Kálnoky, Gustav

(1832–1898)

   Count Gustav Kálnoky, Austro-Hungarian foreign minister from 1881 to 1895, was born in December 1832 in Letovice in the Austrian crown land of Moravia. An officer in the Austrian army, he entered the diplomatic service in 1854. He made his diplomatic career in London, Rome, Copenhagen, and St. Petersburg, where he became ambassador in 1880. Kálnoky was appointed minister of foreign affairs in 1881.

   The Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria’s traditional foe, Italy, was one of the first of his major achievements. In addition, Romania and Serbia became alliance partners of the Habsburg monarchy. During the 1880s, European Great Power politics was shaped by a series of dangerous crises. Austria-Hungary cooperated closely with Germany and Great Britain and was able to defend her interests on the Balkan Peninsula. But in the early 1890s, relations with Italy deteriorated and there were tensions with Russia. Kálnoky resigned in 1895 and died in February 1898 in Brodek.

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   FURTHER READING:

    Pribram, A. F. The Secret Treaties of Austria-Hungary, 1879–1914. 2 vols. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921;

    Taylor, A.J.P. The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848–1918. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954.

   GUENTHER KRONENBITTER