. 284; and Harry Slapnicka: Upper Austria, the political ruling class. 1861 to 1918 . Oberösterreichischer Landesverlag, Linz 1983, ISBN 3-85214-381-0 , p. 23.
  3. ↑ Harry Slapnicka: Upper Austria, the political leadership. 1861 to 1918 . Oberösterreichischer Landesverlag, Linz 1983, ISBN 3-85214-381-0 , p. 249.
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Steglich : The peace attempts of the warring powers in the summer and autumn of 1917. Source-critical investigations, files and interrogation protocols . Verlag Steiner, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-515-02455-7 , p. 46 (No. 3) and p. 52f. (No. 9); and André Scherer, Jacques Grunewald: L'Allemagne et les problemèmes de la paix pendant la première guerre mondiale. Documents extraits des archives de l'Office allemand des Affaires étrangères. 4 volumes (German original documents), Paris 1962/1978, ISBN 2-85944-010-0 , Volume 2, p. 378 ff. (No. 231).
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Steglich: The peace attempts of the warring powers in the summer and autumn of 1917. Source-critical investigations, files and interrogation protocols . Verlag Steiner, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-515-02455-7 , p. 65 (No. 21).
  6. ↑ Friedrich Engel-Janosi: The peace talks Count Nikolaus Reverteras with Comte Abel Armand, 1917/18 . In: Austrian Academy of Sciences : Philosophical-Historical Class : Anzeiger 102 (1965), pp. 369–381, here p. 381.
  7. ↑ Gary W. Shanafelt: The Secret Enemy: Austria-Hungary and the German Alliance 1914-1918 . Columbia University Press, New York 1985, ISBN 0-88033-080-5 , p. 145.
  8. ↑ Biography at Austrian Commanders ( memento from October 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Revertera-Salandra, Nicholas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Revertera di Salandra, Count Nikolaus; Revertera by Salandra, Nicolaus Graf; Reverterra y Salandra, Nicolaus Graf; Revertera, Nicholas; Revertera-Salandra, Nikolaus Graf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austro-Hungarian diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH February 13, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Petersburg
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 1951
Place of death Migliarino near Pisa