Count Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein

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Albert Count von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein
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Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to the United Kingdom
In office
28 April 1904 – 13 August 1914
Preceded by Franz Count Deym von Stritez
Succeeded by None
Personal details
Born (1861-09-05)5 September 1861
Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine)
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Vienna, Austria

Albert Viktor Julius Joseph Michael Count von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein (5 September 1861 – 15 June 1945), was an Austro-Hungarian diplomat serving as Ambassador to London at the outbreak of World War I.

Life

Born in Lemberg (now Lviv) on 5 September 1861 as the second son of Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly, Prince Dietrichstein von Nicolsburg, a former Austro-Hungarian politician, and his wife Alexandrine (née Countess von Dietrichstein-Proskau und Leslie), heiress of the Princes Dietrichstein. The Mensdorff-Pouilly family originated from Lorraine in France and had fled the French revolution in 1790.[1]

Count von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein entered the Austro-Hungarian foreign service in 1884 and was assigned as an attaché to the embassy in Paris and transferred to London in 1889. His family connections with the British court, derived through the marriage of his grandfather Count Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly with Queen Victoria's aunt, Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his father had been a godson and friend of Queen Victoria's husband, the Prince Consort. On 6 May 1904, he presented his credentials as Ambassador of the Dual Monarchy at the Court of St. James's, a promotion over the heads of many of his seniors that had come at the request of his second cousin King Edward VII.[2]

Considered both an effective and popular diplomat in London's aristocratic circles,[3] his friendship with King Edward VII and his successor George V gave him an entrée to the British court unrivalled by any other diplomat.[4] This contributed to the secure and friendly diplomatic relations between Austria-Hungary and Great Britain before the war. However, his alleged Anglophilia also brought him a certain mistrust in some circles in Vienna, including Archduke Franz Ferdinand. In the critical negotiations during the July Crisis of 1914, he supported the attempts to avert the danger and correspondence has shown that he was not kept fully informed of his capital's intentions. War against Austria-Hungary was declared by the United Kingdom on 12 August, whereafter Count von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein left London.

During World War I, Mensdorff-Pouilly was entrusted with several diplomatic missions directed towards the restoration of peace. The most famous one was the meeting with General Jan Smuts in Geneva in December 1917. However, these negotiations proved as fruitless as those which he conducted with the representatives of the Triple Entente in the last days of the Habsburg Monarchy.[5]

In 1917, Mensdorff-Pouilly was appointed to the Upper House (Herrenhaus)[6] and in the following year he was a favourite of the court to replace Count Ottokar Czernin as foreign minister, but he was judged too Anglophile by Berlin.

Although the count retired from active service in 1919, he was appointed the first chief delegate of the Republic of Austria to the League of Nations in 1920. In this capacity, he negotiated the Geneva Protocols in 1922 on a loan for the economic and financial reconstruction of Austria.[7]

Count von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein died of starvation in Vienna on 15 June 1945.

Ancestry

Family of Count Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16. Louis Joseph baron de Pouilly et de Chauffour
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Albert-Louis, Baron de Pouilly et de Chaffour, Comte de Roussy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17. Luce Louise de Hézecques
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18. Comte Francois Joseph de Custine
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Antoinette Philippine de Custine, comtesse de Roussy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19. Anne Marguerite de Maguin Comtesse de Roussy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly, Prince Dietrichstein von Nicolsburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. Ernest Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21. Princess Sophie Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuss of Ebersdorf
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23. Countess Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Count Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24. Karl Johann Baptist, Prince of Dietrichstein
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. Franz Joseph, Prince of Dietrichstein
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 25. Countess Maria Christina Josepha Thun–Hohenstein
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Joseph Franz, Prince of Dietrichstein
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 26. Count Andrey Petrovich Shuvalov
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Countess Alexandra Andrejevna Shuvalova
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 27. Countess Catharina Pyotrovna Saltykova
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Alexandrine von Dietrichstein
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 28. Count John Nepomuck Wratislaw von Mittrowitz
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. Count Josef Anton Wratislaw von Mittrowitz
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 29. Maria Johanna Malowetz von Malowitz
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Countess Gabriela Wratislaw von Mittrowitz
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30. Count Franz Anton Des Fours
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Countess Maria Gabriele Des Fours
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. Countess Maria Antonia Czernin von Chudenitz
 
 
 
 
 
 

Honours

Foreign decorations

References

  1. ↑ Dietrichstein & Mensdorff-Pouilly
  2. ↑ 'Count von Mensdorff', New York Times, 18 June 1945.
  3. ↑ 'Albert Graf von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein', Solving Problems Through Force
  4. ↑ William D. Godsey, Aristocratic Redoubt: The Austro-Hungarian Foreign Office on the Eve of the First World War, West Lafayette, Purdue University Press, 1999, p.24.
  5. ↑ 'Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein Albert Graf', Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950, vol. 6, Vienna, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1957, p. 224.
  6. ↑ 'Emperor honors Dumba', op. cit., 24 May 1917.
  7. ↑ 'Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein Albert Graf', op. cit.
  8. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27364. p. 6640. 11 October 1901.

External links

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to the United Kingdom
1904–1914		 Succeeded by
None
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