Karl August von Hardenberg

Karl August Fürst von Hardenberg (en: Prince Charles Augustus von Hardenberg) (May 31, 1750 - November 26, 1822), was a Prussian statesman. Image File history File links Hardenberg. ... Image File history File links Hardenberg. ... EN can mean: Air Dolomiti, IATA airline designator. ... May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining. ... Events March 2 - Small earthquake in London, England April 4 - Small earthquake in Warrington, England August 23 - Small earthquake in Spalding, England September 30 - Small earthquake in Northampton, England November 16 – Westminster Bridge officially opened Jonas Hanway is the first Englishman to use an umbrella James Gray reveals her sex... November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1822 (MDCCCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: PrÅ«sai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia and... The term statesman is a respectful term used to refer to diplomats, politicians, and other notable figures of state. ...

He was born at Essenroda in Hanover. After studying at Leipzig and Göttingen he entered the Hanoverian civil service in 1770 as councillor of the board of domains (Kammerrat); but, finding his advancement slow, he set out--on the advice of King George III of the United Kingdom--on a series of travels, spending some time at Wetzlar, Regensburg (where he studied the mechanism of the Imperial government), Vienna and Berlin. He also visited France, the Netherlands and Britain, where he was kindly received by the king. On his return he married, at his father's suggestion, the Countess Reventlow. Hanover (German: Hannover []), on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany. ... (help· info) [] (Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk) is the largest city in the Federal State (Bundesland) of Saxony in Germany. ... The Georg-August University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, often called the Georgia Augusta) was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and opened in 1737. ... A civil servant or public servant is a civilian career public sector employee working for a government department or agency. ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... George III (George William Frederick) (4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain, and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until 1 January 1801, and thereafter King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. ... Half-timbered houses in Wetzlar Wetzlar is a city in the federal state (Bundesland) of Hesse in Germany, capital of the Lahn-Dill district. ... Regensburg (English formerly Ratisbon, Latin Ratisbona, Czech Řezno) is a city (population 150,212 in 2004) in Bavaria, south-east Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Slovenian: Dunaj, Hungarian: Bécs, Czech: Vídeň, Slovak: Viedeň, Romany Vidnya; Croatian and Serbian: Beč) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

In 1778 he was raised to the rank of privy councillor and created a graf (or count). He now went back to England, in the hope of obtaining the post of Hanoverian envoy in London; but his wife began an affair with the Prince of Wales, creating so great a scandal that he was forced to leave the Hanoverian service. In 1782 he entered that of the Duke of Brunswick, and as president of the board of domains displayed a zeal for reform, in the manner approved by the enlightened despots of the century, that rendered him very unpopular with the orthodox clergy and the conservative estates. In Brunswick, too, his position was in the end made untenable by the conduct of his wife, whom he now divorced; he himself, shortly afterwards, marrying a divorced woman. 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Graf (from the Latin Grafio scribe from the Greek) is a German noble title equal in rank to a count (derived from the Latin Comes, with a history of its own) or a British earl (an original Anglo-Saxon title). ... George IV (George Augustus Frederick) (12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Hanover from 29 January 1820. ...

Fortunately for him, this coincided with the lapsing of the principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth to Prussia, owing to the resignation of the last margrave, Charles Alexander, in 1791. Hardenberg, who happened to be in Berlin at the time, was on the recommendation of Herzberg appointed administrator of the principalities (1792). The position, owing to the singular overlapping of territorial claims in the old Empire, was one of considerable delicacy, and Hardenberg filled it with great skill, doing much to reform traditional anomalies and to develop the country, and at the same time labouring to expand the influence of Prussia in South Germany. After the outbreak of the revolutionary wars his diplomatic ability led to his appointment as Prussian envoy, with a roving commission to visit the Rhenish courts and win them over to Prussia's views; and ultimately, when the necessity for making peace with the French Republic had been recognized, he was appointed to succeed Count Goltz as Prussian plenipotentiary at Basel (February 28, 1795), where he signed the treaty of peace. See Ansbach, Austria for the Austrian town of the same name. ... Bayreuth is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Frankish Alb and the Fichtelgebirge. ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: Prūsai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia and... Location within Switzerland Basel (English traditionally: Basle , German: Basel , French: Bâle , Italian: Basilea ) is Switzerlands third most populous city (166,563 inhabitants (2004); 690,000 inhabitants in the conurbation stretching across the immediate cantonal and national boundaries made Basel Switzerlands second-largest urban area as of 2003). ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Treaty of Basel (Spring - 1795) ends the war between France, Spain and Prussia and allows Frances eventual annexation of the German lands west of the Rhine. ...

In 1797, on the accession of King Frederick William III of Prussia, Hardenberg was summoned to Berlin, where he received an important position in the cabinet and was appointed chief of the departments of Magdeburg and Halberstadt, for Westphalia, and for the principality of Neuchâtel. In 1793 Hardenberg had struck up a friendship with Count Haugwitz, the influential minister for foreign affairs, and when in 1803 the latter went away on leave (August-October) he appointed Hardenberg his locum tenens. It was a critical period. Napoleon had just occupied Hanover, and Haugwitz had urged upon the king the necessity for strong measures and the expediency of a Russian alliance; During his absence, however, the king's irresolution continued; he clung to the policy of neutrality which had so far seemed to have served Prussia so well; and Hardenberg contented himself with adapting himself to the royal will. By the time Haugwitz returned, the unyielding attitude of Napoleon had caused the king to make advances to Russia; but the mutual declarations of the 3rd and 25th of May 1804 only pledged the two powers to take up arms in the event of a French attack upon Prussia or of further aggressions in North Germany. Finally, Haugwitz, unable to persuade the cabinet to a more vigorous policy, resigned, and on April 14, 1804 Hardenberg succeeded him as foreign minister. 1797 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Frederick William III, known in German as Friedrich Wilhelm III, reigned as king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. ... Location within Switzerland Neuchâtel 47. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... April 14 is the 104th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (105th in leap years). ... 1804 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

If there was to be war, Hardenberg would have preferred the French alliance, the price Napoleon demanded for the cession of Hanover to Prussia; the Eastern powers would not freely have conceded so great an augmentation of Prussian power. However, he still hoped to gain the coveted prize by diplomacy, backed by the veiled threat of an armed neutrality. Then came Napoleon's contemptuous violation of Prussian territory by marching three French corps through Ansbach; King Frederick William's pride overcame his weakness, and on November 3 he signed with the tsar Alexander the terms of an ultimatum to be laid before the French emperor. November 3 is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 58 days remaining. ... Aleksander Pavlovich Romanov or Tsar Alexander I (The Blessed), (Russian: Александр I Павлович) (December 23, 1777–December 1, 1825), was Emperor of Russia from March 23, 1801–December 1, 1825 and King of Poland from 1815–1825. ...

Haugwitz was despatched to Vienna with the document; but before he arrived the Battle of Austerlitz had been fought, and the Prussian plenipotentiary had to make terms with Napoleon. Prussia, by the treaty signed at Schönbrunn on December 15 1805, received Hanover, but in return for all her territories in South Germany. One condition of the arrangement was the retirement of Hardenberg,whom Napoleon disliked. He was again foreign minister for a few months after the crisis of 1806 (April-July 1807); but Napoleon's resentment was implacable, and one of the conditions of the terms granted to Prussia by the treaty of Tilsit was Hardenberg's dismissal. Combatants First French Empire Russia, Austrian Empire Commanders Napoleon I, Louis Nicolas Davout Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, Alexander I, Franz von Weyrother Strength 68,000 73,000 Casualties 1,288 dead; 6,993 wounded; 1 flag lost 25,000 dead, wounded or captured {{{notes}}} Map of the battle from the 4th... Schönbrunn Palace, as seen from the gardens Image:SP3. ... December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by Napoleon I of France in the town of Tilsit in July, 1807. ...

After the enforced retirement of Stein in 1810 and the unsatisfactory interlude of the feeble Altenstein ministry, Hardenberg was again summoned to Berlin, this time as chancellor (June 6, 1810). The campaign of Jena and its consequences had had a profound effect upon him; and in his mind the traditions of the old diplomacy had given place to the new sentiment of nationality characteristic of the coming age, which in him found expression in a passionate desire to restore the position of Prussia and crush her oppressors. During his retirement at Riga he had worked out an elaborate plan for reconstructing the monarchy on Liberal lines; and when he came into power, though the circumstances of the time did not admit of his pursuing an independent foreign policy, he steadily prepared for the struggle with France by carrying out Stein's far-reaching schemes of social and political reorganization. Heinrich Friedrich Karl, Baron vom und zum Stein Heinrich Friedrich Karl, Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein (Baron vom und zum Stein), October 26, 1757 - June 29, 1831), was a German statesman, born on the family estate near Nassau. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 208 days remaining. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Riga (Latvian: Rīga), the capital of Latvia, is situated on the Baltic Sea coast on the mouth of River Daugava, at 56°58′N 24°8′E. Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states and serves as a major cultural, educational, political, financial, commercial and industrial center...

The military system was completely reformed, serfdom was abolished, municipal institutions were fostered, the civil service was thrown open to all classes, and great attention was devoted to the educational needs of every section of the community. When at last the time came to put these reforms to the test, after the Moscow campaign of 1812, it was Hardenberg who, supported by the influence of the noble Queen Louise, determined Frederick William to take advantage of General Yorck's loyal disloyalty and declare against France. He was rightly regarded by German patriots as the statesman who had done most to encourage the spirit of national independence; and immediately after he had signed the first peace of Paris he was raised to the rank of prince (June 3, 1814) in recognition of the part he had played in the War of Liberation. Hans David Ludwig, count Yorck von Wartenburg (September 26, 1759 - October 4, 1830) was a Prussian generalfeldmarschall of alleged English ancestry. ... June 3 is the 154th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (155th in leap years), with 211 days remaining. ... 1814 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... A War of Liberation is a conflict which is primarily intended to bring freedom or independence to a nation or group. ...

Hardenberg now had a position in that close corporation of sovereigns and statesmen by whom Europe was governed. He accompanied the allied sovereigns to England, and at the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) was the chief representative of Prussia. But from this time the zenith of his influence, if not of his fame, was passed. In diplomacy he was no match for Metternich, whose influence soon overshadowed his own in the councils of Europe, of Germany, and ultimately even of Prussia itself. At Vienna, in spite of the powerful backing of Alexander of Russia, he failed to secure the annexation of the whole of Saxony to Prussia; at Paris, after Waterloo, he failed to carry through his views as to the further dismemberment of France; he had weakly allowed Metternich to forestall him in making terms with the states of the Confederation of the Rhine, which secured to Austria the preponderance in the German federal diet; on the eve of the conference of Carlsbad (1819) he signed a convention with Metternich, by which--to quote the historian Treitschke--"like a penitent sinner, without any formal quid pro quo, the monarchy of Frederick the Great yielded to a foreign power a voice in her internal affairs." The Congress of Vienna was a conference between ambassadors from the major powers in Europe that was chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich and held in Vienna, Austria, from September 1, 1814, to June 9, 1815. ...

At the congresses of Aix-la-Chapelle(Aachen), Troppau, Laibach and Verona the voice of Hardenberg was but an echo of that of Metternich. The cause lay partly in the difficult circumstances of the loosely-knit Prussian monarchy, but partly in Hardenberg's character, which, never well balanced, had deteriorated with age. He continued amiable, charming and enlightened as ever; but the excesses which had been pardonable in a young diplomatist were a scandal in an elderly chancellor, and could not but weaken his influence with so pious a Landesvater as Frederick William III.

To overcome the king's terror of Liberal experiments would have needed all the powers of an adviser at once wise and in character wholly trustworthy. Hardenberg was wise enough; he saw the necessity for constitutional reform; but he clung with almost senile tenacity to the sweets of office, and when the tide turned against Liberalism he allowed himself to drift with it. In the privacy of royal commissions he continued to elaborate schemes for constitutions that never saw the light; but Germany, disillusioned, regarded him as an adherent of Metternich, an accomplice in the policy of the Carlsbad Decrees and the Troppau Protocol. He died soon after the closing of the congress of Verona, at Genoa. The Congress of Troppau was a conference of the allied sovereigns or their representatives to discuss a concerted policy with regard to the questions raised by the revolution in Naples of July 1820. ...

Notes

• Note regarding personal names: Fürst is a title, usually translated Prince, not a first or middle name. The female form is Fürstin.

Fürst (plural Fürsten) is a German title of nobility, usually translated into English as Prince. The female form is Fürstin (plural Fürstinnen). ... The term prince (the female form is princess), from the Latin root princeps, when used for a member of the highest aristocracy, has several fundamentally different meanings - one generic, and several types of titles. ... Fürst (plural Fürsten) is a German title of nobility, usually translated into English as Prince. The female form is Fürstin (plural Fürstinnen). ...

References

See L von Ranke, Denkwürdigkeiten des Staatskanzlers Fürsten von Hardenberg (5 vols., Leipzig, 1877); JR Seeley, The Life and Times of Stein (3 vols., Cambridge, 1878); E Meier, Reform der Verwaltungsorganisation unter Stein und Hardenberg (lb., 1881); Chr. Meyer, Hardenberg und seine Verwaltung der Fürstentümer Ansbach und Bayreuth (Breslau, 1892); Koser, Die Neuordnung des preußischen Archivwesens durch den Staatskanzler Fürsten v. Hardenberg (Leipzig, 1904). Leopold Von Ranke in 1877 Leopold von Ranke (December 21, 1795- May 23, 1886) was one of the greatest German historians of the 19th century, and is frequently considered the founder of scientific history. ... Sir John Robert Seeley (1834 - January 13, 1895) was an English essayist and historian He was born in London, the son of RB Seeley, a publisher, author of several religious books and of The Life and Times of Edward I, which was highly regarded by historians. ...

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain. The 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910-1911) is the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...