Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein

Albert Graf von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein
Albert Graf von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein
	Franz Count Deym von Stritez
Succeeded by	None
Personal details
Born	5 September 1861; Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine)
Died	15 June 1945 (aged 83); Vienna, Austria
Parent(s)	Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly, Prince von Dietrichstein zu Nikolsburg; Countess Alexandrine von Dietrichstein-Proskau und Leslie

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

Early life

Born in Lemberg (now

Lorraine in France and had fled the French Revolution in 1790.^[1]

Career

Count von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein entered the

Edward VII.^[2]

Considered both an effective and popular diplomat in London's aristocratic circles,

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)

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

Geneva Protocols in 1922 on a loan for the economic and financial reconstruction of Austria.^[7]

Death

Count Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein died of starvation, during

WW II

in Vienna, on 15 June 1945.

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations:[8]

Austria-Hungary:
- Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Leopold, 1908^[9]
- Commander of the Teutonic Order
Order of Saint Alexander
Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order
Order of Saint Olav, 26 February 1917^[10]

Ottoman Empire: Order of Osmanieh, 1st Class
Parmese Ducal Family: Senator Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
Order of Saint Anna
, 2nd Class
United Kingdom: Honorary Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, 30 June 1897;^[11] Grand Cross, 11 October 1901^[12]

Ancestry

Ancestors of 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.

Czernin von Chudenitz

References

^ http://www.zamekboskovice.cz/en/mensdorff-pouilly
^ 'Count von Mensdorff', New York Times, 18 June 1945.
^ 'Albert Graf von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein', Solving Problems Through Force
^ 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.
^ 'Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein Albert Graf', Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950, vol. 6, Vienna, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1957, p. 224.
^ 'Emperor honors Dumba', op. cit., 24 May 1917.
^ 'Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein Albert Graf', op. cit.
^ "Ministerium des kaiserlichen und königlichen Hauses und des Äußern", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1914, p. 292, retrieved 14 January 2021
^ "Ritter-Orden: Oesterreichsch-kaiserlicher Leopold-orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1914, p. 52, retrieved 5 February 2021
^ "Den kongelige norske Sanct Olavs Orden", Norges Statskalender (in Norwegian), 1922, pp. 1177–1178 – via hathitrust.org
^ Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, p. 438
^ "No. 27364". The London Gazette. 11 October 1901. p. 6640.

External links

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Franz Count Deym von Stritez	Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to the United Kingdom 1904–1914	Succeeded by None

[1] ttp://www.zamekboskovice.cz/en/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] "Ministerium des kaiserlichen und königlichen Hauses und des Äußern", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1914, p. 292, retrieved 14 January 2021

[9] "Ritter-Orden: Oesterreichsch-kaiserlicher Leopold-orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1914, p. 52, retrieved 5 February 2021

[10] "Den kongelige norske Sanct Olavs Orden", Norges Statskalender (in Norwegian), 1922, pp. 1177–1178 – via hathitrust.org

[11] Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, p. 438

[12] "No. 27364". The London Gazette. 11 October 1901. p. 6640.

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