Détente with France Now back in Austria, Metternich witnessed first hand the Austrian army's defeat at the
Battle of Wagram in 1809. Stadion tendered his resignation as Foreign Minister in the aftermath, and the emperor immediately offered the post to Metternich. Metternich, worried that Napoleon would seize on this to demand harsher peace terms, instead agreed to become a minister of state (which he did on 8 July) and to lead negotiations with the French on the understanding that he would replace Stadion as Foreign Minister at a later date. During peace talks at
Altenburg, Metternich put forward pro-French proposals to save the Austrian monarchy. Napoleon, however, disliked his position on the future of
Poland, and Metternich was gradually displaced from the proceedings by
Prince Liechtenstein. He soon regained influence, however, on 8 October, as Foreign Minister (and additionally that of
Minister of the Imperial Household). By 7 February Napoleon had agreed and the pair were married by proxy on 11 March. Marie Louise left for France soon after and Metternich followed by a different route and unofficially. The trip was designed, Metternich explained, to transport his family (stranded in France by the outbreak of war) home and to report to the Austrian Emperor about Marie Louise's activities. The Dresden meeting revealed that Austria's influence in Europe had reached its lowest point, and Metternich was now bent on re-establishing that influence by using what he considered strong ties with all sides in the war, proposing general peace talks headed by Austria. Over the next three months, he would slowly distance Austria from the French cause, while avoiding alliance with either Prussia or Russia, and remaining open to any proposal that would secure a place for the combined Bonaparte-Habsburg dynasty. Napoleon was intransigent, however, and the fighting (now officially the
War of the Sixth Coalition) continued. Austria's alliance with France ended in February 1813, and Austria then moved to a position of armed neutrality. Metternich increasingly worried that Napoleon's retreat would bring with it disorder that would harm the Habsburgs. In talks which would later be ratified as the
Reichenbach Convention they agreed on general peace demands and set out a process by which Austria could enter the war on the Coalition side. Shortly afterwards Metternich was invited to join Napoleon at Dresden, where he could put the terms directly. Though no reliable record of their meeting on 26 June 1813 exists, it seems it was a stormy but effective meeting. The agreement was finally reached as Metternich was about to leave: In agreeing to this Metternich had ignored the Reichenbach Convention, and this angered Austria's Coalition allies. For the rest of the war he strove to hold the Coalition together and, as such, to curb Russian momentum in Europe. To this end he won an early victory as an Austrian general, the
Prince of Schwarzenberg, was confirmed supreme commander of the Coalition forces rather than
Tsar Alexander I. He also succeeded in getting the three allied monarchs (Alexander, Francis and Prussia's
Frederick William III) to follow him and their armies on campaign. With the
Treaty of Töplitz, Metternich allowed Austria to remain uncommitted over the future of France, Italy, and Poland. He was still confined, however, by the British, who were subsidizing Prussia and Russia (in September Metternich requested subsidies for Austria as well). This rivalry intensified in January, prompting Alexander to storm out. He therefore missed the arrival of Castlereagh in mid-January. Metternich and Castlereagh formed a good working relationship and then met with Alexander at
Langres. The Tsar remained unaccommodating however, demanding a push into the centre of France; but he was too preoccupied to object to Metternich's other ideas, like a final peace conference in Vienna. Metternich did not attend talks with the French at
Châtillon, as he wanted to stay with Alexander. The talks stalled, and, after a brief advance, Coalition forces had to retreat after the
Battle of Montmirail and
Battle of Montereau. This relieved Metternich's fears that an overconfident Alexander might act unilaterally. On the division of formerly French-occupied Poland and Germany, Metternich was more confined by the interests of the Allies. After two failed proposals, advanced by the Prussians, the issue was postponed until after a peace treaty had been signed. Now free, Metternich accompanied Tsar Alexander to England; Wilhelmine, who had followed Metternich to Paris, also made the crossing.
Congress of Vienna ,
Talleyrand and other European diplomats at the
Congress of Vienna, 1815 In the autumn of 1814, the heads of the five reigning dynasties and representatives from 216 noble families began gathering in Vienna. Before ministers from the "Big Four" (the Coalition allies of Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia) arrived, Metternich stayed quietly in
Baden bei Wien, two hours to the south. When he heard they had reached Vienna he journeyed to meet them and encouraged them to go with him back to Baden. They declined, and four meetings were held in the city itself. In fact, it would soon be postponed again, with only a minor commission beginning work in November. However, Tsar Alexander soon did a rapid
volte face and agreed to the division of Poland. He also softened in regard to the Germanic
Kingdom of Saxony, and for the first time allowed Talleyrand to participate in all Big Four (now Big Five) discussions. With the new consensus, the major issues concerning Poland and Germany were settled in the second week of February 1815. Metternich now focused on getting the various German states to cede historic rights to a new
Federal Diet that could stand up to Prussia. He also assisted the Swiss Committee and worked on myriad smaller issues, like navigation rights on the
Rhine. The beginning of
Lent on 8 February brought him more time to devote to these congressional issues as well as private discussions about southern Italy, where
Joachim Murat was said to be raising a
Neapolitan army. On 7 March Metternich was awakened with the news that Napoleon had escaped from his island prison of
Elba and within an hour had met with both the Tsar and the King of Prussia. Metternich wanted no rash change of course, and at first, there was little impact on the Congress. Finally, on 13 March the Big Five declared Napoleon an
outlaw and the Allies began preparations for renewed fighting. On 25 March they signed a treaty committing each to send 150,000 men with little sign of their prior divisive stances. After the military commanders left, the Vienna Congress settled down to serious work, fixing the boundaries of an independent Netherlands, formalising proposals for a loose confederation of
Swiss cantons, and ratifying earlier agreements over Poland. By late April only two major issues remained, the organisation of a new German federation and the problem of Italy. The arrangement was similarly popular with most German representatives. A summation treaty was signed on 19 June (the Russians signed a week later),
Paris and Italy From 1815 onward, statesmen in Europe focused on averting the threat of social revolution because
Napoleon had been defeated. Metternich published reform proposals. He envisaged the preservation of the existing
social hierarchy and to this end the continuous authority of legitimate
sovereigns as well as the
rule of law. Metternich rose to become the foremost conservative statesman in Europe, his scrutiny lasted until 1848. The Habsburg rulers of the
Austrian Empire bet that the idea of
nationality would avert the doom. Metternich was back with coalition allies in Paris, once more discussing
peace terms. After 133 days of negotiations, longer than the
Hundred Days turmoil itself, the
second Treaty of Paris was concluded on 20 November. Metternich, of the opinion that France should not be dismembered, was happy with the result. Metternich now returned to the question of Italy, making his first visit to the country in early December 1815. After visiting
Venice, his family joined him in
Milan on 18 December. For once it was Metternich playing the liberal, vainly urging Francis to give the region some autonomy. Metternich spent four months in Italy, endlessly busy and suffering chronic inflammation of the eyelids. He tried to control Austrian foreign policy from Milan and when there was a serious disagreement between the Empire and the
Kingdom of Bavaria, was heavily criticised for his absence. His enemies could not capitalise on this, however. Stadion was occupied by his work as finance minister and the Empress
Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este, a fierce critic of Metternich's policies, died in April. The uncharacteristic gap between the views of Metternich and his emperor was eased only by the active compromise of proposals. Metternich returned to Vienna on 28 May 1816 after almost a year's absence. Professionally, the rest of 1816 passed quietly for the tired Minister, who was concerned with fiscal policy and monitoring the spread of liberalism in Germany and nationalism in Italy. Personally, he was shaken in November by the death of Julie Zichy-Festetics. Two years later he wrote that his "life ended there," and his old frivolity took some time to return. The only consolation was July's news that Metternich was to receive new estates along the Rhine at
Johannisberg, only from his birthplace at Koblenz.
Aachen, Teplice, Karlsbad, Troppau, and Laibach Metternich's primary focus remained on preserving unity among the Great Powers of Europe and hence his own power as mediator. He was also concerned by liberal-minded
Ioannis Kapodistrias' increasing influence over Tsar Alexander and the continual threat of Russia annexing large areas of the declining
Ottoman Empire (the so-called
Eastern Question). As he had earlier envisaged, by April 1818 Britain had drawn up, and Metternich pushed through, proposals to have a
Congress at Aachen, then a Prussian frontier town, six months later. Meanwhile, Metternich was advised to go to the spa town of
Karlsbad to treat the rheumatic tension in his back. He visited the family estate at Königswart and then Frankfurt in late August to encourage the member states of the German Confederation to agree on procedural issues. Metternich could also now visit Koblenz for the first time in 25 years and his new estate at Johannisberg. Travelling with Emperor Francis, he was warmly greeted by the Catholic towns along the Rhine as he progressed towards Aachen. Metternich carried the day, using a recent attempt on the life of the Chief Minister of Nassau,
Carl Ibell to win agreement for the conservative program now known as the Convention of
Teplitz. The Karlsbad conference opened on 6 August and ran for the rest of the month. Despite censure Metternich was very pleased with the result, He now regretted having so quickly forced through its original constitution five years before. Nevertheless, he held ground on other issues and the Conference's
Final Act was highly reactionary, much as Metternich had envisaged it. He remained in Vienna until the close in May 1820, finding the whole affair a bore. On 6 May he heard of the death of his daughter
Princess Klementine von Metternich from
tuberculosis. Journeying on to
Prague, he heard that his eldest daughter Maria had also contracted the disease. He was at her bedside in
Baden bei Wien when she died on 20 July. but, much to his dismay and surprise,
Guglielmo Pepe led a revolt in Naples in early July and forced King
Ferdinand I to accept a new constitution. The Congress disbanded in the third week of December, and the next step would be a
congress at Laibach to discuss intervention with Ferdinand. Metternich found himself able to dominate Laibach more than any other congress, overseeing Ferdinand's rejection of the liberal constitution he had agreed to only months before. Austrian armies left for Naples in February and entered the city in March. The Congress was adjourned but, forewarned or by luck, Metternich kept representatives of the powers close at hand until the revolt was put down. As a result, when similar revolts broke out in
Piedmont in the middle of March, Metternich had the Tsar at hand, who agreed to send 90,000 men to the frontier in a show of solidarity. Concerns grew in Vienna that Metternich's policy was too expensive. He responded that Naples and Piedmont would pay for stability; nonetheless, he, too, was clearly worried for the future of Italy. He was relieved when able to create a Court Chancellor and Chancellor of State on 25 May, a post left vacant since the death of Kaunitz in 1794. He was also pleased at the renewed (if fragile) closeness between Austria, Prussia and Russia; ==Chancellor==